5-11-25 - I Need My Mommy!

I Need My Mommy! 
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
May 11 2025

Good morning, Friends, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers or mother figures joining us this morning. The scripture I have chosen for this today is from Isaiah 66:12-13 from the New Revised Standard Version.

For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river
    and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm
    and bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
    so I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

As younger parents, Sue and I and our three boys lived just off the campus of Huntington University. In the warmer months, the boys and I would almost daily throw the baseball around after school in our side yard. We usually threw the ball around until dinner and often my college students would join us.

On occasion our time would be cut short by one of the boys getting hurt – tripping in a hole in the yard, a brother running into another brother, missing a ball and getting hit by it, running into a tree, but often it was simply being exhausted from the day, a bit hangry, and needing to take a shower and head to bed.   

I will never forget this one time; we were out throwing the ball around when our youngest got frustrated because his brother kept catching the ball and not letting him catch it.  Soon, he threw his glove on the ground and ran straight at me with his arms out. He was grumbling something under his breath, but as he got closer, I heard it loud and clear.

“I want my mommy!”

He had enough of his brothers, he had enough of me not throwing balls his way, and he just wanted someone to focus on him. And he ran right past me and into the house. Often, I would come in for dinner and find him in his mother’s arms sound asleep. Some days, I wish we could have some of those moments back.   

Lately, I have thought a great deal about the role of mothers in our current age. I believe there is an extra stress on those who seek to nurture and care for children, elderly parents, spouses, and loved ones. And I am not talking just about biological mothers, but also people who are mother-like in their nature.   

Jesus often showed these motherly qualities as he taught and interacted with people. One of his most well know “mother-like moments” was when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and wishes that he could gather the people like a hen gathers her chicks. 

I don’t know about you, but I need that image of God more than ever right now.  I think there are a lot of us running with our arms wide open saying “I want my mommy!” I believe we need a nurturing Mother God to wrap her comforting arms around us, draw us in, give us some attention, and remind us that all is going to be well.

As I prepared for this week’s sermon, I was glad that as Quakers we are not afraid to imagine or characterize God with female qualities and descriptors, as well as the typical male ones.

As Quakers, our understanding of God is shaped by personal experiences, and different people use a variety of descriptors to help them find meaningful ways to connect to the Divine. 

Even when we talk of that Inner-Light we do not ascribe it a gender, actually most of our gender descriptors come from the Bible. 

The patriarchal world of the Bible often limits us only to male descriptors of God. Yet we cannot miss the personification of God as Wisdom in a few places in the Old Testament which utilizes female descriptors and imagery.

Take for example Proverbs 1 – I love Eugene Peterson’s translation of the personification of wisdom – which he labels “Lady Wisdom.”  Giving us yet another female interpretation of God.

Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.
    At the town center she makes her speech.
In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.
    At the busiest corner she calls out:

I think we need and starting to see this image of God in our world, today. 

More significantly the Apocrypha (the books of the Bible that were not considered cannon, but were accepted as historical) often utilize the female descriptors for the wisdom of God (most likely a reason they were left out by the conclave of men deciding which books would be included or dismissed.)  

Sadly, for most of our history (and still for many faith communities today), a female version of God seems threatening, demeaning or even heretical.

Let’s be honest, I sense in most eras this was misogyny alive and well, as it sadly still is today.       

Just listen to how one of the Apocryphal books - the Wisdom of Solomon personifies the Wisdom of God. 

There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy…loving the good…humane…steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle. …For she is a breath of the power of God…in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with Wisdom. (7:22b-30)

As Quakers who call themselves, Friends, that one line should stand out and be quoted often –

“She passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God.”

That, to me, is beautiful.

Pastor Chris Glazer says the following about this passage from the Wisdom of Solomon,

“If you saw all these qualities in a personal ad or on a resume, you just might want to meet this person! I say “might” because this is a list so awesome many of us would feel intimidated. This is a description of Sophia, Greek for Wisdom, and in Jewish wisdom literature, you could say she was the feminine side of God, the counterpart to God the Father. This scripture was written by a Jewish mystic deeply influenced by Greek philosophy who lived around the time of Jesus…

In another text it is said that Sophia was with God from the beginning—without Wisdom nothing was created that was created. If this sounds familiar, the mystical Gospel of John takes as its prologue a similar assertion, that the Word, or Jesus, was with God from the beginning, and without Jesus, nothing was made that was made.”

I think in our current shift to move back to a more male dominated society; we need more than ever to identify with this feminine side of God. Those qualities and descriptors are desperately lacking in our world and especially our leadership in this present moment.

Maybe it would do us good to find comfort in scriptures that emphasize these aspects of God, such as our scripture for today,  

Isaiah 66:13, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you,” 

Or as I said earlier, Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 –

“How often have I desired to gather your children together as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing”

Or as the Psalmist in Psalm 131:2 gives us that comforting goal of resting in God:

“I hold myself in quiet and silence,

            like a little child in its mother’s arms,

            like a little child, so I keep myself.”

Just maybe, during these unsettling times, embracing a Mother-God-understanding would help us sense more accurately how God wants to interact in our life during this time.

It reminds me of back in my doctoral work when I studied the people known as the Dessert Mothers and Fathers.  As their world became chaotic and difficult, they chose to head out into the wildernesses of the Middle East to pray.

An interesting part of their theology was that they did not believe Jesus came to save only Christians—rather, they believed that Jesus could save the whole world from its excesses, its materialism, prejudices, hatred, self-absorption, violence, and cruelty.

In many ways, I consider the Dessert Mothers and Fathers the first real Quakers. Like us they believed that God speaks to everyone, but that in order to hear God’s voice, one must learn to be still and actively listen for it.

Their focus was on the interior life that later, Quaker founder, George Fox would label our Inner Light.

Along with their inward journey, just like us Quakers, there was also an outward expression as well. The Mothers and Fathers labored to create self-sustaining communities that could welcome and feed the stranger, the refugee, the pilgrim, and those escaping mistreatment and injustice, including women.

Mary C. Earl in her book specifically on the Dessert Mothers, or “Ammas” as they were known, shared this about what they taught her, she said…

“…the ammas have taught me to set aside time for quiet. There are so many pressures that lead us to be fragmented. The tradition does not deny the pressures. The ammas tell us that God is present even in those daily struggles. I can remember that more readily if I have taken time for quiet.

She also says,

“…the ammas take me back to basics. We live in a time in which so much polarization has happened in both the national political arena, and within the church. The ammas invite us to look beyond all the divisive fussing — not to deny it, but to see it as surface reality. They invite us to gaze more deeply, especially in the most tensive of circumstances.”

And lastly, she says,

“…the ammas tell me that from the beginnings of the life of the Church, women have been initiators of new patterns and teachings, opening the way for knowing the wholeness that God offers in Christ. When I am reading the stories and sayings of the desert ammas, I am struck by their utter confidence that no matter what, this world belongs to God, is loved by God, and that each person, each creature, each aspect of the created order, is an expression (some would say a theophany, a showing) of God’s love.

Like our youngest son, maybe the cry of our heart is “I need my mommy!”

During these difficult times we need to take time to embrace and gravitate to the qualities and attributes of our Mother God, to sense her nurturing love and seek her wisdom.  Allow ourselves to be wrapped in her safe embrace and comforted by her care.  

I was taught by a Quaker once that when we center down for waiting worship, we are metaphorically placing ourselves on the lap of God, wrapped in her loving arms, waiting to hear the whisper of her Spirit in our ear.  There is a calming sense to that.  It brings us peace and safety and even hope.  

And as the Dessert Mothers and Fathers, maybe we too should take this opportunity to find time for retreat, or at least a pause in our busy schedules, to acknowledge and work on our inner lives. To begin to seek how during challenging times Mother God can help release us from our excesses, materialism, prejudices, hatred, self-absorption, violence, and cruelty.

Since Easter I have had two of these opportunities – one at our pastor’s conference and one at the last week’s Linda Lee Spiritual Retreat. Both were needed times for me to acknowledge that “I need my mommy!”  That when the world seems out of control, the thing that I CAN DO is work on myself. 

And once more, as the Ammas or Dessert Mothers remind us, during our quiet and alone times this week, we should try and make time for acknowledging the pressures, polarizations, and tensions that we are experiencing – all while remembering no matter what this world throws at us - Mother God is always with us and ready to embrace us with her loving arms!

So, as we take a moment to enter waiting worship this morning, close your eyes and image yourself on the lap of your mother God, take a moment to nuzzle in and be fully embraced by her arms, and then wait to hear what her Spirit says to you this morning. If you need something to help focus this time, I have provided a couple queries for you to ponder. 

1.    How might embracing the qualities and attributes of a “Mother God” help me in this time?

2.    What inner spiritual work do I need to do in my times of quiet this week?

3.    Who do I need to reach out to with a nurturing word of love and hope, today?

5-4-25 - Metanoia and Pistis vs. Repent and Believe

Metanoia and Pistis vs. Repent and Believe 
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
May 4, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This week our supportive scripture text is from Romans 12:2 from the New Revised Standard Version,  

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

I spent some time this week trying to map where I have been in my spiritual journey and how I have come to the current place and understanding I have today. I think reading Elaine Pagels new book had me contemplating this deeply after Easter and on our down-time at the pastor’s retreat last week.

Most of my formative years I was inundated by a faith community that wanted me to do two things – REPENT and BELIEVE. Those two words were like bookends to my early spiritual life. Whether it was the churches, Christian schools, youth gatherings, Christian concerts, all of them helped raise me in a bubble of beliefs that told me that my personal sin and how and what I believed was of utmost importance – even a matter of life and death.     

Those two words, repent and believe, shaped my life trajectory in significant ways. They surrounded me with a specific group of friends, mentors, and teachers, all in what I thought was a safe faith community. Today, I am able to see the mandatory uniform beliefs, the gatekeeping, and how they tried to keep me from straying or entering what they called “a slippery slope.” 

I find it interesting and kind of sad that 30+ years later, most of those friendships and teachers are no longer in my life – because of my spiritual journey. I am no longer in those faith communities and greatly disagree with much of their indoctrination, Christian Nationalism, and cultish behaviors that I am now able to see.

Sure, I still wrestle with how much time I spent drinking their Kool-Aid, trusting those people, and even defending their beliefs without taking time to really think or be transformed. When I finally decided to turn and go in a different direction, my own best man warned me that I would most likely lose his friendship (which I did) over me choosing to live on a slippery slope.     

In my Easter message this year, I began by talking about the importance that Paul put on life-transformation over people simply knowing what he was preaching.  That was me. I was all about knowing the answers of my pastors and denomination but not allowing it to transform me for the betterment of myself and my world.  Some of it, I don’t think could actually do that.

It was Paul who said,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

Much of organized religion today is about conforming to this world or at least to their way of understanding this world.  Questions are bad.  Questioning is worse.  Disagreeing is all out wrong.  And believing differently both remove you from the fold and possibly damn you for all eternity. 

And we wonder how people get caught up in cults.

Paul’s idea of transformation was tweaked from Jesus’ teachings, who also called on people to change. Not just a little, but dramatically – it too was a transformational change. Mark’s gospel reports that Jesus began his ministry with these words:

 Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.”

Oh no! There are those two words again – repent and believe!  But there is also another set of words that Jesus uses – The Kingdom of God. 

Author, conscientious objector, and founder of Mustard Seed School of Theology, Kurt Struckmeyer, helped me understand what Jesus calls the Kingdom of God. He says,

The ‘kingdom of God’ is the term Jesus used to express his vision of a profound transformation of human beings and human institutions—social, political, economic and religious—to fully express the character and nature of God—a God of love. To accomplish this vision, Jesus worked toward the creation of a new kind of community dedicated to values of compassion, generosity, peace, and justice. He was creating a movement for change, a people engaged in a vast conspiracy of love. 

Since Jesus’ day, many have tried to articulate or further develop this idea of the “Kingdom of God.” It has been expressed by many cultures and movements. Some have called it the Beloved Community, some tikkun olam (The Hebrew concept of preparing the world), familia justicia (family justice) in Latin-X communities, and even us Quakers summarize it in our Testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. and in our theology of “That of God in all people.”

But before we get to those well thought out concepts and expanded understandings of the Kingdom of God.  We have to return to Jesus and look at what he called us to do – repent, and believe. 

This is where these two words, depending on how they are translated can bring hope or cause a lot of confusion, misunderstanding, frustration, even pain. 

So, let’s start with Repent.

Kurt Struckmeyer says,

To our ears, repentance usually conveys a sense of guilt and regret [as it often did for me]. It is commonly understood as a feeling of remorse, and that is precisely how the church has conventionally used the term. 

But ‘repent’ doesn’t capture the true meaning of the Greek word…used in the gospels. The noun metanoia (met-an’-oy-ah) is the more familiar term for many people, meaning a fundamental shift or

movement (meta) of the mind (noia).

It is a movement that takes us beyond the mindset of our cultural conformity—our conventional wisdom—into a new way of perceiving and thinking about the world around us.

The repentance that Jesus speaks of is a transformative movement, a fundamental change of life that is deeper, more basic, and more far-reaching than our common understanding of the word ‘repentance.’

It is not about being sorry for the past. It is about thinking differently and changing the direction of our lives for the future.

Metanoia essentially means to turn around, to change the form, to take on a whole new identity. It involves a change of orientation, direction, or character that is so pronounced and dramatic that the very form and purpose of a life is decisively altered and reshaped. It means to begin the journey of walking away from the old to the new. 

I wonder if this is why so many Christians are threatened by trans and non-binary people. They want them to repent, but, in reality, I think they may be able to teach us a lot about metanoia.

Instead of embracing the metanoia in my earlier years, I simply walked away from the old, but not to something new. Most of the time I returned to a cycle of repentance and guilt that was designed to keep me in-line and to conform – ultimately to be accepted or approved by my peers and the leaders in the church. 

It didn’t take too much time before I would long for NEW LIFE – a personal metanoia. I wanted to think differently and change the direction of my life for the future and the betterment of myself and my neighbors.  This was bigger than me.

So how did we get from metanoia to repent? 

The translation of metanoia as ‘repent’ began when the New Testament was translated from Greek into Latin sometime around 384 CE by St. Jerome.  The Vulgate translation used the phrase which meant to “Go, and do penance” (a voluntary self-punishment).

This error was compounded by the reformer Martin Luther when he translated the New Testament into vernacular German in 1522. Luther worked from a 1519 Greek text compiled by Erasmus.

Luther translated metanoia as büssen (boo′sen) in German, which means to atone, to redress, to do penance.  So, from the end of the sixteenth century on, Roman Catholics and many Protestants believed that Jesus was talking about regret, sorrow, remorse, or performing acts of contrition, instead of a radical change in thinking and living.

WOW! Talk about getting off course and having serious consequences.  I can say this has literally affected my life, the lives of many people I care for, and I believe it now even has a huge detrimental impact on our politics in the United States.   

Scholars call this an “utter mistranslation,” or as one said, “the worst translation in the New Testament.”

 To Jesus, metanoia was a change so dramatic that it implied starting over again through a metaphorical second birth. Jesus declared,

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.”

Oh no! Two more words that have had dire consequences for the church and our world, today.  I know tension arises in many of you in this room around being “born again.” 

But folks, please understand Jesus’ declaration is not to be confused with what is commonly known as “born-again Christianity.”  That is a completely different monster that has evolved greatly over time.

Kurt says,

The rebirth of metanoia is not about inviting the resurrected presence of the Christ to enter our hearts while remaining firmly rooted in cultural conformity. Jesus was certainly not discussing speaking in tongues or other charismatic gifts often associated with born-again Christians.

He was articulating an invitation to a new quality of life in the midst of the old… (Let me repeat that)

He was articulating an invitation to a new quality of life in the midst of the old…

…It is a fundamental transformation that enables us to begin the journey of a new life. It is like being reborn with a radically new perspective on the meaning of life and matters of ultimate concern.

I think this is why it is so easy for Quakers not to tie being born again to water baptism as many churches do.  Even though I was baptized as child, it has been the times when I chose to be transformed by a new journey of life that had the deepest meaning for me.  And it has not been a one-time event, but multiple times that have continued to shape, form and transform me.  This is what I consider my ongoing spiritual formation and journey. 

It is as Kurt says,

The deep-seated change of metanoia that Jesus describes happens through a process of learning and growing. It involves learning a completely new way of thinking about life, being instructed in a new way of seeing reality. It means discarding conventional wisdom and traditional common sense for an unconventional wisdom and a transformed sense of purpose. Start by turning around and going the other way, Jesus says to us. You are a captive of your culture and, although you may not be able to see it, you are headed in the wrong direction. You are living in darkness, mired in confusion.

 He then offers us this parable.

For instance, in America our cultural view of reality is one of climbing an economic ladder. As we climb, we tend to keep our eyes on the rung above, towards those who have more than we do. Because a few are incredibly wealthy, we tend to think of ourselves as poorer than we really are. When we turn around, as Jesus calls us to do, we look back down the ladder. Then we are able to see the vast majority of people who have far less than we do, and we begin to understand how incredibly wealthy we really are. It is a change of perspective, a shift of the mind, a whole new way of thinking. If embraced, one’s life becomes transformed; it becomes fundamentally altered.

Personally, I have had to move from looking at this entire process as part of my religion or faith and more as a movement or better, a way of life.  No wonder I found Quakers on my transformational journey.  That is also what we believe – we are a religious society of Friends, a movement not a religion, denomination, or even church for that matter.     

This transformation is a movement from greed to giving, from selfishness to servanthood, from social conformity to insurrection against the status quo. We do it through silence and listening to the Sprit.

Also, I believe Jesus was talking about shifting allegiances and values away from a mainstream culture of power, domination, and violence to the kingdom values of selfless love, compassion, humility, equality, generosity, forgiveness, justice, peace, service, and inclusive community.  

That sounds a lot like our Quaker testimonies and S.P.I.C.E.S.  Doesn’t it?  And let’s be honest, we are in need of metanoia in the United States much like the people of Jesus’ day.   

So, let’s briefly look at believe (in the good news) as Jesus says. Not just believe, but believe in the good news.

Kurt says,

The verb ‘believe’ is a translation of the Greek [word] which can mean ‘to believe,’ but more accurately means ‘to trust’ or ‘to have faith in.’ It is based on the noun pistis, which means faith, belief, trust, confidence, and faithfulness.

Normally, belief has the connotation of an intellectual acceptance of a proposition—a certainty that something is true, even in the absence of empirical evidence. Faith, likewise, implies great confidence in an idea.

But faith is often a visible and outward expression of what is believed to be true in one’s head. Further, faith is a trust in something to the extent that one would be willing to bet one’s life on it.

To be faithful within the context of any culture is to be seized by and devoted to whatever is believed to matter most in one’s life.

Belief is a psychological state, while faith is a way of living. We often speak of this visible expression as a faith walk or faith journey.

This is where I have come to see this important teaching of metanoia and pistis to be vital to me, to us, to our world today.  We must trust, bet our life on, and ultimately live into the good news that is transforming our lives and the lives of those around us.

The good news that Jesus proclaimed was a radical message of hope for people at the bottom of his society—the peasants and fishermen of Galilee. Jesus called on his followers to trust that the way of life he was teaching and modeling had the capability of transforming their lives and ultimately could change the world. He invited them to transform their old ways of thinking, and to shed their culture’s conventional wisdom in order to follow him.

It is clear that metanoia and pistis involve a committed change in us — a revolution in our way of thinking and perceiving, and a life dedicated to that new reality, trusting that this is the right thing to do, that this is the most important thing to do, and that this new way is worth risking everything one has, including one’s life. 

Instead of wallowing in our sins and feeling guilty for the sake of conformity, Jesus and Paul had a different plan – TO USE US TO TRANSFORM THIS WORLD.

When put this way, it makes it seem a lot more life giving, more hopeful, more about really doing something to change our world. 

We must remember that the mission of Jesus was twofold: the transformation of people into agents of love and the transformation of human societies into communities of compassion, equality, and justice. Our personal transformation was intended to be a catalyst for societal transformation.  

I wonder how different the world would be today, if the church in America actually spent its time seeking transformation and being a catalyst for societal transformation, instead of pointing fingers, demanding repentance, and trying to get people to believe a certain way?   That is what Jesus modeled for us. 

As you ponder all of this, let’s quiet our hearts and center down into waiting worship. Here are a few queries to ponder.

In what area(s) of my life, do I need to make a change of direction and become an agent of love?

What is the right thing for me to do, today?

How might my personal transformation be a catalyst for societal change?

4-27-25 - In the Proximity of Hope

In the Proximity of Hope
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
April 27, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This week the text I have chosen is from I Corinthians 15:1-7 and I am reading it from The Voice version.  

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated—unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve.  If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus.  Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned.

There are several stories recorded in the Bible of Jesus after the resurrection event that are both interesting and have had me reflecting this week on the hope that they convey. 

Scholars often discuss the 10 different accounts that are recorded in the Bible of Jesus’ appearances.  I believe the ones that were written down were teaching lessons much bigger than just more of the story. In many ways, they are almost parable-like in nature. Each teaching their own lesson for those with ears to hear.

Now, just to remind you of these appearances and to give you a sense of the order in which scripture recorded them happening, I want to read the list.  

It is recorded that Jesus appeared to:

1.      Mary Magdalene (where she mistakes Jesus as the gardener)

2.      The other Mary, Salome, Joanna, and at least one other unnamed woman.

(On a side note, I find it fascinating and a huge statement to Jesus’ day and culture that the first 5 people to encounter Jesus recorded in scripture were woman.)  

3.      Simon Peter (one of Jesus’ inner circle)

4.      Cleopas and a companion on the road to Emmaus. (Most likely the companion was not named because it was very likely a woman as well.)

5.      The Eleven Disciples without Thomas (to discuss doubting...)

6.      The Eleven with Thomas (to discuss believing…)

7.      Seven Disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (This is the famous Breakfast on the Beach scene)

8.      Disciples and a large gathering at a mountain in Galilee. (This is the one Jesus most often reminds the disciples about – meeting on the mountain to receive the charge or next steps – this ends up being almost a month after the resurrection.  

9.      James (private meeting with Jesus’ brother about the church)

10.                                   Disciples (probably in Jerusalem before he led them out of the Mt. of Olives to give the Great Commission and his departure.)  

Ten different situations, all with very different interactions.  As well, the stories have Jesus appearing sometimes miraculously and at other times in normal situations.  We have Jesus coming through walls, disappearing, not being able to be touched, asking to be touched, and often the gatherings are accompanied by eating. But to understand the importance of all of these appearances to us today, I think we need to look a little deeper at what Jesus was addressing in the individual appearances and with whom he was addressing them. 

After a death (or any loss for that matter), most people not only go through the stages of grief, they also face the deeper need of seeking and finding hope amidst the loss and pain.  Each of the people that Jesus appears to is both in shock and grieving. As a pastor, I am familiar with the reactions of people in that first week after the loss of a close friend or loved one.  Its often a very difficult time and hard to have clarity or peace.

Over half of the recorded appearances of Jesus happen in the first 8 days after his execution. Remember, this literally happened in front of these people – talk about a difficult thing to work through. I cannot even imagine having to watch a good friend executed in front of me – especially by crucifixion.  And the bigger gatherings happened over the next few weeks up to 40 days later.  For those who have experienced loss and grief…these 40 days can be a rollercoaster of emotion. 

C.S. Lewis put it this way in his classic, “A Grief Observed.” 

In grief, nothing “stays put.” One keeps emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round.  Everything repeats.  Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I’m on a spiral? But if a spiral, am I going up or down it?

This was the situation for the disciples and followers of Jesus – they were in the “spin cycle” of grief and loss.  But each of them was dealing with other things as well, and I have a hunch that Jesus’ appearances may be speaking about more than we know.  I think it has to do with what I am going to call “the proximity of hope.”  

Let’s start with Mary Magdalene. She was so caught up in the loss – that she missed the proximity of hope before her eyes – just assuming he was the gardener.

Losses can do this to us – and not just loss through death.  Losing our keys or glasses can have a tremendous impact on how we see (even literally see) the world around us in that moment.  Or take the loss of a computer file or a record. 

A week ago, our son was trying get to work and could not find his keys.  He woke me up to help him look. It was a frantic look as the time grew later and later. Finally, we found out that Sue found them in the back of her car at work. Sadly the damage was done and the impact had taken its toll. A while after he grabbed the spare key and took off, he called because he had an accident. The loss had him so much that his focus was off.  

Loss often takes us away from the moment and has us missing what is actually going on. Those who go through divorce often can no longer see their former spouse in the same light – or even themselves.  Jesus appearing to Mary and her thinking he is the Gardner shows us how easy our loss and grief control how we see.

The appearance of Jesus to the other Mary, Salome, Joanna and the other unnamed woman, continues these thoughts.  Here the thing that happens when we are dealing with loss and grief is that we forget what has already been said or done.  In each of the scriptures telling of this appearance, it has the figure of light saying, “Remember how he told you…”.

Loss often has us forgetting or at least neglecting to remember all the details of our lives.  The loss of a friendship has us forgetting the good times and focusing often on only what tore us apart.  The loss of our own memory has us searching and searching for answers. Sometimes I need to take a day and look back through photos, thank you notes, and even highlights in books to remember what I have done and learned.  I think this is why at most memorials we have slide shows and photo boards.  We need to remember the bigger story of life…

It says that Jesus presented himself directly to Peter (before the others).  Sometimes loss needs direct intervention. We need someone in our life to directly interact with us.  I don’t know about you, but I have always related to Peter. 

On many occasions, Jesus had to interact with Peter – one-on-one – and often Jesus had to convey a difficult message.  When I am struggling with loss or grieving, sometimes I need someone to come to me and be direct.  Often, we need a sponsor or a mentor, to keep us on track, to invest in us, to believe in us.  I think Jesus did that with each person he encountered.  Again, this was being put in the proximity of hope.

On the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple encounter Jesus.  Jesus actually walked with them it says. He had them remember, he engaged them directly….and then he did one more thing…he ate with them. 

When we are dealing with loss and grief, food is a huge part of the process.  Some people eat, some do not.  Some find it comforting.  But there is more to this.  Conversations and interactions happen around the table.  The table is a harbinger of the proximity of hope.  The church is good about making meals when people are experiencing loss and grief.  We are good about having meals after memorials, inviting hurting people out to eat with us to allow them to talk…I know for me having a cup of good coffee with someone opens up conversations and has us dealing with and processing our losses and grieving. Sometimes we find answers, insights, and at other times, just like Cleopas and the other disciple – our eyes are simply opened to hope!

When Jesus meets the eleven disciples without Thomas, he begins to lay a foundation for peace in their lives.  In The Message, Eugene Peterson translated the scene this way, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over.” 

Sometimes we are so upset and doubting ourselves, others, and even our experiences that losses and grief can be intensified.  I am sure the disciples were upset, but often we become irrational when we are upset. We can easily let our anger get the best of us. Our misunderstandings about the losses in our lives can have us going down bunny trails that lead us into unhealthy thinking about ourselves and others.

At times, it would be good to find a place for silence and solitude, to calm our hearts and minds.  Loss often creates doubts that can consume our minds and we begin to say things like:   

·      “I don’t think I can do this without...”

·      “I don’t know what I am going to do.”

·      “I don’t think I can go on.”

And I am sure you can think of others that run through your minds. These are the kind of doubting questions Jesus is talking about not letting take over.

When Thomas (who gets a bad rap for all of church history) arrives in the upper room eight days later, Jesus again takes a similar approach by bringing a word of peace, but then gets more to the point about dealing with this doubt getting out of control.  He says specifically to Thomas, “…you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” 

Boy, I can’t tell you how important that has been to me.  I have been gripped in wondering how things were going to turn out, sometimes after experiencing loss, and I have worked myself up so much that only my way of “seeing” will do. 

But my impatience and my lack of will to see from a different perspective has caused me to think I needed to see the entire picture to believe it would come out ok.  Often, I just need to believe without seeing for it to work out just fine.

When Jesus meets the disciples on the beach – a scene I absolutely love – he realizes that the disciples had gone back to their old ways (that sounds so familiar – I can relate). 

We go to our defaults when we are dealing with loss and grief because they often bring comfort or normalcy.  There they were all fishing again.  And again, they were struggling with the catch.  But what is interesting is Jesus doesn’t walk on the water or do anything really out of the ordinary, no this time he takes care of the ordinary.  He takes care of starting a fire and making breakfast. 

Sometimes we need others around us when we are dealing with loss and grief to simply keep up the normalcy and ordinary in our life.  They don’t need to do anything spectacular, because often it is simply us who needs to try throwing our nets out on the other side of the boats of our lives. 

And sometimes when we are in a funk and have gone back into our default mode, sometimes we need someone to give us a new charge on life.  Scripture points out that some of Jesus’ followers held back, not sure about risking themselves totally. Loss and grief can have us not sure, not wanting to step out, not wanting to do anything, but that is when we often need a nudge or a charge.  Jesus’ charge was to go! And it was followed up by those beautiful words, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.”

Actually, Jesus took several disciples aside including his brother James and did more than just charge them – he commissioned them to represent him.  He gave them a purpose and job.  James would go on to be a founder and developer of the Early Church.  James would later write in his own epistle,

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.  So, don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.”   

I got a feeling James would have rather continued in his loss and grief, embracing his default, but Jesus’ charge had him listening and feeling the call to go and truly live. 

And in the very last appearance Jesus makes before his departure, he commissions all of his followers.  He gives them all a purpose to move on and to live.  He says that it will come from within as the Spirit equips them.   And then he does what many need as they work through their loss and grief – Jesus blesses them.  He raised his hands and blessed them before leaving. 

I was moved on Monday as the news of Pope Francis’ passing hit the news. His last act as Pope was to bless the masses on Easter morning.  It was as though he was blessing them as they prepared for his departure – very similar to Jesus.

Many people gather with loved ones just before they die and receive final words and blessing from them. I often am with people at those beautiful moments and they are moving.    

Folks, I sense what Jesus did in those final appearances was give us some guidance on how to handle our losses and grief by interacting with those he loved.  Jesus became the proximity of hope to those suffering the loss and grieving his death.  And now Jesus is charging us to go and be the proximity of hope to a hurting world. 

Let’s remember the insights we have learned this morning from Jesus’ appearances:

1.      Check your sight – Ask: What do I really see?

2.      Always remember the bigger story – Ask: What have I forgotten? 

3.      Be open to needing direct intervention – Ask: Can I do it alone?

4.      Take time to eat together for the benefit of the soul – Ask: Who do I need to have coffee or lunch with this week? 

5.      Don’t let your doubts get the best of you – Ask: Can I believe without having to see? 

6.      Stop reverting to your “defaults” – Ask: What are my possibilities?

7.      Doing the ordinary is just as important as the extraordinary – Ask: What am I about in the daily?

8.      And always remember you are not alone – God will never leave you nor forsake you – but will always help you remember your proximity to hope!

Let those thoughts and queries be on our hearts and minds as we center down and enter a time of waiting worship.

4-20-25 - Transformational Resurrection

Transformational Resurrection
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
April 20, 2025

Happy Easter, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  The text I have chosen for this Easter is Matthew 28:1-10 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

This week as I was preparing my message, I stopped by Barnes and Noble to peruse the shelves for new books. I was happily surprised to find a new book by author and scholar Elaine Pagels.

Many of you have enjoyed the work of Elaine Pagels, especially her work on the Gnostic Gospels. Well, her new book happens to be about Jesus and again had my attention. So, I grabbed a comfy chair in one of their nooks and turned quickly to the chapter on the resurrection which she, quoting Dale Allison, says is the “primary puzzle of New Testament research.” 

She then goes on to give a history of understanding from multiple views including the Gospels writers. Yet probably the most interesting aspect is her focus on the Apostle Paul and what he actually said verses how we have interpreted it over time from our own beliefs and theologies. 

As I sat at Barnes and Noble reading veraciously, I stopped on one line that really spoke to my condition and my heart as a pastor.  Pagels says,

“Paul wants far more from his listeners than that they believe what he preaches. Instead, he passionately longs for them, too, to “be transformed.”

That’s exactly it. This is my heart’s prayer as I prepare each week. Folks, I don’t get up here every Sunday, for you to have tidbits of information, meme worthy quotes, or answers for trivia games with friends.  My hope each week is that God will use me and the words the Spirit has inspired in me to share – to transform lives.

Paul saw this in the life of Jesus and said that transformation is what Jesus’ Resurrection was all about. Whether it was a metaphor or an actual physical resurrection. Paul describes it as a seed that goes into the ground and has to die, only to be raised as something new – a plant, a tree, a flower. 

Pagels points out that when Paul was talking about the Resurrection he was actually talking about two different kinds of resurrection. The first included the physical body, what he called the First Adam, and then there was the “psychic’ body, a being that consists of psyche or the Greek term for the soul. This was what he equated Jesus or the New Adam to. 

What this helped me understand was the holistic nature of the Resurrection. That it transforms us on the inside and out. It affects us physically and spiritually at the depths of our being. We all have things we must die to, things that we wrestle with, struggle with, even things that we feel are out of our control. And Paul believes our response will take transformation – moving from death to new life.   

I remember one of these transformation resurrection moments in my life. I have probably shared this story before, but I think it is worth hearing again. 

On the final night of a conference, I attended in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the writer, philosopher, storyteller and public speaker, Peter Rollins was speaking, I will never forget how he concluded the evening by talking about practicing the resurrection. He concluded by sharing a parable his friend wrote as he left church one day...it went like this…

“I dreamt that I died and I went to heaven and St. Peter was there. He opened the gates to welcome me in.  “How great to see you!”

He said, “I was just about to step into heaven, then I noticed some of my friends were here. Some of them Atheists, some of them Buddhists, and some of them “God-knows-what.” He said, “St. Peter, what about my friends?”

St. Peter says, “Well, you know the rules. You know the rules”

And then his friend said, “I thought of my reference point. Jesus the outsider…Jesus the drunkard…Jesus the bastard…the friend of sinners…Jesus the one who would always stay with those who were oppressed.” 

And he said, “You know what…I’ll just stay out here with them.

And the parable ends with St. Peter breaking a smile and saying “AT LAST, AT LAST, YOU UNDERSTAND!”    

THAT RIGHT THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL RESURRECTION!!!!

Even though this was a powerful parable, Rollins concluded this story with a more personal story. At a speaking engagement, he was asked a question about if he denied the resurrection of Jesus. This is how Peter Rollins responded,

Without equivocation or hesitation, I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think.  [And then he paused.]

He held the pause long enough for some people in the room to literally gasp and concerned whispers to be heard. Honestly, I felt my physical body react to his words. That Quaker seed growing in me began to quake. Then without missing a beat Peter Rollins continued by saying...

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

Folks, that is death, that is the seed being buried in the ground. He goes on to say,

However, there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

In those moments, he was transformed, and new life arose!

As he spoke, I was transformed, moved to tears, quaking, ready to go! I still feel the power of those words running through me right now.

This is what Paul was talking about – it is not just the preaching about the resurrection alone – but the power to be transformed by it and to act! To allow the dead places in our lives to regain life and bring hope to a dying world.  

The Spirit working through Peter Rollins transformed that auditorium that night,  and not a single one of us left the same as we had entered. 

I believe I can say that I experienced the power of transformational resurrection with the people in that room in a special way. About five or six years later, I ran into one of the guys that I sat with that night, and we reminisced about hearing those words of Peter Rollins and how they had such a huge impact on our lives, our trajectory, even our callings. He agreed it was life giving and life altering.   

But I also believe, each week here at First Friends, I experience transformational resurrection with each of you.  And I believe you experience it throughout the week with each other.

Currently, there is a lot that is bringing death into our lives and we need our fellow Friends prompted by the Spirit to help water that seed, nurture it through friendships, and help it blossom into something beautiful.

Clarence Jordan, farmer and New Testament Greek scholar, and founder of Koinonia Farm in Georgia where Habitat for Humanity was birthed, puts words to this…

The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb, but the full hearts of his transformed disciples. The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave, but a spirit-filled fellowship. Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried-away church [or Meeting]. 

Let me read that again:

The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb, but the full hearts of his transformed disciples. The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave, but a spirit-filled fellowship. Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried-away church [or Meeting].   

That is exactly how I felt that night in Grand Rapids – I was a transformed disciple, part of a spirit-filled fellowship and a carried-away church.

And that is how I hope we feel each week at First Friends. Gifted and ready to bring transformational resurrection to our world. To bring new life into people and places that are dying.  Seeds who had gone into the ground and are ready to rise up and bloom! 

So, what are we to learn from all of this? Like Peter Rollins and Clarence Jordan, we need to see the Resurrection of Jesus in ways that pertain to us bringing NEW LIFE and HOPE into our world, TODAY.  I don’t think Jesus intended it for just this day nor for simply when we die. He wanted it to become a new way for us to live this life – daily!

As we are transformed – then others too will be transformed.     

Again, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan’s book, “The Last Week” makes a good point about going one step further with what you believe about Jesus’ resurrection. They ask the following queries,

If you believe the tomb to be empty, fine, now what does this story mean? If you believe that Jesus’ appearances could have been videotaped, fine, now, what do these stories mean? And if you are not quite sure about that, or even if you are quite sure it didn’t happen this way, fine, now what do these stories mean?

“What does this resurrection of Jesus mean to you and me?”  “What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to the world around us?  What does the resurrection mean to people who need a new take on life?  

If the Resurrection of Jesus doesn’t have some type of continued impact on us today and we are not seeking out its meaning in our daily lives, I think we miss the full impact of transformational resurrection in our lives.

I believe the Resurrection of Jesus is more than an event 2000+ years ago, it is more than a simple transaction creating a ticket to heaven when we die, or the possibility of living again someday after we die. And I definitely do not believe it is an event that is dividing us into people who are being sorted into places called heaven and hell.

Rather it is about the transformational resurrection all around us and what I consider the daily resurrection life.

Transformational resurrection changes everything – because it changes us.   

The early Christians talked all the time about this transformational resurrection life and its importance.  Like in Romans 8:1,

"God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike 'What's next, Papa?'"

Or as Paul emphatically explaining the importance of this to the people in Corinth,

Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live." 1 Corinthians 15: 32.

Ponder for a moment…

How am I experiencing transformational resurrection, today?

What in me must die so that the seed in me can arise and bloom?

My answer to those queries co-mingle the thoughts of Rollins, Jordan, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus. Folks, it is about being transformed to live out the resurrection in our daily lives – in the present moment, as much as it is a future hope.

And maybe that is because resurrection is about transformation from death to life – not just after we physically die, but after each death we face on this planet. We are surrounded by death all the time – failures, struggles, losses, you name it…they create death all around us.   

Marcus Borg says it this way,

[For Jesus] God was the central reality of his life and the kingdom of God was the center of his message. The kingdom of God was not about heaven, not about life after death, but about the transformation of life on earth, as the Lord’s Prayer affirms. It is not about “Take us to heaven when we die,” but about “Your kingdom come on earth” – as already in heaven. The kingdom of God on earth was about God’s passion – and Jesus’s passion – for the transformation of “this world”: the humanly created world of injustice and violence into a world of justice and nonviolence.

That sounds like a charge for us Quakers.  As we respond to this transformational resurrection life, as we expand and deepen our understanding, as we are beckoned by God to go, as we sense the adventure in bringing freedom, hope, peace, and life to a world filled with violence and injustice. 

Be transformed!

On this Easter morning, let’s take a moment to ponder all this as we center down and enter waiting worship.

4-13-25 - What Parade Will You Join?

What Parade Will You Join?
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
April 13, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. The scripture for this Palm Sunday is from Luke 19:29-40 taken from the New Revised Standard Version.

When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 

So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.  As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

“Blessed is the king

    who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

    and glory in the highest heaven!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”  He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Palm Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays. That may be because I love remembering the story of how I was presented as a baby to God on this day, 51 years ago. In the church tradition in which I was raised we baptized infants, but the universal church has always had a focus during this special week (what some call Holy Week) on a time of preparation for one’s journey of faith.

Throughout my childhood and into adulthood, Palm Sunday has always captured my attention not just because of the great story or church traditions, but this special Sunday almost always begins with a parade (and who doesn’t love a parade).

Parades have always fascinated and drawn me. I am sure it is the child in me, the traditions, and the community coming together to celebrate who we are, that makes it all so alluring. I love the sound of marching bands, the antics of clowns and characters, big floats and so much more.  

Actually, some of my favorite memories are the parades in the places I have lived and visited.  Growing up in the small town of New Haven, Indiana I did not miss a parade, on several occasions I was even part of our local parade as a child. I remember once decorating my bike and riding the parade route with other kids from my community.  

I will never forget when my parents took me to Walk Disney World for the first time and I saw the Main Street Electrical Parade with all the floats covered in lights and I was completely mesmerized – it is a core memory of mine.

In high school I played the trumpet and joined my marching band in the Fort Wayne Three Rivers Parade on a 90+ degree day in July. That is a different kind of core memory.

During college, I watched Michael Jordan, and the Chicago Bulls NBA Championship Parade make its way to Grant Park three years in a row, and when Michael returned from retirement…I watched three more.     

When we lived in Wheaton, IL and had our first child, Sue and I would always attend the big 4th of July Parade with the entire town. I remember Alex not liking the sirens of the police cavalcade, just like me when I was that age.     

When we lived in Silverton, Oregon we had two parades each year – one was the Homer Davenport Festival Parade and one was our annual Pet Parade which many from our meeting participated in by bringing their pets – from cats and dogs to horses and llamas.   

My entire family has rituals and traditions around watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Disney Parks Christmas Parade on Christmas Day, and the Rose Bowl Parade on New Years Day. When we visited Alex at Christmas this year, he had even recorded the Disney Christmas Day Parade so we could have it on as we celebrated with him. Parades are a big thing in our family.  

And since moving back to Indianapolis we have added watching The Indianapolis 500 Parade, and on a couple of occasion we have participated in the Indy Pride Parade.

So…parades have had and continue to have a big part in my and my family’s life. And let’s be really honest, parades are part of all of our lives.

History shows us that parades have been part of human culture for centuries, dating back to ancient civilizations. The origin of parades can be traced back to the extravagant processions of the Egyptians, where they celebrated religious ceremonies and important events with grand marches.

Throughout history, parades have taken various forms and served different purposes. They have been used to showcase religious ceremony, military might, to honor heroes and victories, commemorate historic events, and simply bring communities together in a joyful display of unity and pride.

And this all leads us perfectly into this morning, where we are going to look at two different parades happening as Jesus enters Jerusalem.

Several years ago, now, I preached a message titled, “What Really Happened on Palm Sunday?” where we explored some of what was going on in Jesus’ day. Today, I want to return to that exploration but focus specifically on the two parades.

To help us, again, I will turn to the book, “The Last Week,” by New Testament scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg and as well, the words of pastor and scholar Dawn Hutchings.

Let me refresh our understanding with some of what these scholars revealed in their writings.

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but the parade which heralded Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem wasn’t the largest or most spectacular parade in town during that particular Passover season.

We must understand that back then, Jerusalem was a destination hotspot—a tourist town. The city’s population swelled from 40,000 to 200,000 during the holidays and Passover was one of the busiest holidays.

Crossan and Borg point out that there were two processions into Jerusalem to kick off what we call Holy Week. One, we know well and commemorate today with the waving of palm branches. We remember a peasant prophet of sorts riding a donkey, accompanied by his peasant followers coming from the north into Jerusalem. 

But, also entering Jerusalem at Passover, from the west, was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Like the Roman governors of Judea before him, Pilate lived in Caesarea by the sea. In other words, Pilate spent most of his time at his beach house (probably playing a round or two of golf, as well.)  

But with crowds of devout Jews flowing into Jerusalem to commemorate their liberation from Egypt, the Roman Governors would put on a display of force, to deter the Jews from getting too exuberant about the possibility of liberation from Rome. Pilate’s procession was the visible manifestation of Imperial Roman power. This almost seems right out of our headlines, today.

Once a year, during the Passover, the Roman procurator moved his headquarters to Jerusalem in a show of strength designed to prevent any outbreaks of insurgency or violent rebellion against Roman rule.

Such outbreaks were a constant danger, both because Roman rule imposed real hardship economically on their subject nations, and because, no one likes the foot of a foreign power on their necks. I suspect there were tariffs involved, as well.

In a show of military force, the second parade included what Crossan and Borg describe as, “cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold.”

As Crossan and Borg say, The sound of “marching feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums” would have had a sobering effect on all those who saw this parade. There would have been no shouts of Hosanna as the powerful Pilate rode astride of his horse, hoping to strike fear into the resentful onlookers. 

As Pilate lead a regiment of his own most trusted soldiers into town; as a show of force, he did so with confidence knowing that he was backed up by several battalions of Rome’s finest garrisoned on the west side of Jerusalem ready to flood into the city at Pilate’s command.

The Gospel according to Mark, written some 50 years after the event, tells us that Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem was not a spontaneous, slap-dash, spur-or-the-moment event.

In fact, Mark, the first Gospel to be written, spends more time telling us about the preparations for Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem than about the event itself.

It would seem Jesus wanted intentionally to set himself in stark contrast with the other procession coming into town. 

According to Mark, the event was a sort of counter-procession, designed to contrast the kingdom of Rome to the dominion of God.

According to the first account, Jesus assigned two disciples to the job of acquiring a colt. It’s an odd clandestine mission that Jesus gives to his two disciples.

At the entrance of a village, they are told they will see the animal tied up. They are instructed to untie the donkey and bring it back; and if anyone questions their actions, they are to offer the oblique explanation that their master has need of it. Oh, and by the way, the animal has never been ridden before. 

As we heard in our text for today, the disciples do as they are told, find the colt and they are indeed questioned as to why they, two strangers, are making off with (or literally stealing) someone else’s animal.

They bring the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on this unbroken colt and Jesus sat on it. Jesus simply sat on the back of a previously un-ridden colt.

Now by the time the writer of Luke gets around to telling the story, some 60 or 70 years after the event, the colt is now a donkey.

Matthew written 60 or 70 years after the event, can’t seem to decide so that gospel has the disciples bring a donkey and a colt and Jesus sits on them and rides them into Jerusalem.

They spread their cloaks on the road and some lay leafy branches on the road. According to the Gospels of Mark and Matthew these are just any old leafy branches. If you were listening carefully to our text from Luke, there is no mention of branches at all.

By the time you get to the Gospel of John written some 70 to 80 years after the event, the leafy branches are named as branches of palm trees.

Now, if you are thinking that I’m nit picking, there’s a point to “any old branches” verses “palm branches.”

Waving palm branches was the way that conquering military leaders were welcomed home from battle. The Gospel of John hints that Jesus is a conquering hero, when the earlier gospels seem to be setting up this particular parade as an ironic antithesis to a military parade.

So, what really happened, all those years ago?

Well, I have come to agree with John Shelby Spong, who seems to think that the followers of Jesus were interpreting their memories of the Jesus experience through the lenses of their own Jewish traditions. 

In his book, Jesus for the Non-Religious, Spong points out that at the time of the Passover there wouldn’t have been any leafy branches about. Jerusalem at that time of year would have had leafless trees. Except of course for the only tree that keeps its leaves; the evergreen of the desert: the palm tree.

Now, this may also come as a surprise, Scholars agree that it is entirely possible that the death of Jesus took place not at the time of the Passover, but rather at the Jewish festival of Sukkoth, one of the most popular festivals of the Jewish calendar.

Sukkoth is the harvest festival. It is also known as the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths. This holiday, which also attracted huge numbers of pilgrims to Jerusalem, would have also required Pilate to exhibit a show of force. It was probably the most popular holiday among the Jews in the first century. There are some very telling features of the festival that suggest that the crucifixion did not actually occur during the Passover.

In the observance of Sukkoth, worshippers processed through Jerusalem and in the temple, waving in their right hands something called a lulab, which was a bunch of leafy branches made of willow, myrtle and palm.

It gets better, as they waved these branches in that procession, the worshippers recited words from Psalm 118, the psalm normally reserved for Sukkoth. Among those words were: “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord.”  “Save us” in Hebrew is hosianna or hosanna. That phrasing was typically followed with the words: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Spong and a good many other theologians point to the book of the prophet Zechariah. The prophet quoted by the gospel writers when they tell the story of Palm Sunday.  

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Lo, your King comes to you; triumphant and victories is he humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.”

Spong insists that the Gospel writers were trying to make sense out of the crucifixion and did so through the lens of their own Jewish scriptures and traditions.

Jesus may well have participated in the festival of Sukkoth before the crucifixion. Those events were spoken of down through the decades until in the hands of the gospel writers, (and this may surprise you the most) they were reinterpreted to portray Jesus as the messiah, the one the people were waiting for. Thus, Jesus was no longer just some political rabble-rouser who was executed by the Romans for provoking an insurgency.

Rather, Jesus is reinterpreted as the longed for Messiah as foretold by the Prophet and the story is reset during the Passover to portray Jesus as the new Moses, sent to deliver his people from the hands of their oppressors.

Sadly, the historical details are impossible to sort some two centuries after the events.

Reading the accounts literally is also impossible; that is unless you are willing to leave your brain out of the equation; and picture Jesus riding a colt and a donkey, both of whom have never been ridden before.

So why would I bring this up? Well, what is important is that the gospel writers wanted to give their readers an impression of who Jesus was, using words and images that that they would understand because they came straight out of the Jewish scriptures and traditions.  

What we must not do is read these stories outside of their own context. To do so is to run the risk, that Christianity has fallen prey to over and over again down through the centuries that has labeled our Jewish friends as the killers of Christ and punished them mercilessly.

So, let’s get to the real query for us this morning, what is Palm Sunday speaking to us, today in 2025?

It seems to me that no matter how you look at the story of this procession into Jerusalem, you can’t help but see the image of a Jesus who offers us a choice between two parades.

The attraction of the power and the might of Pilate’s military parade with all its glory and wonder is still there to tempt us. The temptation to use fear, revenge, force, and violence, military might, nuclear deterrence, shock and awe, is still marching its way into the hearts and minds of so many people in our world, today.

The pathways to glory still beckon. Power and might, greed and violence attract more attention and more converts than the path less traveled: Jesus versus Pilate, the nonviolence of the dominion of God versus the violence of the empire.

Two arrivals, two entrances, two processions—and the reality is that we all too often can easily find ourselves in the wrong parade.

Pastor Dawn Hutchings says,

“The world is full of parades or as we might more frequently say, full of “bandwagons.” Sometimes it’s really difficult to know which parade to join, which bandwagon to hop on. It’s so easy and so tempting to join the wrong ones and so hard, sometimes, to get in the right procession. It’s so easy to simply get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowds and join the processions which has the loudest brass bands or the most elaborate floats or the greatest number of celebrities or the most charismatic leaders.”

And that means, 

“…it’s easy to miss the counter-procession that is taking place on the other side of town—the one where Jesus is riding on a humble donkey, claiming a dominion, not by violence, but by courageous loving, serving and accepting his place among the victims of imperial power. In so doing, for those with the eyes of faith to see it, Jesus bears witness to the futility of the world’s kind of power in establishing God’s peace, God’s shalom, and points us to a different way. The dominion of God is nothing remotely like the kingdoms or empires with which we are all too familiar.”

Folks, power does not come from domination or oppression, but rather flows from love and service. Let me repeat that…Power does not come from domination or oppression, but rather flows from love and service.

Leadership requires servanthood and grace.

And as Quakers we know that peace is won without sword, and no person claims greater value than another.

While Pontius Pilate processed into town with a showcase of intimidating muscle and glinting armor astride a noble steed, Jesus processed unarmed, unflanked, on the back of a borrowed burro.

So, what parade will you join, today? 

Let that query speak to your condition as we enter waiting worship this morning. 

4-6-25 - Eyes That See: Personal Reflections on an Evolving Faith

Eyes That See: Personal Reflections on an Evolving Faith
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Eric Baker
April 6, 2025

Matthew 13:10-12, 16 (The Message)

The disciples came up and asked (Jesus), "Why do you tell stories?"
He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears.

“(But) you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear!

Good morning, everyone! First, I want to say thank you to Pastors Bob and Beth, for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. I thought about just sitting at the piano and speaking from there, and even though I might have been comfortable, I thought it might be strange for the rest of you. So, here I am.

Many of you who know me, might have heard me, at one point, talk about growing up in a very conservative, religious home. Besides our house where we lived, the church was, without a doubt, the second most defining place of my growing up years, even more than school. My family – my parents, my three siblings, and me – attended an evangelical church that was centered in the holiness tradition. Now, I don’t want to get too deep into theological doctrine, at least not until we’ve all had enough coffee for the day. But I will say this – the holiness tradition is rooted in the belief that there are two “works of grace”, as they are called. The first is salvation – you “get saved”. I can see some heads nodding from some of you who are familiar with this language. The second work is “entire sanctification”. This, according to the teachings of John Wesley, brings about “Christian perfection”, his words, defined generally as a life filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit. Reflecting on this now, many years later, it’s sometimes still hard for me to believe the use of the word “perfection” in this context. But that’s exactly what we were taught, and what, for many years, I internalized and strived for.

This brought about two distinct responses in me. One, more heart-driven, and the other, more head-driven. The first was the notion that I was never going to measure up to what I was “supposed to be”. And this was a bad thing. I was constantly striving for, and falling short. Having the best intentions, and then feeling like a failure every time I had “sin” in my life. The second response was the notion that, once you became saved and sanctified, your beliefs about God, about the world, and about right and wrong, did not change. You accepted the teachings of the church as the small-g gospel truth.

Again, reflecting from this vantage point, it’s difficult to discern which of these responses was more damaging in my life – the guilt I felt for not measuring up, or the fervent conviction that my beliefs about God and the world were “right”, set in stone, and should not, or would not change.

But the danger came about when someone started asking tough questions. “Wrestling with their faith”, as it was called. This was thin ice, and I remember more than one person advising me to “just have faith”. “Let go and let God”. The implication was that I should not get too worried about the questions, but instead just trust that everything I’d been taught was right, and that God would take care of the rest. Not to be too harsh, but when I describe these types of things now, it sounds a little culty.

So, with that backdrop… This is an interesting scripture that Beth read, the words of Jesus from the book of Matthew, chapter 13. And I like The Message paraphrase. Specifically when Jesus says, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. …Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. …You have eyes that see, ears that hear!” I’m struck by the present and active tone of some of these words – insights and understandings that flow freely, eyes that do see, ears that do hear. But I wonder, what are these insights and understandings? Eyes to see and ears to hear…what? And what does it mean to have a “ready heart for this”, as Jesus says?

The implication that there could be “new insights” into God’s kingdom is not something that was emphasized in my formative years. However, it is something that has become very important to me in the years since. So, how do we gain insights? How do we continue to evolve in our faith and understanding? Well, we can talk about ‘evolving’ from a few different perspectives. Let’s start with an evolving mind.

I’ve had the privilege and honor to be able to teach and mentor many young people throughout my adult life. It’s something that I grew to have a passion for. Most of these relationships began in the context of music – piano or voice lessons, choir directing, band coaching… But many developed from lessons and conversations just about music, to also include conversations about life. About relationships with friends and significant others, about family dynamics, sexual orientation, alcohol and other substances, career choices, and so much more.

One of my favorite things to do with my students was something I called “marker moments”. Let’s say I had introduced a hard concept – playing a certain piece or passage, or maybe scales at a specific tempo. Or, in voice, singing over your “break”, from chest voice to head voice, or blending, or breath control… Can I get an “amen” from my choir? You get the picture. Almost without exception, students struggled with these concepts at first. A week, or two weeks, or a month might go by with little noticeable change. But then, at the, say, three month mark, when we had added other things, other pieces into the mix, and the student breezed through that original three month old concept, I would stop them, and say, “Hey, remember when you couldn’t play that? Remember when trying to do that was so frustrating? Do you realize that you just played it without stopping, and maybe even without thinking about it? Way to go! That progress needs to be celebrated!” Then I’d high-five them, and they’d have a big smile on their face.

Or, maybe the marker moment wasn’t about music at all, but something in their life – passing a particularly difficult class, or finding a job, joining a club, maybe initiating a hard conversation with a friend or family member. And when that “thing” happened, it called for acknowledging and celebrating, not just for the event itself, but for the growth that had occurred in that person as a result.

With several of my really close students and mentor-mentee relationships, we’d have conversations about the really hard questions – Is there a God? What’s the purpose of my life? What really hard things might life throw at me, and will I be strong enough to get through them? These are questions that don’t have simple, pat answers.

At the end of these conversations, I would usually say something like, “Your perspective will likely change on these things as you get older, as you experience more of life. In 5 years, you may have a different answer. In 10 years, you’ll most likely have a different answer. And in 20 years, you’d better have a different answer!”

Ok, let’s get back to the topic at hand. To be clear, the thought of an “evolving faith” would be something akin to heresy in the churches of my youth. And not just for the possible association with Charles Darwin. In that setting, your beliefs, your convictions, were the very measure of the strength of your faith. If your convictions started to crumble, everything went with it. And besides, it was of utmost importance that everyone in a particular church, or even denomination, essentially believed the same things, about God, about certain social issues, about who’s going to heaven, and who’s not. The day I started to question this, was the day I wondered if maybe there was another way.

If you’ve attended this Meeting for very long, it’s likely that you’ve heard talk of the SPICES. These are our core values, sometimes called our Quaker “testimonies”, something we strive to “give witness to” in the world. When we say “spices”, we’re talking about Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Now, I knew nothing of the SPICES when I first walked in to this Meeting back in 2012. But now they have become, and continue to be for me a kind of guiding principle in my life. However, my view of these values, these testimonies, has not been static. Indeed, it has been very dynamic.

I’ll take two of these, and give you a couple of examples – First, the “E” in SPICES: Equality.

When I was growing up, the issue of LGBT rights and the gay community in general, was just that – an issue. I was taught to “love the sinner, hate the sin”. Which, based on the models I was being shown, meant, keep “those people” at an arm’s length. And, I’m ashamed to say now, it was pretty easy for me to adopt this approach. Easy, that is, until I formed a friendship with someone who was gay. I was in my mid 20s. His name was Richard. He had stories of terrible treatment at the hands of other people, many of them from conservative faith communities, shunning him in the name of their particular brand of Christianity. I began to see and hear about Richard’s heart, his humanness, his sense of humor, his emotions, his dreams. And, over time, I began to relate to Richard not as a gay person, but as a person, created in the very image of God, just like I was. As our friendship strengthened, I realized that Richard and I were not really that different from one another. Over time, the LGBT community stopped being just a black and white “issue” for me, but now had faces, names, personalities, emotions, hopes.

More recently, I lived on the far east side of Indianapolis, for a period of about five years. The far east side has, for decades, struggled as a result of disinvestment from the city. There are large grocery deserts, struggling schools, boarded up buildings…potholes that don’t always get fixed, yards that don’t always get mowed, trash that doesn’t always get picked up. As a result, there are areas of high crime and violence, drug use, and urban blight. And yet, you know what I eventually found in the midst of all that? Humanity. But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. I’d love to say that it was easy. That I noticed it right away. That I went in and was immediately able to see past and even through all the dirty outer surface. But, I was not. In fact, for a while, I was judgy, even curmudgeonly about my surroundings. And then I met Benjamin. He was the kid who lived across the street, the same age as my youngest. Benjamin came from a rough family situation. But man, that kid had such a soft heart. A kindness. A desire to learn. And also a pretty wicked jump shot. I began playing basketball with Benjamin in the neighborhood. Then occasionally I would drive him to school when he missed the bus, and had no one else to take him. On a few instances, he spent the night at my house, when his parents had locked him out. We would get into conversations about his interests, and what he wanted to do with his life after high school. Now, please understand, I’m not the savior here. In fact, quite the opposite. It was Benjamin who helped me to see past the ugly things I had chosen to focus on, past the things that were different than my own experience, and instead, connect on a level of mutual respect and admiration.

These two stories, and more specifically, these two people, have helped my understanding and practice of “equality” to grow in significant ways. A different perspective than I had 5 years ago. And a vastly different one than 20 years ago! In fact, sometimes I wonder if a faith journey that is given space to evolve over time, begins simply with the courage to say, “I was wrong about that. And I’ve changed my mind.”

A couple of weeks ago, Beth invited me and a few others to sit on a panel for the Quaker Affirmation class she was leading for some of our young people. Those are always fun and lively discussions. We talk about our histories with being Quaker, and we’re thrown all kinds of questions: “What do you believe about God? Do you think Jesus really resurrected from the dead? What are your thoughts on the Bible?” As I sat there that day and listened to the other 6 or 7 people on the panel talk about their faith journeys, how they understand God and the Bible and other big questions, I noticed two things. One was obvious – that we all had different answers! Thinking back to my evangelical roots, I thought, “Maybe I’ve found what I’d been curious enough to wonder about all those years before – another way.” Maybe we don’t have to all believe the exact same thing. Maybe there is complex beauty in diversity! As I listened to the rest of the panel members reflect, I also felt a deep and profound respect for all of them, despite having perspectives and views that were different than mine. In fact, when I’m really living into the SPICES, it is this deep respect for others’ perspectives that continues to form who I am.

And this leads me to the “C” in SPICES. I am shaped by the community I keep! And I don’t think I’m alone in saying that this community, this Meeting, has had a profound impact on who I am, and how my faith has continued to evolve. The beauty in this is really two fold: Not only am I given the grace and, dare I say, permission to grow, to change, to consider things from a different perspective, but all around me are gentle opportunities to do just that. I just have to have “eyes that see, and ears that hear”. But here’s the real kicker: I get to do that for others, as well! And I’m not alone in this. Not only do you get the grace, the permission, the opportunity to learn, to grow, to see, to hear…but you also get the chance to make this community better, more beautiful, more equitable, by the unique gifts, experiences, and perspectives that you bring.

I don’t want a faith that’s static. I’ve found that there are some questions that I’ll never have the answers to, and yet others that, as I wrestle with them, can open up a whole different level of love, compassion, peace-making, acceptance, and relationship. Maybe, just maybe, this starts to scratch the surface of the “insight into God’s Kingdom” that Jesus talks about. If so, it’s a marker moment to be celebrated.

We’re going to move into a time of waiting worship. If you feel the Spirit moving you to speak, come to the microphone at the front, or simply stand up, and someone will bring a microphone to you.

I’ve written several queries for us to consider this morning. They’re written in your bulletin, but I’ll read them out loud for us as we prepare to enter into this time.

What areas of my faith journey are growing, evolving, and opening up new levels of understanding for me?

Can I identify a barrier that might be keeping me from continuing to change and grow in my faith? If so, what is it?

What are the things or places, or, who are the people that inspire me to seek new insights, and to expand my perspective?

3-30-25 - In the Image or Likeness of God

In the Image or Likeness of God
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Beth Henricks

March 30, 2025

Our Scripture reading today is Genesis 1:26-31

26 Then God said, “Let us make humans[a] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth[b] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humans[c] in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;[d]
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

I just finished a book a good friend of mine sent me called The Act of Lovingkindness Preparing to Practice by Rabbi Rami Shapiro.  The first chapter talked about this idea of image and likeness of God, and it struck a deep chord within me.  Rabbi Shapiro says, “The book of Genesis tells us we are created in the image and likeness of God.  Yet when God actually creates us , Torah refers to us only as image of God and not the likeness.  What is the difference in the wording?  What does it mean to be the image of God?  Being the image of God means we are God manifest. Just as a wave in the ocean extended in time and space, so each one of us is God extended in time and space.”

I was raised in a faith tradition that emphasized the depravity of man and that we needed Jesus to save us from our original sin.  Even as a child and teenager I struggled with this idea as I studied the scriptures in Genesis talking about God creating us in His image.  Does that mean that God is part of original sin if we believe that we are born into sin?   How  do I reconcile the beautiful story of creation in Genesis with the image and imprint of God on our being?  Are we created with more Light or more Darkness?  I think we all know that we have both sides of this image as there cannot be Light without Darkness.   But our creation, our being  is in the image of God.  And while darkness is present in the mystery of God – I have to believe the Light is what overpowers the darkness.  And that Light , that image of God, is part of our essence, our spirit and our core.  I cannot accept that we are created as sinners that are depraved and need to be saved as we are born.  To me this is an antithesis to what I read in Genesis as we are being created in the image of God.  Can we all visualize the image of God within our physical bodies?  Do we name ourselves in that image?    We are one in God and God in us.  God is being itself. 

Phillip challenged Jesus with this idea in John 14:8-10 when he asked  Jesus to show us the Father and Jesus says, Phillip whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  I am in the Father and the Father is in me.   I think Phillip wanted Jesus to point to God, but Phillip was missing the teaching of Jesus  - I am in God and God is in me. Created in the image of God.

I know there is a lot of shame out there and we don’t always feel like we are the image of God at many times in our lives.  I had lunch with a friend recently that works at a drug and alcohol rehab center and leads groups of men trying to put their lives back together.  These men live in unworthiness and shame and yet my friend in group sessions will tell them that she has never seen them not sober.  That is her only experience of them  as sober men.  They are always taken aback by this as most of their lives have had to live with all of their terrible decisions.  But there in rehab, they are sober, beloved and reminded of how they are created in the image of God.  We don’t have to “get our act together” before we are beloved,  before we are the image of God.  We have been created in the image of God since our inception and before. 

This idea of image of God is foundational to our Quaker faith.  One of our core values is that “there is that of God in each person”.  First, we must recognize this within ourselves and then we can recognize this in others.  With George Fox’s recognition of this we can be in God and God with us without the need for priests, pastors, rituals or adherence to doctrinal statements - we can directly access this connection and recognition. 

Our scripture reading today  reads in verse 26 “let us make humans in our image according to our likeness…  We could talk about the use of  the plural words of us and our – that could be a whole other discussion about God referring to God in the plural.  Does that mean there are other gods?  I know many in our fundamentalist communities think the text is referring to the Trinity.  But at the time of this writing there could not have been any idea of Trinity.  The explanation that makes more sense to me  as outlined in The Harper Collins Study Bible commentary states that the first 11 chapters of Genesis tells of the origins of the cosmos, and humankind and recounted in primeval narratives while the origins of Israel’s ancestors in the patriarchal narrative – mixture of myths and legends, cultural memories, revisions of tradition and literary brilliance.   Many primeval narratives talk about multiple Gods and could reflect the context of the time.  But that is something to think  about another day.

When the actual creating part happens in verse 27 the word likeness is left out and only image of God  is named.  But God says let us make humans in our image and likeness.  I’d like to focus  on  what does it mean to be the likeness of God?  And is this different than being created in the image of God?  I think being the likeness of God means that we have the potential to act in a Godly manner.  But it takes our action, our participation, our choices to live into the likeness of God.  Rabbi Shapiro writes that it means that” we can, regardless of our ideology, theology and politics, engage each moment and each other with lovingkindness.”    While we are created in the image of God, we are not yet the likeness of God.  Living into the likeness of God is a choice.  And living into the likeness of God means that we practice loving-kindness to all.  Those that believe differently than we do, those that disagree with us politically, those that look differently than we do. 

Rabbi Shapiro described an event he spoke at for a fundraiser for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia a number of years ago, and why all these thousands of people were there to support these victims of a culture that believes differently, looks differently, speaks differently and a place we likely have never been to.  He had the audience do an experience with the person they were sitting next to in drawing the letters of the Hebrew name of God YHVH (yod – hey-vav-hey) on each other.  It was a powerful experience with a tremendous emotional response and as the Rabbi sat down, he wondered why this was so moving.  He said “ The answer came quickly – because it was the truth.  You know in  your heart, you know in a way that theology can never touch, that you are one with God, the Source and Substance of all life, and thus one with all living things.  And knowing who you  are makes lovingkindness possible. “  Friends, it is the recognition of the image of God within us that we can choose to be the likeness of God. 

The verses that we read talk about humans having dominion over every living thing on the earth seems to speak to God’s  desire for humans to live in the likeness of God.  We are responsible for this earth, and I think God recognizes the fragility of creation, God declares it was good in verse 31 but God knows even with implanting God’s image on humans it must be their desire to be like God that will determine the fate of this world.  It seems like God has a hint that humans must desire to be like God to choose to recognize the image of God in all things and to take care of the birds, the fish, the waters, the sky, the plants, all animals to ensure all in the earth’s future.

I think our work is to try to live into being the likeness of God.  And it is not a one-time event of conversion.  Living into the likeness of God occurs every day as we have opportunities that open to us to show this likeness.

Rabbi Shapiro shares two visualizations to practice daily that I have started to do.  “Wake up each morning and stand in front of a mirror, seeing your body as the incarnate Name of God.  As you go about your day, see everyone and everything as the Name as well.  Listen for your angel announcing your true nature and listen for the angels of others doing the same.  In time you will break up the hard-packed soil of narrow mind and plant in it the seed of lovingkindness that will soon grow and awaken in you the spacious mind that is your holy and most true self.”

We will now enter a time of waiting worship.  I share several queries for you to consider during this time.

Can we embrace that we are created in the image of God?

            Can we live like we know we are a Beloved of God?

            Will we make a choice to live into the likeness of God today?

3-23-25 - Salty People: Bringing Out the God-Flavors

Salty People: Bringing Out the God-Flavors

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 23, 2025

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen for this week is from Matthew 5:13 from the New Revised Standard Version),

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Even though I concluded my series on the Beatitudes last week, I thought it was interesting what Jesus said to the faithful immediately following the Beatitudes. It is still part of the Sermon on the Mount, but it serves as both a compliment and warning of sorts.  

If you were listening to the scripture reading, Jesus actually called his followers “salty.”

Now, in our world today, to be “salty” means something much different than what Jesus meant. Today, if you or I call someone salty it means they are irritated, angry, or resentful, especially as a result of losing or being slighted.  That was far from what Jesus was saying. Actually, Jesus was paying them a very high compliment by calling them the salt of the earth.

But to understand this strange comparison Jesus makes to the faithful of his day, we have to know a little history and background. I enjoy reading the Patheos blog and especially Tim Suttle’s Paperback Theology. He has helped me understand the salty descriptor in a new way.

If we go all the way back to the ancient world, evil spirits were thought to be warded off by salt.  As well, it was among the first commodities ever traded.

For our furry friend lovers. Sometime around 10 thousand years ago the first dogs were domesticated, and they accomplished this by using salt. They would leave salt out for the dogs to lick, then began to leave food. Soon they’d be the only food source, and they’d begin to approach the dogs, closer and closer until they were eating out of their hands. Then they’d steal a puppy, or a puppy would just follow them home. They’d get used to the people. The pups that were more naturally docile stayed with the people, were bread, and over time were domesticated. All our domesticated animals like cows, goats, and other livestock were domesticated with this process and it all starts with salt. This is why so many people who put out salt licks on their property for the deer, find the deer becoming a bit too friendly.

As well, salt was a major political factor.  The city of Rome was founded where it is because of its close proximity to the salt works of the day. The first great Roman road was the Via Salaria the way of salt or the “Salt Road.” Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt. And a commander might ask if a solder was “worth his salt.”

Our word salary – comes from the Latin sal for salt. Romans were known to salt their greens (where we get the word salad). Romans developed engineering technologies that are still being used to mine or process salt.

Humans cannot live without salt. Just like water & food, its deficiency causes headaches & weakness, light-headedness & nausea, eventually death.

But with food we get hungry.

With water we get thirsty.

With salt there is no associated craving, even though salt is a vital nutrient.

Salt is in our blood, lymph fluid, all extra-cellular fluids and is necessary for most metabolic processes. It helps our body regulate fluids and is essential for cardiovascular function & digestion.

Without enough salt we will die, not to mention that French fries taste horrible without it.

In the ancient world salt was a symbol of fertility. Fish lived in salt water & had many more offspring than did land animals. They thought it was to do with the salt in the water. Later European brides and grooms would carry salt on their person to ward off infertility. Romans called a man in love salax – in a “salted state.” (Which is actually the origin of our English word salacious.)

Salt has been a part of the religious customs of nearly every religion known to the world. It was an acceptable offering for the Greek gods. It was part of the ancient Egyptian burial rites (All those mummies we go see in museums are there, still today, because of salt.).

To the Hebrew people salt is the symbol of the covenant with God – a covenant that will never spoil. Numbers 18:19 says,  

“It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants.”

Newborn Hebrew babies were rubbed in salt as sign of covenant – which just sounds itchy and dry, doesn’t it?

In Islam, salt seals a bargain.

In many Christian traditions salt is used to make Holy Water, and it is associated with wisdom, truth and witness.

On many occasions, when I was an Anglican priest at a Cathedral, I would help the Bishop bless the holy water. But before we did that, we had to mix the salt and purified water. There was a formula in our priest’s handbook along with the prayer of blessing.

So, with that little history lesson, it is clear Jesus was paying his followers a huge compliment when he said:

“YOU are the salt of the earth.” Not only were they blessed from last week, but they were salt. 

Salt is such the perfect descriptor for Jesus to use.  

Salt flavors food. It’s not the main taste so much as it brings out the flavors that are already there. The church (or the people) should bring out the flavors in our world. Not simply create or become a flavor of choice.

Salt is also a preservative. It keeps things from spoiling and rotting. And it doesn’t take much – a tiny bit of salt flavors the whole thing. Everybody doesn’t have to become salt for the salt to do its job. All it takes is just a little bit to make the whole thing better.

As salt preserves meat from rotting, those who are trying to live in the way of Christ, distributed in communities all around the world, help to preserve humanity through righteousness (or practical living), seeking justice, sharing and being love and kindness, and all while upholding that which is Truth.

Folks, salt permanently changes the flavor of food, just as the influence of faithful people can change a community, a nation, and even a culture. The main point is that you and I serve a divine purpose in the world simply by living out what Jesus taught us.

Now, we also need to address the rest of our scripture for today. Jesus adds a “but” saying,

“…BUT if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

So, what is Jesus saying here?

Well, when it comes to you and me, how can we lose our “saltiness”?

I think one of the clear ways we would lose our saltiness is by simply staying in the saltshaker – or what some may call our “comfort zone.” Some people have even made the church their saltshaker and seek this place only to be comforted.     

But the purpose of the salt is to be shaken out into the world – into our communities, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, families, etc.

And at times, we can be so, huddled together in our comfort zones, that we are not actually outside of these four walls, engaged with the world, and bringing practical living, justice, love and kindness, and truth to the world around us.

Folks, someone once said, “We gather to scatter.” We come to Meeting to listen, hear, and be nudged by the Divine and then we scatter into our places of influence to share what the Spirit has spoken to us.  

But if we stay in the saltshaker, and if we are not seeking to bring kingdom life into the world around us, we are effectively TASTELESS Quakers and Christians because we are not in the proximity for anyone to even know the salt is here.

In Jesus’ day, when salt would lose it’s taste or salty nature, it would be spread on the paths of the city to strengthen the road and keep the weeds away.  Thus, it was literally what Jesus said, “trampled underfoot.”

That is often what happens to those of us who lose our saltiness in the world. We get trampled by the world’s ways. Some even would say the Christian Church in America has been trampled by politics, a lust for power, a desire to be right, and thus it has lost its impact. 

More than ever, we need to embrace our saltiness! We once again must answer the call to season our circles of influence with righteousness, justice, love and kindness, and truth. 

I love the way the Message translation puts Matthew 5:13: 

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

We are here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. It reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, Guy Feiri’s “Dinners, Drive-in’s and Dives.” Do you know Guy’s catchphrase for his Triple-D Nation?

It’s you have a “one-way ticket to Flavortown.”

Folks, You and I (the salt of the earth) are the one-way ticket to Flavortown for our world of influence. We are the seasoning. We are bringing out the God-flavors in our world.

The world is getting awfully bland – and I think it’s time we spiced it up a bit.  And for Quakers who describe their testimonies as S.P.I.C.E.S. – well this should not be that hard. 

So, as we head into waiting worship this morning, I want us to take a moment to ponder the following queries.

·      Is my comfort blocking my seasoning ability and saltiness?

·      What could I do this week that would bring out the God-flavors in my circle of influence?

·      How could First Friends be more effective at bringing out the God-flavors in our community?

3-16-25 - Blessed Are You!

Blessed Are You!

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 16, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  Our scripture for this morning is from Matthew 5:11-12 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Today, we conclude this series with the additional commentary Jesus adds to the end of the Beatitudes to emphasize and explain what he was saying about the persecuted in last week’s message. If you were listening carefully as I was reading these concluding remarks, Jesus compares the blessed who are persecuted to the Old Testament prophets – I think this is a very important comparison and a not-to-be-missed concluding remark because it speaks to our condition, today.   

You may remember, back in the fall of 2023, I preached a sermon series on the Biblical Prophets based on a small book by my friend and fellow Quaker, Howard Macy.  This was preparation and set-up for both my last sermon series, “Speaking Truth to Power,” as well as, this current series on the Beatitudes. Sometimes, it just takes several years of 15 to 20-minute messages to finally connect all the dots. I thank you for your patience. 

 I want to return to some of the insights I shared in those messages on the Prophets, to help us fully understand why Jesus would add these thoughts and even give somewhat of a warning to those of us trying to live out his message.

Howard early on quoted Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel who said that the Hebrew Prophets were “some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived.”  And then Howard urged us to befriend them, to come alongside them, and to risk becoming a disturbing person ourselves.

Because he says, “The world needs more disturbing people – people who can envision the wonders of life together that God intends for us, people who can see through and call out the ways we corrupt that life, people who can teach us how to walk in God’s ways.

Many of you are struggling with knowing what to do in these challenging times, I know because you share it with me, on a daily basis. Most of the conversations I have had over the last three months have included the phrase, “I am not sure what to do.” 

Interestingly, the prophets often were in the same place asking the same question when they were called.  And guess what their initial response was? 

Moses and Jeremiah said, “Not me, send someone else.”

And even though Isaiah’s first response was “Here I am, send me.” He later balks, “I’d just rather not.” 

Amos comes out and denies he is a prophet under pressure.

And we all know what Jonah did, he decided to run away. 

So, folks, currently most of us are in the same boat as the prophets. We really don’t want to speak up. We would rather someone else do the hard work. We would like to escape the reality of what is happening or wish it away.  Yet as Quakers and Christians in our world today, we have a responsibility to respond.  

These same prophets who were trepidatious and full of anxiety would soon find their voices in their local communities and give us some of the most important images of the world God intends.  They would describe:

·      A peace without limit, where justice and righteousness prevail (there it is again righteousness, just what we have talked about for the past 8 weeks.

·      A time when nations will stream to hear God’s teaching and will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks.

·      Where justice will roll down like an ever-flowing stream.

·      Or how about this one…where “Faithful love and truth will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss, and Truth will literally spring up from the ground as righteousness gazes down from the heavens.

Those are some impressive and inspiring images coming from some people who originally did not have the courage to step up or speak out.  I think it was in them all along, as I believe it is in you and me right now. 

Howard helped me get to the meat of the prophet’s message by sharing the four most used words of the prophets which he describes as the “shiny facets of the gem, shalom,” and what he considers are the foundations for building a community of peace.

So, what are those four words?

If they are the meat of the prophets, the gem of shalom, the foundation for building peaceful communities – AND from our text today, the things that cause people to revile, persecute, and utter all kinds of evil against them falsely, then these must be loaded subjects.   

So, what are these four facets of the gem of shalom…

1.      Righteousness

2.      Justice

3.      Love/Kindness

4.      Truth

At first pass, these four things may seem a simplification or to some even religious fluff, that is until you get to what is behind these ordinary things.

Righteousness to the prophets was first and foremost about practical living - thus it means to live by common means, widely and readily accessible to our neighbors.

And the prophets point out who to focus on within that grouping of neighbors. They say to give special attention to the poor and needy, the widow and orphan, and the foreign resident (or stranger) in your land. 

This righteous practical living is daily living, folks, it happens right in our own homes, communities, workplaces, and places of worship. 

Those of us asking “What should I do, currently?”  Maybe to start we could simply begin by living practically.  Acknowledging and engaging our neighbors who are struggling, who have needs, who have questions in our spheres of influence.

Then comes Justice. To the prophets, justice was rooted in their understanding of the character, actions, and guidance of God.  When justice is added to righteousness or practical living – it is called “Social Justice.”  Once we are seeing and acknowledging our neighbors, then we can move to pursuing justice to protect, care, and uplift them.

To do this, we must seek out where they are being cheated or treated unfairly.  This may take some of us coming together to speak out or rally against the injustices taking place. For some of us it might take letter writing campaigns and making phone calls to our leaders.  At times we may be nudged or even led to personally stand with or speak up for our neighbors. Or maybe it is not for a person but for our environment which impacts our neighbors. 

These are just a couple examples, but to know how we are to respond means we have to first of all know who are neighbors are and what is going on in their lives. 

Then comes Love and Kindness.  The prophets used the Hebrew word hesed, which I talked about earlier in this series. It is hard to translate, but probably the best way to translate it for what we are talking about today is “embracing faithful love.”

The character of God’s love should guide our own character, especially how it persists and never gives up.  We have to respond to our neighbors and our world in faithful love, not in bitterness, not in hatred, not in revenge, but in a manner that offers a loving presence in the daily lives of our neighbors.

This attentive care then shapes our relationships and builds stronger ties between us and helps us become kinder and more respectful people.

And finally comes Truth. For the prophets, truth meant reliability, dependability, or things being firmly established. Please hear me on this, our neighbors need to know that they can count on and depend on us.

Our neighbors should be able to rely on our integrity (especially as Quakers), our consistency, and our desire to say and do what is right. 

One of the greatest struggles in our world today is people trusting each other.  After not knowing what to do in our country, today, the next thing that comes out of most people’s mouth is “who can I trust.” 

To build trust once again, we have to be reliable, consistent, and dependable people in our daily lives. Our neighbors must know we are safe.  This means: 

Our LGBTQ+ and Queer neighbors must know we are safe - especially our Transgender and Non-binary children. 

Our immigrant neighbors must know we are safe people. 

Our neuro-divergent neighbors must know we are safe. 

Our elderly neighbors must know we are safe.

Our children must know we are safe.

And the list must go on and on…until every group is covered. 

Obviously, we won’t get this perfect every time, we may even show our weaknesses at times and occasionally fail, but as Quakers and Christians, we must not give up, or just expect someone else will come to their aid or to their rescue.

This is OUR calling. Just as it was for the prophets before us. If you want an answer to “What should I be doing today?,” just start with what the prophets sought; Righteousness, Justice, Love/Kindness, and Truth. That is our daily call. 

I find it interesting in his final word on the Beatitudes, Jesus says,  “Blessed are YOU.” Did you notice that?  He gets personal with his audience. He stops teaching and looks us in the eyes and says, Blessed are YOU. 

Not just the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, even though these all could and probably do at times describe you and me – but, now he simply says, Blessed are YOU.  

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

Jesus’ life was a lived example of each of those descriptors and he understood the backlash that comes from righteous living.  It sadly was and still is part of our world.  But he also knows that when we live this way, there is a great good taking place.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What we may have been quick to assume is that Jesus is simply saying, do this and your reward will be in heaven when you die.  But all along he has used the phrase kingdom of heaven to describe our current condition. 

He is not simply been talking about where we go when we die, but the Kingdom that is ours starting, NOW, as we fulfill the work of the beatitudes or what I described last week as Kingdom work.  Too many Christians have simply made this an escape plan and refused to take seriously the Kingdom work involved in the present moment.  

I think it is far time that we stopped making escape plans and started to live as Jesus called us to live in the Beatitudes.

So, today as I close this series, I want to remind us that Jesus said, “Blessed are YOU.”  He didn’t give any of us an easy out, but he challenged us to be better people, better citizens, and better Friends. 

He knew it would be hard, and he warned us, but he also reminded us

·      That the Kingdom of heaven or God would be ours.  

·      That we would be comforted,

·      That we would inherit the land,

·      That we would be satisfied,

·      That we would be shown mercy,

·      That we would see God in ourselves and in our neighbor, and

·      That we would be called God’s children.

Blessed are YOU.  Amen!

Now, as we center down and enter waiting worship, I ask that you take a moment to ponder the following queries:

·      Am I still feeling as if I do not know what to do?

·      How might I work this week to embrace righteousness, justice, love/kindness, and truth in my circle of influence?

·       Where have I expected someone else to come to the rescue or speak up, instead of responding myself?

3-9-25 - Persecuted or Persecuting

Persecuted or Persecuting

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 9, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. Today, we are looking at the last of the beatitudes from Matthew 5:10 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To understand our beatitude for this morning, we need to take a closer look at persecution in the history of the church.  And to do that, we need to go back to the first century of the church. Dr. Jerry Sittser, a professor who has been integral in my academic pursuits, takes us back and shows us how very early on persecution became a part of the church. He says,

Stories have traveled down through the centuries. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was burned at the stake in the year 155. He was 86 years old. Blandina died in the arena with over 40 other Christians in the year 177. In 202 Perpetua died with six others in Carthage. She was only 22 years old, a new Christian and a nursing mother.

Perpetua’s story is unusual because she kept a diary while in prison. An unknown writer added to the account, telling the story of her actual execution. Roman soldiers escorted her from the prison to the arena. Her courage and joy enraged the thousands who watched. Though Perpetua appeared to suffer defeat, she behaved as if she were achieving ultimate victory. Such was her confidence in the kingdom.

Why did Rome persecute Christians? For one, Christians posed a threat to the Roman way of life because they lived so differently. They refused to attend the games, placate the gods, visit temples and shrines, participate in festivals, and bow the knee to the emperor. Their way of life exposed Rome’s idolatry and immortality. Second, Christians challenged the hegemony of Roman authority by proclaiming Jesus as Lord. They were usually model citizens, even praying for emperors. But they refused to worship emperors.

So, this shows that from very early on the church and Christians were being persecuted. Let’s now jump to the 1600’s, where we are going to find not much has changed, but now we are talking our own tribe, Quakers.

In England as well as in a number of American colonies the Quakers faced violent persecution. Some 15,000 Quakers were jailed in England between 1660 and 1685. In 1660, Edward Burrough catalogued the maltreatment of Quakers in New England: 64 Quakers had been imprisoned; two Quakers lashed 139 times, leaving one (described as)  "beat like into a jelly"; another branded with the letter H, for heretic, after being whipped with 39 stripes; and three Quakers had been executed. 

Even in New York, which tolerated a wide variety of religious persuasions, the Quakers faced hostility. After arriving in Long Island in 1657, some Quakers were fined, jailed, and banished by the Dutch, who (like Puritan New Englanders) were outraged by Quaker women proselytizing…

Over time, we, Quakers found successful ways to channel our moral idealism and religious enthusiasm. We established weekly and monthly meetings which imposed structure and discipline on members, and beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, directed our energies against a wide variety of social evils, including slavery. By the early nineteenth century, we were engaged in moral reform movements in numbers wildly disproportionate to our society’s size. As many as a third of all early nineteenth century feminists and antislavery activists were Quakers.

So, this is just a very brief overview of how Christians and Quakers have been associated with persecution from their beginnings.

Today, we live in a country, where the church universally receives very little persecution (even though many churches will make it seem that they are the victim of a great deal of persecution for their own benefit – that is something we can explore at another time).  

Sadly, too often today it is actually the church that is being the persecutor – especially in the United States.

To understand this turning of the tables, let me talk a bit about what all persecution can cover and just how the tables have turned. 

Persecution of Christians and especially Quakers have included everything from violence, discrimination, and hostility, as well as disinformation and state-sponsored campaigns. 

Many authoritarian governments have used state-controlled media to spread lies and disinformation. For example, in North Korea, propaganda falsely depicts life as affluent and free of censorship, but Christians have faced a great deal of persecution in that country. It seems we have similar news and media sources in our country that are doing the same. 

As well, Christians and Quakers have faced hostility from society and especially from governments. For example, in India, Hindu nationalists target Christians and Muslims. In Iran, Christians who convert from Islam face pressure, even death threats, from their families and communities. 

But most persecution comes in the form of verbal abuse, slander, and incitement of hatred. Sometimes it leads to confiscation or destruction of property (which we have seen happen here in Indy at Jewish Congregations and Muslim Masjids), and can even escalate further to good people being arrested, imprisoned, beat, tortured, murdered, and executed.  This ultimately leads to restrictions on religious practices, and ultimately pressure to renounce one's faith.

What I have been describing is persecution coming from outside the church or from other faiths or belief systems. But the reality today in the United States is that persecution is coming more from within the walls of the church, and Christians and even some Quakers today are sadly pointing their fingers at each other and persecuting one another. 

Today, we are seeing one group of Christians or Quakers making it harder for other faithful people to own homes, hold jobs, get married, raise children, and attend religious services.

This may be more familiar when remembering the church’s past responses to Native Americas, African Blacks, Asian and Muslim communities, but it also has happened around issues of gender, age, mental health, sexuality, finances, immigration status and a plethora of other issues.  

In some cases, family members can even turn against family members and Meetings turn against each other (this has been especially apparent among Quakers with the LGBTQ+ and Queer communities causing Yearly Meetings to split – which has happened right here in Indiana).

They may kick a beloved family member out of their home, church, or Meeting, report them to their employers, harass them, or work to separate them from their children. Sadly, I have experienced each of these in my years as a Quaker. 

And folks, this is where discussing persecution becomes very timely and important to understand. Persecution can escalate above this social level as the perpetrators gain influence, especially political influence. Banning books, eliminating Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs, escalating culture wars, and erasing people’s history are all types of persecution. (I was proud of our Ministry and Counsel who this week approved a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Statement for us at First Friends – which will now head to our Clerks Council to be brought to our next business meeting).  

With political power these Christians can pass laws against the form of Christianity, Quakerism, or for that matter any religion or belief system they believe is wrong – this is prevalent in our country and our state, currently.   

This then works to create laws that can make it even more difficult for good people to own property, operate businesses, freely worship, raise children in their belief system, travel, and much, much more. We can see this right here in Indianapolis with neighborhood gentrification, libraries removing books, police brutality, and so much more.  

Ultimately, this will lead to it becoming legal to torture, jail, rape, and kill these persecuted people, because they do not believe the correct things or because they lack worth in the eyes of a said group of people – this is what we have already done to our First Nations People, to African Slaves and Blacks, to Asians who we put in camps during World War II, and to Aids victims in the 80’s.  And these are just a few of the biggest examples – there are sadly numerous more.

What we are seeing in our world today is persecution whose purpose is to force the “wrong” type of belief system to convert or align with the “right” belief system.  Folks, this is what Christians and Quakers have fought against and been persecuted for since our beginnings. But today, it is not coming from outside but actually from within our own faith communities and country.   

What has been growing in our country is perpetuators gaining power who believe that their type of Christianity is the only way to “salvation” (whatever they mean by that) and the only way to live with each other – but sadly it is far from Jesus’ principles we have talked about in this Series on the Beatitudes and from the ideals of the Kingdom of God or Heaven. 

Much like the early Christians and Quakers, I believe we are being called once again to live differently in our world.

We must again refuse to play the games, participate in the madness, and bow our knees to the emperor.

We must again expose the idolatry and immortality and hold our leaders, governments, and religious organizations in the Light, while refusing to worship them.

This is the Kingdom work we are called to. 

"Kingdom work" in the bible and especially in regard to the Beatitudes refers to actively participating in advancing God's kingdom on earth by living out Jesus' teachings (such as the Beatitudes) and using our gifts to serve others, essentially doing work that aligns with what the Spirit is speaking to us in our hearts (which remember is also God’s heart).

This is accomplished through acts of love, compassion, generosity, gratitude and sharing the good news and grace of Jesus’ message to a hurting world. It's more than just "good work" but rather it encompasses living a life dedicated to reflecting Jesus' values in our everyday actions. 

Some people suffer for doing evil, but that is punishment, not persecution.

And some are persecuted for reasons unrelated to righteousness.

Please hear me on this, Jesus wasn’t offering a general blessing to all victims of persecution for any cause. I have heard lots of so-called Christian’s in America playing the victim, acting as though they are being persecuted for not getting their way, or for others not agreeing with them.

Yet, Jesus offered it only to those who were persecuted for actively pursuing the kingdom of righteousness. Peter put it this way: “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).

When you and I choose to suffer for doing good or simply engage in Kingdom work, we should plan for some persecution – yes, even from Christians or fellow Friends – If you don’t believe me, go read the many stories of the early Quakers being persecuted by their Puritan neighbors in early America, or go read the minutes of almost all the Quaker Yearly Meetings in this country over the last 10 years who have tried to address same-sex marriage. I don’t think much has changed, today. If anything, it has just evolved. I know first-hand what it means to stand up for those who were given no voice and persecuted for conformity’s sake – not righteousness.

The word from our text in Greek is dioko, which means "to pursue" or "to persecute," but I find it interesting that the word can also mean "to oppress," "to harass," or "to bring to judgment". 

Folks, you and I would not be here today if early Christians and early Quakers did not stand up to the authorities, the oppression, the harassment, and the judgement of their day and be persecuted, jailed, and some even put to death. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Notice it does not say, “Blessed are those who persecute for all to be right” because then it would continue, “theirs will not be the Kingdom of heaven.” It would look much different. 

We need to think about this as we say boldly that we are Christians or Quakers and Friends, today. 

·      Beware of those who persecute.

·      Beware of those who want uniformity of beliefs and what I call “cookie-cutter-Christianity.” 

Rather stand up and speak up, lean into righteousness in your own special way, but also make sure you are prepared when you do – for you will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness – I guarantee it.

And righteousness (as I said in one of the first messages in this series) is about much more than simply following rules and being good people. There must be a burning desire within us for making things right and bringing justice for ALL of God’s people.

Well, I better end it there this week, because we are going to continue this conversation next week with the concluding remarks of the beatitudes. 

For now, let us enter waiting worship to ponder our call. As usual, I have a few queries for us to ponder this morning.

·      Am I willing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness?

·      What Kingdom work should I be engaging in?

·      Who am I persecuting unfairly, and what would it take for me to stop?