Category: Meditation

A Fruitful Life

Modern personnel practices in secular business settings emphasize the importance of performance appraisals. Some of that spills over into our perspective on our life as followers of Jesus Christ. That is not necessarily a good thing.

Business and the economy are concerned with performance and productivity. People are useful as long as they are able to contribute to the bottom line. People easily become cogs in the wheels of commerce.

Jesus was concerned about fruitfulness. He said, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).

I recently helped a family say goodbye to a loved one. He was a renowned surgeon, husband, father, and Christian gentleman. During those last minutes of his life, they were not concerned in the least with his performance. They spoke of the wonderful life he lived and the stewardship of his gifts as a physician that allowed him to heal, save lives, give people another chance. "That was why he was put here," they said. He understood that God had made him a physician and guided his hands in God's healing work. He lived a fruitful life.

Every life he touched made a difference to others. We'll never know how many. Something The Rev. Robert H. Schuller said came to mind. "Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed." Fruitful people go around planting seeds. Those seeds germinate, take root, sprout, grow, and produce fruit. And so the process continues from generation to generation.

Here's a question: When you die, do you want someone to say about you, "He always had good performance appraisals," or do you want it said, "He lived a fruitful life"?

Do what you have to do to earn a living, keep your job, and provide for your family. Be a top performer. But don't confuse being a cog in the wheel with living a fruitful, abundant, Christian life.

I'll see you in Church!

July 19, 2016
Red, Yellow, Black, and White, they are precious in God’s sight

When I was a child, I loved attending Sunday School. I had some amazingly loving and deeply faithful teachers whose influence profoundly affected the formation of my faith in a loving God. I can see them and hear their voices now as if it were only yesterday – Mr. Frantis, Mrs. Brittian, Mrs. Baber, and others. They loved us and share their faith in Jesus with us. They reinforced the faith into which our parents were trying to guide us.

However, when I looked back on that time from the perspective of a young adult in the late 1960's, I realized something was wrong. They taught us to sing (with gusto) "Jesus Loves the Little Children." In that song, there is a line that says, "Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight." But the church I attended was 100% white. From its members I overheard conversations from time to time about the place of our neighbors who were black, brown, and yellow. When I looked back, I realized that, while Jesus loves people besides white people, my white church people didn't. Jesus might love them, but they weren't really welcome in my church. Jesus might love them, but they weren't worthy of the dignity and respect enjoyed by white people. Jesus might love them, but our behavior toward them didn't have to look like we love them as he loves us. Jesus might love them, but they had better not act "uppity."

If you grew up in a racist culture like I did, you know what I am talking about. Perhaps for you, as for me, recognizing that something was wrong was an epiphany, a time for repentance, and the beginning of transformation. My world could no longer be all white with a little color around the edges.

This all came to me during a time when black people were turned away from white churches. It was a struggle for one like me, who was taught that people of all colors are precious in the sight of Jesus, to reconcile that message with the actions I was witnessing. Given the rhetoric of the day, I suppose I could have rejected that message and clung to what seemed to be the majority view reflected in the rhetoric and behavior of my white world. But the security, control, and privilege of that world was slipping away. Abandoning it or confronting it could be dangerous. White people said harsh and hateful things to other white people who didn't participate in keeping non-white people "in their place." The message wasn't wrong; my white, privileged, dominant world was wrong and I couldn't live in it anymore. I had to set out on a journey toward someplace else. I'm still on that journey.

Events of the last week and year have brought me to the sad truth that many of my fellow white people are still trapped in that world. It is even sadder that they seem to be completely unconscious of it. They say and do things that are blatantly racist yet are oblivious. I know it's true because I've been there and I still find myself trying to overcome some of those prejudices that were planted in me long ago. People of color who loved me enough to point out the harm, sometimes hatefulness, of my words and actions stuck with me until I began to understand where they were coming from and how my words and my behavior affected them. Many of those people are still in my life. I give thanks to God for them. I've sort of been their lifelong project and I'm still not finished. They patiently continue on the journey with me. And as we travel, we sing that song hoping our rainbow beliefs are evident in our lives. Maybe the colors of our rainbow are still a little bit pastel, but we hope they are growing stronger with each step we take together. Together.

So, what I wanted to suggest today to my friends of all colors, races, religions, genders, and nationalities is that it might help heal our fractured, hurting world if we would sing this song and test ourselves to see if our words and actions show that we really believe it is true. Whether you believe that Jesus is God Incarnate, a wise prophet, or just a very gutsy nice guy, could it be true that he loves all the children of the world? Are all of us – red, yellow, black, and white – really precious in his sight? If I am one of the Jesus people, shouldn't they be precious in my sight as well? How do I love and treat people who are precious in Jesus' sight? Who are precious in my sight?

This isn't a final exam! It's a pop quiz to monitor progress in a lifelong course. I invite you to take it with me and see if we can be the difference we'd like to see in God's amazing, changing world.

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
Saint John’s Cathedral
Denver, Colorado

July 12, 2016
Let’s get started!

Today is my first Sunday as Interim Dean at Saint John’s Cathedral. I’ve spent the past week getting acquainted with the staff, setting up my office, attending meetings, learning which keys open which doors, finding my way around Denver, talking with the Bishop, and signing documents pertaining to my new location. It’s been an intense and busy week, made so much easier by those who have lent a hand.

In addition to the usual duties of a Dean, an intentional interim is trained to help the congregation clarify its history, discover its present identity, equip its leadership, strengthen its ties to the wider church, and prepare to make a commitment to a new day in mission when the next dean is called. There will be numerous opportunities for members to tell their stories and I've already heard several remarkable ones. People have told me about how they were invited to be a part of this Cathedral community years ago, how they came to be married here, how they raised their family here, how they provided leadership during other transitions, and how the people here shepherded them through difficult times.

Fr. Patrick Malloy has guided some remarkable transition work in the last year. I am stepping onto the journey where he stepped off and looking forward to completing the remaining tasks. There will be a lot of work to do during this phase of transition. In light of that, I'm appointing a group of people to be in charge of fun. They will remind us from time to time that the Christian life is characterized by joy and help us avoid taking ourselves too seriously.

The top priority of my ministry here is to provide leadership that will help Saint John’s and their next Dean to have a fruitful ministry together. We are off to a very good start. The key ingredient to fruitful ministry is common prayer. For Christians, transitions are always times for prayerful discernment. Our prayers have results beyond our imagination or control. Our prayers let God know we are receptive to divine guidance. Our prayers help us watch over one another in love. Our prayers make the work of transition sacred work.

To that end, I’m distributing cards containing two prayers for daily use. One prayer is for the Cathedral community, asking God to help us to know and understand what things we ought to do, and to give us grace and power faithfully to accomplish those things. The other prayer calls upon God to guide the minds of those who will choose a new Dean, asking that we may we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for God’s people and equip us for our ministries.

Please pray these prayers and check in from time to time to see what kind of epiphanies God is giving us as our eyes are opened to behold God’s hand at work among this faithful flock. Jesus promised his followers that they would do even greater works than he did during his brief earthly ministry. I truly believe that. Our time together may be short, but it will be in the hands of our God who can do more with us than we can do by ourselves. There will be signs and wonders!

Let’s get started.

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean

July 10, 2016
In Response to the Racism and Violence of This Week

The deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have shocked the fabric of human community. I returned to my home last night to see and hear the news that one or more snipers have killed five police and injured another seven in Dallas, Texas. In the violence of the last two days, seven human beings will never go home. They will never embrace their family, friends, spouses, and children again.

We grieve with Diamond Reynolds for the senseless death of her boyfriend Philando Castile, with Cameron Sterling for the murder of his father Alton, and with the families of the police officers who were slaughtered while performing their duties. We grieve for ourselves, for our tolerance of and complicity in the growing racism and gun violence in our nation. We grieve for the divisive and immoral behavior that fosters such violent outbursts. We grieve for the refusal of our elected leaders to take reasonable steps to turn back the tide of terror that threatens to destroy us.

We are called upon to pray about this culture of racism and violence and for those who are the victims. And we must do that because our prayers matter. But let us pray, as we will this Sunday, that God will guide us to know and understand what we must do and then give us the grace and power to faithfully accomplish those things. We must seek and find ways to change things for neighbors like Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, five dead police officers, and their families. We must also change things for people who are our own neighbors, colleagues, family, and friends whom we cherish. We must be mindful that we are responsible for creating the culture that will be the legacy we bequeath to our children and the generations that follow.

The people of Denver and of Colorado know all too well that this is not just about Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas. Liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez writes, “All injustice is a breach with God.” This is about the injustice of violence and racism, sins that strip us of our humanity. We must repent, turn away, not only from our personal complicity, but from the systems of injustice that dehumanize our brothers and sisters.

So, let the message of peace and mutual respect, of liberty and justice for all, and for God’s peaceful reign to be established upon earth as it is in heaven be proclaimed from the Pulpit of this Cathedral and Pulpits across the land in the hope that those who hear that message, starting with ourselves, will act to change the social structures and all the influences that have allowed racism and violence to grow. May we become instruments of the answers to the prayers we pray.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 815)

Faithfully yours,

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
Saint John’s Cathedral
Denver, Colorado

July 8, 2016
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church ! June 19, 2015

The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Listen to the Sermon for June 19, 2016

Read the Sermon for June 19, 2016

June 19, 2016
A Response to the Mass Shooting in Orlando

On Sunday morning, shortly before leaving for the early service, I turned on the news and heard about the mass shooting in Orlando. At that point, the estimate was twenty dead and forty-two wounded. Then, just before the ten o'clock service, a parishioner showed me an update on his smart phone. The estimate was fifty dead and over fifty wounded. All I could think of to do was to add the victims of this horrific act of violence to the Prayers of the People.

For the past two days, when I have had an opportunity to watch the news, read responses, and ponder what happened, I have felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss. Sadness for those killed and injured, their loved ones, friends, and colleagues, for my country that seems to have lost its way. Loss of a way of life, of a sense of security, of civility in public discourse, and of effective leadership in public office.

A friend asked me in a Facebook post why someone's faith would make them murder in cold blood. I don't think he liked my response because it included looking at the implications of our own faith and for placing stronger restrictions on certain kinds of guns. James told us, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). Our trust in God and the beliefs we have about God's will for humanity should lead to action. Our faith should lead us in renewed efforts to "persevere in resisting evil", "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being," and all the other imperatives of the Baptismal Covenant.

We have a Christian duty to live our lives according to the example of Christ and to proclaim the good news. Yet, there are those who are both inside and outside our Christian community over whom we have little or no influence. Just as there are those of other faiths who twist the teachings of those faiths, so there are those within the Christian community who have perverted and abused the Gospel. There are people in all faiths who embrace an archaic interpretation of teachings and who rail against more contemporary and progressive viewpoints. Faith communities are struggling internally and externally in the context of a global cultural change. I believe that change is inevitable and that people of faith have an opportunity to contribute in positive ways to the new cultural ethos that emerges. But we will not succeed in that positive contribution through means that are in conflict with the primary values of world religions that call for peace, love, and well-being that supersede images of violence and hatred in our sacred texts.

Neither shooting dozens of LGBT people in a nightclub, nor inciting fear and conflict in political statements, nor being a "murderer at heart" (1 John 3:15) are pleasing in the sight of God. So, let us resolve to resist all of these things that harm God's children and work for common sense measures that are for the common good within our faith communities, across the lines that divide us, and within the body politic. I don't have all the answers. Neither do you. But we do have a faith that promises God can work through us to bring peace and goodwill. It will be hard work. If there were simple solutions, we'd have already prevented tragedies like the massacre in Orlando.

So, let us join hands, listen to one another, and get to work. All the while, let us pray for those who have died, those who suffer, those who are our neighbors, and those who are our enemies, in the hope that God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Gracious God, preserver of all things in heaven and earth, receive the souls of those murdered in Orlando into the arms of your mercy; envelop the Orlando community with your love; and grant us all–Christian and Muslim brothers and sisters–the courage and wisdom to speak with one voice in favor of your peace, which passes all understanding. Amen.

I'll see you in Church!

June 14, 2016
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church ~ June 12, 2016

The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Listen to the Sermon for June 12, 2016

Listen to the Children's Sermon for June 12, 2016

Read the Sermon for June 12, 2016

June 13, 2016
Compassion

I’m attending the Interim Ministry Network Annual Conference this week in Las Vegas. One of our speakers shared a story about compassion.

A student asked the great anthropologist, Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization in any given culture?” The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, a tool, or maybe a weapon. But that’s not how Mead answered. To the question what is the earliest sign of civilization in any given culture, Mead said, “A healed femur.”

Professor Mead explained that healed femurs are not found where the law of the jungle reigns. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured, did that person’s hunting and gathering, stayed with that person, offered protection and companionship, until the injury could mend. Evidence of compassion, says Mead, is the first sign of civilization.

By way of a parallel, the same thing is true within the Church. The first sign of Christian civilization/community is not preaching, music, theology, or organization. Rather, the first sign of Christian civilization/community is compassion – how well we care for those who are wounded or injured in body or spirit, how well we rally around a person in a time of need, how we offer healing, comfort, protection, and companionship until they are able to rise up and walk again.

The Scriptures of our faith are filled with descriptions of God as a God of compassion. For example:

"The LORD is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness." – Psalm 103:8

The God of compassion is fully revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ:

"As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd…" – Mark 6:34

The followers of Jesus are called to be instruments of God’s compassion:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:32 NIV

I reflected throughout the day on compassion as a sign of civilized society in general and Christian civilization/community in particular. I saw many signs of compassion. Perhaps that was because I was looking for them.

A group of us went out to dinner and when we returned to our hotel it was 102º. This hotel is a sprawling complex of buildings and my room is about three blocks from the lobby. As I was going to my room, I noticed an elderly lady pushing her walker. The walker had a seat on it and on the seat was an ice bucket. I spoke to her and she said, “Do you know where the ice machine is? It is so hot and I need some ice water.” I took her ice bucket and told her to wait right there. I filled her bucket with ice from the machine, which was about 50 yards away, and returned it to her. She thanked me three times before I was able to continue on the walk to my room.

For her, it was a great relief. For me, getting her some ice was no big deal. It took less than two minutes. But those two minutes changed me. I felt more alive, more human, and more connected to the civilization/community of Christians. I share this with you in the hope that you will take a little more time to watch for and to perform acts of compassion. It is one way to love your neighbor as yourself. Even more, it is a way to advance civilization and change the world.

I’ll see you in Church!

June 9, 2016
Soli Deo Gloria

I’ve been thinking about glory. Where does it come from? Who is entitled to it? Where does glory fit into the Christian faith and life?

Perhaps you’ve heard it said, “There’s no telling what can be accomplished if doesn’t matter who gets the glory.” It’s an important proverb for any work group, family, or organization where teamwork and collaboration are important.

I’ll go you one better: “There’s no telling what can be accomplished if God gets the glory.” The emphasis in my version of the proverb is not only upon selflessness and teamwork. The emphasis is on giving God the credit for what we accomplish.

The concept of glorifying God is ancient. The Bible is full of examples. So are the writings of theologians, artists, and mystics through the ages. Here are a few examples:

The sun shall no longer be
   your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
   give light to you by night;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
   and your God will be your glory. – Isaiah 60:19

Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
but to your Name give glory;
    because of your love and because of your faithfulness. – Psalm 115:1

Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

St. Paul said, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” – I Corinthians 10:31

It’s really a fairly simple yet profound concept. Human beings were created in the image of God to be the crowning glory of God’s creation. The glory, therefore, belongs to God. It is our privilege and purpose to glorify God and, when possible, to inspire others to do so as well. Glorifying God is our mission, our delight, and our ultimate purpose. Our aim is to do everything for God's glory to the exclusion of our own self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.

St. Irenaeus of Lyon said, “The glory of God is a fully alive human being.”

The Westminster Catechism says it this way, “The chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy God for ever.”

Musicians such as Bach and Handel dedicated their music by writing Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) on their manuscripts.

After writing to the Galatian Christians about his life and witness, St. Paul concludes with, “And they glorified God because of me” (Galatians 1:24). Everybody needs a pat on the back from time to time. It is good to affirm and recognize others in our lives. But the highest compliment we can pay others is to let them know their life has inspired us to give glory to God.

Soli Deo Gloria.

I’ll see you in Church!

P.S. Here is Patrick Doyle's setting of that first verse of Psalm 115, composed for the movie "Henry V." The Latin Non Nobis Domine = Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your Name give glory.

June 3, 2016
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church ~ May 22, 2016

Trinity Sunday

Listen to the Sermon for May 22, 2016

Read the Sermon for May 22, 2016

May 22, 2016