Our Blog

You can listen to the reading and reflection by clicking here.

Hosea 6.1-6

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

I know this winter has been an especially difficult time for many people. I’m grateful to be able to work from home, but because it gets dark so early in the evenings, during the week I tend to work late and often don’t go outside. After being indoors for days at a time, I start feeling stir crazy. Last weekend, while my partner was shopping at a mall I found myself waiting outside in the parking lot. I was suddenly overjoyed to just bask in the sun and look up at the clouds. And yet my struggles seem small compared to the people in our city who are homeless, hungry, or unemployed. What right do I have to lament?

So, I feel like the prophetic vision of Hosea is especially powerful during this time. A God who will bind us and raise us up, as sure as the spring rains water the earth. Unlike apocalyptic preachers of the past, I don’t believe that the coronavirus is divine retribution for our sins and I don’t believe the end is nigh.

But I do believe that this season of Lent, and this time of struggle, is an opportunity to reconsider our priorities; to remind us of what’s really important in our lives. I want to try not to take so much for granted, to concentrate on the things I can control; instead of the mindless chatter of social media or politics. To work on building community and strengthening friendships. I am encouraged by the last line of the the scripture, where God does not care about transitory things like burnt offerings or sacrifices, but instead desires love and knowledge. And so in that spirit, I think that this is an opportunity for us to strive to love, and to learn, to marvel occasionally at the clouds, while we to await the first signs of spring. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

John 3.16-21

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

To be honest, I struggled with some of the language and imagery in this scripture. I was struck by the language John uses to contrast Christians with people of other faiths. It seems a bit ironic that today is the sixth day of Hanukah, the festival of light, and this passage condemns Jews and other non-believers, saying they are evildoers who love darkness, just because they do not believe in Jesus. In a divided country, where it feels like there’s so much intolerance, I find the intolerance in the passage particularly jarring. John reminds me of some rants I’ve read on Facebook recently.

I know using imagery of light and dark to talk about good and evil is very common in the bible. And I admit as we near the winter solstice, it’s natural to miss the sun and those long summer days. But light isn’t always good, unending light makes it hard to sleep, just ask anyone who has lived through an arctic summer, and it’s even used to torture prisoners. I know darkness seems scary, and we imagine evildoers lurking behind every corner, but it can also be a place to hibernate, to rest and recover. Finally, John’s denigration of darkness becomes more problematic when you view it in a racial context. I wish I could remind John that sometimes black can be beautiful too.

So yes, there’s a lot in this passage that seems off-putting to our modern ears, but I think the underlying message is still important. I know a lot of people are going through hard times right now. In a country where we are surrounded by so much poverty and death, I think this is a time where we really need to celebrate doing good deeds. If God sent Jesus to save the world, let us be that salvation through our deeds. I don’t want to be the kind of Christian who looks down on his neighbors or acts holier than thou, but the kind who helps my neighbors, especially the hungry and the poor. I am grateful for the church of Holy Apostles for providing concrete ways that I can help the children of PS 15, and support local food pantries, and support the community. During this time of advent, I hope we can spend less time waiting, and more time acting.

Lenten Reflection for Friday, February 28 
Asa Swain 

John 17: 9-19

⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that^* you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost,^*so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.^* 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.^* 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. 

This reading is from when Jesus is praying in the Garden at Gethsemanee. In his last moments alone before Jesus is to be arrested and crucified, I am struck that he prays to God not for himself, but for his fellow disciples that he is leaving behind. I am particularly struck by the explanation that “the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world”. I don’t think Jesus means that his disciples are divine, like himself, but instead as a reminder that the Christians the followed him were different than the other people who lived in the Roman world. 

I think we still struggle with this difference between Christians and non-Christians today. I went to a Listening Session on Sunday where one question was: “how should I be a Christian in this secular world?” It’s especially difficult when it feels like we live in a capitalist society where wealth equals happiness, and where all too often pop culture and mass media attack the behavior espoused by Jesus, loving the stranger, turning the other cheek, helping the needy. Coming to Holy Apostles reminds me that the value system taught by Jesus is not the same as the value system of the rest of the world. And maybe that is what Jesus means when he says “they do not belong in the world”. 

But I note that Jesus doesn’t ask God to take his disciples out of the world, to transport them to some heavenly paradise, but instead to protect them from the devil, while they speak the truth. And whether or not you believe in Satan, I think we can agree that there are many influences in the world that tempt us to sin, to be selfish, and to corrupt us with small transgressions. So while Jesus is not with us anymore, I am comforted that God is still watching over us, protecting us. And as Jesus loved us, even in his final days, I hope we can love each other. I am reminded of the quote from the poet Henri-Frédéric Amiel, "Life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us."