3-30-25 - In the Image or Likeness of God

In the Image or Likeness of God
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Beth Henricks

March 30, 2025

Our Scripture reading today is Genesis 1:26-31

26 Then God said, “Let us make humans[a] in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth[b] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humans[c] in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;[d]
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

I just finished a book a good friend of mine sent me called The Act of Lovingkindness Preparing to Practice by Rabbi Rami Shapiro.  The first chapter talked about this idea of image and likeness of God, and it struck a deep chord within me.  Rabbi Shapiro says, “The book of Genesis tells us we are created in the image and likeness of God.  Yet when God actually creates us , Torah refers to us only as image of God and not the likeness.  What is the difference in the wording?  What does it mean to be the image of God?  Being the image of God means we are God manifest. Just as a wave in the ocean extended in time and space, so each one of us is God extended in time and space.”

I was raised in a faith tradition that emphasized the depravity of man and that we needed Jesus to save us from our original sin.  Even as a child and teenager I struggled with this idea as I studied the scriptures in Genesis talking about God creating us in His image.  Does that mean that God is part of original sin if we believe that we are born into sin?   How  do I reconcile the beautiful story of creation in Genesis with the image and imprint of God on our being?  Are we created with more Light or more Darkness?  I think we all know that we have both sides of this image as there cannot be Light without Darkness.   But our creation, our being  is in the image of God.  And while darkness is present in the mystery of God – I have to believe the Light is what overpowers the darkness.  And that Light , that image of God, is part of our essence, our spirit and our core.  I cannot accept that we are created as sinners that are depraved and need to be saved as we are born.  To me this is an antithesis to what I read in Genesis as we are being created in the image of God.  Can we all visualize the image of God within our physical bodies?  Do we name ourselves in that image?    We are one in God and God in us.  God is being itself. 

Phillip challenged Jesus with this idea in John 14:8-10 when he asked  Jesus to show us the Father and Jesus says, Phillip whoever has seen me has seen the Father.  I am in the Father and the Father is in me.   I think Phillip wanted Jesus to point to God, but Phillip was missing the teaching of Jesus  - I am in God and God is in me. Created in the image of God.

I know there is a lot of shame out there and we don’t always feel like we are the image of God at many times in our lives.  I had lunch with a friend recently that works at a drug and alcohol rehab center and leads groups of men trying to put their lives back together.  These men live in unworthiness and shame and yet my friend in group sessions will tell them that she has never seen them not sober.  That is her only experience of them  as sober men.  They are always taken aback by this as most of their lives have had to live with all of their terrible decisions.  But there in rehab, they are sober, beloved and reminded of how they are created in the image of God.  We don’t have to “get our act together” before we are beloved,  before we are the image of God.  We have been created in the image of God since our inception and before. 

This idea of image of God is foundational to our Quaker faith.  One of our core values is that “there is that of God in each person”.  First, we must recognize this within ourselves and then we can recognize this in others.  With George Fox’s recognition of this we can be in God and God with us without the need for priests, pastors, rituals or adherence to doctrinal statements - we can directly access this connection and recognition. 

Our scripture reading today  reads in verse 26 “let us make humans in our image according to our likeness…  We could talk about the use of  the plural words of us and our – that could be a whole other discussion about God referring to God in the plural.  Does that mean there are other gods?  I know many in our fundamentalist communities think the text is referring to the Trinity.  But at the time of this writing there could not have been any idea of Trinity.  The explanation that makes more sense to me  as outlined in The Harper Collins Study Bible commentary states that the first 11 chapters of Genesis tells of the origins of the cosmos, and humankind and recounted in primeval narratives while the origins of Israel’s ancestors in the patriarchal narrative – mixture of myths and legends, cultural memories, revisions of tradition and literary brilliance.   Many primeval narratives talk about multiple Gods and could reflect the context of the time.  But that is something to think  about another day.

When the actual creating part happens in verse 27 the word likeness is left out and only image of God  is named.  But God says let us make humans in our image and likeness.  I’d like to focus  on  what does it mean to be the likeness of God?  And is this different than being created in the image of God?  I think being the likeness of God means that we have the potential to act in a Godly manner.  But it takes our action, our participation, our choices to live into the likeness of God.  Rabbi Shapiro writes that it means that” we can, regardless of our ideology, theology and politics, engage each moment and each other with lovingkindness.”    While we are created in the image of God, we are not yet the likeness of God.  Living into the likeness of God is a choice.  And living into the likeness of God means that we practice loving-kindness to all.  Those that believe differently than we do, those that disagree with us politically, those that look differently than we do. 

Rabbi Shapiro described an event he spoke at for a fundraiser for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia a number of years ago, and why all these thousands of people were there to support these victims of a culture that believes differently, looks differently, speaks differently and a place we likely have never been to.  He had the audience do an experience with the person they were sitting next to in drawing the letters of the Hebrew name of God YHVH (yod – hey-vav-hey) on each other.  It was a powerful experience with a tremendous emotional response and as the Rabbi sat down, he wondered why this was so moving.  He said “ The answer came quickly – because it was the truth.  You know in  your heart, you know in a way that theology can never touch, that you are one with God, the Source and Substance of all life, and thus one with all living things.  And knowing who you  are makes lovingkindness possible. “  Friends, it is the recognition of the image of God within us that we can choose to be the likeness of God. 

The verses that we read talk about humans having dominion over every living thing on the earth seems to speak to God’s  desire for humans to live in the likeness of God.  We are responsible for this earth, and I think God recognizes the fragility of creation, God declares it was good in verse 31 but God knows even with implanting God’s image on humans it must be their desire to be like God that will determine the fate of this world.  It seems like God has a hint that humans must desire to be like God to choose to recognize the image of God in all things and to take care of the birds, the fish, the waters, the sky, the plants, all animals to ensure all in the earth’s future.

I think our work is to try to live into being the likeness of God.  And it is not a one-time event of conversion.  Living into the likeness of God occurs every day as we have opportunities that open to us to show this likeness.

Rabbi Shapiro shares two visualizations to practice daily that I have started to do.  “Wake up each morning and stand in front of a mirror, seeing your body as the incarnate Name of God.  As you go about your day, see everyone and everything as the Name as well.  Listen for your angel announcing your true nature and listen for the angels of others doing the same.  In time you will break up the hard-packed soil of narrow mind and plant in it the seed of lovingkindness that will soon grow and awaken in you the spacious mind that is your holy and most true self.”

We will now enter a time of waiting worship.  I share several queries for you to consider during this time.

Can we embrace that we are created in the image of God?

            Can we live like we know we are a Beloved of God?

            Will we make a choice to live into the likeness of God today?

3-23-25 - Salty People: Bringing Out the God-Flavors

Salty People: Bringing Out the God-Flavors

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 23, 2025

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen for this week is from Matthew 5:13 from the New Revised Standard Version),

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Even though I concluded my series on the Beatitudes last week, I thought it was interesting what Jesus said to the faithful immediately following the Beatitudes. It is still part of the Sermon on the Mount, but it serves as both a compliment and warning of sorts.  

If you were listening to the scripture reading, Jesus actually called his followers “salty.”

Now, in our world today, to be “salty” means something much different than what Jesus meant. Today, if you or I call someone salty it means they are irritated, angry, or resentful, especially as a result of losing or being slighted.  That was far from what Jesus was saying. Actually, Jesus was paying them a very high compliment by calling them the salt of the earth.

But to understand this strange comparison Jesus makes to the faithful of his day, we have to know a little history and background. I enjoy reading the Patheos blog and especially Tim Suttle’s Paperback Theology. He has helped me understand the salty descriptor in a new way.

If we go all the way back to the ancient world, evil spirits were thought to be warded off by salt.  As well, it was among the first commodities ever traded.

For our furry friend lovers. Sometime around 10 thousand years ago the first dogs were domesticated, and they accomplished this by using salt. They would leave salt out for the dogs to lick, then began to leave food. Soon they’d be the only food source, and they’d begin to approach the dogs, closer and closer until they were eating out of their hands. Then they’d steal a puppy, or a puppy would just follow them home. They’d get used to the people. The pups that were more naturally docile stayed with the people, were bread, and over time were domesticated. All our domesticated animals like cows, goats, and other livestock were domesticated with this process and it all starts with salt. This is why so many people who put out salt licks on their property for the deer, find the deer becoming a bit too friendly.

As well, salt was a major political factor.  The city of Rome was founded where it is because of its close proximity to the salt works of the day. The first great Roman road was the Via Salaria the way of salt or the “Salt Road.” Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt. And a commander might ask if a solder was “worth his salt.”

Our word salary – comes from the Latin sal for salt. Romans were known to salt their greens (where we get the word salad). Romans developed engineering technologies that are still being used to mine or process salt.

Humans cannot live without salt. Just like water & food, its deficiency causes headaches & weakness, light-headedness & nausea, eventually death.

But with food we get hungry.

With water we get thirsty.

With salt there is no associated craving, even though salt is a vital nutrient.

Salt is in our blood, lymph fluid, all extra-cellular fluids and is necessary for most metabolic processes. It helps our body regulate fluids and is essential for cardiovascular function & digestion.

Without enough salt we will die, not to mention that French fries taste horrible without it.

In the ancient world salt was a symbol of fertility. Fish lived in salt water & had many more offspring than did land animals. They thought it was to do with the salt in the water. Later European brides and grooms would carry salt on their person to ward off infertility. Romans called a man in love salax – in a “salted state.” (Which is actually the origin of our English word salacious.)

Salt has been a part of the religious customs of nearly every religion known to the world. It was an acceptable offering for the Greek gods. It was part of the ancient Egyptian burial rites (All those mummies we go see in museums are there, still today, because of salt.).

To the Hebrew people salt is the symbol of the covenant with God – a covenant that will never spoil. Numbers 18:19 says,  

“It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants.”

Newborn Hebrew babies were rubbed in salt as sign of covenant – which just sounds itchy and dry, doesn’t it?

In Islam, salt seals a bargain.

In many Christian traditions salt is used to make Holy Water, and it is associated with wisdom, truth and witness.

On many occasions, when I was an Anglican priest at a Cathedral, I would help the Bishop bless the holy water. But before we did that, we had to mix the salt and purified water. There was a formula in our priest’s handbook along with the prayer of blessing.

So, with that little history lesson, it is clear Jesus was paying his followers a huge compliment when he said:

“YOU are the salt of the earth.” Not only were they blessed from last week, but they were salt. 

Salt is such the perfect descriptor for Jesus to use.  

Salt flavors food. It’s not the main taste so much as it brings out the flavors that are already there. The church (or the people) should bring out the flavors in our world. Not simply create or become a flavor of choice.

Salt is also a preservative. It keeps things from spoiling and rotting. And it doesn’t take much – a tiny bit of salt flavors the whole thing. Everybody doesn’t have to become salt for the salt to do its job. All it takes is just a little bit to make the whole thing better.

As salt preserves meat from rotting, those who are trying to live in the way of Christ, distributed in communities all around the world, help to preserve humanity through righteousness (or practical living), seeking justice, sharing and being love and kindness, and all while upholding that which is Truth.

Folks, salt permanently changes the flavor of food, just as the influence of faithful people can change a community, a nation, and even a culture. The main point is that you and I serve a divine purpose in the world simply by living out what Jesus taught us.

Now, we also need to address the rest of our scripture for today. Jesus adds a “but” saying,

“…BUT if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

So, what is Jesus saying here?

Well, when it comes to you and me, how can we lose our “saltiness”?

I think one of the clear ways we would lose our saltiness is by simply staying in the saltshaker – or what some may call our “comfort zone.” Some people have even made the church their saltshaker and seek this place only to be comforted.     

But the purpose of the salt is to be shaken out into the world – into our communities, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, families, etc.

And at times, we can be so, huddled together in our comfort zones, that we are not actually outside of these four walls, engaged with the world, and bringing practical living, justice, love and kindness, and truth to the world around us.

Folks, someone once said, “We gather to scatter.” We come to Meeting to listen, hear, and be nudged by the Divine and then we scatter into our places of influence to share what the Spirit has spoken to us.  

But if we stay in the saltshaker, and if we are not seeking to bring kingdom life into the world around us, we are effectively TASTELESS Quakers and Christians because we are not in the proximity for anyone to even know the salt is here.

In Jesus’ day, when salt would lose it’s taste or salty nature, it would be spread on the paths of the city to strengthen the road and keep the weeds away.  Thus, it was literally what Jesus said, “trampled underfoot.”

That is often what happens to those of us who lose our saltiness in the world. We get trampled by the world’s ways. Some even would say the Christian Church in America has been trampled by politics, a lust for power, a desire to be right, and thus it has lost its impact. 

More than ever, we need to embrace our saltiness! We once again must answer the call to season our circles of influence with righteousness, justice, love and kindness, and truth. 

I love the way the Message translation puts Matthew 5:13: 

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

We are here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. It reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, Guy Feiri’s “Dinners, Drive-in’s and Dives.” Do you know Guy’s catchphrase for his Triple-D Nation?

It’s you have a “one-way ticket to Flavortown.”

Folks, You and I (the salt of the earth) are the one-way ticket to Flavortown for our world of influence. We are the seasoning. We are bringing out the God-flavors in our world.

The world is getting awfully bland – and I think it’s time we spiced it up a bit.  And for Quakers who describe their testimonies as S.P.I.C.E.S. – well this should not be that hard. 

So, as we head into waiting worship this morning, I want us to take a moment to ponder the following queries.

·      Is my comfort blocking my seasoning ability and saltiness?

·      What could I do this week that would bring out the God-flavors in my circle of influence?

·      How could First Friends be more effective at bringing out the God-flavors in our community?

3-16-25 - Blessed Are You!

Blessed Are You!

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 16, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  Our scripture for this morning is from Matthew 5:11-12 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Today, we conclude this series with the additional commentary Jesus adds to the end of the Beatitudes to emphasize and explain what he was saying about the persecuted in last week’s message. If you were listening carefully as I was reading these concluding remarks, Jesus compares the blessed who are persecuted to the Old Testament prophets – I think this is a very important comparison and a not-to-be-missed concluding remark because it speaks to our condition, today.   

You may remember, back in the fall of 2023, I preached a sermon series on the Biblical Prophets based on a small book by my friend and fellow Quaker, Howard Macy.  This was preparation and set-up for both my last sermon series, “Speaking Truth to Power,” as well as, this current series on the Beatitudes. Sometimes, it just takes several years of 15 to 20-minute messages to finally connect all the dots. I thank you for your patience. 

 I want to return to some of the insights I shared in those messages on the Prophets, to help us fully understand why Jesus would add these thoughts and even give somewhat of a warning to those of us trying to live out his message.

Howard early on quoted Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel who said that the Hebrew Prophets were “some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived.”  And then Howard urged us to befriend them, to come alongside them, and to risk becoming a disturbing person ourselves.

Because he says, “The world needs more disturbing people – people who can envision the wonders of life together that God intends for us, people who can see through and call out the ways we corrupt that life, people who can teach us how to walk in God’s ways.

Many of you are struggling with knowing what to do in these challenging times, I know because you share it with me, on a daily basis. Most of the conversations I have had over the last three months have included the phrase, “I am not sure what to do.” 

Interestingly, the prophets often were in the same place asking the same question when they were called.  And guess what their initial response was? 

Moses and Jeremiah said, “Not me, send someone else.”

And even though Isaiah’s first response was “Here I am, send me.” He later balks, “I’d just rather not.” 

Amos comes out and denies he is a prophet under pressure.

And we all know what Jonah did, he decided to run away. 

So, folks, currently most of us are in the same boat as the prophets. We really don’t want to speak up. We would rather someone else do the hard work. We would like to escape the reality of what is happening or wish it away.  Yet as Quakers and Christians in our world today, we have a responsibility to respond.  

These same prophets who were trepidatious and full of anxiety would soon find their voices in their local communities and give us some of the most important images of the world God intends.  They would describe:

·      A peace without limit, where justice and righteousness prevail (there it is again righteousness, just what we have talked about for the past 8 weeks.

·      A time when nations will stream to hear God’s teaching and will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks.

·      Where justice will roll down like an ever-flowing stream.

·      Or how about this one…where “Faithful love and truth will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss, and Truth will literally spring up from the ground as righteousness gazes down from the heavens.

Those are some impressive and inspiring images coming from some people who originally did not have the courage to step up or speak out.  I think it was in them all along, as I believe it is in you and me right now. 

Howard helped me get to the meat of the prophet’s message by sharing the four most used words of the prophets which he describes as the “shiny facets of the gem, shalom,” and what he considers are the foundations for building a community of peace.

So, what are those four words?

If they are the meat of the prophets, the gem of shalom, the foundation for building peaceful communities – AND from our text today, the things that cause people to revile, persecute, and utter all kinds of evil against them falsely, then these must be loaded subjects.   

So, what are these four facets of the gem of shalom…

1.      Righteousness

2.      Justice

3.      Love/Kindness

4.      Truth

At first pass, these four things may seem a simplification or to some even religious fluff, that is until you get to what is behind these ordinary things.

Righteousness to the prophets was first and foremost about practical living - thus it means to live by common means, widely and readily accessible to our neighbors.

And the prophets point out who to focus on within that grouping of neighbors. They say to give special attention to the poor and needy, the widow and orphan, and the foreign resident (or stranger) in your land. 

This righteous practical living is daily living, folks, it happens right in our own homes, communities, workplaces, and places of worship. 

Those of us asking “What should I do, currently?”  Maybe to start we could simply begin by living practically.  Acknowledging and engaging our neighbors who are struggling, who have needs, who have questions in our spheres of influence.

Then comes Justice. To the prophets, justice was rooted in their understanding of the character, actions, and guidance of God.  When justice is added to righteousness or practical living – it is called “Social Justice.”  Once we are seeing and acknowledging our neighbors, then we can move to pursuing justice to protect, care, and uplift them.

To do this, we must seek out where they are being cheated or treated unfairly.  This may take some of us coming together to speak out or rally against the injustices taking place. For some of us it might take letter writing campaigns and making phone calls to our leaders.  At times we may be nudged or even led to personally stand with or speak up for our neighbors. Or maybe it is not for a person but for our environment which impacts our neighbors. 

These are just a couple examples, but to know how we are to respond means we have to first of all know who are neighbors are and what is going on in their lives. 

Then comes Love and Kindness.  The prophets used the Hebrew word hesed, which I talked about earlier in this series. It is hard to translate, but probably the best way to translate it for what we are talking about today is “embracing faithful love.”

The character of God’s love should guide our own character, especially how it persists and never gives up.  We have to respond to our neighbors and our world in faithful love, not in bitterness, not in hatred, not in revenge, but in a manner that offers a loving presence in the daily lives of our neighbors.

This attentive care then shapes our relationships and builds stronger ties between us and helps us become kinder and more respectful people.

And finally comes Truth. For the prophets, truth meant reliability, dependability, or things being firmly established. Please hear me on this, our neighbors need to know that they can count on and depend on us.

Our neighbors should be able to rely on our integrity (especially as Quakers), our consistency, and our desire to say and do what is right. 

One of the greatest struggles in our world today is people trusting each other.  After not knowing what to do in our country, today, the next thing that comes out of most people’s mouth is “who can I trust.” 

To build trust once again, we have to be reliable, consistent, and dependable people in our daily lives. Our neighbors must know we are safe.  This means: 

Our LGBTQ+ and Queer neighbors must know we are safe - especially our Transgender and Non-binary children. 

Our immigrant neighbors must know we are safe people. 

Our neuro-divergent neighbors must know we are safe. 

Our elderly neighbors must know we are safe.

Our children must know we are safe.

And the list must go on and on…until every group is covered. 

Obviously, we won’t get this perfect every time, we may even show our weaknesses at times and occasionally fail, but as Quakers and Christians, we must not give up, or just expect someone else will come to their aid or to their rescue.

This is OUR calling. Just as it was for the prophets before us. If you want an answer to “What should I be doing today?,” just start with what the prophets sought; Righteousness, Justice, Love/Kindness, and Truth. That is our daily call. 

I find it interesting in his final word on the Beatitudes, Jesus says,  “Blessed are YOU.” Did you notice that?  He gets personal with his audience. He stops teaching and looks us in the eyes and says, Blessed are YOU. 

Not just the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, even though these all could and probably do at times describe you and me – but, now he simply says, Blessed are YOU.  

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

Jesus’ life was a lived example of each of those descriptors and he understood the backlash that comes from righteous living.  It sadly was and still is part of our world.  But he also knows that when we live this way, there is a great good taking place.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What we may have been quick to assume is that Jesus is simply saying, do this and your reward will be in heaven when you die.  But all along he has used the phrase kingdom of heaven to describe our current condition. 

He is not simply been talking about where we go when we die, but the Kingdom that is ours starting, NOW, as we fulfill the work of the beatitudes or what I described last week as Kingdom work.  Too many Christians have simply made this an escape plan and refused to take seriously the Kingdom work involved in the present moment.  

I think it is far time that we stopped making escape plans and started to live as Jesus called us to live in the Beatitudes.

So, today as I close this series, I want to remind us that Jesus said, “Blessed are YOU.”  He didn’t give any of us an easy out, but he challenged us to be better people, better citizens, and better Friends. 

He knew it would be hard, and he warned us, but he also reminded us

·      That the Kingdom of heaven or God would be ours.  

·      That we would be comforted,

·      That we would inherit the land,

·      That we would be satisfied,

·      That we would be shown mercy,

·      That we would see God in ourselves and in our neighbor, and

·      That we would be called God’s children.

Blessed are YOU.  Amen!

Now, as we center down and enter waiting worship, I ask that you take a moment to ponder the following queries:

·      Am I still feeling as if I do not know what to do?

·      How might I work this week to embrace righteousness, justice, love/kindness, and truth in my circle of influence?

·       Where have I expected someone else to come to the rescue or speak up, instead of responding myself?

3-9-25 - Persecuted or Persecuting

Persecuted or Persecuting

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 9, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. Today, we are looking at the last of the beatitudes from Matthew 5:10 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To understand our beatitude for this morning, we need to take a closer look at persecution in the history of the church.  And to do that, we need to go back to the first century of the church. Dr. Jerry Sittser, a professor who has been integral in my academic pursuits, takes us back and shows us how very early on persecution became a part of the church. He says,

Stories have traveled down through the centuries. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was burned at the stake in the year 155. He was 86 years old. Blandina died in the arena with over 40 other Christians in the year 177. In 202 Perpetua died with six others in Carthage. She was only 22 years old, a new Christian and a nursing mother.

Perpetua’s story is unusual because she kept a diary while in prison. An unknown writer added to the account, telling the story of her actual execution. Roman soldiers escorted her from the prison to the arena. Her courage and joy enraged the thousands who watched. Though Perpetua appeared to suffer defeat, she behaved as if she were achieving ultimate victory. Such was her confidence in the kingdom.

Why did Rome persecute Christians? For one, Christians posed a threat to the Roman way of life because they lived so differently. They refused to attend the games, placate the gods, visit temples and shrines, participate in festivals, and bow the knee to the emperor. Their way of life exposed Rome’s idolatry and immortality. Second, Christians challenged the hegemony of Roman authority by proclaiming Jesus as Lord. They were usually model citizens, even praying for emperors. But they refused to worship emperors.

So, this shows that from very early on the church and Christians were being persecuted. Let’s now jump to the 1600’s, where we are going to find not much has changed, but now we are talking our own tribe, Quakers.

In England as well as in a number of American colonies the Quakers faced violent persecution. Some 15,000 Quakers were jailed in England between 1660 and 1685. In 1660, Edward Burrough catalogued the maltreatment of Quakers in New England: 64 Quakers had been imprisoned; two Quakers lashed 139 times, leaving one (described as)  "beat like into a jelly"; another branded with the letter H, for heretic, after being whipped with 39 stripes; and three Quakers had been executed. 

Even in New York, which tolerated a wide variety of religious persuasions, the Quakers faced hostility. After arriving in Long Island in 1657, some Quakers were fined, jailed, and banished by the Dutch, who (like Puritan New Englanders) were outraged by Quaker women proselytizing…

Over time, we, Quakers found successful ways to channel our moral idealism and religious enthusiasm. We established weekly and monthly meetings which imposed structure and discipline on members, and beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, directed our energies against a wide variety of social evils, including slavery. By the early nineteenth century, we were engaged in moral reform movements in numbers wildly disproportionate to our society’s size. As many as a third of all early nineteenth century feminists and antislavery activists were Quakers.

So, this is just a very brief overview of how Christians and Quakers have been associated with persecution from their beginnings.

Today, we live in a country, where the church universally receives very little persecution (even though many churches will make it seem that they are the victim of a great deal of persecution for their own benefit – that is something we can explore at another time).  

Sadly, too often today it is actually the church that is being the persecutor – especially in the United States.

To understand this turning of the tables, let me talk a bit about what all persecution can cover and just how the tables have turned. 

Persecution of Christians and especially Quakers have included everything from violence, discrimination, and hostility, as well as disinformation and state-sponsored campaigns. 

Many authoritarian governments have used state-controlled media to spread lies and disinformation. For example, in North Korea, propaganda falsely depicts life as affluent and free of censorship, but Christians have faced a great deal of persecution in that country. It seems we have similar news and media sources in our country that are doing the same. 

As well, Christians and Quakers have faced hostility from society and especially from governments. For example, in India, Hindu nationalists target Christians and Muslims. In Iran, Christians who convert from Islam face pressure, even death threats, from their families and communities. 

But most persecution comes in the form of verbal abuse, slander, and incitement of hatred. Sometimes it leads to confiscation or destruction of property (which we have seen happen here in Indy at Jewish Congregations and Muslim Masjids), and can even escalate further to good people being arrested, imprisoned, beat, tortured, murdered, and executed.  This ultimately leads to restrictions on religious practices, and ultimately pressure to renounce one's faith.

What I have been describing is persecution coming from outside the church or from other faiths or belief systems. But the reality today in the United States is that persecution is coming more from within the walls of the church, and Christians and even some Quakers today are sadly pointing their fingers at each other and persecuting one another. 

Today, we are seeing one group of Christians or Quakers making it harder for other faithful people to own homes, hold jobs, get married, raise children, and attend religious services.

This may be more familiar when remembering the church’s past responses to Native Americas, African Blacks, Asian and Muslim communities, but it also has happened around issues of gender, age, mental health, sexuality, finances, immigration status and a plethora of other issues.  

In some cases, family members can even turn against family members and Meetings turn against each other (this has been especially apparent among Quakers with the LGBTQ+ and Queer communities causing Yearly Meetings to split – which has happened right here in Indiana).

They may kick a beloved family member out of their home, church, or Meeting, report them to their employers, harass them, or work to separate them from their children. Sadly, I have experienced each of these in my years as a Quaker. 

And folks, this is where discussing persecution becomes very timely and important to understand. Persecution can escalate above this social level as the perpetrators gain influence, especially political influence. Banning books, eliminating Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs, escalating culture wars, and erasing people’s history are all types of persecution. (I was proud of our Ministry and Counsel who this week approved a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Statement for us at First Friends – which will now head to our Clerks Council to be brought to our next business meeting).  

With political power these Christians can pass laws against the form of Christianity, Quakerism, or for that matter any religion or belief system they believe is wrong – this is prevalent in our country and our state, currently.   

This then works to create laws that can make it even more difficult for good people to own property, operate businesses, freely worship, raise children in their belief system, travel, and much, much more. We can see this right here in Indianapolis with neighborhood gentrification, libraries removing books, police brutality, and so much more.  

Ultimately, this will lead to it becoming legal to torture, jail, rape, and kill these persecuted people, because they do not believe the correct things or because they lack worth in the eyes of a said group of people – this is what we have already done to our First Nations People, to African Slaves and Blacks, to Asians who we put in camps during World War II, and to Aids victims in the 80’s.  And these are just a few of the biggest examples – there are sadly numerous more.

What we are seeing in our world today is persecution whose purpose is to force the “wrong” type of belief system to convert or align with the “right” belief system.  Folks, this is what Christians and Quakers have fought against and been persecuted for since our beginnings. But today, it is not coming from outside but actually from within our own faith communities and country.   

What has been growing in our country is perpetuators gaining power who believe that their type of Christianity is the only way to “salvation” (whatever they mean by that) and the only way to live with each other – but sadly it is far from Jesus’ principles we have talked about in this Series on the Beatitudes and from the ideals of the Kingdom of God or Heaven. 

Much like the early Christians and Quakers, I believe we are being called once again to live differently in our world.

We must again refuse to play the games, participate in the madness, and bow our knees to the emperor.

We must again expose the idolatry and immortality and hold our leaders, governments, and religious organizations in the Light, while refusing to worship them.

This is the Kingdom work we are called to. 

"Kingdom work" in the bible and especially in regard to the Beatitudes refers to actively participating in advancing God's kingdom on earth by living out Jesus' teachings (such as the Beatitudes) and using our gifts to serve others, essentially doing work that aligns with what the Spirit is speaking to us in our hearts (which remember is also God’s heart).

This is accomplished through acts of love, compassion, generosity, gratitude and sharing the good news and grace of Jesus’ message to a hurting world. It's more than just "good work" but rather it encompasses living a life dedicated to reflecting Jesus' values in our everyday actions. 

Some people suffer for doing evil, but that is punishment, not persecution.

And some are persecuted for reasons unrelated to righteousness.

Please hear me on this, Jesus wasn’t offering a general blessing to all victims of persecution for any cause. I have heard lots of so-called Christian’s in America playing the victim, acting as though they are being persecuted for not getting their way, or for others not agreeing with them.

Yet, Jesus offered it only to those who were persecuted for actively pursuing the kingdom of righteousness. Peter put it this way: “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).

When you and I choose to suffer for doing good or simply engage in Kingdom work, we should plan for some persecution – yes, even from Christians or fellow Friends – If you don’t believe me, go read the many stories of the early Quakers being persecuted by their Puritan neighbors in early America, or go read the minutes of almost all the Quaker Yearly Meetings in this country over the last 10 years who have tried to address same-sex marriage. I don’t think much has changed, today. If anything, it has just evolved. I know first-hand what it means to stand up for those who were given no voice and persecuted for conformity’s sake – not righteousness.

The word from our text in Greek is dioko, which means "to pursue" or "to persecute," but I find it interesting that the word can also mean "to oppress," "to harass," or "to bring to judgment". 

Folks, you and I would not be here today if early Christians and early Quakers did not stand up to the authorities, the oppression, the harassment, and the judgement of their day and be persecuted, jailed, and some even put to death. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Notice it does not say, “Blessed are those who persecute for all to be right” because then it would continue, “theirs will not be the Kingdom of heaven.” It would look much different. 

We need to think about this as we say boldly that we are Christians or Quakers and Friends, today. 

·      Beware of those who persecute.

·      Beware of those who want uniformity of beliefs and what I call “cookie-cutter-Christianity.” 

Rather stand up and speak up, lean into righteousness in your own special way, but also make sure you are prepared when you do – for you will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness – I guarantee it.

And righteousness (as I said in one of the first messages in this series) is about much more than simply following rules and being good people. There must be a burning desire within us for making things right and bringing justice for ALL of God’s people.

Well, I better end it there this week, because we are going to continue this conversation next week with the concluding remarks of the beatitudes. 

For now, let us enter waiting worship to ponder our call. As usual, I have a few queries for us to ponder this morning.

·      Am I willing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness?

·      What Kingdom work should I be engaging in?

·      Who am I persecuting unfairly, and what would it take for me to stop? 

3-2-25 - Peacemaker and Child of God

Peacemaker and Child of God

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 2, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning we look at the next of the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:9 from the New Revised Standard Version.

 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Even though among Quakers this is one of the most quoted of the Beatitudes, it is also one of the more misunderstood passages in the Bible.

Peacemaking itself is often misunderstood. Out in Oregon, our Yearly Meeting would celebrate Peace Month in January. I helped write sermon prompts for the month that would focus on different aspects of peacemaking.  What was interesting is that often when pastors (including myself) preached on peacemaking, we found it quickly made people uncomfortable, and thus, on occasion we would describe that month as “peace-less” month. 

This is probably because many believe that peace is all about the absence of conflict or trying to completely remove conflict from our lives.  And if we are simply trying to live without conflict…well, good luck.  Conflict is always looming and ready to rear its ugly head – and often when we are not expecting it.   

In the Beatitude for today the word used for the “Blessed” is the peacemakers. I think what Jesus intended goes beyond the absence of conflict and directly to the core of being a peacemaker - which means to actively seek reconciliation. 

And before we get too far, we must also define reconciliation as,

“bringing together those who were once divided.”

If there has ever been a call being heralded to the church, today, it is to be peacemakers who reconcile those who were once divided – especially in the polarized nation in which we live.   

Sadly, this is also exactly how one quickly moves from peacemaking to being peace-less.  Bringing together those who were once divided in our current condition seems almost a dreadful task. And if we’re honest, this is the last thing most of us want to attempt.  It would be much easier to simply surround ourselves with people who agree with us, have the same goals, and ultimately lack conflict for our lives but that is not the work of peacemaking – you might say that has more to do with peacekeeping which this often gets confused with.

Maybe you are saying, if that is what it takes to be a “child of God”…well, maybe that is not what I really want.  See how quickly the tension rises? 

Here is where I go from “preaching to meddlin’” as they say in the south, and all I have to do is ask you a simple query:

·      Who is the person you are most in conflict with currently? What would it take to reconcile that relationship?

I bet all kinds of emotions and feels just coursed through your being. Maybe you felt anger, frustration, shame, a lack of being heard, and the list goes on. 

But can I ask you to hold those thoughts for a moment, I am sure we will return to them. For now, let’s take a deeper look at what Jesus was saying in this Beatitude. 

Breaking down the term “peacemakers,” we find that “peace” derives from the Hebrew word “shalom,” conveying well-being and blessings. 

The word “maker” implies intentional action, emphasizing the need for active involvement in promoting shalom.  Thus, Jesus is asking us to be makers of well-being and blessings.

In the biblical context, peacemakers are closely tied to justice and righteousness (which I have been sharing throughout this series). Lasting peace is impossible without these virtues. Peacekeeping, devoid of justice and righteousness, merely ignores conflict rather than addressing it or resolving it.

For you and me to embrace the role of a peacemaker is not a lighthearted endeavor. It often involves messy, soul-wrenching, and self-sacrificing work. Again, the reason it often seems “peace-less.”

Jesus himself, who many consider the ultimate Peacemaker, endured immense conflict and strife for the sake of reconciliation. Talk to any peacemaking activist and you will quickly realize that it is a high-risk venture, where the likelihood of getting hurt is nearly 100%.

Also, despite our best efforts, not everyone may respond positively to our attempts at making peace, well-being, or blessing.  

Even the bible in Romans 12:18 reminds us, “IF IT IS POSSIBLE, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” 

“IF IT IS POSSIBLE” – I am so glad Paul included that important line in his letter – If anyone understood the struggle, it was Paul. 

The Beatitudes, including the call to be peacemakers, challenge you and me to undergo a transformation – a death to self and the birth of a new, spiritually aligned person. That has been the heart of the Beatitudes from day one.

As I mentioned last week, this overturns worldly logic (what we call Jesus’ Upside-down Kingdom), emphasizing the value of meekness, humility, and hunger for those attributes of righteousness.

For most people, confronting past wounds and seeking peace can be a daunting task. The fear of making peace with a painful past or individuals who have caused harm may seem risky. However, the effort to make peace, well-being, and blessing, itself is what brings blessing.

The hope you bring to the conversation is the proclamation of hope, forgiveness, and freedom from the chains of past mistakes and trauma.

Now, please hear me on this. I need to make a disclaimer at this point.  Even though YOU might bring hope, that does not mean the other person or people involved will understand or agree. This must be, first and foremost, a personal hope, a personal forgiveness, and a personal freedom that you embrace. We would hope others would embrace this as well, but that is not guaranteed.  The work is for us to do.   

I know that many of you in this room have uncovered wounds from past abuse, neglect, and betrayal. I have seen how deeply those wounds hurt, and I understand the fear of trying to make peace with your past or with someone who has hurt you, it is a high-risk endeavor.

But remember, THEIR response isn’t what makes you blessed; rather, it is your effort to make peace. It is the good news that YOU bring to the conversation – good news that says YOU are forgiving and, therefore, are forgiven. The good news that YOU can be set free from the chains of your past mistakes and trauma. It is the good news that regardless of how those who hurt you respond, YOU will always be a child of God.

Remember Joseph in the Old Testament, despite being sold into slavery by his own brothers, he chose forgiveness and reconciliation and all while he was in a position of power in Egypt. Boy, that story could have turned into revenge, retribution, and no peace, easily. And he had no idea how his brothers would respond to his grace. But, Joseph’s story is a testament to the transformative power of choosing peace, and folks, it wasn’t easy and it took a long time for him to see hearts change.

Or even Jesus himself, who, despite facing betrayal, false accusations, and even crucifixion, prayed for forgiveness for his persecutors and sought reconciliation as an example for us on how to be a true peacemaker.  

Folks, now, I have to be honest, to just understand the biblical concept of peacemaking is not enough, we often read these stories, quote from them, and not let them affect or change us personally.

So how do we translate all of this into practical actions for our daily lives?

Let’s take a moment to explore some tangible steps to becoming peacemakers in our families, communities, and world, today.

I sense these will be very critical to changing the course of our lives and even our country in the days ahead. Evan Owens of Reboot Recovery has given some thoughts on where we can start. (You may want to write these down).

1.      Embrace a Humble Attitude: Peacemaking starts with humility. We must acknowledge our own shortcomings and be willing to extend grace to others.

2.      Active Listening: Seek to understand others’ perspectives by actively listening without judgment. Active listening is a form of empathy.  I have emphasized empathy on numerous occasions, because it is a powerful tool in fostering understanding and reconciliation.

3.      Choose Forgiveness: Let go of resentment and choose forgiveness, even when it seems difficult. Forgiveness is a key component of peacemaking.

4.      Promote Justice: Work towards creating an environment of justice and fairness for ALL people. That means addressing underlying issues that contribute to lasting peace.

5.      Encourage Dialogue: Create spaces for open and honest dialogue. Communication is essential for resolving conflicts and building bridges.  And if there is one thing that is lacking in our world, today, it is good communication.

6.      Be a Catalyst for Change: Take intentional steps to address systemic issues contributing to conflict. Advocate for positive change in your community. 

(What I think is beautiful is that there are several of you in this room who are stepping up and becoming catalysts for change here in Indy – I see your work on social media, I hear your names mentioned in our community, you know who you are, and you are being a catalyst for change – thank you!)  

7.      Lead by Example: Demonstrate the principles of peacemaking in your own daily  life. Your actions can inspire others to follow suit.

And finally remember,

Blessed are you.

Blessed are you for trying to make peace.

Blessed are you for taking the first step towards reconciliation.

Blessed are you for forgiving those who have trespassed against you.

Blessed are you for keeping no records of wrongs.

For Jesus says these types of peacemakers will be called “children of God.”

He ends the verse that way because, as you work to make peace, you are reflecting the heart of God.  Like I said last week – the heart of God becomes and IS your heart – and then you can begin to see that same heart in those around you.

To close this morning, I want to leave you with a story and poem.  I sense it speaks to what I have shared in this sermon and our current condition in a profound way.  The story and poem are both titled, "The Bridge of Broken Words” – I believe it is a metaphor for our times.

In a small, once-harmonious village nestled amidst rolling hills, a chasm of discord had formed between the families of Anya, a fiery weaver known for her vibrant tapestries, and Luka, a quiet woodcarver renowned for his delicate sculptures. A bitter feud, ignited by a misunderstanding long ago, had cast a shadow over their lives, leaving their once-shared laughter echoing only in the memories of the elders.

Anya, with her sharp tongue and passionate spirit, often voiced her grievances, while Luka, burdened by his quiet pride, retreated further into his workshop, his wood carvings becoming more intricate and introspective, reflecting his inner turmoil. The village, caught in the middle, watched as the once vibrant tapestry of their community faded into a muted palette of suspicion and tension.

One spring day, a devastating storm swept through the valley, causing the river to overflow its banks. The fragile wooden bridge connecting the two sides of the village was swept away, leaving the villagers isolated and fearful. It was then that Anya, realizing the gravity of the situation, took a bold step. She approached Luka, her eyes reflecting the storm raging outside, and said, "We need to rebuild the bridge, not just for the village, but for ourselves."

Luka, surprised by her openness, agreed, and together they led the villagers in the arduous task of gathering wood and weaving new planks. As they worked side-by-side, sharing stories of their past, the unspoken wounds began to heal. Anya, used to expressing herself through her tapestries, started weaving a new piece, depicting the bridge being rebuilt, each thread symbolizing a step towards reconciliation. Luka, in turn, carved a delicate wooden dove, a symbol of peace, to be placed at the center of the bridge.

When the bridge was finally completed, the villagers gathered, and Anya, with tears in her eyes, stepped onto the bridge, her tapestry draped across her shoulders, and extended her hand to Luka. He took it, his wooden dove clutched in his palm, and as they met in the middle, the once-invisible wall between them crumbled. The village erupted in cheers, the sound of their united joy echoing through the valley, a testament to the power of reconciliation.

"The Bridge of Broken Words"

Where once the river flowed, a chasm wide,

Words like stones, thrown with bitter pride.

Anya's fiery thread, Luka's silent carve,

A broken bridge, a life to starve.

But when the storm unleashed its wrath,

They saw the need to mend the path.

With hands that worked, and hearts that spoke,

A tapestry of peace, a bridge awoke.

Each plank a step, each thread a plea,

To bridge the gap, to finally be free.

The dove of wood, the woven art,

A new beginning, a healed heart.

Now, where the river flows once more,

No longer echoes the discord's roar.

The bridge stands strong, a symbol bright,

A testament to love's guiding light.

Amen.

Now, as we head into waiting worship, take some time to further ponder these queries.

1.      Who is the person I am most in conflict with currently? What would it take to reconcile that relationship?

2.      Where do I need to step out and be a true peacemaker in my circle of influence?

3.      How might I help someone around me to know they are a special child of God?

2-23-25 - A Pure Heart and Eyes to See

A Pure Heart and Eyes to See

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 23, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and Welcome to Light Reflections. Today, we continue our exploration of the Beatitudes with Matthew 5:8 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

I don’t know how many times I get in a conversation about faith and end up hearing the person say, I cannot believe in a Divine Being or a God if there is no way to see them?  Well, today, I get to address that very question with our beatitude. To get there we have to understand the first part of our beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart” - and that itself is a loaded phrase that needs unpacking.

Each week, so far, we have talked about a group that Jesus says are blessed.  Just to review - the first few Beatitudes seemed at first to refer to people in various states of suffering or desolation: the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty. Even the “merciful” from last week are a group of people often thought of as somehow weak or inferior. Yet in unpacking each of the previous Beatitudes, we’ve seen how all of these qualities, in fact, correspond to strength and the potential for immense growth and community engagement.

They are what some people have described as paradoxes of the “upside-down kingdom of God.” 

Then today, we come to the sixth Beatitude and it seems to take a different approach - the “pure in heart.” Most of us would consider this a positive and good quality - or, at least, a quality we are supposed to hold in high regard. So where is the paradox we’ve come to expect from the other Beatitudes? Where is the deeper meaning? Well…don’t hold your breath.  

We think we know what “pure in heart” means because “pure” and “heart” are words that get tossed around so frequently in our English language. They appear so simple and familiar. On some levels, they are. But because of their simplicity and familiarity, we rarely reflect on what these words really mean. So, let’s go a little deeper.

Just a week ago we were celebrating Valentine’s Day, and many of us engaged in the West’s long history of referring to “the heart” as the source of things like love and romance.  We even give paper cards with hearts, candy hearts, even some of you may have ordered or made a pizza shaped like a heart. 

Yet, in our culture we also reference “following our heart” when we are faced with a difficult decision or a romantic relationship that demands a path of sacrifice. We listen to our hearts when there’s an important life-altering decision to be made.

Much of this can be traced back to Aristotle, who believed that the physical heart, not the brain, was the seat of our intellect and emotions. Although Western science and medicine moved on long ago from subscribing to this view in a literal sense, these expressions that tie the heart to the intellect and emotions persist in our language because we still feel deep down like there is some essence of truth there.

So why do we feel that way? What do we really mean when we speak of the heart in this way?

Sister Nina Hirlaender, a Franciscan, helped me understand that from a mystical perspective, one definition of the heart that makes a lot of sense—especially when thinking about this Beatitude—comes from the 4th century Egyptian hermit Macarius. He says,

“The Heart governs and reigns over your whole body. When Grace possesses the ranges of the heart, it rules over all the activities and the thoughts. For there in the heart, is the Heart-Mind. All the thoughts of the soul and all of its expectations, and in this way, Grace penetrates also to all the members of the body. Within the Heart-Mind, there are unfathomable depths. In the heart is death. In the heart is life. The heart is God’s palace. All things are in the Heart.”

In some ways, this description of the heart’s function is similar to Aristotle’s. But it takes things even further.

The reason we feel as though the heart may govern some aspect of our intellectual and emotional processing is because the heart is the command center of all of our thoughts and activities, not just the intellectual and emotional stuff, but everything else, including our spiritual side.

Just like our physical hearts pump out the life-giving blood that courses through and animates every other part of the physical body, the figurative “heart” that our Beatitude for today refers to is the core from which all of our thoughts, intentions, goals, decisions, and actions originate.

So, then what is a “pure” heart?

Since my dad’s heart attack early last week, I have been pondering the heart and find its analogy helping with understanding this beatitude. Think about it, what happens when the arteries and valves in our physical hearts get clogged with plaque?  Things take a dramatic turn, the entire body suffers in numerous ways.   

If we want to avoid serious, life-threatening cardiovascular complications, we need to keep our physical heart unobstructed – or as we might say this morning, pure.

The same goes for our spiritual heart. Maintaining our spiritual vitality means keeping our heart pure. But sadly, when some people first peruse this beatitude, they read “pure in heart” to mean something like “those who never sin.”  In our day and age the character who personifies this idea of “pure in heart” the most is Ned Flanders from the Simpsons – Hi Diddley Ho, Neighborino!     

But thankfully, becoming like Ned Flanders is not what this Beatitude is about. Even though, I think there are churches out there who think so. You don’t have to be a perfectly virtuous person to be pure in heart.

The pure of heart are those whose hearts are functioning optimally. There’s no plaque. All the channels from their hearts to the rest of their being are clear.

In other words, you know you are pure of heart when your mind, emotions, and actions are all in alignment because all those aspects of your being can be traced back to the same root source.

This means there is a unity in our being – what some may call our authentic self. 

This allows for the attributes of righteousness (we talked about a couple weeks ago) such as forgiveness, compassion, mercy, justice, and love to flow through us seamlessly and guide us towards a higher purpose.

So, how can we be pure in heart?

Sister Nina gives a great analogy that I think we all can relate to. She says,

“Have you ever tried to keep houseplants? If you have, there’s a good chance you’ve probably seen at least one or two wither away and die on your watch, even when you thought you were doing all the right things.

[I can totally relate to this.  We have a pot for one of our plants that literally says, “Please don’t die” on it.]

There’s two ways to kill a houseplant. One is through neglect: you don’t water it enough or don’t give it enough access to sunlight. But the other way to kill a houseplant—which is actually much more common—is the exact opposite. You give your plant too much water and drown it. You give it too much direct sunlight and scorch it. Even too much fertilizer can be a bad thing.

The point is that purifying the heart is not necessarily accomplished with more prayer or more repentance or more anything. Oftentimes, the most important step toward being more pure in heart is subtractive. As the painter Hans Hofmann once said,

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

[Folks, this is what the Quaker Testimony of simplicity is all about.]  If you want to see God, you should think less about what you need to do and more about what you need to stop doing; more about what you need to let go of and less about what you think you need to be grasping for.”

Let me take a moment and pause on these thoughts.  Ask yourself,

·      What is “clogging” the arteries of my heart, currently? 

o   Maybe it is

§  being consumed by the news,

§  trolling others on social media,

§  engaging in unhealthy relationships,

§  having a detrimental need for wealth, success, control, or power,

§  an addiction to alcohol, painkillers, your drug of choice,

§  over commitment,

§  a comfortable and privileged lifestyle.

What is clogging my heart?

·      How do I eliminate or stop doing these things? What is unnecessary in my life?

Folks, purity of heart is an ongoing process, and it will take time. It may even call for professional help, mentors, accountability, or fellow Friends in our Meeting.

As you ponder all this…I want to jump to that second half of our beatitude – “for they will see God.”  So, how is that possible? 

Can you and I really see God, if we simply address the purity of our hearts?

Folks, over time, I have come to believe the Heart of God and our hearts are actually the same Heart. As Quakers say the Seed, Christ, that of God resides in the heart of everyone.

It’s just that our ability to see God within each other gets compromised when we compromise the purity of our hearts by trying to organize our lives around things other than those attributes of righteousness.   

As you and I work to be more pure in heart, our eyes will open to see God within and around us. And we will start to realize we are no different than everyone else. Actually, we may even begin to see people whose hearts are far from pure, and recognize that they, too, possess God’s Heart deep down. That is having the eyes of God to see both our friends and our enemies in the same light.   

This is what Mother Teresa meant (in this very Quaker quote) when she said, 

“A pure heart is necessary to see God in each other. If you see God in each other, there is love for each other, and then there is peace.”

So, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Or another way to put it,

“Aligned with the Universe are those whose lives radiate from a core of love, for they shall recognize the face of God everywhere.”

What do you and I do once we realize, by purifying our hearts that our hearts and the hearts of everyone else are the Heart of God?  Simple. We begin to love everyone as deeply as we love God and God loves us. And we do it through acts of righteousness – through forgiving, having compassion, offering mercy, standing up for justice, loving unconditionally, seeking peaceful exchanges, and through serving our neighbors in whom we will see God!

May it be so.

During waiting worship, I would like us to return to those queries I offered earlier for us to ponder.

·      What is “clogging” the arteries of my heart, currently? 

·      How do I eliminate or stop doing these things? What is unnecessary in my life?

·      How am I loving my neighbor as God love me? 

2-16-25 - Bestowing and Receiving Mercy

Bestowing and Receiving Mercy 

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 16, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. Today we continue our exploration of the beatitudes with Matthew 5:7  from the New Revised Standard Version.

 Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Someone mentioned early on in this sermon series that I should have skipped to today’s beatitude earlier since mercy was in the headlines. I will be honest, mercy is rarely in our headlines, yet lately it has become front and center in almost every conversation I have in some manner. 

What sparked the headlines was ironically a sermon – which drew me in as well, since rarely do sermons, these days make the headlines. The sermon was by an Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.  In her message, she talked about unity, humility, and ended with a final plea, specifically to our newly-elected President to have mercy.  Here are her closing words asking for mercy – I want to share them in helping us understand our beatitude for today.  

Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to HAVE MERCY upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in both Republican and Democratic families who fear for their lives.  

And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.    

HAVE MERCY, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be MERCIFUL to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.  

May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.  

This was the plea for mercy that lit up our headlines.  Not only was it a plea for mercy, but it was about as biblical as you can get in its presentation. The bishop’s application of mercy, having mercy, and being merciful was right on.    

In its basic form, mercy simply means having compassion for another.

The term is often used of God in the way He relates to His people. In the OT, the basic word is “hesed,” which is a very rich and profound word to describe God’s steadfast love, compassion, grace, and mercy.

God’s mercy could also be described as compassion in action; helping the weak and rescuing those who are suffering.

Jesus points out that mercy is not mere pity like when we give or help others to make ourselves feel good or look better before others.

Pity is self-serving charity, whereas mercy is selfless compassion.

Folks, this makes mercy monumental to our faith as Quakers and Christians.

Someone has described it like this:

·       Grace is God giving you good that you don’t deserve.

·       Mercy is God not giving you bad that you do deserve.

Therefore, we ALL stand in great need of both God’s grace and mercy, as well as being bearers of that grace and mercy to our neighbors.

I find it illuminating that in Jesus’ day the moral fabric of the nation was abysmal. Roman government leaders ruled by force. The political insiders justified corruption based on common practices of the day. In order to get what they needed or wanted; people operated by might not mercy. Likewise, the religious leaders were entrenched in prideful power plays to obtain position rather than providing service to the people.

As I continue to study the beatitudes, I cannot believe how much Jesus’ day mirrors our own. 

So, when Jesus models mercy and teaches mercy, it catches the attention of many – very similar to Bishop Budde. That is why it seems only appropriate for mercy to show up in Jesus’ stump speech, as well as be a key to his eight-fold path. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is pointing out that the religious and political culture of his day did not prioritize mercy, as people frequently displayed anger and sought revenge.

There is still a lot of anger and revenge in our world – actually studies are showing an increase in both anger and revenge in our world, currently. One of the ways we combat the growth of anger and revenge in our personal lives and in our society is by focusing on mercy and its attributes.

In contrast to the anger and revenge, Jesus taught that peacemaking, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love should take preeminence.

Praying for your persecutors and enemies reflected belonging to a different and divine kingdom, rather than an earthly kingdom. This is emphasized when Jesus says in Matthew 5:44-47,

…Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same?

Mercy is a momentously different way of living. It goes beyond loving just those who are easy to love and have mercy on. Jesus modeled this for us. He continually showed mercy to help others, for example:

·      He helped a leper,

·      He helped a paralyzed servant,

·      He even helped Peter’s mother-in-law,

·      and many others who were sick or oppressed,

·      He extended mercy to the blind,

·      Mercifully healed many people:

o   a Canaanite woman’s daughter who was demon-oppressed,

o   an epileptic boy,

o   blind travelers,

o   and countless others.

John’s Gospel goes as far as to say, endless libraries couldn’t contain the books that could be written of Jesus’ miracles of mercy.

If we understand the Beatitudes, specifically this fifth one, then we must understand that mercy is not neutral. We cannot ride the middle for giving mercy to others; either we are merciful or we are merciless. 

This is what Jesus, as well as the Bishop was getting at.  And just like in Jesus day, or with the Bishop’s words, people still struggle with having mercy.  For example, I borrowed some examples from Dave Brown’s website Growing Godly Generations. 

Let’s start by talking about spouses and families:

·      Some spouses can drift relationally and begin despising each other over the littlest of issues, forgetting about why you disagree or argue, and never willing to apologize just because you don’t want to appear weak.

·      Some parents are quick-tempered and demand obedience rather than introducing their child to God’s grace and forgiveness.

·      Some grown children forget how much their parents have sacrificed to serve them and have grown entitled and merciless to every peculiar aspect of their parents.

Or how about mercy and our neighbors.  

·      It’s no accident where you live, God is calling you to live in your neighborhood or community as “salt and light” to the people around you. We must learn how to meet our neighbors and reflect and display the mercy of God. Sometimes we can be downright mean to our neighbors, making jokes about them behind their backs, ignoring them, even speaking badly of them to other neighbors. Instead, are we looking for ways to grant them mercy?  (Please note that this includes all our communities – work, social media, and any group we are part of).

Or what about mercy in our Meeting.  

Jesus frequently taught and even chastened the religious elite about understanding mercy: In three places in Matthew 9:13, 12:7, 23:23, Jesus emphasizes. “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”

In fact, Jesus was harder on those who should know better than those who were ignorant and blatant sinners.

Three groups that are over-and-over emphasized by God in the scriptures are: widows, orphans, and strangers or foreigners in the land.  All were without help or hope in the cultural settings of the day, but God works with and through us to protect and preserve the fragile and needy in our midst.

• Widows… those who are deeply grieved over love lost, need tangible care.

• Orphans… physically or spiritually. It is the church’s role to equip and encourage physical (biological, adoptive, foster) and spiritual parents. Likewise, the church is to raise up supported, included, and loved people.

• Strangers and foreigners in the land…are to be treated as our native-born, and we are to love them as we love ourselves.  We are not to exploit or oppress the foreigner or mistreat them.

And what about mercy to people who we do not believe deserve, or may not understand our mercy. 

God has chosen people like, you and me, to be a means for reflecting His mercy to our world – even, or especially, to those who we may not believe they deserve or understand our desire to have mercy on them. 

The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of the power of offering mercy to someone who does not deserve it – by sharing his own experience.  He exclaims: 

I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were violence and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. (1 Timothy 1:13-17 from the Message)

Paul was won over by the patient, sheer mercy of Jesus. 

I wonder how many people we know who are just like Paul. 

o   They don’t know (or even want to know) what they are doing.

o   They don’t know (or even care) who they are doing it against.

o   They do not realize the damage they are doing to themselves or their neighbor. 

o   They do not see their arrogance.

o   They don’t realize their violence, witch hunts, trolling on Facebook, argumentative nature, ignorance of the full story, and how their own lack of mercy impacts their world.  

Imagine if you offered them patient mercy and their eyes opened as Paul’s did?

And we must not forget to reflect on those for ourselves. Am I the aware and seeking to give and receive mercy?

Peter speaks directly to you and me in 1Peter 2:10-12:

 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people’ once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” 

As a Meeting or individually our acts of mercy to our neighbors, to our widows, orphans, and strangers among us, to our transgender children and our siblings in the Queer community, to our Friends who voted differently than us, is God’s mercy made manifest to a watching and struggling world offering hope. 

Folks, Jesus gives us this Beatitude, not to scream judgment at the world, but to spotlight both our calling and our need for God’s eyes to see God within our neighbors, family and friends. While you and I stand in immeasurable need of God’s mercy, God stands ready to bestow his mercy on us, so that we can share that immeasurable mercy with our world.

Now, let us take a moment to center down and enter waiting worship.  I have prepared a couple of queries for us to ponder this morning.

1.      To whom have I withheld mercy? What is getting in the way?

2.      How might mercy address the anger and revenge in our world?

3.      How is our Meeting offering mercy to our community? Where might we offer more?

2-9-25 - Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 9, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning we continue our exploration of the Beatitudes and will look at Matthew 5:6 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

I want to start this morning with some queries:

·      What do you long for, yearn for, lay awake at night dreaming about?

·      What do you hunger and thirst for deep down in your soul?

Maybe it has been a while since you had thoughts like these.  Or maybe you have realized that much of what you yearn, hunger and thirst for never becomes reality.

When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to go to space on the space shuttle. I loved science and the space program. My parents even took me to Kennedy Space Center to satisfy my hunger and thirst for everything space.  Sadly, I learned quickly in my exploration that astronauts had to be really good at math – I mean really good.  So, my dreaming of a career in space quickly faced reality.

Maybe you had similar yearnings, dreams, hungers or thirsts, that today have faded or have evolved.

In our beatitude for today, Jesus says that there is a hunger that can be satisfied but it is not something that most people really care that much about these days. In Matthew 5:6 he says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

At first glance it doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as traveling into outer space (which I have to say, today, doesn’t even appeal to me). But the more I think about having a hunger for righteousness, the more appetizing it sounds. Think about it for a moment – especially in our current condition.  

What would be different in the world if life was characterized by righteousness?

What if people actually did the right thing, treated each other with dignity, watched out for the hurting and weak and generally loved God and their neighbor above all else? 

Can you imagine?  Maybe this is why at funerals, disasters, national and international events, we continue to turn to the lyrics of the song that asks the same:

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

So, while we are pondering, or hungering and thirsting for a world like that, let’s take a deeper look at what Jesus was saying and speaking to in his time.

Historians tell us that because of the leadership of Herod the Great the people of Israel had been reduced to living in poverty (probably effecting even Jesus’ family, because in scripture when they came to the temple they only could afford the cheapest sacrifice, doves).

While Herod did not create a famine, it was common for people to share their food and money as a form of welfare. So, when Jesus spoke these words in our beatitude for this morning, the people of his day understood it better than we do.

In our day and in our privileged lives, food and water are plentiful, so we miss the urgency that Jesus intended.

Just the other night, I was flipping through the TV channels and saw the ending of the Tom Hank’s movie “Cast Away.”  I personally think the best part of that movie begins when he is found by the barge floating to his death. Every scene is brilliantly written and filmed to show the reality of his struggle. From being offered a glass of ice, to a buffet with crab legs, to a simple lighter or pocket knife on his keys.  All are presented to him as he returns to reality after 4 years stranded on an island, where he had to work so hard just to survive. All without the things we take for granted on a daily basis.   

Hungry, thirsty people work hard, urgently, to gain food. To hunger and thirst for righteousness, then, means we should urgently pursue righteousness.

Let’s take a deeper pass through this Beatitude’s onion layers and look at the Greek again.

The first key Greek word that Jesus used was peinao. It is translated as “hunger” in our passage. It has the sense of a strong desire for food. It is the same word that was used to describe Jesus’ hunger after He had been in the wilderness for 40 days and nights without food. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus would have been very hungry, as would we. This Greek word describes a strong hunger for food.

The next key Greek word that Jesus uses is dipsao. It also describes a strong desire, but this time for water. It was used in John 19:28 to describe Jesus’ thirst after He had been whipped and beaten for hours by the Roman solders and then had been left hanging on the cross for hours. Near the end, Jesus cried out for something to drink and said, “I thirst.” That is the word Jesus used in this beatitude.

Another important Greek word that Jesus used was chortazo. The word was used to refer to fattened cattle. That is, it means having all that you want. This animal or person is completely satisfied or filled to the brim.

What is very interesting and must be pointed out is that the Greek words for “hunger” and “thirst” are both in the present tense. This means that Jesus was describing someone who was continually hungry and thirsty. Thus, we could rewrite the beatitude like this,

Blessed are those who are constantly, continually hungering and thirsting after righteousness, for they shall be completely and totally satisfied and filled to the brim.

Another thing we need to look at is what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?

The Greek word translated here as righteousness is dikaiosune, a term that refers to personal righteousness as well as to social justice. Those who hunger and thirst for dikaiosune have a deep yearning for things to be right in their individual lives as well as in society. 

This is why studying the Greek is so important – unlike in English, Greek words often hold dual or multiple meanings – as I showed you last week with the word “meek.”

Cynthia Bourgeault describes righteousness in Jesus’s time. She says,

“righteousness was something much more dynamic than being moral or behaving correctly.”

Which many have translated it to mean, today. She also says, you can visualize it as a force field, an energy-charged sphere of holy presence. To be ‘in the right’ consciousness of God… means to be directly connected to this vibrational field, to be anchored within God’s own aliveness….as fierce and intransigent a bond as picking up a downed electrical wire…intensity of connectedness.”

The image that comes to mind is something from the Marvel movie, Black Panther – when T’Challa finds that his suit absorbs energy and then realizes he has more power to utilize.  Obviously, he often used that for violence, but when we “hunger and thirst for righteousness and social justice” we fill ourselves up with a power that not only connects us to God but also to that of God in all people – this is a vibrational field of connectedness. For us Quakers it happens often in gathered meetings and unprogrammed worship – in these spaces as we hunger and thirst together, we absorb the Spirit’s energy and gain a new power together to make a difference in our world. 

Bourgeault goes on to say that

“Some spiritual teachers will even say that the yearning you feel for God is actually coming from the opposite direction; it is in fact God’s yearning for you.”

Or maybe God’s yearning for righteousness for all people is part of our nature, too.

The Greek word for righteousness, dikaiosyne, means righteousness and justice, but it also means being in the proper relationship with God.

So, it’s not just about wanting to be righteous, but equally important, a person is to be in the right relationship to the Creator AND their neighbor – where that of God resides.  This is why Jesus says the greatest commandment is to Love God and the second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

So, righteousness is about much more than simply following rules and being good people. There is a burning desire for making things right and bringing justice in the righteous person that cannot be quenched with the usual daily good works.

No, there is a much bigger hunger and thirst, and it is empowered by the consciousness of God flowing through us – from God, to and through us, and out into the world and to our neighbors.   

We could name lots of people over the ages who have hungered and thirsted for righteousness: the Apostle Paul and the disciples after Pentecost, Francis of Assisi, or how about Teresa of Avila or Julian of Norwich, or many of the Catholic female mystics (who we will be exploring at this year’s Linda Lee Spirituality Retreat), and then there is George Fox and Margaret Fell and every one of the Quakers who I talked about in my last sermon series, and since it is Black History Month, we cannot forget Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, Martin Luther King Jr., and so many more, who followed the consciousness and inspiration of God to do their life’s work and to fulfill their purpose with God and their neighbor.  

Folks, these were ordinary people (like you and me) who lived during trying times (also as we are in, today) – they hungered and thirsted and filled themselves to overflowing with the righteousness of God so that they could change their world.  And now, it is our turn. 

So, I return to those original two queries for us to ponder this morning:  

·       What do I long for, yearn for, lay awake at night dreaming about?

·      What do I hunger and thirst for deep down in my soul?

I think it is time for people, like you and me, to actually do the right thing, treat each other with dignity, watch out for the hurting and weak and genuinely  love God and our neighbor above all else.  May it be so.

2-2-25 - The Meek, Gentle, Humble Servant

The Meek, Gentle, Humble Servant
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 2, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning at the Meetinghouse we are celebrating Scout Sunday. You will hear that referenced in this message. As well, we are continuing our exploration of the Beatitudes with Matthew 5:5 from the New Revised Standard Version.   

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

To begin our third Beatitude, I need to start with a little Greek lesson. The reason being is that the word that is translated as “meek” in our text for today is a loaded word in the New Testament. Often Greek words have multiple meanings and thus it can be complicated when translating them.

The Greek word in our text is praus.  

Interestingly, it only appears three times in the entire New Testament.

·      Here our New Revised Standard Version translates it as “meek.”

·      In Matthew 21:5 it is translated as “humble.” 

·      And in 1 Peter 3:4, just to cover all ours bases, it is translated using the English word “gentle”.

Just to make my point, author Christopher Page checked 26 English translations of our Beatitude for today, Matthew 5:5:  

·      14 translate praus as “meek,”

·      8 use the English word “humble” and

·      4 use “gentle”.

Even though these three descriptors: meek, humble, and gentle could easily take us in different directions, I think a blend of these words could help us understand who Jesus is saying is blessed in our text for today. 

To help us make this more real, I want you to take a moment and think of a person in your life who you would describe as meek, humble, and gentle. These are individuals who exhibit qualities like kindness, self-control, a willingness to listen and consider others, and a lack of self-importance, often displaying a calm and patient demeanor even when faced with challenges, essentially demonstrating strength through humility rather than aggression; they prioritize the well-being of others over their own desires.

·      Does someone in your life come to mind?

·      What has that person meant to you? 

·      How have they impacted your life?

For me, it was my grandfather. I have talked about him before in a message last year when I shared one of his paintings in worship.  He was not only gentle, meek, and humble, but his life exuded these qualities and offered an example for others to follow. He was what some, including myself, would describe as a “gentle leader.”

Part of my doctoral program in leadership and spiritual formation at a Quaker University had me exploring, “Gentle Leadership.” Some Quakers have a hard time embracing the concept of “leadership,” but I find they are more open if we label it “gentle leadership” because of how it is described. Also, out of all the leadership styles, “gentle leadership” consistently has found proven success, and some of the best long term affects.

This is because “gentle leaders” incorporate, encourage and model patience, open communication, flexibility, supportive environments, give feedback, are consistent in their endeavors, all while focusing on the effects they are having on future generations. This then encourages creativity and innovation, builds trust, and motivates one to make a difference in their world. 

People who are considered “gentle leaders” are individuals like Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu, The Dhali Lama, Jane Goodall, President Jimmy Carter, and the list could go on.

But if we polled Americans currently, “gentle leadership” probably would not be the desired choice of much of our country. Actually, we might quickly find that a majority of people in America consider “gentle leaders” to be the most unlikely to “take possession or inherit the earth” (as it says in our text for today) and they probably would consider them weak and unfavorable.

Sadly, most American models of leadership are based on a take-charge vision. We seek, promote, and even vote for leaders who show that they are in control and can “kick butt” when necessary. Many even desire leaders who are aggressive and have high energy and iron self-discipline.

In American, the gentle people are seldom put in charge of things. And if we do somehow find ourselves with a gentle leader – people often question their motives or wonder if they really are or were a good leader in the first place.

Someone who comes to mind, whose gentle leadership at one time was questioned but has now become his legacy, is the late Jimmy Carter. If you took a moment to watch his funeral, Jimmy’s grandson James Carter actually reads the Beatitudes from Matthew at his service - because many said President Carter embodied them in his life. I would agree with them.

Up there with my grandfather, I think I would put Jimmy Carter on my list of people whose example of gentle and servant leadership should be emulated. It seems appropriate to talk about Jimmy Carter’s legacy today as he was both a scoutmaster and the recipient of the Boy Scouts of America, Silver Buffalo Award, scouting’s highest commendation. President Carter once said,

“I believe that anyone can be successful in life, regardless of natural talent or the environment within which we live. This is not based on measuring success by human competitiveness for wealth, possessions, influence, and fame, but adhering to God's standards of truth, justice, humility, service, compassion, forgiveness, and love.”

He also said,

“To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others."

What Jimmy describes are the attitudes of the beatitudes. Yet, I believe it also describes well the life of the “gentle leader.”  

The term “Gentle Leadership” was coined by author James Hunter in his book “The Servant Leader.”  Hunter believes the best way to lead is to serve those who you are leading.  This puts the needs of your community, team, country before your own and shows them the respect that they deserve. That was, hands down, the life of Jimmy Carter and many of the others I mentioned earlier.

But let’s move away from just leadership and bring it into daily life. When Richard Rohr talks about this Beatitude he says,

“Blessed are the gentle [or the meek, humble, non-violent, unassuming]: they shall have the earth as inheritance.”  

That is even more descriptive and speaks to us as non-violent Quakers. 

But I think we need to return to the Greek once again. A literal rendering of the Greek (praüs) is "To Be Tamed." It is "power under control.” What this means is that the concept of meekness must have strength combined with the above translations.

Each of the scholars I looked at pointed out and were adamant that none of those terms should convey the idea of weakness in our minds. Meek is not weak. Too often that is how our world sees it, but not for Jesus. 

Meekness is strength in submission, strength expressed in gentleness, strength expressed in humility, strength that yields, strength that is forbearing, and strength that is gracious. If you take strength out of it, you do not have meekness.

Some may consider these paradoxes, but I find them an excellent way to describe the essence of being a Quaker. 

Quakers strive to be meek, gentle, humble, non-violent, and even unassuming and it is our strength because we put ourselves in submission to the Spirit’s leading.  Our strength of being meek is manifest in each of our testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. 

·      Meekness made manifest in Simplicity frees us to live in harmony and alignment with the Spirit’s purposes.

·      Meekness made manifest in Peace fosters effective communication and alternatives to violence. 

·      Meekness made manifest in Integrity allows one’s outer life to reflect the inward journey. 

·      Meekness made manifest in Community teaches respect for everyone and the idea that everyone has a piece of the truth.

·      Meekness made manifest in Equality respects and reflects a broad, inclusive spectrum of the Kingdom of God. 

·      Meekness made manifest in Stewardship instills a sense of personal and social responsibility and service to environmental, economic, and societal sustainability.

Is it any wonder why Jesus says it will be the meek who inherit the earth?

This is not the world’s view of meekness, gentleness, humility, but it is the backbone, the core of our strength as Friends. 

So, let’s end there this week, And take some time to center ourselves around these thoughts. To help you reflect on meekness, I have prepared the following queries:

1.    What “gentle leader” in my life do I need to reach out to and thank this week?

2.    How am I serving my neighbors through meek, gentle, humble, non-violent, and unassuming ways?

3.    How will I embrace meekness, the strength in submission, in my daily life this week?

1-26-25 - Those Who Mourn: Vulnerability and Flow

Those Who Mourn: Vulnerability and Flow

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

January 26, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. Today, we continue our series on the Beatitudes looking at the second Beatitude from Matthew 5:4 from the New Revised Standard Version.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

When was the last time you had a good cry? 

Now, there is a query to ponder.  (Some of us may have done a lot of crying just this week for a variety of reasons – which I will not elaborate on here.)

Too often today, we are made to think that crying is a bad thing and being strong means we hold back those tears – especially for us men in the room. 

Looking back on my earlier years, I don’t remember my parents every telling me to hold back those tears, rather I was told to let them out and to let the tears flow.  That it was good for me to have a good cry once and a while, and yes, it was ok for boys to cry.  As I would grow up, often my world, my church, my friends would teach me something different.

I remember in 8th grade a classmate and friend of mine was hit by a car and killed while taking a run. I can still remember sitting in the bathtub and bawling my eyes out, asking some big 8th grade questions of God. And then in my freshmen year of high school having the emotions sweep back through me during a class, and all of a sudden, the tears started again, unexpectantly. 

I remember as a child many times retreating to my bedroom to have a good cry – when my dog died, when my grandpa died, or simply when I was having a hard time in 4th grade with my teacher. 

Later in life, I would find I could not control the tears when watching the TV show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition. (Anybody else relate to this?) Did you know they brought that show back a couple months ago, and on my day off last week I thought I would check it out on streaming. I wasn’t even 10 minutes into the program when the family shared that they lost their dad during Covid and he was a pastor.  Oh man, the tears flowed so long in this episode that I ended up having to go wash my face before heading out of the house.  

I told someone just last week after Kalaya’s celebration of life, that I have learned as a pastor to cry before and after a memorial service, yet on occasion the tears are uncontrollable, the memories too fresh, the person too close to the heart.  

Richard Rohr says,

“Tears are therapeutic and healing, both emotionally and physically. Crying helps the body shed stress hormones and stimulates endorphins. Weeping is a natural and essential part of being human.”

Indian teacher and author, Eknath Easwaran goes on to say,

“We can spend the better part of our lives attempting to construct the perfect personal environment, a kind of bubble that will insulate us against everything that is unpleasant. But sorrow is woven into the very texture of life. Pain, disappointment, depression, illness, bereavement, a sense of inadequacy in our work or our relationships . . . the list could go on and on. . . .

Because we have married the idea of faith and safety in America, we often get obsessed with making “bubbles,” or at least seeking protections to insulate us against whatever may be out to get us. This is a reality in the American church, today. 

I remember at Huntington University, I used to teach a capstone class where one entire unit I titled “Popping Your Bubbles.”  Ironically, we started this unit by sharing our Spiritual Journeys (thus far in life) where we mapped out where we had felt the closest to the Divine in our lives. What the students did not expect was the emotions that came to the surface as they prepared and shared their journeys. 

See, for many college students the death of a loved one, the divorce of parents, even a move that involved the loss of friends became those “thin places” where they found themselves seeking, crying out to, and often finding God for the first time.

Having a safe place to share with fellow classmates is critical for moving out into the real world and finding supportive and encouraging communities that are sustaining and life-giving. My students would often share how those presentations were both the hardest as well as most freeing of their college careers.

Yet, that was only the first step to help them realize that for the past 4 years they had put themselves in a safety bubble (called Christian college) that allowed them to explore their struggles, to face their doubts, to wrestle with their faith with a bit of safety and protection. Now it was time for them to learn how to “pop the bubble,” and finally move out on their own.

Until they went deep inside to explore and realize the their bubbles, experience losses, and truly mourn, they were not ready to look forward, make decisions on their own, and finally pop the bubbles of safety they were in.  

Cynthia Bourgeault describes our beatitude for today, and what I have been talking about in this message as “vulnerability and flow.” As we talked about last week with the “poor in spirit” – which if you remember meant being open to receive – mourning then introduces us to an emptiness, that allows us to remain open to be filled by both God and that of God within our neighbors. 

As my students shared with their peers the pain and loss in their stories, I was amazed at how our class would begin to transform and would no longer be an academic class, but rather a community of vulnerability and compassion. This was a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst.  Still today, these have been some of the most beautiful moments that helped me realize what Jesus was saying, when he said, “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”   

I watched my student’s willingness to be vulnerable and share their mourning turn into a moment of divine compassion and greater love with their classmates. Tears were shared, hugs were shared, beautiful words of comfort and hope were shared. Eyes were opened to their neighbor and a genuine care began to grow. Students who did not know each other, all of a sudden, cared for each other, began spending time together, even supported each other outside of the class.

I even remember one of my students actually sharing about his experience in this class during his wedding ceremony – it was that impactful and life altering. 

I believe anyone who has been in a community where people are allowed to shed tears, be vulnerable, and mourn together have tapped into a new understanding of the depths of God in our lives and in the lives of our neighbors.  What if this was the way of the church or our Meeting? 

Richard Rohr takes this even further, he says, 

“Most of us think we know God—and ourselves—through ideas. Yet corporeal, embodied theology acknowledges that perhaps weeping will allow us to know God much better than ideas.”

I wholeheartedly believe that as a pastor who has listened to people’s life journeys over the last 30+ years, it is the times that are marked by tears, where we seek, we cry out, we long for a better understanding of the Divine. It is also in these times that we find that of God most visible in our neighbors and loved ones around us.   

Mourning and weeping can be a gateway to seeing God work in our lives and in the lives of our siblings and neighbors more clearly. 

Just think about it, when someone in your community begins to share and tears begin to fall from their face, you approach them differently.  The tears are a sign, an indicator of a desire for their emptiness to be filled, a desire to be heard, a longing for compassionate care. 

Yet sadly, because many of us are not attune to or aware of how to respond (probably because we have been taught sharing our emotions make us week), we find ourselves in an awkward moment, not sure what to do.    

Richard Rohr says that in our Beatitude for today,

“Jesus praises those who can enter into solidarity with the pain of the world and not try to remove or isolate themselves from its suffering. This is why Jesus says the rich person often can’t see the Kingdom, because they spend too much time trying to make tears unnecessary and even impossible.”

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted by God, yes, but even more by their fellow neighbors – you and me.  We have each been given the Spirit of God – who we read in scripture described as “The Great Comforter.”  Actually, it is even better than that.  Jesus says that this same spirit resides in you and me – as Kingdom people we are called to comfort one another. 

Folks, the word "comforter" comes from the Greek word parakletos, which actually means "one who is called alongside to help".  That makes it pretty clear as to what our calling is with our neighbors.

So, as Jesus continues down this path of sharing what will ultimately bring us bliss, happiness, and peace in this world, he first says we need to be open to receive – being “poor in spirit.” And then continues saying that it may bring us to moments of vulnerability and emptiness where we find we, alone, cannot do it on our own – thus, we need God and that of God in our neighbors.  Quite often, coming to this realization is marked by the flowing of our tears. 

And this is where the Kingdom of heaven or community of faith becomes essential.  If you and I are not surrounded by a compassionate and loving community – people who feel the pain of the world and respond to it, we will not be comforted.  As well, if we are not looking for and responding to the pain in our neighbors, siblings, fellow Friends, we might find ourselves simply wading in our own emptiness and sadness. I sense a lot of people are sadly at this point in our world – maybe some of you in the room right now.  Thus, this is the call of the church, today, to come alongside one another to help, to comfort, to unconditionally love, to be grace and hope.      

Again, our independent world says we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps – but it doesn’t take long when trying to do it alone to hit rock bottom and realize that we were made for and need each other.

Now, as we head into waiting worship, I have a couple queries for you to ponder.  Ask yourself:

1.      When was the last time I had a good cry? Why?

2.      What “bubbles” have I created in my life that I thought would insulate me from the unpleasant?”

3.      How am I answering the call to come alongside others to help and comfort? Who comes to mind? What can I do?