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The Good News Written

Teachings of Sylvanus

From now on…return to your divine nature. Cast from you these evil deceiving friends! Accept Christ, this true friend, as a good teacher. Return to your first parents, to God and God’s Wisdom, from whom you came into being.

Galatians 3.25-28 (NRSV)

²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ²⁷As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Luke 8.26-33 (NRSV)

²⁶Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me” — ²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. ³²Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Robert Griffin at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, June 27, 2010.

The Letter of Paul to the Galatians is often called the Magna Charta of Christian liberty.  Because of the urgency, Paul in this particular letter suspends his normal greeting and gets right to the point of addressing the question at hand of whether Gentiles must become Jews before they can become Christians. (I don’t think a GPS program has been made yet that can navigate this route of point A to B).  The church of Galatia in Asia Minor, which Paul had traveled to previously and setup, was being infiltrated by certain teachers declaring that in addition to having faith in the teachings Jesus, a Christian was obligated to keep the Mosaic Law.

What is the Mosaic Law?  Depending on how one looks at it, the Mosaic Law could be about the observance of the 10 Commandments which could be a summarized version for the 613 commandments which are statements and principles of the law and ethics contained in the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.  The 613 commandments make up a long list of rules about dress, food preparation and restriction, how one should travel, how to greet a stranger, making sacrifices, those laws that deal with sex, work, worship, relationships, and the list goes on and on.

And our epistle reading this morning is a mere glimpse of the Apostle Paul setting the record straight.  Paul, once a persecutor of the church and an executer of those that would follow the teachings of Jesus, he himself now a convert has come onto the scene to proclaim that anyone can be Christian.

Paul was reminding them that since you have come into your own faith through baptism, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you, are one in Christ Jesus.” What Paul is doing is reminding the community that they need not any longer be divided over the role of the law in their lives.  Paul in his own way was attempting to unshackle a community that felt bound by law, tradition and ritual that separated rather than called them together. He went on to remind them that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, been meek and that against these there is no law. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

The Yoga of Jesus, Paramahansa Yogananda

Although [human beings are] beset with the perplexities that accompany residence in a physical body, God has provided [us] with the potential to remain in heavenly consciousness regardless of outer circumstances… The one who is conscious of God enjoys… supreme Bliss whether he [or she] is active in the outer world or absorbed in inner communion.

Psalm 5.11 (NRSV)

Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.

Luke 7.36-40, 44-47, 50 (NRSV)

³⁶One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ³⁷And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him — that she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.”

⁴⁴…I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but [this woman] has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her [brokenness has been healed]; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, “Your faith has [made you whole]; go in peace.”

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, June 20, 2010.

In Jesus’ day, nothing was more sacred, more intimate, more socially significant than table fellowship. And because table fellowship was so important, it was almost never shared with people outside of one’s own group. Who you ate with were the people you lived with in community, the people you valued, the people who you identified as YOUR people. Table fellowship was the ultimate dividing line between us and them, and one simply did not eat with THEM.

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat at his house. What an honor! This religious, lay scholar, this Pharisee must think highly of Jesus. And Jesus honors him by accepting the invitation. So far, this is a very pleasant scene. But then things become awkward very quickly.

A woman barges in. And she isn’t just a woman… she is a certain kind of woman. She is a woman with a reputation, and the reputation isn’t flattering. In fact, people are so unkind as to just call her a sinner. The implication is that she is probably a prostitute. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

1 Kings 17.17-23 (NRSV)

¹⁷[A woman’s son] became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸She [turned to the prophet Elijah, who] said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” ²¹Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” ²²The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. ²³Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

Luke 7:11-17 (NRSV)

¹¹Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. ¹²As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” ¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, June 13, 2010.

y great-aunt Gladys had an angina scare. In the emergency room she looked over at my great-uncle Arthur and said, “Darling, you were with me when I fell and broke my hip. You were by my side when I burned myself frying chicken. You were with me when I had a car accident. Whenever things go wrong, you’re right by my side.” Uncle Arthur said, “Oh Gladys, you don’t have to thank me.” “Thank you?!” she said, “I’m telling you to get away from me; you bring me bad luck!”

Today’s readings deal with healing. The healings in these stories show people whose lives appeared to be over; and yet in spite of dire appearances, there was still more life to be experienced. Not only were people healed, but hopeless situations had hope reborn right in their midst. They are powerful stories. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

1 Samuel 18.1, 3; 20.41b-42; 2 Samuel 1.26 (NAB)

…Jonathan had become as fond of David as if his life depended on him; he loved him as he loved himself. And Jonathan entered into a bond with David, because he loved him as himself. David and Jonathan kissed each other and wept aloud together. Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, in keeping with what we two have sworn by the name of the LORD: ‘The LORD shall be between you and me… forever.’” [And when David later learned that Jonathan had been killed in battle, he began to chant and sing], “I grieve for you, my dear Jonathan! Most precious have you been to me; more precious have I held love for you than love for women.”

Luke 7.1-10 (NRSV)

⁷Jesus… entered Capernaum. ²A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. ³When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

We are discussing something today that in many other houses of worship would be a scandal. We are talking about love, but not just love, romantic love…and not just romantic love, but romantic love shared between persons of the same gender. And, we aren’t condemning it; in fact, we are celebrating it. And, we daring to suggest there are models of such love in our own sacred scriptures…if you are feeling light headed it’s because the air is being sucked out of the room all at once.

Now, the story we are focusing on today is about two men, but that is only because most of the bible focuses on the lives of men. The bible comes from a patriarchal culture in the very distant past and the biases of its time and place have wound up in the bible, but the news we find in today’s story is good for men and women, it’s good for gays and lesbians, and bisexuals and heterosexuals and those who now call themselves heteroflexible, it’s even good news for those who are questioning and haven’t really come to the full realization of how their love and attraction can be most authentically expressed. Whoever you are today, wherever you happen to be in your journey, if you feel you have love to give or have ever enjoyed the tenderness of love shared, today’s story is in fact, your story. Continue reading »