Do Welcome with Meekness
“Do Welcome with Meekness”
James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, August 29, 2021
First Presbyterian Church, Sandpoint, Idaho
Andy Kennaly, Pastor
Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem come and gather around Jesus and they point out the disciples’ lack of handwashing. They interpret this as a violation of tradition, and they ask Jesus “Why” they are doing this.
The word “Why” can come across as a judging word. Rather than curiosity, the questioner has an agenda, or an opinion, and is laying the groundwork to defend it. Asking “Why” has more to do with self-interest than genuine concern for another. Jesus points this out, calls them “hypocrites,” which means “actor.” He says a quote from Isaiah, points out that they are acting, pretending to be concerned but really, they are not. They honor God with their lips, by what they say, but their hearts are far from God. Here they are, defending religious doctrine, but with malice in their hearts. Kind of like the “letter of the law/spirit of the law” they are masters at observing the tradition, but have disconnected from true intent. This prompts a teaching from Jesus about the human heart and how it can be the source of many ills.
Looking at James we also see the human heart as the conduit God uses to send perfect gifts, that we can “rid” ourselves of all that “rank growth of wickedness,” and “welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.” We are instructed to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
Both passages talk about understanding, about hearing and doing, about tradition and law, and how people act in life. Both passages show us people who “think they are religious, and [yet] do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts.” Both passages give examples of religion that is worthless and religion that is pure and undefiled. There’s a lot going on in these scriptures, just like there’s a lot going in our lives as we live as extensions of the biblical narrative, as our contexts echo the very same tensions and struggles that Jesus challenges, calling us to learn, change, and grow in the depths of discipleship.
To use a phrase I first learned from Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest in New Mexico, this passage is an illustration of issues surrounding a shift from “first half of life” to “second half of life.” This is a gradual shift, and usually involves pain and suffering along with great love. But this shift from first to second half of life is so challenging that most people, even Christians, don’t allow it to happen. This affects their own lives and gives shape to the institutional church and the larger culture, largely still dynamics of the first half of life.
As Jesus talks to Pharisees, he also points out a human situation. As we grow up in the first half of life it is necessary to have rules, to learn the ropes, to be taught boundaries on what’s acceptable and what’s out of line. First half of life spirituality involves learning that we are special in the eyes of God, that we’re loved and included in the good news of Jesus. We learn the stories shared in the Bible, and experience genuine relationship through our families and other groups, like church. Many lessons come across as helpful negatives, especially when we’re young: Don’t touch that pot, it’s hot; stay out of the street, it’s not safe; don’t chew with your mouth open, it’s rude. We learn life’s codes and unwritten rules. First half of life is like filling our bucket with identity as we grow up, get educated, find a job, and perhaps start our own families. These are important for development.
All of this works well in helping us form attachments, create identity, and learn how to stay safe and secure as we navigate life in the world. These lessons are so powerful and ingrained at such deep levels within us that eventually we can even equate them with the word of God. Behaviors soon follow. But the first half of life is very limited in helping us deal with larger questions and Mystery itself. Second half of life Wisdom is needed to develop into the fullness of humanity. This wisdom brings qualities the first half of life lacks. The first half of life is important, but it can only get us so far.
The story with Jesus and the Pharisees is an illustration of first half/second half life. The Pharisees are very good at focusing on what’s essential for the first half to go well. There is structure, rules, law, identity, and most importantly, safety and security. But that the Pharisees, ask “why” shows the downside of this: defensiveness and blame, in the context of constant judging.
Jesus demonstrates second half of life spirituality, and in the process of confronting the Pharisees, he points out humanity’s tremendous potential to miss the point and stay stuck at lower levels of consciousness. Not only that, but people are easily deceived by it, because early conditioning can feel so right that we defend it, and lash out to destroy the very thing our soul knows it needs at deeper levels. But in order to embrace what’s needed, a transformation must take place as we learn to let go of our false self.
Last Sunday I mentioned Centering Prayer as a time to simply be in God’s Presence. We explored how contemplative faith involves living in ways that raise awareness of Being, and the light of Being shining through everything. As awareness grows, we begin to learn that each moment is powerfully connected to all other moments, and we gradually notice that we don’t need dominate others, that even when we face challenges or struggles, which can be very difficult, under it all there’s a deep love perfectly present holding everything together. The good, the bad, everything held in a unified field. Any particular moment is not independent, but representative, as it holds all moments within it, perfectly at that!
To teach us at a heart level the importance of transformation from first half of life to second half of life, this morning’s scriptures take us into another type of prayer, one that is similar to Centering Prayer, but rather than sitting in silence it involves action and activity. To consciously help us be aware of the gifts of God no matter what it is we face, this prayer is called The Welcoming Prayer.
“The Welcoming Prayer was created by Mary [Mrozowski], who really helped develop and make popular Centering Prayer. The Welcoming Prayer is largely based on the teachings of Thomas Keating and Mary’s own experience of transformation, and also draws on the 17th century spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade.”
Welcoming Prayer is a “method of the prayer [that] involves noticed feelings, emotions, thoughts, sensations and commentaries in your body. The prayer introduces the welcoming of the divine indwelling into what you sense in your body by saying ‘Welcome.’”
This echoes the passage from James where we are invited to “welcome with meekness the implanted word.” This prayer invites God to do things within us, and “follows with letting go statements which initiates bringing about real inner change to the false–self-system.
Mary Mrozowski says, “To welcome and to let go is one of the most radically loving, faith-filled gestures we can make in each moment of each day. It is an open-hearted embrace of all that is in ourselves and in the world.” (https://www.marymrozowski.com/blank)
The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life. […] Welcoming Prayer […] deepen[s] our relationship with God through consenting in the ordinary activities of our day — “consent-on-the-go.”
What this does is what Jesus is doing in Mark: as he shares with the Pharisees, he helps dismantle acquired emotional programs.” He heals “the wounds of a lifetime by addressing them where they are stored — in the body.” (https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/welcoming-prayer-method/)
To close today let’s practice The Welcoming Prayer as we take the quiet, Divine Presence of Centering Prayer and put it to action. This is a quick introduction. There are entire courses designed to teach this, retreats shaped around it, so this is a pretty quick look. The Method involves this:
1 Feel and sink into what you are experiencing this moment in your body.
2 “Welcome” what you are experiencing this moment in your body as an opportunity to consent to the Divine Indwelling, that meek welcoming of the implanted word.
3 Then the clincher, a second-half-of-life action. Let go by saying “I let go of my desire for security, affection, control, and embrace this moment as it is.”
Start practicing the Welcoming Prayer with the little things in life — small, everyday frustrations like sitting in traffic or waiting in line at the grocery store. Practice with the small things prepares us for the bigger upsets. (https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/welcoming-prayer-method/)
As we invite the Living Christ to help us move from first half of life to second half of life, as we let go of our false self and invite awareness of our True Self through divine presence, as we welcome with meekness God’s implanted word, lets close with these words of prayer:
The Welcoming Prayer
Welcome WELCOME Welcome
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome ALL thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons,
situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for POWER and CONTROL.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for SURVIVAL and SECURITY.
I let go of my desire to change any
situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God
AND GOD’S ACTION WITHIN.
Amen.
The Welcoming Prayer by Father Thomas Keating