| “…whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:207-28).. |
| Dear Friends, Monday this week, most of the Epiphany staff went on a day’s retreat to the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia monastery in Bristow, Virginia. With a number of new members and as we head into the program year, it was a lovely way to be held in prayers of the Sisters and by hosted in the beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces they offered. It was also a feast day in the Catholic and the Episcopal Church: The Feast Day of St. James. Feast days have their own readings, and we closed our day with Communion and the Gospel reading appointed for this feast day. St. James, and his brother John were “the sons of Zebedee” and were also called in Mark’s Gospel, the “Sons of Thunder.” No reason is given for why they are given this nickname which is only given in Mark’s Gospel. It does seem to imply they have a kind of presence that can “rattle.” It also implies strength and power. Psalm 29 uses thunder imagery for God: The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. Monday, we took time to connect with God and each other. As I reflect on the scripture appointed for this feast day, I wonder if that time was for more than knowing each other outside the fast-paced and complex work of the church. Maybe in the space of that time our orientation to God and each other was meant to raise our awareness that our individual energy and power are intended to be put to particular service; that is, not as spotlights to ourselves, but as helping us to know how to serve one another in ways unacknowledged and even unseen. “…[W]hoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave. “ These words from the end of the reading in Matthew’s Gospel are Jesus’ response to the mother of James and John. She had approached Jesus and asked that her sons be elevated in power alongside Jesus. In Mark’s Gospel, these “Sons of Thunder” ask for themselves. Jesus turns the idea of power upside down for the people of his day. That idea of power is still being upended today. True power is not flashy. The disciples and people of Jesus’ time saw power as the world around them saw it. Jesus kept saying no; it is something else. A lesson still for us today. Power oriented to service is connected to thunder perhaps. James and John are called the Sons of Thunder. Some say that is because they were boisterous. Some say because they were bold enough to ask for themselves to be elevated in status. But I wonder; it makes them more like lightening. Maybe they are Sons of Thunder because they are sons of God. The world looks at power and thinks ‘lightening,’ the thing that can be seen and seems to be the source of thunder. But thunder does not come from the bolt itself. It comes from an interaction that we cannot see. The air that surrounds the bolt heats, expands, cools, and contracts suddenly. These rapid changes to the air and air pressure produces the shock wave of sound we call thunder. Perhaps we are all a bit like lightening, “this little light of mine…” Not all lightening produces thunder. Maye James and John were called Sons of Thunder because they were being called to use their light to make thunder. And maybe that is true for us too. Jesus, help us to use our energy, our gifts of light, in the service of one another, so that God’s voice of love and promise will thunder across the world and change the way the world loves. In Peace, Rev. Dina |