• About

Seeking and Serving

~ seek and serve Christ in all persons

Seeking and Serving

Tag Archives: Congress

Homily – Isaiah 11.1-10, Vida Dutton Scudder, October 10, 2013

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by jandrewsweckerly in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

activism, Congress, homily, Jesus, Kingdom, politics, prayer, Vida Dutton Scudder

Today we honor the work of Vida Dutton Scudder.  Born in 1861 to Congregationalist missionaries in India, Scudder and her mother were later confirmed in the Episcopal Church in the United States.  She studied English Literature in college and eventually became a professor at Wellesley.  But her love of scholarship was matched by her social conscience and deep spirituality.  She joined both Christian Socialist groups and the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, a community devoted to intercessory prayer.  As s socialist, she supported immigrants, workers’ strikes, and eventually, after WWI, became a pacifist.  But her activism was also deeply rooted in prayer.  She said, “If prayer is the deep secret creative force that Jesus tells us it is, we should be very busy with it.”  She added there was one sure way “of directly helping out the Kingdom of God.  That way is prayer.  Social intercession may be the mightiest force in the world.”

As our Congress continues to shut down government, arguing over debt and health care, while crumbling all sorts of services and parts of the economy, I have been wondering where God is in all this.  We get caught up in labels like Democrat, Republican, Tea Party, and heaven forbid, Socialist, and we use those labels as curse words.  But I have always thought Jesus was not only a man of prayer, but a bit of a socialist – probably not unlike Scudder.  You can imagine how excited I was this week when prayer and Congress started colliding in the news.  The chaplain for the Senate has been offering some fiery prayers these last weeks, and his words seem to be not only reaching our Representatives, but also reaching across America.

What this chaplain, Scudder and Jesus all point to is the hope we see in our vision from Isaiah:  a world where the wolf can live with the lamb, the cow and bear can graze together, and a nursing child can play over the hole of the asp.  This is the Kingdom vision.  But we do not have to wait for the Kingdom after death.  Scudder’s witness reminds us that we can take steps to realize the Kingdom here and now.

Now, how we get there is a bigger question.  We could be here all day fighting over whose party can do that best.  But that is where Scudder’s life points us most helpfully – to the life of prayer.  Scudder invites us to stop name-calling or stewing and to start praying.  If we can be very busy with prayer, as Scudder suggests, perhaps we might liberate our feet to take those first steps toward the Kingdom here and now.  Amen.

On compassion…

05 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by jandrewsweckerly in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

compassion, Congress, evangelism, humanity, Jesus, transformation

-Courtesy of http://vividlife.me/ultimate/33329/a-guide-to-practical-compassion/

Courtesy of http://vividlife.me/ultimate/33329/a-guide-to-practical-compassion/

As our Vestry has been exploring the spiritual practice of evangelism, we have been doing some self-work.  This week we focused on the work of compassion.  David Gortner, in Transforming Evangelism, says, “Compassion is not pity, but the recognition of another person’s full humanity, warts and all.”  Our Vestry talked about our experiences of seeing others show compassion, but also how hard compassion can be to express – especially when people hurt us.

Our conversation reminded me of this blog entry I saw recently.  As a Long Island Driver, I totally get this story.  I have been yelled at many a time since moving here – and to be fair, I have expressed my own impatience at times, but hopefully never in such an extreme way.  What I love about this blog post though is that this is the ultimate example of seeing with compassion.  In that moment, that mom was able to see the other driver’s full humanity – in a way that probably Christ sees us every day, but in a way that we rarely take the time to see.  This kind of compassion does not come naturally – especially when someone is yelling expletives in our face.  But when that compassion was shown, both drivers were transformed – transformed by God’s love.

I have been thinking we could all use a little more compassion lately.  As our Congress has derailed an entire section of our economy and as we have been raging about whatever side is not “our side,” I think compassion has been long gone.  I include myself in that omission.  I found myself this week literally yelling at the radio as I heard one of the Representatives explaining why her party is doing the right thing.  And the whole situation makes me so angry that I am not sure I could even sit in the same room with these Representatives as they attempt to find a solution.  But thinking about that driver at Starbucks and thinking about our Vestry’s conversation about compassion, I have been wondering how Christ sees this whole debate.  I have my own sense of what position Jesus would take on all this (though I won’t share that here), but I also know that Jesus is fully capable of loving both sides and seeing the humanity in all the people involved.  Of course, that does not make the situation any easier or my frustration any lessened, but it does take the edge off my raging anger a bit.

Perhaps that small bit is all I can ask for now.  Perhaps that small glimpse into compassion is enough to shift my way of being and interacting with others.  Perhaps that first step is all that Jesus needs to begin the slow conversion of each of us toward a life of compassion.

Recent Posts

  • On Thanksgiving and Imperfection…
  • Sermon – Matthew 24.36-44, Isaiah 2.1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13.11-14, A1, YA, December 1, 2019
  • Sermon – Luke 23.33-43, P29, YC, November 24, 2019
  • On Birthdays and Blessings…
  • On God’s Love…

Archives

  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012

Categories

  • Sermons
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy