The Written Word

The Light of the Ages
Jeremiah 28:5-9

⁵The priests and all the people gathered in the house of the Eternal heard the prophet Jeremiah say to the prophet Hananiah: ⁶"I sincerely wish that everything you foretell would come true! You say the Almighty will quickly bring back the vessels of this house from Babylon, along with all the exiles." 

⁷"But hear me out, all of you! ⁸The prophets who came before you and me -- even from way back in ancient history -- foretold a time of war, of great hunger and disease that would be experienced by many countries, even the greatest of realms. ⁹The prophet who foretells peace in the face of these ancient witnesses? Well, if it happens that way then everyone will know that this person is the person who speaks on behalf of the Holy One." 

The Light from a Teacher of Truth
Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: A Modern Reading of Pirke Avot

Reality is more complex than we would like. If we insist upon it making sense, we will find ourselves despairing. Reality cannot be neatly packaged, bound with the ribbon of morality. Reality is greater than our ideas of good and evil; Reality is beyond our right and wrong. Reality is all that is, and this is often at odds with what we imagine it should be. 

Where we stand up for justice, let us act. Where we are confounded by Truth, let us keep silent.¹

The Light of the Master Teacher
Matthew 10:40-42

⁴⁰"Anyone who accepts you accepts me. And those who accept me accept the One who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who welcomes and accepts God's messenger will share in the messenger's reward. Anyone who welcomes a good person simply because of their goodness will share in that goodness. ⁴²A simple act of hospitality and generosity -- giving a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty -- demonstrates that you are my student. You won't lose a thing; in fact, you'll be greatly rewarded!"

The Confessed Word

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ -- the love of God in the community of Spirit -- be with you all. 

Generous Spirit of Life: What blessings you have poured out upon us! What life you have placed within us! Here we are, in this cathedral we call home, opening ourselves to receive all you have for us, and to share all you have given us. We worship and praise you; in You we live and move and have our being. We are enjoying the abundant life promised to us by your Beloved and our Master Teacher. 

And yet there are times when we step back from the plate. Lord, have mercy. 
We are sometimes afraid to open ourselves to all our possibilities. Christ, have mercy. 
We are reluctant to share, thinking that our abundance is limited. Lord, have mercy. 

Today we place our faith and trust in you and in your Goodness. We eagerly await your blessings, your word, your encouragement. We open ourselves to receive it all, prepared to share it with others as did Jesus, in whose powerful presence and name we pray. Amen. 

The Proclaimed Word

"A double moka, a cappucino and cafe latte, to go please." The poetry of coffee drinking is often associated with the fast life we all live. A Starbucks at 8 o'clock in the morning is crazier than the floor of the New York stock exchange. In comparison, the pleasure of drinking a fine cup of tea is almost a zen like experience. But did you know that tea is still the second most popular beverage in the world, right after water. 

Speaking of coffee, there was this district attorney who was cross-examining the murderess. "After you had poisoned the coffee, and your husband sat at the breakfast table partaking of the fatal dosage, didn't you feel any qualms? Didn't you feel the slightest pity for him knowing that he was about to die and was wholly unconscious of it? As you sat there didn't you feel for him at all?'" 

"'Yes' she answered. 'There was just one moment when I sort of felt sorry for him.'" 

"'When was that?'" 

"'When he asked for the second cup'" 

Well, today we're not talking about the second cup, or poisoned coffee, or even tea, but a simple cup of water. Drinking water was once a matter of going to the tap and filling a glass. But now, did you know that the finest restaurants serve only the finest bottled water? And the Ritz Carlton in New York tops them all. Walk into this hotel and you are offered a choice of mineral waters, served on a silver platter by a white-gloved "water sommelier." And I thought these guys suggested expensive wines to drink. But water has arrived! 

In Jesus' day, water was much more basic to survival. In a hot, dusty country there's need for water, and giving a stranger a cup of cold water is considered much more than a casual act of graciousness; it is the gift of life itself! 

Jesus is understating it when he says, "A simple act of hospitality and generosity -- giving a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty -- demonstrates that you are my student."

You see, the gift is more than water; it is the sharing of the gift of life with one who is thirsty. And what we share, we receive back in abundance. Listen again to Jesus' words, and you'll see that he is emphasizing a truth that "Anyone who welcomes and accepts God's messenger will share in the messenger's reward. Anyone who welcomes a good person simply because of their goodness will share in that goodness. A simple act of hospitality and generosity -- giving a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty -- demonstrates that you are my student. You won't lose a thing; in fact, you'll be greatly rewarded!"

Here's the bottom line: whatever we share we receive, only more abundantly. First we share, then we receive. We open ourselves to the messenger, we share in the Good News of the messenger. We open ourselves to another, and then share in their goodness. We give hospitably, we receive hospitality. We give generously, we receive abundantly. Jesus assures us that sharing what we have and who we are will never impoverish us. He says: "You won't lose a thing; in fact, you'll be greatly rewarded!"

Do you know that one of Jesus' most powerful sayings was not recorded in the gospels? You'll find it in The Acts of the Apostles. Here's the saying, and it's the bottom line, according to Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

Why more blessed? Because Jesus knows that in the giving is the receiving, in the sharing is the abundance. When we give, we receive back abundantly. According to Jesus, that is how life works. 

One time Peter in a whining voice said to Jesus, "We gave up everything to follow you!" 

"I know," replied Jesus. "And the truth is, no one who has given up everything -- homes, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, children, land -- for me and the Good News will lose out in the end. It will all come back -- every last bit of it and a hundred times more -- in this present age (though with tough times, too) and in the age to come, plus eternal life!" Mark 10:28-30

Jesus really believed that! No wonder he said, "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving--large or small--it will be used to measure what is given back to you." Luke 6:38 New Living Bible

Whatever measuring cup we use, that's the very measure that returns the blessing. The same principle works when Jesus a few verses earlier says, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." Luke 6:27-28

At first it's hard to believe that we should let someone slap us a second time on the cheek, or when someone demands our coat we should give them our shirt as well. But Jesus knows that this basic principle works in every situation: "whatever measure you use in giving, it will be used to measure what is given back to you."

Or as the Apostle Paul put it: "Remember this--a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop." 2 Corinthians 9:6

It's not surprising then that Paul continues: "God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others." 2 Corinthians 9:6

Now the next time someone says, "All Grant Ford talks about is money," you can correct them. Tell them: "All he talks about is giving and the abundant rewards of generosity of spirit." You see, that's the real message of Jesus, who pointed out that "God so loved the world that God gave..." and believe me, God gave the very best, his own son! John 3:16a

Ernest Holmes, author of The Science of Mind, wrote: "Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he [or she] thinks into it." 

Herbert Samuels put it more poetically when he said, "The world is like a mirror; frown at it, and it frowns at you. Smile and it smiles, too." 

What do you want out of life? More than you have? Then give what you have and who you are, according to Jesus: "Just a cup of cold water." He wasn't talking about charity, but about giving something of value to someone who really is thirsty or in need. 

Imagine yourself in a desert. You have one canteen of water. You run across someone who has no water, and is dying of thirst. Will you put some water to the lips of this parched person? 

If you and I believe that God is our Source, as did Jesus, then we will trust that God will meet the needs of the thirsty-- through us--and bless us abundantly in the process. We will believe Jesus when he says, "You won't lose a thing; in fact, you'll be greatly rewarded!"

And that's the Truth! 

¹Rabbi Yannai, as quoted by Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: pirke avot (NY: Bell Tower, 1993)