John 5 and Monty Python

Today's reading from John 5 always reminds me of a bit from Monty Python's Life of Brian...

...and, there is a lot of truth there.

Are we ready to take up our mat and walk, or are we content to just stay at the healing pool?

Jesus seemed to have strong opinions about it, "Do you want to be made well?"  "Take up your mat and walk!"

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey





John 5: 1- 18 (NRSV)
1 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids-blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." 8 Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." 11 But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.' " 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Holy Week Readings and Viewings

In my first Holy Week as a priest, I will be leading nearly a dozen services this week, and will be presiding at three Good Friday Services in which we will be doing the Passion. I have several plans for the week in terms of reading and watching ...

First, I am reading the Passion Gospel readings from all four canonical gospels, good to start there, (even if some people think we Episcopalians don't care about Holy Scripture ... come on, we love the Bible!!).


Second,
I am re-reading parts of Rowan Williams' Christ on Trial: How the Gospel Unsettles our Judgement which I have read several times (and wrote about in my master's thesis) and plan to re-read parts of his Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel, but only as early as Saturday.

Third,
In addition, I plan to watch three movies this week, first, I am going to watch Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," which I have never actually seen in totality but am going to hunker down and watch it. Many of my students here at St. Catherine's have mentioned it, as well as students at Episcopal Academy where I used to teach. I guess I need to see the actual thing, and someone gave me a copy of the movie, so I don't even need to use up a Netflix rental for it. Secondly, I will watch "The Last Temptation of Christ," which I have seen several times and was reminded of David Bowie playing Pilate by a friend on Facebook ... that is a thought-provoking film, and well-worth some time.



Thirdly, I am going to watch "Monty Python's Life of Brian," which is a nearly-annual ritual for me, alongside the wonderful liturgies of Holy Week. Monty Python does it all very well.



Lastly,
I am reflecting upon those who do take up the cross in their lives in small and large ways to serve others, to speak the truth, and some of whom "lay down their lives for their friends." Figures such as Romero, Bonhoeffer, Gandhi, MLK Jr, and others come to mind. Also, I am particularly aware of those in Tibet right now who are speaking out and protesting, and who may face imprisonment, torture and death for these actions.

I pray for the people of Tibet, and for all those who are caught up in the repression of Tibet!



What about you, how are you experiencing Holy Week? Any plans?

Lenten "Reading"

Today I picked up Power and Passion: Six Characters in Search of Resurrection, by Samuel Wells who is the Dean of the Duke University Chapel. I've had the book for about a year, and it has occupied a spot on the shelf of "books I purchased in seminary and really wanted to read but didn't make the time to read them yet (but wished I had), but it's never too late..." The shelf is pretty full, so I could probably put off buying any more books for quite some time.

In this book, Wells moves through the four canonical Gospel Narratives by looking in some depth at the characters of Pilate, Barabbas, Joseph of Arimathea, Mrs. Pilate, Peter, and Mary Magdalen. I have to confess that I am only about a third through the book, and just into the Barabbas section, but I expect to read the rest of the book tomorow - and then try to digest all that it has taught me over the next few weeks. As I sit here in the middle of the Diocese of Virginia in the middle of Lent, in the middle (Godwilling) of my life, in the middle of all the discussion and debate within our Church, and in the middle of a Presidential campaign, I found Samuel Wells' discussion of Power, and Passion to be helpful as I reflect on all that I have seen.

Just one tidbit from Samuel Wells' introduction caught me upside the head when he describe the two dominant poles of how people read the Bible (and the need to get into the middle between these extremes!)

"Two kinds of Bible readers shout loudest at present. One sees the Bible as a series of legal guidelines, handed down in an apparently arbitrary way by what seems to be a rather culturally distant God. The Bible appears to offer a rather constrained life, with plenty of prohibitions, but one that is claimed to be good for us in the end, certainly as far as eternal salvation is concerned. The problem with this rather constrained view of the Bible is its understanding of God as a mysterious judge with unfathomable expectations who is always likely to catch is people out. The second noisy kind of bible reader sees the Bible as a series of noble injunctions, largely about setting people free or affirming them as they are; the details get rather lost in the urge to generalize God's affirmation of humanity and his desire for flourishing life. The problem with this way of reading the Bible is that it calls into question why one would read the Bible at all, since it tells us little that has not already been well expressed by the poets, storytellers, and social prophets of every age. God tends to become invisible behind a cloud of abstract goals such as justice, peace, and love."

Now, I don't know about you, but in the places I go, these two "noisy readers of the Bible" certainly make themselves heard in our present discussions in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Samuel Wells charts out a good middle course, a (forgive me) via media, between these noisy poles. Lord knows we need these voices, and others to help us have a fulsome harmony (cacophany?) in our Church!

My second Lenten "reading" is to watch "Monty Python's The Life of Brian" and just enjoy it - resist critiquing it, just enjoying the insanity and fun. Long before "The Last Temptation of Christ" gave people fits, Monty Python offered quite a response to all the Jesus films of the 1960s and 1970s. In the midst of Lent, I like to watch this film and enjoy the deep understanding that God gave us the gift of humor, and that we are called to be "Fools for Christ". Here is a clip from Youtube to enjoy (and there are more there as well)...."there's no pleasing some people"....