At Home In the Upper Room
At Home in the Upper Room
Mark 12:38-44. In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares, 39. to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; 40. these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.' 41. He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. 42. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. 43. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; 44. for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.'
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Mark, 14 :12-16, 22-26
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to him, 'Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?' 13.So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him, 14.and say to the owner of the house which he enters, "The Master says: Where is the room for me to eat the Passover with my disciples?" 15.He will show you a large upper room furnished with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us there.' 16.The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and prepared the Passover. / 22.And as they were eating he took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. 'Take it,' he said, 'this is my body.' 23.Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them, and all drank from it, 24.and he said to them, 'This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many. 25.In truth I tell you, I shall never drink wine anymore until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.' 26.After the psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.
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Schwenckfield was a man who expressed one of many fractions of the Reformation. He was friends with Martin Luther who turned on him.
Our times are not much different than the times of Luther and the reformers. We fight brutally for what we believe, but we have social media to use and hide behind.
One of the key themes of Casper, by which he lived and was the heart of his faith was the element of love. Throughout his struggle, he lived out the Gospel of love.
Casper did not believe in the Eucharist, because it was assumed you were taking
Christ into yourself, when in reality we should let the Spirit enter into our lives.
"I have left the shadows and externals of religion and found the true substance; Jesus
Christ Himself! Christ, the bread and wine. Christ, our supper. Christ, our high priest. Christ our baptism. Christ, the living Word of God. Christ's suffering is our suffering, His death, our death; His burial our burial. His resurrection our resurrection. . . He is our life, our joy, our hope, and our future. He is everything."
In many ways not much changes, for example, the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church are discussing the forbidding of the President from taking Holy Communion--over his position on abortion; Our churches continue to make their buildings museums, by not using them to be out on the streets. In the past year, homeless people surround us. Our church doors remain closed, while they sleep on the street.
The "rose tattoo" above is one I recently received, it symbolizes the Christ crucified, Christ shedding his blood for our sins, and calling us back to serve those among us, as he would, with the same willingness to die. This is the essence of Casper's teaching, living out our faith in love.
We close with a prayer by Casper:
O, Lord, gracious Father, I do not desire what is yours, but You, Yourself, I crave and seek. You are not dearer to me when You give me much and when all is well with me, and not less dear when You give me little and when not all is well with me. It is right and just that you should give me as much as You will. You have the right and authority. You are the Lord; I am but your poor worthless servant. You have the right and the power over me, but not I over you. Therefore I will ever be conscious of you and calm my heart in your goodness. I will neither be, neither live nor die, know not, nor not know, have nor lack, only what you will, as much as you give me, for that will I wait daily, will adapt and prepare myself thereto, and I will love you equally well. Your will be done, O my God, Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
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Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.
P.O. Box 642656
San Francisco, CA 94164
www.temenos.org
415-305-2124