No jewellery which would offend others' beliefs! That is a rule I live with as a multifaith chaplain in a hospital and a nursing home. What comes under that rule? It means that I may not wear a cross or wear a pin symbolizing a dove or a fish, or anything else which would state that I am a Christian.
As a chaplain, I must be aware of the faith of other people so that when I go into a room, I don't offend a Jewish person by saying the Lord's Prayer. When I prepare a service, as I was the other evening for the nursing home, I cannot end each prayer with "through Jesus Christ our Lord". Even though all the residents are Christian, I do this because there may be some visitors who are not Christian and would be offended by our normal prayer ending. Since I minister to all people of all faiths, and in the hospital and the nursing home the denomination and faith group of which I am part of is irrelevant, I am not permitted to "proselytize" and certain jewellery is a form of proselytization.
I have crosses that my ex-spouse gave me as gifts which were brought out of a Muslim country at great risk because Christians are persecuted and sometimes killed for their beliefs. The Muslim shopkeepers from whom he bought them could be whipped, stoned, have their arms or legs cut off, or lose their shops and their homes if crosses were discovered in their stores. They did not publicly display the crosses and only sold them to people whom they had come to know and trust over time. In order to sell a cross to my ex-husband, the owner took him back to the store at night, unlocked it, went into the safe and opened up a box which contained them.
Does that tell you the power of the Cross in other faiths? The cross I wear today is one that comes from that Muslim country and reminds me to consider each day the answer to Jesus' question "Who do you say that I am?" knowing the risks taken by others to give this particular cross to me.
Our readings today point us towards the wisdom and power of our belief in God. How do we acknowledge our faith, make it stronger, so that words are not the only way to proclaim the Gospel? In vs. 7-10 of today's psalm, the psalmist states that meditating on the law of God, the Torah that God gave the Jewish people, is one way of gaining wisdom.
For the Jewish people and for us, meditating and reflecting on the scriptures is one way of coming closer to God, of worshipping God, of talking to God. Take a look around you as you leave today and take a moment to think about the world around us and its creation. Think about the miracle of a new baby, about the rose in the garden, the trees changing colour, the lake in front of your home, your spouse, your children and grandchildren. It is only through listening, reading, and prayer that we gain wisdom and come to a knowledge of the "fear of the Lord" meaning being in awe of God. We are instructed to tithe our time, our talents and our treasure but do we really tithe our time? Most of us might spend 5-15 minutes a day with God but to really tithe our time means spending 2.4 hours each day with God in some form of worship, prayer, and/or meditation/reflection. Wisdom comes during that time we spend meditating on the writings of God.
As we meditate on the writings of God, we must also be very aware of the Wisdom literature of the Bible, as we seek to proclaim our faith. Lady Wisdom in today's reading from scripture is purposely symbolized as a woman to show us another aspect of God. Lady Wisdom is the companion of God, a part of God. Lady Wisdom expresses the mind of God. The word "knowledge" is used but in a deeper sense. It is not just the knowledge contained of a library of books. In the words of Herbert O'Driscoll: "We live in a period in Western culture when knowledge is understood as apart from God. . . when the word knowledge is used in a passage such as this we are not being asked to dismiss the vast accumulation of human knowledge as we understand the term. We are being asked to consider a relationship with God s the deepest and richest knowledge of all. To possess it is to enrich all other knowledge. Moreover, knowledge of God brings a sense of being at home in ourselves and in the world, because we know to whom we and the world finally and most truly belong." How do we gain this knowledge? Again through meditation and reflection on God's word. The psalmist ends the passage with "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Wisdom, reflection, relationship are the gifts given to us by God as we take the time to revive our souls and acknowledge our God.
In the Gospel Jesus asks "Who do you say that I am" and impetuous, rough Peter replies from his heart "You are the Christ, the Messiah" with a knowledge which could only have come from God. Yet did he truly understand what he was saying? The concept of "Messiah" still meant for many Jews one who would come and rout out the Romans. The word "Messiah" was synonymous with insurrection and violence. Yet Jesus tried to show his disciples and those who followed him that to be the Messiah meant to suffer, to die on a cross, and rise to new life. It wasn't something that those who followed Christ wanted to understand or could understand until the events of the Crucifixion and Resurrection took place. Even then, it took time to understand.
Today, what does it mean to you when God asks us in various ways "Who do you say that I am?" We glibly rhyme off the Lord's Prayer or the Nicene Creed but do we really stop and think about the words we are saying? The power of those words of belief and faith. Take up your BAS and turn to pg. 158, the Baptismal Covenant. In this covenant we as Christians are asked three sets of questions which we need to consider seriously as people of God, children of God, heirs of the kingdom of God, proclaimers of the Gospel.
The first three questions ask what our belief in God is. While it is a reiteration of the Apostle's Creed, take some time some day to think about the meaning of the words you are saying and what it is you truly believe in your heart.
The second set of questions asks how you will continue in that belief through gathering with others to worship God, to share in the Eucharist and be strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ, to pray, and to continuously turn to the Lord.
The final set asks how you will proclaim the Gospel of Christ, how you will love all persons, and respect others seeking Christ in all the people you encounter in a day. This covenant that each individual makes with God is powerful and not something to be taken lightly or glibly. In these phrases is the wisdom and the knowledge that comes from a relationship with God built over time, through tears, joy, pain, of dying a little each day and rising up again with God's help.
To take up the cross of Christ, to wear what for many in the Western world is just a piece of jewellery means being in the world but not of the world, of accepting the challenges of being a Christ follower and proclaiming our faith not just in words, but in our life as it clashes with the values of our world. It means thinking about decisions we make each day which would support our selfish desires. Will it harm someone else? Does it strive for justice and peace and give dignity? Is it of Christ?
My faith is not something I take lightly--I have struggled this past year with sickness, events and people and almost lost my faith but something deep inside told me to have faith, to hang on, to keep going, that the journey I was on was very similar in ways to Holy Week and that there was new life at the end of it. Today I proudly wear a cross--one of the few days that I am able to anymore. The week-ends I am on call I no longer wear it. Monday through Friday I cannot wear it. Today I read from a Bible which is the basis of my faith. Other days my bible is mixed in with other books and readings from other faiths. My faith in God is what sustains me as a chaplain but also as a Christian as I try each day to answer "Who do you say that I am?"
Let me leave you with a story I came across on the Internet as you consider the question "Who do you say that I am?"
- It was an unusually cold day for the month of May. Spring had arrived and
everything was alive with colour. But a cold front from the North had brought winter's
chill back to Indiana. I sat with two friends in the picture window of a quaint
restaurant just off the corner of the town square. The food and the company were
both especially good that day. As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across
the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his
worldly goods on his back. He was carrying a well-worn sign that read, "I will work
for food." My heart sank. I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed
that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a
mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image
lingered in my mind.
We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat half-heartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car. Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square." And so, with some hesitancy, I headed back into town.
As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the storefront church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked, feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied, "Just resting."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Oh, I ate something early this morning."
"Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Do you have some work I could do for you?"
"No work," I replied." I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."
"Sure,"he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions.
"Where you headed?"
"St. Louis."
"Where you from?"
"Oh, all over; mostly Florida."
"How long you been walking?"
"Fourteen years," came the reply. I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."
Then Daniel' story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but Revival Services, and in those Services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.
"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked:
"What's it like?"
"What?"
"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?" "Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in." I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked. He said he preferred a certain translation. It travelled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favourite. "I've read through it 14 times,"he said. "I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see."
I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
"Where you headed from here?", I asked him.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next." He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission.
I drove him back to the town square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture, in Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you," declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too."
"The Lord is good."
"Yes. He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied. And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply. He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bed roll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."
God bless. And that was the last I saw of him. Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them.... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?" Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry.
"See you in the New Jerusalem," he said.
"Yes, Daniel, I know I will....
(Comments to Allison at aacline@isys.ca )