एक शरीर (अंग्रेजी र नेपाली)

1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Colossians 3:11 (English and Nepali); १ कोरिन्थी १२:१२-१३; कलस्सी 3:11 (अंग्रेजी र नेपाली)

1 Corinthians 12:13

13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Colossians 3:11

11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all!

१कोरिन्थी१२:१३

१३किनकिएउटैआत्मामाहामीसबैएउटैशरीरमाबप्तिस्मालियौं—यहूदीवाग्रीक, दासवास्वतन्त्र — रहामीसबैलाईएउटैआत्माबाटपिउनलगाइयो।

कलस्सी 3:11

11 त्योनवीकरणमाअबग्रीकरयहूदी, खतनारखतनानगरिएका, बर्बर, सिथियन, दासरस्वतन्त्रछैनन्, तरख्रीष्टसबैरसबैमाहुनुहुन्छ!

Last week, I had the privilege of baptizing 4 folks.  It was really fun…I love baptisms, one of the cool things we get to do as clergy.  

The first passage this morning reminds us that we are all baptized into one body.  As we share every communion Sunday, every baptism, that our baptism is “one baptism”.  That Jesus is baptized for all of humanity.  Therefore, all people…everyone, are covered under the baptism of Christ.  

Paul takes Jesus’ baptism to its logical place, and also as demonstrated through Jesus’ actions, not only in baptism, but through Jesus’ inclusive actions.  

The systems of the world have been set up to “divide and conquer” to say that everyone is different and some folks may be better than others, that there are different classifications of people.  Paul, is stating clearly, that’s not what God set up, not what God intended.

Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, male, female.  All are one.  We all have the same fountain of God’s Spirit residing deep within us, calling us towards one another.

Yes, we may have different opinions, different backgrounds, traditions, etc.  But, at the end of the day, we are all one people…

That means that we have to resist the voices of our day, and throughout history, that dehumanize others…we cannot be about that.  We are one family.  

Baptism, Christ’s baptism, reminds us that we are one…it’s as if God is constantly calling us towards wholeness, restoration.  

It’s also interesting to note that baptism is simply a reflection of God’s faithfulness to us.  It also became a helpful tool in the early church.  To convert to Judaism, males had to be circumcised.  Not a good argument for many….and certainly not fair to both sexes!  Baptism was settled on as a marker of being a Jesus follower that was fair and a lot less painful!

Paul continues to remind us that Christ is all in all.  And, remember, Christ is not Jesus’ last name.  It’s better to say Jesus “the Christ”.  It simply means the promised one, the anointed one…the messiah…and it’s a phrase that was around before Jesus came on to the scene.  

Yet, it’s a profound title.  It means that Jesus was the promised one.  The one human to show us struggle, suffering, and that love does win…this presence of life, life to the full, is in all things and in all people.  YOU, me, all of us, have Christ in us and all around us!  

So, friends, as we celebrate today with our Nepali friends, may we be reminded that the divine resides in all of us…that Christ is all in all, that we are one body.  We may have different languages, different customs, but we share the same heart.  

As we look at one another today, it’s my hope that we simply embrace the diversity, and know that God’s image is in each face, each moment, and that the image of God is one…and is diverse…and is beautiful.  

गत हप्ता, मैले ४ जनालाई बप्तिस्मा गर्ने सुअवसर पाएको थिएँ। यो साँच्चिकै रमाइलो थियो…मलाई बप्तिस्मा मन पर्छ, हामीले पादरीको रूपमा गर्न सक्ने उत्कृष्ट चीजहरू मध्ये एक।

आज बिहानको पहिलो खण्डले हामीलाई सम्झाउँछ कि हामी सबै एउटै शरीरमा बप्तिस्मा लिएका छौं। जसरी हामी हरेक सामुदायिक आइतवार, हरेक बप्तिस्मा साझा गर्छौं, कि हाम्रो बप्तिस्मा “एउटा बप्तिस्मा” हो। येशूले सम्पूर्ण मानवताको लागि बप्तिस्मा लिनुभयो। त्यसकारण, सबै मानिसहरू… सबैजना, ख्रीष्टको बप्तिस्माको अधीनमा छन्।

पावलले येशूको बप्तिस्मालाई यसको तार्किक स्थानमा लैजान्छन्, र येशूका कार्यहरूद्वारा पनि बप्तिस्मामा मात्र होइन, तर येशूका समावेशी कार्यहरूद्वारा पनि देखाइएको छ।

संसारका प्रणालीहरू “विभाजन र विजय” को लागी स्थापित गरिएको छ कि सबैजना फरक छन् र केहि मानिसहरू अरू भन्दा राम्रो हुन सक्छन्, त्यहाँ मानिसहरूको विभिन्न वर्गीकरणहरू छन्। पावल, स्पष्ट रूपमा भनिरहेका छन्, त्यो परमेश्वरले स्थापना गर्नुभएको होइन, परमेश्वरले चाहेको कुरा होइन।

यहूदी, ग्रीक, दास, स्वतन्त्र, पुरुष, महिला। सबै एक हो। हामी सबैसँग परमेश्वरको आत्माको एउटै झरना छ जुन हामी भित्र गहिरो बस्छ, हामीलाई एकअर्का तर्फ बोलाउँछ।

हो, हामीसँग फरक फरक विचार, फरक पृष्ठभूमि, परम्परा, आदि हुन सक्छ। तर, दिनको अन्त्यमा, हामी सबै एउटै मानिस हौँ…

यसको मतलब यो हो कि हामीले हाम्रो दिनको आवाजहरूको प्रतिरोध गर्नुपर्दछ, र इतिहासभरि, जसले अरूलाई अमानवीय बनाउँछ … हामी त्यसको बारेमा हुन सक्दैनौं। हामी एउटै परिवार हौं।

बप्तिस्मा, ख्रीष्टको बप्तिस्मा, हामीलाई सम्झाउँछ कि हामी एक हौं … यो जस्तै हो कि परमेश्वरले हामीलाई निरन्तरता, पुनर्स्थापना तिर बोलाइरहनुभएको छ।

यो पनि चाखलाग्दो छ कि बप्तिस्मा भनेको हामीप्रति परमेश्वरको वफादारीको प्रतिबिम्ब हो। यो प्रारम्भिक मण्डलीमा पनि एक उपयोगी उपकरण बन्यो। यहूदी धर्ममा परिवर्तन गर्न, पुरुषहरूको खतना गर्नुपर्थ्यो। धेरैको लागि राम्रो तर्क होइन … र निश्चित रूपमा दुवै लिङ्गका लागि उचित छैन! बप्तिस्मालाई येशूको अनुयायी भएको चिन्हको रूपमा स्थापित गरिएको थियो जुन निष्पक्ष र धेरै कम पीडादायी थियो!

पावलले हामीलाई सम्झाउन जारी राख्छन् कि ख्रीष्ट सबैमा हुनुहुन्छ। र, याद गर्नुहोस्, ख्रीष्ट येशूको अन्तिम नाम होइन। येशूलाई “ख्रीष्ट” भन्नु राम्रो हुन्छ। यसको अर्थ मात्र प्रतिज्ञा गरिएको, अभिषिक्त व्यक्ति… मसीह… र यो एउटा वाक्यांश हो जुन येशू घटनास्थलमा आउनुअघि नै थियो।

यद्यपि, यो गहिरो शीर्षक हो। यसको अर्थ येशू प्रतिज्ञा गरिएको व्यक्ति हुनुहुन्थ्यो। हामीलाई संघर्ष, पीडा, र त्यो प्रेम देखाउने एक मानवले जित्छ … जीवनको यो उपस्थिति, पूर्ण जीवन, सबै चीजहरूमा र सबै मानिसहरूमा छ। तपाईं, म, हामी सबै, हामी र हाम्रो वरिपरि ख्रीष्ट हुनुहुन्छ!

त्यसोभए, साथीहरू, आज हामी हाम्रा नेपाली साथीहरूसँग मनाउँदै गर्दा, हामी सबैमा परमात्मा वास गर्नुहुन्छ भनेर सम्झाउन सकिन्छ … कि ख्रीष्ट सबैमा हुनुहुन्छ, हामी एउटै शरीर हौं। हाम्रो भाषा फरक फरक हुन सक्छ तर हाम्रो मन एउटै छ।

आज हामी एकअर्कालाई हेर्दा, यो मेरो आशा हो कि हामीले केवल विविधतालाई अँगाल्नेछौं, र थाहा छ कि परमेश्वरको छवि प्रत्येक अनुहारमा, प्रत्येक क्षणमा छ, र परमेश्वरको छवि एउटै छ … र विविध छ … र सुन्दर छ।

Luke 13:10-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him.

Reading the gospel passage this week, I kept on thinking what it could have been like to be this crippled woman.  I cannot imagine what it would have been like to have been crippled for 18 years.  The thoughts and voices that build up in your head.

I’ve not been crippled, but I have been injured.  I’ve actually been nursing an injury recently…Achilles Tendinosis…was hoping to run a marathon this fall, but not sure. 

A few years back, when I was training for the Boston Marathon, I injured myself then as well.  I was able to train with the injury, but I knew it wouldn’t heal fully until after the race itself and with rest.  In the race, the injury  kept getting worst, it was painful, but the part that was the hardest were the voices in my head and trying to navigate some decisions.  Can I get through this day?  Will I need to stop at the medical tent?  Will someone be able to help me?  Luckily I did stop and eventually found someone that could help me stabilize my leg injury and get through the race.  Yet, there were times when I thought I may have to drop out.  Yet, even in those times, I was surrounded by crowds of people that kept me going.

But, that was a temporary thing.  I knew that I would heal, I had confidence that I could get through this somehow.

That may give me a window of what it means to be crippled, but I still can’t quite comprehend what it must have been like for this woman.  For 18 years she probably didn’t have crowds cheering her on.  As a cripple, in that society, she was considered on the margins, outside of society.  Even the religious order of the day did not fully embrace her in her humanity.  They seemed to be more focused on their sense of order, propriety, or doing the things they way they’ve always been done that they had forgotten their own shared humanity.  They had reduced religion to rules and not relationships.  They were blind and deaf to God’s very heart of relationship and could not recognize this woman’s humanity….they could not even recognize Jesus as the messiah, the one who came to give us our humanity back.

Our passage doesn’t say what she was crippled with, but that she was crippled by a spirit.  She was so harassed by something that it physically affected her.  

I can somewhat relate to that, so can many of us.  We can be crippled by spirits of fear, anxiety, the unknown, even change.  We can let the spirit of our selfishness, I call that our small e egos, that we are crippled if you will to doing the hard work of self and others awareness.  Those spirits of selfishness, anxiousness, fear, loneliness, can lead to physical issues.

I think this woman knew that she could not live as she had lived for almost two decades.  She didn’t want to be crippled, yet it was what she knew.  She meets Jesus and she sees someone who can help her.  She begins the process of awareness.  She knows she needs to change, she knows that she wants something better, she takes a risk in trusting someone else.  Jesus sees her, Jesus touches her, Jesus heals her.  And, she dances. She’s been given life!  

As she celebrates, as something good happens, how did the religious rulers respond?  Well, again, they focused on the negative, they couldn’t see beyond themselves and their rules to the opportunities of restored relationship.  Jesus had compassion on the crippled woman, and the blindness of the religious leaders.  He healed the woman, yes, but he also calls out the religious leaders.  Jesus goes on to point out that they would take care of their animals on the sabbath, so why shouldn’t Jesus take care of this woman?  In other words, the religious leaders had become so stuck in a way of thinking, they couldn’t see their blind spots, or notice others.  Jesus doesn’t say much else, he just points out the obvious, this woman, one of us,  a human being, has been healed.  The religious leaders were shamed a bit as it says, and maybe, just maybe, they knew they had been focusing on the wrong things.

Friends, I don’t know where you are today.  Maybe some of us have been stuck in a certain way of thinking for a long time and it’s crippling us…maybe you have experienced change or are getting ready for a big change.  Maybe something is happening in your job, in your education with this new year, maybe you are afraid of what the future may bring you.  

I believe that, just like this woman, when we are met by Jesus, when something inside of us is touched by the divine, and we are given the chance to be healed, we should not be afraid to let go of what has been crippling us.  It starts with our hearts being moved, then our minds being healed as we move towards awareness of our deeper selves, then healing can take root and work within us, moving us towards joy and away from what is crippling us. 

I believe that Jesus came to heal us beyond in the depth of who we are…we live in the body of Christ to move towards a sense of wholeness, relationship, and joy in the moment no matter what may be waiting around the corner.  To be healed, to let go of what is crippling us can be hard work, but when we allow ourselves to be touched by the divine, touched by God, allowing ourselves to be dependent on one another and brought into community, we can then dance and celebrate.  

Luke 12:32-40 

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Watchful Servants

35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 

39 “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he[a] would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” 

As we’ve discussed, the gospels say a lot about the Kingdom of God, or God’s Presence. It is in our midst, its embodiment is deep and abiding relationship with ourselves, one another, with and through God. In so many ways, we cannot see or hear the Kingdom if we are not striving for authentic relationship with each other, ourselves, and God. It’s all one thread that weaves throughout life. 

This morning, our text says that God is giving us God’s Presence, this is our treasure if you will. 

Now, when I see that word treasure, I think of maps with an “X” on them marking a treasure chest.

As a kid, I would romp around on our family’s property.  We had about 7 acres and 4 of those acres were woods…our property also was connected to my Uncle’s property, which was also about 7 acres.  Beyond that, we had probably dozens, if not hundreds of acres around us with woods, streams, hills, and even small lakes.  Our neighbors were also pretty friendly, so adventuring throughout the woods was like an escape into a kid’s imagination with pirates, Robin Hood, and so many other stories made up.  

Also, in those woods, my dad would host our church’s youth group in the fall every year.  We’d have a big hayride that would end up in a clearing in those woods with a huge bonfire where we’d sing songs, cook hot dogs and marshmallows, and play games on the edges, in the dark…but, that bonfire always called us back towards seeing one another and give us a sense of presence…magical nights!

Later, as an adult, I enjoyed going through those woods, not only remembering, but finding other treasures as those woods kept on pulling me in.  I had to have a watchful eye, ear, and open heart to receive the gifts of those woods. 

God’s Kingdom, our treasure, the Presence of God…keeps on pulling us in towards new treasures within and without…it’s in our midst, all around us, pulling us towards each other and God…finding the gift of the joy of being connected with each other and God’s purposes in our lives together and with God.  But, again, we have to be on the watch to see that treasure.  

And, God’s Kingdom, our treasure, is about putting material possessions in their proper place, which is a place of not holding on too tightly. 

As we talked about in previous weeks, we can’t take our material possessions with us, and that’s not God’s economy or measurement of wealth. God values relationship, that’s what gives the energy for creating, saving, sustaining…that’s the treasure. 

So many times, we hold on to material treasure, but Jesus is saying that we are called to share it, to be give it away. To bless the poor and one another. Why? Well, certainly to meet needs, but also to empty ourselves of possessions that keep us separated from one another. It’s also meant to say that if we bless others, take care of them as best we can, we can then have the joy of entering into relationship with them. 

God’s kingdom treasure is about taking away barriers that may keep us from embracing others, ourselves, and God. God’s Kingdom treasure has much more to do with our becoming fully human as we were created to be in the first place. 

When we are able to love and share freely with others, to move from transactional relationships to truly transformational relationships, we experience joy and purpose. When we invest in others, that is a deposit of treasure that cannot be destroyed. However, as our scripture says, we can let thieves in that steal away that joy…we listen to voices that are divisive, mean spirited, anxious, and lead us towards a sense of deep selfishness and even a loss of self. 

Jesus tells us this morning to take stock on where our treasure lies…if it is with things that pull us apart, then we will be fragmented and produce nothing good and cause us to be in states of deep separation from one another, but if it’s on the Kingdom of God, then it will bring unity, peace, and bear good fruit that blesses others. 

We must be on watch for the Kingdom of God in our midst. God’s desire is to give us God’s self, it brings God pleasure to be with us. We are given purses that don’t wear out… God’s presence is with us, holding us in tension and in beautiful ways. 

We are called to be aware of God’s presence around us, to keep our lamps lit in the darkness in order to recognize when God, the master of the banquet laid out before us arrives. This master is hosting an amazing gathering for us, wanting us to have glimpses of love and grace…wanting us to be awake, alive to the wonderful work of becoming more human in the way of Jesus. 

Jesus also warns us to be on the watch for the leaven of the Pharisees, the substance that they want to give us, the substance of control and scarcity, leads us to a misunderstanding of God’s purpose. God does not simply desire piety from us, God desires live, abundant life. The leaven that God offers fills us, nourishes us, makes us come alive. There is a thief that comes to steal from us the fullness of God’s presence in our lives, God’s joy and revelry in who we are in our humanity, yet Jesus comes to make us aware and to live in the present moment with God and others. 
In this parable, there are three things to be aware of: 

1. The master provides for this who have eyes to see, who have been faithful with keeping their lamps lit…those who want to see. 
2. Jesus calls us to be vigilant. 
3. Jesus wants to reveal to us the nature of what it means to be truly human as God
   intended.
   

Friends, let us keep watch for God’s actions on our behalf through Jesus, let us see that God’s leaven is Jesus…and Jesus’ body, Jesus’ life nourishes us…let us also remember that Jesus poured life into us, giving us the courage to live as the truest humans we can be…it takes time and practice, but this action reminds us of Jesus’ coming to us to call us into being the people we were created to be, the people we’ve always wanted to be