The Real Message of the Rainbow

Reflections on the Readings

June 28, 2015 - Year B

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

The Real Message of the Rainbow

Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls; 

for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, (or nature) 

but through the devil's envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it. (Wisdom 2:21-24)

This past Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States of America struck down any state laws banning same-sex marriage. News reports stated that SCOTUS had made same-sex marriage the law of the land. No such thing happened given that the Supreme court is not a legislative body. What the majority opinion did was strike down state laws banning same-sex marriages. 

President Obama stated that on the question of same-sex marriage, "Justice arrived like a thunderbolt." In recent years the President has been vocal on how his view of marriage has evolved. And he believes that everyone should evolve with him even though as recently as four years ago he said that his Christian faith informed him when he stated that marriage is between one man and one woman. In celebration of the decision of the Supreme court, the President had the White House bathed in lights depicting the colors of the rainbow Friday evening. 

We must remember that SCOTUS is not a modern day Mount Sinai, even given the President's 'thunderbolt' comment. However, Moses, upon ascending Mount Sinai did encounter a Holy God descending upon the Mount in fire and smoke. Trumpet blast, thunder and lightening shook the Mount as God wrote on stone tablets with his finger the Ten Commandments. 

Although I am not surprised by the Supreme Court's decision, I am appalled. The fundamental unit of any society is the family. That understanding has been the bedrock, the very foundation of every civilization since the Garden of Eden. And I say that without any animus toward those who identify as LGBTQ. My list of friends, teachers, acquaintances, and colleagues include individuals on this list. My entire life I've tried to be a bridge builder in the hope that I might be the face of Jesus to everyone I meet and know. They have included adulterers, drunkards, liars, homosexuals, thieves, idolaters, and robbers. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 that the Church in Corinth included such as these whom St. Paul now describes as washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. ( 1Corinthians 6:9-11)

We can rejoice about the parish at Corinth as we can about every Christian church filled with sinners saved by grace because:

- The Bible says that Jesus is a friend of sinners and that he ate and drank with them. (Luke 7:34)

- The Bible says that God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

 

 - God doesn't hold grudges for the Bible says that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our trespasses against us. (2 Corinthians 5:19) God is not mad at us or anyone. God loves us and everyone. Nor can we be angry or hostile toward our neighbor whom God loves.

 -The Bible says that God has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

 -The Bible says that now is the acceptable time; now, is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

- The Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away.(2 Corinthians 5:17)

The SCOTUS decision does not change one thing about what we believe about marriage and what has always been true about marriage. Especially now, however, as the Bible says, we must not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith. (Romans 1:16)

The real meaning of the rainbow is how God remembers his covenant with Noah every time he sees the bow in the cloud. What is that covenant? It's that God loves us; that he will never allow a flood to cover the whole earth again. The message of God's rainbow is about a loving God who is not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven!

Reflections on the Readings

June 21, 2015 - Year B

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven!

Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

My title comes from the first verse of one of my favorite hymns: Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven… "To his feet thy tribute bring; Ransomed, healed, restored forgiven, Who like thee His praise should sing?"

Grace is not cheap. The violence Christ endured reminds us that grace is not cheap, that no one is excluded from his outstretched arms, that we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross. Even for Dylan Roof, who massacred nine persons this past Wednesday night at Emmanuel African Methodist Church, in Charleston, South Carolina, there is room at the cross. Here's the bottom line. At the foot of the cross, none of us get to point fingers of contempt and accusation at one another and our common prayer is, "Deliver us from evil." For we were all dead in trespasses and sins, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that continues to work in the sons and daughters of disobedience, among whom we once lived. (Ephesians 2:2-3)

At the Easter Vigil we hear the Good News:

"O happy fault, 

O necessary sin of Adam

which gained for us 

so great a Redeemer!" 

If any one is in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation, a new Adam, a new Eve. Ransomed! Healed! Restored! Forgiven! That's the Good News! Why? Because through the first human family sin entered the world. And because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve we all enter this world as sinners. The theological term for this is original sin. Even little Johnny and Susie born this afternoon entered the human race in need of a  Savior which means that original sin is a state and not an act. In union with the whole human race Johnny and Susie and Juan and Maria need to know that while we were yet sinners, born and unborn, Christ died for us! And that's the Great and Good News and the reason we bring our children to Jesus in Christian baptism.

In Christ our past no longer defines us. The old is passed away and the new has come. We still wrestle with temptations and the allure of the past, and the glamour of sin, but no longer in our weakness, but in the strength of Christ's love for us. This is why St. Paul can explain to the Church at Corinth that no matter your past, "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Christ filled the raging waves and blowing winds with his peace. He fills us with his love and peace and breaks the tormenting and debilitating power of sin in us so that we can shout: "Ransomed! Healed! Restored! Forgiven!" Because everyone who is in Christ is a new person! 

Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com

Kingdom Seed

Reflections on the Readings

June 14, 2015 - Year B

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Dennis S. Hankins

Readings For This Sunday

Kingdom Seed

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

What is seed? A seed, a single seed, is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering called the seed coat, usually with some food. Properly planted and watered a seed will reproduce after its kind. Watermelon seeds reproduce watermelons. Corn on the cob comes from seed corn. Those bright, juicy tomatoes started from a seed. The green beans you preserve to eat like fresh picked green beans at Thanksgiving started with a…well, you get the point!

So seeds are important. They are vital for the sustaining of life and the provision of healthy life giving food. We get important nutrients from fresh vegetables and fruits all of which come from seeds containing the likeness and nutrition of the mother plant. Therefore we can say with great confidence that the mission of every seed sown is to reproduce after its kind. 

Jesus compares the growth and reproduction of the kingdom of God with seed that is sown by a farmer that will reproduce after its kind. The DNA of the kingdom of God is in every baptized follower of Jesus Christ. We carry the seed of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to plant the seed of the kingdom of God in our families, our neighborhoods, at work, or wherever we may be. 

St. Paul described the effort of planting the Kingship of God as a cooperative effort. Together, in a parish, we collaborate to make the kingdom of God known and understood and felt. Sometimes we are planting kingdom seed, sometimes we are watering it, and God gives the increase. In a family a husband and wife work together to make God's Kingship palpable to their kids. They do all they can to extend God's kingship in their family by praying together, worshipping together, laughing and crying together as together they grow in faith and in the knowledge of the saving work of Christ.

Kingdom seed doesn't grow unless it is planted. All of its good news and power to forgive sins remains anonymous until it's shared. The great mercy that each seed of the kingdom carries within itself remains unfelt unless we fulfill our mission to sow kingdom seed entrusted to us. Just imagine how much God is waiting to burst out with new life and light and love for all who are languishing in the kingdom of darkness. God gives us opportunities and moments when he wants us to plant some seeds of the kingdom. He wants the great mystery of his life to be sown so that his kingdom will grow. 

Like a farmer we have to be patient and persistent. We have to trust the process and believe that what is sown in faith will grow and make new servants of God's benevolent work and kingdom. Our mission is to live and to share the good news of God's love and forgiveness and mercy by faith. We aren't ruled by what we see, we give witness and live out our mission by faith. And we do so with the understanding that we must one day give an account of our faithfulness to the mission of sowing kingdom seed. Amen.

Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN.  Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com