CHRISTMAS EVE

December 24, 2010
Isaiah 9:2-7
Luke 2:1-10

EACH TIME A MIRACLE

When I was 10 or 11 years old, I used to find myself thinking about the nature of existence. Long before I had ever heard of Rene Descartes’ famous quote “I think therefore I am”, I was wondering about what it meant to exist. I still do.

The question that used to roll around in my brain was “Do I really exist? If nothing was here, what would that mean – would there be nothing, or would the emptiness still be something?”

I guess it was my own twisted version of the philosophical riddle: ‘if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’

School had taught be that it is a big universe. I am so small compared to all that I know also exists. How could I possibly matter in the grand scheme of things?

I still think about such things.

In spite of the smallness of my existence, in my small corner of the universe there is so much detail, so much complexity, so much wonder that I am simply in awe of the fact that I am here – and perhaps even more amazing that I am able to think about stuff like this.

Life is a miracle. By that I simply mean, a full understanding of its origins are so elusive that I am forced to accept that I exist with understanding why or how.

For many of us this elusive source of life is called “God”.

Every time a leaf coverts sunlight into energy and reaches out a bit higher, it is a miracle. Every time a bacterium is nourished on some decay, it is a miracle. Every time a close-eyed little puppy finds its way to its mother’s teet and drinks in the milk of life it is a miracle. Every time a human child thinks its first independent, thought it is a miracle.

We exist. It is a miracle. I see it as the elusive work of God. God is in the world, in every breath and thought and instinct.

That is amazing and down-to-earth real all at the same time.

Is it really much more of a stretch to imagine that God slipped into the world in a special way through the womb of young Mary? The Hebrews have a word for it; we heard it in the Isaiah reading that started our time together this evening and we sang it in our first hymn: Emmanuel – it means ‘God-with-us’.

The birth of Jesus – God with us (Emmanuel) – what a miraculous thought! (#59VU) 

SOMETHING NEW

Every day it is the same routine. Oh, there can be variety, but caring for sheep is a limited experience.

There was never a night like that one before. I don’t imagine, I’ll ever have one like it ever again.

It’s hard to explain what happened. It all began with the light. We were resting, taking shifts to watch the sleepy sheep. And the night was sliced open by more light that staring at the sun on the summer solstice. Instinctively, I turned away from the light, but I realized that my eyes didn’t hurt to look at it. I was afraid, but I knew I had to stay. This was something important.

And then, I felt the voice. I know strange choice of words – to feel a voice. I’m sure I must have heard it with my ears, but it was in me as well. “Don’t be afraid.” And in that instant, I wasn’t. Those words lovingly warmed me right to my core. “Good News. The Saviour, the Messiah, is born. Like King David, the baby has been born in Bethlehem”; just down the road from here.”

Messiah – God’s anointed ruler. I felt singing too: “Glory to God. Peace on earth.” Did this mean the end of the roman occupation, I wondered? How long would we have to wait – sixteen, twenty years maybe, until the child was old enough to mount a revolution?

I now know that I had the idea a bit wrong – the revolution was not simply a political one, it was a revolution of the heart, of the soul, of the very essence of who we are.

The birth of Jesus was something new. A new way of living. A new way of believing. A new way of seeking peace on earth and giving glory to God.

And this continues to be new each day. Each wonderfully blessed day. Glory to God. Peace on earth indeed. (#38VU)

 

PONDER THE CHANGE

17 [The shepherds] made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what [they] told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

It seems that Mary was quiet. I wonder how she really felt about all of these visitors after she had just given birth. I guess that still happens today. There was lots of conversation about what the shepherds had said about this child being the Messiah. But Mary lay there quietly, with Jesus resting against her breast. I imagine, her looking down at him. At the miracle that every child is to her or his mother at that moment. She watched his little breaths; his small movements; his eyes opening and closing. And she was quiet. At least she was quiet on the outside. Inside, her mind raced.

She thought about the last year; engagement to Joseph; that strange messanger, telling her she would bear God’s child; the controversy over her pregnancy; Joseph’s compassion and honour – he had believed her unbelievable story, at least enough to stay with her. Now these shepherds, who she didn’t know, had gotten a similar message. Could this young baby, her baby – be that special?

This was going to change things. Not simply the way having children always changes things. But if this child is the Messiah, God’s anointed, even God’s child alive on earth, things are going to change.

While the others talked about the wonder of the moment, Mary pondered the changes that were coming.

//

What difference does this make for us? Does Christmas change us? Can we believe that God-is-with-us in Mary’s child?

Years later, Jesus would live and preach a radical love and compassion. He would speak against the practice of judging some as non-valuable. He would show, by example, that each life deserves to know love and forgiveness and wholeness. Jesus would ask people to follow his example.



What difference does that make?



If we are not simply alone in this exisitence. If God is that miracle behind the elusiveness of what we don’t understand and that this elusive God touch this world in the life of Jesus, what difference does that make?



I hope we’ll all ponder that question. And live out the answer we discover. (choir)

OH JOSPEH - WHAT A SOAP OPERA! LOVE, BETRAYAL, DREAMS AND A BABY!

Preached by Alexandria Bois-Bonifacio
Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 19, 2010

Do you know that you have only five shopping days before Christmas? Do you know that you only have five more days to spend five billion dollars? Do you know that during the twenty-five days of Christmas that we North Americans will spend twenty-five billion dollars? Do you know that this is the biggest spending binge of the year for the American economy? Do you know that many corporations make fifty percent of their profits during the lucrative Christmas shopping season? Have you heard the advertisements bark out the commercials: “Christmas toys on sale. Christmas toys on sale. How can you have a bright shinny Christmas unless you have a bright shinny new car? Hurry, hurry, hurry, down to the mall of your choice where there is plenty of parking. There is plenty of parking and plenty of places to spend plenty of cash. Hurry, hurry, hurry. You have only five more days to spend five billion dollars.”

Yes, we are in the middle of Christmas mania, aren’t we? It is that time of year when we are so very busy and there is so much to do. We are all doing similar things at this time of year. Let me see, how many of you have put up your Christmas Tree? So how many of you put up lights for Christmas, either inside the house or outside? Let’s see, who makes lists of presents you need to buy? Do you have a present-list? O well. ... Let’s see, how many of you baked some kind of Christmas cookies for the holiday? How many different kinds of cookies should you make? How many dozen? ...And, how many events do you go to during the Christmas season. The Sunday School program? The church choir concert? The high school Christmas program? Who sends Christmas letters or Christmas cards? When a two-paged single space Christmas letter arrives from a long-lost friend, do you really slowly read the whole thing? Yes, we do. We read the entire letter. Have you noticed how perfect all the families are in these Christmas letters? My family is always perfect in our Christmas letter; you wouldn’t recognize us. I wonder what Mary and Joseph’s winter festival letter would have looked like?

I could spend most of my time today telling you interesting facts about the birth of Jesus. Like how we place the birth between 6-4 BCE (before the common era) because we can historically date Herod the Great and when he died. It was Herod after all who slaughtered the baby boys in his region, two years old and younger, so we estimate that Christ was born within two years of Herod’s death – so 6-4 BCE. Or I could tell you that in 7BCE there was an unusual conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. This unusual movement between the planets may be the cause for the star that had been seen by the magi. If you type Jupiter, Saturn and the birth of Christ into google you will find more than 10 000 sites dedicated to this astronomical research for the star of Bethlehem. I could even tell you how most of our Christmas traditions, like exchanging presents, or time off of work / school, or exchanging baking have historical references that pre-date the birth of the celebration of Christmas that do not necessarily pertain to the celebration of the birth of Christ. But I am not going to. Because what captivates me, more than these interesting facts and more that the 25 billion dollars that gets spent every year, what captivates me more than 2000 years after the birth of Christ is Mary and Joseph. Mary, Joseph and their winter letter to their friends and families.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

VST – Vancouver School of Theology – has a great table in the main lobby of the library. A few of us students found our way to that table and cracked open our commentaries nearing the end of the semester. We all had to write sermons with the text about Mary and Joseph and the unexpected pregnancy. We were in the middle of discussing the passage about Mary and Joseph, their engagement, Mary becoming pregnant, Joseph not being the father, and Mary having to have this delicate conversation with Joseph, trying to explain what happened.

We were imaging the human situation of Mary trying to tell Joseph that she was pregnant, not by him or another man, but by the Spirit of God. We were in this intense discussion, when the head of the Spiritual Directors came into the library. I called him over and asked him, “Are you a trained spiritual counselor?” “Yes, I am” was the reply a little confused. We both knew he was, but I continued. “I need some professional advice from you today.” My friends all had blank stares on their faces. They had no idea what I was getting at. “I need some advice and I can get it in front of my fellow pastors. I have this man who is coming to see me and he is engaged to this young woman, who is pregnant. This man is very upset because he knows that he is not the father, and he is asking me what to do. What is your advice, spiritual counselor?” By now my friends were snickering, knowing that I was playing on the Mary and Joseph story. The counselor was silent and didn’t say anything. Finally, one of the students chimed in, “The correct answer is, ‘They named him Jesus.’”

Joseph, Jesus and the virgin birth; the story of the virgin birth is at the heart of our Christmas celebrations, and often we tend to forget about Joseph. He seems like a back seat actor – not in the forefront of the story.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Virginity is not a hot topic in today’s world of conversation. We rarely if ever discuss if someone is a virgin or not. In our vocabulary today, the word, “virgin,” refers to someone who has not been sexually active.

In the Old and New Testament, there are two meanings to the word, “virgin.” There is a Hebrew bible meaning, and a New Testament meaning. A Hebrew meaning and a Greek meaning. The first meaning is this: the word, “virgin,” simply means “young woman.” Such as in the passage from Isaiah 7:14 that says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.” The word simply says “young woman.” and the Hebrew word for young woman is “alma.”

But there is a second meaning of the word as well. In Matthew 1:23. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.” Highlight in your mind the word, “virgin.” The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek word means someone who has never had sexual relationships with another. Eventually, the Hebrew Bible was translated into the Greek language, and the meaning of the word changed from young woman to sexual virginity.

Today, we celebrate not simply the birth of Christmas, not simply the birth of the festival of lights, not simply midwinter festival. Today, we celebrate the birth of the Son of God. And the story of the virgin birth accentuates that Jesus was and is the Son of God.

Different cultures throughout history have valued virginity differently. That is, in the ancient Greek culture, virginity was not prized. In the ancient Roman culture, virginity was not regarded as precious. But in the Old and New Testament, we find virginity being appreciated and valued.

In the Hebrew bible, virginity was a highly prized value. A virgin was someone who was precious. Rebecca was not merely a young woman; she was a virgin. The Bible is very emphatic about that. There were several laws to protect the virginity of women. That is, parents made arrangements for their daughters to be married and they expected their daughters to be virgins. If their daughters were not virgins, their value went down by fifty shekels and that was a lot of money in those days. So fathers made sure that their daughters were virgins. … If a man raped a virgin, he would be punished by death. … If a woman was engaged and she had sexual relationships with another man, she and her lover were to be killed. Virginity was a very serious part of Hebrew bible culture and law, and there was great pressure to retain one’s virginity.

When we move to the New Testament, we find a similar emphasis and high value placed on virginity. The word is no longer the Hebrew word, “alma,” but “apathone” in Greek. It is translated purity. The King James Version of the Bible translates it “chastity.” Men and women were to be chaste; that is, they were to be sexually pure. A mark of a true Christian was that he or she was pure in their sexual relationships. Sexual purity became a defining characteristic in contrast to a culture of sexual promiscuity.

So, in both the Old and New Testament, virginity is a highly prized value. It is the expected behavior of Jewish men and women, of Christian men and women.

But then as we travel forward through history sexual values changed. In our culture, virginity is no longer held in such high value as the Old and New Testaments. That is, with the advent of “the pill” and a more permissive society, virginity became not so valuable anymore. The media and mass culture began to promote the idea that premarital sexual activity was normal and acceptable. Virginity became old fashioned. On TV and in mass culture, living together seemed totally acceptable. If you add all these up, there became enormous pressure against virginity in our culture, with the church often fighting a losing battle. Virgins may not admit that they are virgins because it may then be suggested that they are prudes or inexperienced, and no one wants to be a prude or inexperienced.

But in the Old and New Testament, virginity was highly valued. It was the expected behavior of men and women, so at the time of Mary and Joseph, it was expected that Mary and Joseph would be virgins.

At that time in Jewish history, their families had arranged the engagement and marriage of Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph were probably second or third cousins. Mary was very young, perhaps a thirteen or fourteen year old girl. The engagement was very serious and called a “betrothal.” They were engaged before two witnesses. The man would give the woman a present; her father would pay a dowry. If the man died, she would be called a widow. If the woman died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were to be virgins and they were to have no sexual intercourse prior to marriage. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married. If a woman became pregnant by another man, she could be stoned to death.

During that year they were engaged, an angel or divine messenger visited Mary. Mary was told that she was to become pregnant. She asked the divine messenger, “How can I become pregnant? I have no husband. I am not married yet. I am engaged to Joseph, and we cannot do that kind of stuff. How can I become pregnant?” The angelic messenger said, “The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the Holy Spirit shall cause you to conceive and give birth to a child.” Mary waited. And waited. And waited. She missed her first period. Her second period. She started to have morning sickness, and it was now time to have that important and delicate conversation with Joseph.

We have no Biblical record of that conversation, but we do have our imaginations, and we can imagine a delicate scene. This conversation was not at all pleasant. Mary said, “Joseph, I have something to tell you. I don’t understand it, and it is hard for me to tell you because there is no way I can comprehend what is going on.” … “Go ahead, Mary. Tell me. I can handle it.” … “Joseph, I don’t know how to tell you.” … “Tell me; we can handle anything.” … “I am pregnant.” …There was a long silence. Truly, a pregnant pause. This was an awkward moment between them. Joseph automatically assumed she was pregnant by another man. He had been humiliated. Their relationship had been humiliated. This woman had betrayed him. She had been fundamentally dishonest with him and he was upset. He knew the legal consequences. He knew the Old Testament law. She could die for this. So could the other man. … So he asked the question, “Who? Who got you pregnant? Whom have you been with?” … A divine messenger visited me and told me that this was going to happen. The Holy Spirit got me pregnant.” … “Sure Mary. Sure.” … The Bible said that he resolved to divorce her quietly. Look carefully at the text; it clearly implies that Joseph did not believe her. … “What do you do? What do you do when the woman you trusted is pregnant by another man? She can die for this. So can he. What should I do in this nasty situation?”

Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man.

Then we come to the next beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the Jewish rabbi. Not to tell the Jewish court so he could get his money back. … So the first story about the birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man who had been enormously violated by a pregnant woman and he vowed not to punish her. He had been deeply violated, yet he still loved her and took care of her. This is the gospel.

But the story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel.

The story today does not only tell us that Joseph was religious or righteous. It tells us that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Joseph was the legal father. Joseph was the adopted father. But he was not the biological father of Jesus.

Today, we celebrate not the birth of Christmas, not the birth of a festival of lights, not the birth of a tradition of exchanging presents, not even the birth of the Son of God. Today we focus on Joseph.

Joseph is usually a back seat actor in the Christmas story. I often forget about him and have never really considered his importance. Mary and Jesus take the forefront and I get caught up in their story that I forget all about Joseph.

I often think about Mary. Why her? I wonder. How did God pick her? Was she special? Was it her alone? Could no other due? Mary and Jesus give us reason each year to spend 25 billion dollars giving gifts to show our love to our friends and family at this time of year. Jesus, through his life, teaches us to love one another as he has loved us, but Jesus isn’t the only biblical character to teach us of love.

I considered Mary, Mary and Jesus as biblical witnesses to love and I forget all about Joseph and then this week I had to consider this story in Matthew, were Joseph is the primary character. Then it hit me, what if God did not pick Mary alone, but Mary and Joseph?

When I think about child development and what it takes to raise a child – let alone the son of God – I realized that God knew exactly what he was doing, giving this baby – that we still celebrate – to Mary and Joseph.

Joseph was a religious and righteous man, but he could not disgrace Mary. Not even after he felt so betrayed by her. It is Joseph who acts out God mercy and love even before the angel appears to him in a dream. Who better, less than a week from Christmas, to show us the trueness of God’s love? Joseph the back seat actor is now in the forefront showing us how to love one another, how to forgive one another. Who better to raise Jesus, to help us see Emmanuel – God with us, than Joseph?!

[1] Sermon adaptation from Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Sermons from Seattle.

THE SUNDAY OF JOY

Preached by Alexandria Bois-Bonifacio
Third Sunday of Advent - December 12, 2010

So today is Joy Sunday; the third week of advent. It seems only fitting that I tell you something joyful then. However, while I was looking over the text this week I was struck by them. The Psalm seemed appropriate for this week. This psalm begins the section of praise psalms and is the final sections of the book of psalms. I like that idea, don’t you, that the book of psalm goes out singing and dancing praises to God.


But it wasn’t the psalms that stopped me in my tracks this week; it was the Matthew text about John the Baptist. John seems uncertain that Jesus is the messiah. Stuck in prison he now starts to question whether all of his preaching and teaching about the Messiah – the one who is to come – has boiled down to doubt. Can Jesus really be the messiah?

It may seem obvious to us today. But we know the end of the story. We know what Jesus does through his lifetime and what he teaches his disciples. We know eventually Jesus rises from death, giving us that great piece of evidence toward his divinity. But John is stuck in prison. John doesn’t get to see Jesus work or hear Jesus preach at this point. All John has is word of mouth, uncertainties.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Action movies today have followed a formula for so long that they have created their own cinematic clique! It goes like this:

Ultimately the good guys find the secret hide out of the bad guys. The good guys gather together and someone says “so what the plan? Anyone got a plan?” to which the hero of the movie replies “you stay here. I’ll go around back and when I give the signal you come in the front.” Someone else then says “ok. So what’s the signal” and the hero replies “oh, you’ll know”. Then he runs off around the building out of the scene. The next thing you know is the hero is driving a cement truck through the side of the building or something big and dramatic like that. And all the other good guys in the front of the building go “there’s the signal – let’s GO!”

You just have to think of Bruce Willis in the ‘Die Hard’ movies or Eddie Murphy in ‘Beverly Hillbilly Cops’. In all these movies the action hero’s behaviour is always a big tada! which leaves no doubt in the other characters’ minds. Even the spectators could say ‘yup, that was obviously the signal!’

So maybe now John the Baptist makes a little more sense. He wants a really clear signal that leaves no room for doubt that Jesus is the ultimate action hero! Maybe the first century context equivalent would have been the Messiah coming in to save the day from all oppressors! Like driving a chariot through a Roman barricade! Or miraculously lifting every Roman solider into the air and throwing them out of the country! Who knows what John was looking for, but we can definitely say Jesus did not stand up to his expectations.

Instead of a big obvious signal or tada of some kind, John finds himself in jail hearing about a man who goes around preaching and healing folks. While this may look extraordinary to us, in the time of John, there were other prophets who could heal people and even raise the dead. Jesus wasn’t doing anything extraordinary at all, rather he was working quite subtly and john was left unsure.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Subtlety has lost a bit of its finesse in our day and age. Most of the time we are multitasking so often that anything subtle would most likely pass us by and we may not even catch what has past. With our attention span learning to move so quickly it becomes more difficult to slow down and pay attention to one thing at a time. At least that is becoming more and more true with every new generation. This latest generation can learn to operate computers at such a young age that Microsoft started to use 4 and 5 year old children in their advertisements to adults to show how easy it was to use their new programs and technology. So subtlety is definitely losing its place in our society as time goes on.

Generally speaking when we are asked to slow down and take in one thing at a time or the more subtle side of things we can get a little impatient. Each year at this time of year, we clergy, ask you to slow down from the Christmas rush and focus on what it means for us today to wait for the coming Christ child. We make you go through four long weeks before we ramp it all up on Christmas eve! And Like I said – we know the story... we know what is coming. So just imagine how impatient John could have been. Someone who knew the Messiah was coming but did not know what he would look like. It makes sense for John to have wanted that big tada. He was only human and God can work so subtly!

Even today we want a big tada sometimes too. Yes, it is true that we know the story of Jesus, but now over two thousand years later, we want to know how God is working in the world! We even get a little anxious when we can’t always figure out where God is or what God might be doing in the world today.

Anxiety is a funny little thing, don’t you think? Today is joy Sunday and that seems so fitting while we get ready for the Christmas season. I don’t think anxiety Sunday would have gone over very well as an Advent theme! But it may actually be more applicable sometimes. Think about it, around this time of year we start to worry about what presents to buy, who gets what and we have to make sure that no child get something more special than another, we have to be fair. And well who’s going to sit where for Christmas dinner, who is going to host Christmas dinner?! There are so many things to think about and figure out each year that naturally we get a little stressed this time of year. Interestingly Christmas is the time of the most generosity – the Christmas Spirit, and it is also the a time of the highest risk for family conflict!

I don’t know about your family, but my family every year gets together to trim the tree. We never think twice about coming to mom and dads house to decorate and every year we all seem so excited! But, every year it all goes to pieces too! Usually my brother or sister will volunteer to untangle the lights and string them on the tree while the other sibling and my dad start to unwrap the million glass balls they have for decorations. But without fail my dad will argue that the lights aren’t right and someone else will pick at this or that. And without fail one of us kids will what to limit the balls this year and before you know it my dad is in full argument with any number of people and those who aren’t being targeted will have slipped off into the other room, desperate to get away! Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would just stand up and say “I’ll take charge of the tree this year. No need to worry.”

It’s not just Christmas time that we worry. That funny little thing – anxiety – seems to creep around us in little doses all year. We just have to say, global warming or climate change and we can see a little anxiety start to stir.

If only we had the ultimate action hero for climate change! Someone to tells us what to do and to give us a really clear signal for when to do it! But the world just doesn’t seem to play its part. Instead the change is more subtly and only overtime do we begin to notice the changes. Wouldn’t it be easier to manage our anxiety if we could have a big tada one way or the other! Either the world is warming and we face definite change or it is not. Couldn’t nature just be clear about it!

I think that’s what John was saying to Jesus – “look either you are the messiah or you’re not. Let’s just get clear and straight forward about it!” But even in his answer, Jesus was being subtle. “go back to John and tell him all that you hear and see” I just get the feeling that Jesus answer may not have been quite the anxiety squelching answer John was looking for.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

You know there was a part of the Psalm for today that keeps drawing me in. This is a praise psalm but there are a few lines that seem to draw a parallel to more than just praise. There is a warning within this text. So that got me wondering how a warning could be alongside praise. Basically the psalm warns us not to put our faith, hope and trust in humanity. Saying if a person were able to think up a idea, the end of war, or the answer to climate change, then all of hope for a solution rests on them, a mortal. And when they did, all hope dies with them. Instead of this, the psalmist warns us to put our trust in God who endures forever.

The psalmist tells us to trust that God has a plan – that god is the ultimate action hero with a subtle twist. Instead of God being a cinematic clique, God works subtly, over time; teaching, preaching, healing as he goes changing one person at a time.

It is true that there will probably be no big tada! no obvious signal that “we’ll just know when we see it”. But God has a plan nonetheless and we are all little pieces that play little subtle parts in that plan.

In many ways we are a lot like John the babptist – who played his small part in God’s plan through Jesus Christ. And like John we want to know that God’s plan will work out in the end. We want that big tada so that we know God’s plan has worked out, so that we can squelch our anxieties.

And I wish my sermon today was giving you a clear signal about God’s work in the world. But truthfully, I think God has a different sense of time than we do. I cannot tell you how things turn out, simply because I believe it is going to take more than my lifetime for God’s plan to be complete. So what Joy is there for me to proclaim on this joy Sunday in Advent?!

Well, when i really think about things, I long for God’s cinematic clique so that I can calm down about the state of the world. I want to know that the world and all that is in her will be ok.

And when I think about it even more, I remember the psalmist’s advice to put my trust in God who endures forever. When I really think about it God’s got this in the bag!

God has a plan, it may take longer than I want it to, and I know through the experience of Jesus Christ that God works subtly. So I probably am going to miss some things along the way, but in the end god does have a plan. God’s got it in the bag. Whether I see the outcome or not, I know God’s got this. So there is no need to worry. Praise God!

LEAD AND FOLLOW

November 21, 2010
Reign of Christ – Pentecost Last
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20

(prayer)

Do you remember Raffi? He’s the famed Canadian Children’s singer of such songs as Baby Beluga and Shack Your Sillies Out. Raffi's recent musical work focuses on social and environmental causes and appeals to the generation who grew up with his children's music ("Beluga Grads") to affect change in the world. He also promotes those causes through his books, academic lectures and as a speaker.

In recent years, Raffi has devoted himself to "Child Honouring", his vision for creating a humane and sustainable world by addressing the universal needs of children. His "Covenant for Honouring Children" outlines the principles of this philosophy. There is a copy of the covenant on the bulletin board in the hallway by the west entrance. This is what it says:

“We find these joys to be self evident: That all children are created whole, endowed with innate intelligence, with dignity and wonder, worthy of respect. The embodiment of life, liberty and happiness, children are original blessings, here to learn their own song. Every girl and boy is entitled to love, to dream and belong to a loving “village.” And to pursue a life of purpose.

We affirm our duty to nourish and nurture the young, to honour their caring ideals as the heart of being human. To recognize the early years as the foundation of life, and to cherish the contribution of young children to human evolution.

We commit ourselves to peaceful ways and vow to keep from harm or neglect these, our most vulnerable citizens. As guardians of their prosperity we honour the bountiful Earth whose diversity sustains us. Thus we pledge our love for generations to come.”

//

November 20th is Universal Children’s Day recognizing the dates that the United Nations adopted the Declaration (and the Convention) on the Rights of the Child.

In years when Christmas Day falls on a Thursday to a Sunday, the Sunday closest to November 20th is also the last Sunday before Advent begins – the final Sunday in the season after Pentecost: AKA “Reign of Christ Sunday”. This year because Christmas is a Saturday, Reign of Christ Sunday falls one day after Universal Children’s Day.

For a variety of reasons, I think these go well together. First and foremost, Jesus knew the value of children and he showed leadership in a culture where children were to be excluded from real society: 1...The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18:1-5)

As well, the concept of the Reign of Christ is to view Jesus as sovereign in our lives, as in control, as responsible for the well-being of our lives…like we would expect of someone “in charge”: in Jesus’ day, a king, or in modern political systems: a president or prime minister or dictator.

In whatever leadership we are given to exercise in our lives, we do well to remember what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: "The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children."

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Jesus clearly had natural leadership qualities. People flocked to his presence because he spoke and acted with authority: an authority some even claimed came directly from God. As we read the biblical narrative, we don’t find examples of Jesus claiming the leader role, but in the conversations around him, the topic surely came up. In fact, it was claims to leadership that ultimately got Jesus’ killed. While our gospels also describe the religious concerns of the Jerusalem Temple leaders towards Jesus – that he was a blasphemer, claimed to be the Son of God, a misguided teacher, a threat to the practice of faith, none of that would have mattered much to the occupying roman authorities. What got Pilate and Herod’s attention were the rumours that Jesus was being proclaimed as a king! This is seen really well in Luke’s gospel, where internally, the Temple Assembly was concerned about the claim that Jesus was Son of God; when they took him to Pilate, they said: We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king. (Luke 23:2). The charge that lead to Jesus’ crucifixion was ‘treason’: “Are you a king?”, Pilate asked Jesus.

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Jesus had authority, that much was clear to everyone, but the nature of that authority was anything but clear. Was he a revolutionary, bent on overthrow? Was he inciting anti-empire activities? Did he intend to topple the religious structure of the Hebrew people with his ‘new ideas’? What kind of authority did Jesus have and what difference did it make?

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In some circles, this Reign of Christ Sunday, is also known as Christ the King Sunday. I prefer Reign of Christ, because “king” seems to be an inadequate word – If Jesus was a king, he was unlike the kings of this world.

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Our first scripture reading today from Jeremiah, comes from that time (600 years before Jesus), when Judah was being overrun by the Babylonian Empire, when the Hebrew leadership was turned into a puppet government for the empire. And so the prophet speaks on God’s behalf: 1Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD ... 5The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.

In the gospel of John, Jesus is called the ‘good shepherd’, picking up on this image of leaders as shepherds from Jeremiah and elsewhere in the Biblical record.

The nature of the leader Jeremiah preaches about is justice and righteousness and safety. There is no mention of self-aggrandizing or the accumulation of power and wealth.

The letter to the Christians in Colossae uses wonderfully poetic language to describe the nature of Jesus’ authority to its first century audience – the incarnation is described by saying that Jesus was the [visible] image of the invisible God; in Jesus the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. I remember former United Church Moderator, Bill Phipps, saying one time that, in Jesus, we see absolutely as much of God that con be contained within the limits of a human life.

The book of Colossians says that Jesus holds all things together – everything that has been created is given order and purpose through the risen Christ. That is a statement of the impact of faith in the life of a Christian. As Christians, by definition, we connect to God through Jesus, his story, his life, his teachings, his example, the mystery of his eternal presence following his crucifixion and resurrection, and the joy of knowing that we don’t journey this existence alone. Since, our connection to God is through Christ, we can find great value in these ancient poetic words: 16for in [Christ] all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through [Christ] and for [Christ]. 17[Christ] himself is before all things, and in [Christ] all things hold together.

To be a follower of Jesus is to believe that we live as part of the Reign of Christ.

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The evidence of Jesus’ life is that this leadership and authority is not what the world is used to: empowerment over domination – invitation over occupation – compassion over criticism – love and peace over war and hate.

When Jesus made his triumphful entry into Jerusalem (on what we now call Palm Sunday) it was not aboard an armoured war horse, but on a coat laden donkey. When Jesus wanted to give a tangible example of what was needed to be great in God’s eyes, he didn’t call forward Peter or John, he asked a child to come sit on his knee.

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Jesus got into a lot of trouble because of who he spent his time with. According to Luke’s gospel, when Simon the Pharisee’s dinner party was crashed by a woman whose reputation was among the lowest of the low, Simon’s other guests were shocked that Jesus was not shocked. In fact, as the woman came and touched Jesus and anointed him, he was accepting and appreciative. “Who” people had judged her to be was not important to Jesus.

That was a powerful kind of new leadership.

Jesus sowed these seeds of authority over and over again in his ministry: inviting Zacchaeus to dine with him, in spite of the fact the whole community had shunned him because of his complicity with the roman authorities as a tax collector for the empire; also there was the time when Jesus highlighted to everyone that it was okay that he had been secretly touched by a woman, considered unclean, even though he was on his way to the home of the leader of a local synagogue. Instead of making Jesus unclean, the act actually healed the woman after a dozen years of community estrangement; and there were countless other, outsiders, outcasts and (so called) sinners who were not rejected, but welcomed by Jesus.

This was a powerful kind of new leadership.

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Shepherds play a really significant role in the story of Jesus’ life. Shepherding in the first century was a valuable life blood of the Judeah economy – the wool, the meat were wanted and needed by all people. But the actual work of shepherding was not considered high society. It meant spending most of one’s time outside – regardless of the weather and it inevitably left one bringing their work everywhere they went. If it was true (as Luke claims) that shepherds were the first to visit Jesus after he was born, everyone should have had no trouble finding the Christ-child – they could just follow the ‘scent of manure and mutton’.

It is interesting that throughout the scriptures a shepherd is used as a metaphor for a leader of the Hebrews. We can draw a conclusion that there is a care and compassion expected within the leader – the health of the flock is paramount, even more so than the shepherd’s own safety – you make recall the quote from the gospel of John: 10:11...The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

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It is fair to say that a shepherd is an odd image for a king-ruler – sure the guiding part fits, but everything else seems at odds with the lifestyle that is usually assumed goes along with high leadership.

And when we add to that another image of leadership that was espoused by Jesus, it is clear that the kind of ‘ruler’ that we see in Jesus is quite different from the kings and emperors (and presidents and prime ministers and dictators) in this world.

Listen to this verse from Mark, chapter 9 (it is a loose parallel to one I read earlier from Matthew): 33Then they came to Capernaum; and when Jesus was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

Jesus’ view of leadership is a king who was like a good, dedicated shepherd; one who serves rather than expects to be served; one who sees the welfare of all as the norm – from the so-called least to the greatest.

Jesus is no ordinary king.

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And so, as followers of this servant, shepherding, child-honouring king, we should portray the same attitude in our lives in this world, shouldn’t we? Doesn’t that just make sense?

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What do we need? Well, we need to buck the trends of greed and selfishness. I think Zack Galifianakis’ character in the new movie Due Date said it best: “We better check it before we wreck it!”

We are up against strong opposition here: you know how it is, every time there is some proposal based on compassion and fairness for those on the outside –

the Not-In-My-BackYardigans start to shout. And the ideologues begin to speak the language of prudence and say, it sounds nice, as long as taxpayer’s dollars aren’t involved (i.e. as long as we all don’t have to participate).

Jesus’ followers are up against entrenched attitudes that try to convince us that we are not our brother’s and sister’s keepers. This winners-and-losers world we have, trends against the kind of leadership Jesus showed and encouraged.

And yet the prophet promised that “a righteous branch from David’s family tree would surely sprout and reign wisely with justice and righteousness and the result is that the people would be saved.”

Now I know that some Christian’s interpret salvation very specifically, as meaning an assurance of an eternity with God. That’s cool – who doesn’t want that! But, I think that Jeremiah was less concerned about the next world as he was about the situation his people were in at the moment (in 586 BCE).

Extrapolating things to our time, we need to be saved from all that separates us from God’s vision of shalom (peace, wholeness, unity) for this world – in this world, NOW – all of those attitudes that find ‘servant, shepherding, child-honouring leadership’ threatening.

We need to be safe from that!

And so, in the paradox of faith, we can offer leadership by following the one who is our righteous branch.

Not easy. Real leadership never is!



#210VU “Christus Paradox – You Lord Are

Both Lamb and Shepherd”

NOW AND HERE

November 14, 2010
Pentecost 25
Isaiah 65:17-25
2nd Thessalonians 3:6-13

(prayer)

If you were in church here at St. David’s last week, you may remember that we had read from the book of the prophet Haggai. If you weren’t here last week, don’t worry - this is not part of a multi-week sermon series that if you miss one, you’ll be lost. All I wanted to say is that today’s reading from Isaiah 65, comes from about the same time period as Haggai.

The Hebrew people have returned to the land of Judah after six or seven decades of living in forced exile by the rivers of Babylon.

It was a time of re-discovery. Only the most elderly of the people would have had any memory of the former glory of Jerusalem (and that would have been back when they were children), as the vast majority of the returning exiles had been born in Babylon – all they knew were the stories told by parents and grandparents.

They came back – not to a glorious land flowing with milk and honey and a grand capital city – but a land abused for decades and former mighty buildings laying in piles of rubble, including the magnificent stone temple that had stood for several hundreds of years since the time of King Solomon.

Into this reality, the prophet speaks for God:

17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.

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The message is: The past is history – in this new time, something new and wonderful begins: an era of happiness and prosperity; of peace and longevity and safety.

When I read Isaiah 65, I find myself taking a long, relaxing breath. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. You know it is a great space and frame of mind to be in – relaxed because life is good!

Those moments are precious. To have the anxiety of the past truly set aside and to live in a moment of calm. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

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God, I wish those moments would last.

I suspect that all of us would love to have a long, long life of the bliss that comes with calm. I suppose that is why Isaiah’s words are such a power vision for a hope we all long for,

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The reality is that the universe is a dynamic place – we are constantly in motion, time marches on – we can never really freeze a moment in time, because each time we become aware of the moment we are in, it passes and we are brought to the next moment ... and so on ...

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And yet we are gifted with memory, so those ‘past’ moments are not lost. The discipline of history is to make a conscious effort to keep the impact of those past moments a present reality.

As I also mentioned last week, for the Hebrew people re-settling Judah, there was little living memory of what life in Judah had been like before the exile. But the impact of that life and the connection of the people to their God endured. Not only had it endured, it had continued to develop over the 60 or 70 years away from the land and the temple mount.

“We can be changed in the present, by the impact of what has happened in the past.”

That is the central point of what I want to say today: We can be changed in the present, by the impact of what has happened in the past. For me this is significantly different from living in the past or even longing for the past, which I think are fruitless endeavours. Shakespeare wrote that “what’s past is prologue” (cf. The Tempest). Where we have been is simply the lead-up to where we are – it is the here and now where ‘true importance’ lies.

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November is traditionally the time of the year that this congregation of St. David’s United Church celebrates its anniversary. [Does anyone know why November? That’s not a rhetorical question, I really have no idea.]. I know, thanks to the history wall of pictures of former clergy (aka ‘the rogues gallery’) that our history goes back to 1898. That makes 2010 the 112th anniversary of our congregation. In fact for the 13 years, ours is a double history including churches established by both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. In 1911, these congregations saw the prudency of joining together. I suspect that neither may have been able to endure had they insisted on going it alone. All of this predates the formation of the United Church of Canada, which (in 1925) formally brought together our founding congregations that had already been together for 14 years.

2010 is the 85th anniversary of the United Church of Canada – are far as Christian denominations go, we are still babies on a global scale, and yet 85 years is a remarkable accomplishment.

Early on the Union was more of a paper connection, as former Methodist congregations and former Presbyterian congregations and former Congregationalist churches continued to function (on a Sunday-by-Sunday) basis quite differently, according to their own histories. But eventually, as the moments of time pressed onward, as new clergy were trained within the new United Church structure, as new congregations were established with no history in the former denomination, a new style of ‘being church’ began to develop: it took decades.

It must have been a similar experience that occurred with the ancient Hebrews during the exile, as new generations with no personal memory of the past began to live out their faith in ways that were relevant to their time and their context.

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Since the spring of this year we have highlighted that one of the projects of the United Church of Canada in this 85th anniversary year was to pair up congregations across the church, with hopes that they will connect with each other in some way over the year.

We are paired with Memorial United Church in Murray River, PEI. There has been some email contact between the churches. And, I know that Gladys and Alvin Burdeyney visited that church on a trip they made out east this summer and took some personal greetings from us to them. I think we even exchanged collectable church plates!

I hope others have attempted some connection, as the 85th anniversary year is nearing it’s end. I want to try something here to make another connection. If I can make it work, let’s record a video message for our sisters and brothers on the east coast.

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All things going well, I will email that video to them before the day is out. That kind of connection is a possibility that exists in our modern world. I know that as new generations develop new ways to connect and express their faith, that other generations are prone to wonder, ‘what’s the point?’

And yet, there is value in allowing our ancient, timeless story, to find new expression so that it can be heard and experienced in each new age. In fact, I think we should always get excited when discover that our mission and message fits into the modern world

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In 2006, the 39th General Council of the United Church of Canada approved “A Song of Faith” as a modern statement of faith to add to past statements that have tried to describe the life and purpose of the church over the ages. It was noted in the preamble: The church’s faith is grounded in truths that are timeless. These truths, however, must be embraced anew by Christians of each generation and stated “in terms of the thoughts of their own age and with the emphasis their age needs” (Statement of Faith, 1940). This is not a statement for all time but for our time. In as much as the Spirit keeps faith with us, we can express our understanding of the Holy with confidence. And in as much as the Spirit is vast and wild, we recognize that our understanding of the Holy is always partial and limited. Nonetheless we have faith!

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For the early Christians in Thessalonica, the promise of God’s active love expressed in the life of Jesus and the promise of God’s redemption founded in Jesus’ death and resurrection had led to a belief (for some) that there was no value in living a purposed life in this world – all of the attention was on the realm to come. I have said before that it was as if they took the words ‘freedom in Christ’ too literally. These people were not able to be in the world – they were not able to see this life as founded in goodness, as the Bible proclaims (cf. Gen 1). The author of the second letter to the Thessalonians strongly discouraged this attitude of ‘living in idleness’.

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There is a common theme in all of this: faith is an active endeavour – and it goes beyond a intellectual connection at the level of the mind. The attitude of faith, certainly begins internally, but has always been expressed (by our forbearers in every time and place) by actions: the love of Christ lived and shown in the world. We are not called to hide from the world, or retreat from the world, but to be part of the transformation the world!

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I am so proud to be connected to a church that nurtured this attitude in people to the point that at a provincial level here in Alberta, Women’s groups in the United Church got together and started the Child Well-being Initiative. (see insert with today’s bulletin)

More Info on CWBI
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Last weekend, I attended the Northern Region Symposium for United Church people from Yellowhead, Edmonton and Northern Lights Presbyteries. One of my colleagues in ministry had come to the event with his whole family including his four young daughters, the youngest of which is just a few months old. One of the speakers at the event drew our attention to this child and reminded us that the decisions we make as a society are never made in isolation. “What if”, the speaker said, “every decision we made as a society (as individuals, as churches, as governments) was based on her best interests?” Do you think we would choose to make her suffer today or in the future? That’s a faith-in-action challenge!

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The Thessalonians passage today discourages idleness by suggesting that “anyone unwilling to work, should not eat.” That kind of attitude is held by some ideologies to disconnect us from the needs of others. What the child well-being initiative does is challenge us to accept that no child has made any decision that should justify our society to allow them to live in poverty.

This coming Thursday, Women of the United Church will be at the Alberta Legislature to hold a press conference and present each Alberta MLA with a handmade doll as a tactile symbol of the need to ensure that over 77,500 children living in poverty in Alberta is almost eighty-thousand too many.

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And so, let’s honour our history, let’s celebrate our anniversary. But let’s not live in the past, or even long for the past. Let us be grateful for the gift of this life, this moment and the opportunities to live the love of our Christ in ways that transform our world into a place that sees that we are all connected by the benevolent source of all that is, and was, and ever shall be.

Faith is of today. It always has been!

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Let us pray:

Guide us God, today, to live into your vision for infinite peace and justice, where all your creatures live in harmony as you intend. AMEN.

#79MV “Spirit, Open My Heart”

HOW DOES IT LOOK TO YOU?

November 7, 2010
Pentecost 24
Haggai 2:1-9
2nd Thessalonians 2:1-5,13-17

(prayer)

When King Solomon’s builders had completed constructing the temple, it must have been a magnificent sight. Imagine the wonderful smell of the freshly cut and sculptured cedar, the brightness of the crisp lines of the large stones; the inlayed gold and other decorative elements.

For centuries the Hebrew people had used a tent-like structure as their main house of worship; and the dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant – the box containing the remains of the original ten commandment tablets. The style comes from their nomadic times as refugees fleeing Egypt in the time of Moses. For the first years in the land of Canaan, the tabernacle may have continued its nomadic shifts, moving from place to place as the Hebrew tribes established themselves in the land. Then when King David built the city of Jerusalem to be the Capital of unified kingdom governing all of the twelve tribes, the tabernacle found a permanent home.

The Hebrew Scriptures tell us that David considered building a more permanent structure but was convinced that God wanted him to build a palace for himself instead (cf. 2Samual 7). And so it came to David’s successor, his son Solomon, to build the Temple. And it was easily the most striking characteristic of Jerusalem. It symbolized the centrality of Yahweh as the God of the Hebrew people and it solidified Israel’s place among nations.

As Solomon spoke at the dedication of the Temple, he confessed that “Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you [God], much less this house that I have built!”

It is ironic that from the beginning Solomon recognized that it was impossible to contain God in any one place, but that over time, being in the Temple became almost synonymous with being in God’s holy presence: to the point that it was felt that one could not “really” meet God anywhere else. Rituals and rites expanded to re-enforce that theology. This issue was central to the division of the nation of Israel in the wake of Solomon’s death. The northern tribes resented the increasing dominance of Jerusalem in Judah within the whole nation of Israel. For northerners, other sacred locations like Mt Gerizim and Jacob’s Well and Bethel were losing their place within the religious culture of the people. So, Solomon’s death provided the opportunity for the northern tribes to succeed from the Jerusalem based leadership. The era of the Divided Kingdom began. Northern Israel and Southern Judah were, in theory, one people but, in practice, separate nations. Within the south, this provided even more credence to a Temple-centred theology.

How devastating it must have been for the people of Judah as the Babylonian empire ventured west and successfully enveloped Judah, taking over the agricultural lands and invading and ransacking Jerusalem. Most of the people were deported to live in Babylon (an inventive way to stifle the chances of a counter revolution). News spread quickly among the exiles that the Temple had not escaped the onslaught. All of the rich ornaments, including the Ark of the Covenant were taken. It is quite likely that the invaders had no idea how valuable the contents of the Ark were to the Hebrew people. Those fragments of stone (which symbolized the law that governs the relationship between God and the people) that had been lovingly preserved for centuries in houses of canvas and stone, were probably un-ceremonially dumped out and scattered to the wind. [Unless you believe the tale that the Ark was whisked away to freedom at the last minute and (right now) is hidden in a Coptic Orthodox Christian Monastery in Ethiopia.]

Imagine how devastating the knowledge of the destruction of the Temple must have been to a people, who had come to believe that God had chosen to dwell uniquely in that place.

For several decades, the Judean people were forced to endure on memories of the Temple. As new generations were born, they could only be told of the festivals and the celebrations at the magnificent Temple – they had no way of experiencing it firsthand. Eventually, as the time of exile dragged on, very few people with actual memories of the Temple dwindled down to a handful, and they would have been only children when they were last at the Temple.

The exile lasted six decades, before Cyrus of Persia, who was now the broker of power in the region, issued an edict allowing for exiled peoples to return to their land of origin.

The descendants of the original Judean exiles were allowed to return to a place that most of them had never seen. Wonderfully, the ‘story’ of the people and their God had endured the exile. In fact, a more ever-present God was now the focus of the people – a God who comforts and stays with the people in times of struggle.

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Haggai was a prophet in the new Jerusalem among the returned exiles. Under the leadership of the Judean Governor, Nehemiah, and the Priest, Ezra, a new Temple was being constructed. The passage Brian read today, comes from a mere four weeks after that reconstruction had begun. Haggai, addresses those elders, who as Children had seen and experienced the wonder of the first Temple. “How does it look to you now? It doesn’t compare does it?”

The Ark with its mercy seat and the cherubim were gone; the tablets of stone, the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, the eternal fire on the altar, all of things that made Solomon’s Temple a sight to behold had been swept away. Although some of the grand stones were now being used as part of the foundation to this new Temple, it could never be the same. Sure, substitutes for the old relics and artefacts would be created and put in the new Temple, but they could never be the same. Even if this new Judah had unlimited resources and could create an almost exact duplicate, it could never the same as the Temple in the Elders childhood memories. In fact, resources were quite limited and this second Temple would be much smaller and more simply ornate for many centuries to come.

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Haggai and the elders and all of the remnant of Judah knew that (although it was an exciting time to be rebuilding), the life of the people had forever been changed and there was no going back.

Kind of depressing!

But ...

Prophets always had a “but”.

But ... Haggai says ... take courage! Everyone, from King Zerubbabel, to High Priest Joshua, from the youngest child to the oldest senior, take courage! God is with you!

It is an old promise. Just as God was with Moses during the exodus, just as God was with the people as they entered Canaan and resettled the land, just as God was with the tribes during the time of the Judges and under the reigns of Kings Saul, David and Solomon. Just as God was with the people after the nation split and, even as we discovered, during the exile (with the help of people like the old prophet Ezekiel) that God was even with us in Babylon; Yahweh, our God, the Lord of Hosts, lives amongst us!

And so, even if this building seems like nothing compared to what is remembered, the glory of God, the real heart of the old Temple is here!!

In time, we will regain some power in the region; we will be able to adorn this new Temple with gold and silver, maybe to the point that it will be greater than the former house, but even now, do not fear, for God is with us! Haggai said.

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In four days, many in our world will pause to remember the day and time of the end of the First World War – 2010 is the 92nd anniversary of that Armistice. At this time of year, we are also drawn to the memory of the end of World War II, which ended with the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945 (over 65 years ago). This past summer, I had the opportunity to stand on deck of the USS Missouri where the documents were signed. It was like stepping back in time.

Many remembrance day cenotaphs also recognize those who fought in the three year Korean War, which effectively ended with a peace treaty signed in 1953 (57 years ago).

I know that many of you have first hand memories of these events. For me, and those of my generation and younger, none of these events were part of my direct life experience. The Vietnam War hadn’t even started when I was born in 1963.

I suspect that every single one of the cubs, scouts and beavers and their leaders have no living memory of the great 20th Century wars involving Canada.

For them and for an increasingly large percentage of the population, Remembrance Day is not about remembering the events, but remembering the stories and their impact.

Do you know the name John Babcock? He was the longest surviving Canadian known to have fought in World War One. He passed away this past February at age 109. All the WW1 vets are gone.

The reality of time tells us that within the next 30 to 40 years, by the time my kids are my age, all WW2 and Korean War veterans will have lived their full lives.

The nature of Remembrance Day is changing from remembering events to remembering the stories of those events and the impact.

Old soldiers do fade away. It has happened before. Even in our best attempts to honour Canadian veterans of wars, we pay no attention to those who fought in the war of 1812. Can you imagine how different life would be in Canada today, if the Americans had been successful in annexing upper Canada a century ago. And yet, we have all but forgotten the sacrifice of those brave fighters for Canadian Freedom.

The act of remembering is certainly fluid with time. I wonder how long our memories will be. “Fortunately” (?), our world remains a violent place. Human beings ability to justify war for reasons of greed, pride, religion and revenge will give new generations new war memories of their own.

We will lose the direct ties to the past. But we can work at maintaining the story of the impact.

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As the first century moved on, an impatience grew among the members of the early church of Jesus Christ. The excitement in the early years was that God’s renewal and Jesus’ second coming would be an imminent event. The Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica seemed to carry that theme. One had to be ready at all times, because Jesus could come as suddenly as a thief in the night. By the time that Paul’s successors penned what we call the 2nd letter to the Thessalonians, this was much less obvious. So, 2nd Thessalonians counters the belief that the “day of the lord” - the beginning of the end of human history - had already come. The author of the letter spends the first half of chapter 2 refuting this claim, listing a number of events that would have to happen first (a rebellion, a lawless one, etc.).

The author was concerned that people had given up on living faithfully – the end was already here, what point is there to putting energy into this life. It was an ironic over-interpretation of the concept of Freedom in Christ. Christ sets me free, so I don’t have to do anything!

But ...

Prophets always had a “but”.

But ... the book of 2nd Thessalonians says ... you are beloved by God, and so stand firm and hold fast to the traditions you have been taught! Being faithful means remembering why faith is important: how does your faith impact your life, here and now! [I’ll talk a bit more about that next week, as we read on in 2nd Thessalonians and hear a warning against idleness.]

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Remembrance is important, it has a place. After all, we will share an act of remembrance in a few minutes as we share in the sacrament of Jesus’ Last Supper. But remembrance alone is destine to fade away with time.

In the context of remembrance, Haggai also spoke about renewal: 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.

The new Temple was not going to be the same as the first structure, so fondly remembered in the elders’ stories. Renewal is not about lamenting that we don’t have what we once had, it begins by acknowledging and celebrating what we do have. For the Judeans of the time of restoration, they still had the presence of God in their midst. They just didn’t have all of the gold and silver ornaments that were once reminders of that to a previous generation. That was enough! They had what was important: the knowledge that they were not alone. The impact of the exile had taught them that. The first exiles couldn’t even find joy in the happy songs of home, because they felt so cut off from God in a foreign land. They hung their harps in the trees and just sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon: lost in memory.

Eventually, they moved beyond mere memory and found that they had what they needed, God was with them. God was not dead under the stone ruins of a mere building; God was where they needed God to be.

//

Remembering is good. But it is the starting point. Where does it lead us? How can it help us discover where we are and what we have, here and now?

When we share the bounty of this table today, we are looking for a fresh renewal as we involve ourselves in an ancient practice.

May it be so, with all of the opportunities of this life. Thanks be to God. Let us pray:

Help us God, to remember your presence with us, as you have been present with all your people throughout the ages. Amen.

BIG ENOUGH

October 24, 2010
Pentecost 22
Joel 2:23-32
Luke 18:9-14

(prayer)

I want to invite you to use your imaginations this morning. But I am not asking you to stretch into fantasy (not that there is anything wrong with that), but I invite you to imagine the edges of reality.

//

As best as you can focus your thoughts on the smallest object you have ever seen with your naked eye. In your mind’s eye look at the detail on this object – is there texture? Is there colour? It is moving or static?

//

Now let your mind imagine something smaller – in fact try and focus on the smallest thing you can imagine, the smallest part of a thing. Let the chemical-physicist in you picture the very basis of matter itself. The inner space of molecules and atoms, the dynamism of electrons and protons and neutrons and the sub-sub-atomic particles that make up these once imagined smallest things. Have you got it?

Can you imagine God being aware of that same reality which you are focusing on? Can you imagine God understanding it even more fully than you can possibly imagine. God sees deeper and closer right to very heart of existence itself. Imagine that.

//

Okay shake that off. Now lets go the other way. Imagine the largest thing you can imagine. Go beyond the largest thing you have ever seen with your naked eye and let your mind go interstellar, let it go universal. Do you see the planets and solar systems and galaxies and galaxy clusters? Can you imagine all the way to the totality of the universe? Is your mind even open to what else might be out there?

//

Now can you imagine God being aware of that same reality which you are focusing on? Can you imagine God understanding it even more fully than you can possibly imagine. God sees further and more broadly right to very reaches of existence itself. Imagine that.

//

//

When you had that very small image in your mind, were you also mindful of where you were in relation to that speck. You were huge. Lost in the vastness beyond the tiny.

And when you were at the edge of the universe, could you see back to your life on this world. You were miniscule, lost amongst billions of brighter and larger realities.

//

Can you imagine that in that vast reality that is the spectrum from the very, very, very small to the massive “totality-of-all-that-is”, that God is present and aware?

//

Many modern theologians describe God as “panentheistic” – the assertion that God exists within all things and beyond all things at the same time. That the old debates of whether God is ‘out there’ or ‘in here’ are simply answered “yes”.

And how is this possible – well that possibility is part of the definition of God – it is that God is mystery beyond our understanding and knowable (to a degree) in how well we know ourselves, each other and the world/universe we live in.

//

This admittedly is a big God who I am talking about. And this is a risky God to get to know, because this God will challenge the walls and limits you want to put around people and ideas that you might prefer to stay out of God’s reach.

//

“I am so thankful God that I am not like that traitor over there – one who is betraying his own people by working with the empire to export resources out of our land to feed the lusts of Caesar in Rome. I do and say all of the right things, everyone can see that – so, focus your attention, O God, on me and not on that tax collector over there.”

To the Pharisee, God was simply not big enough to have room for the tax collector in the divine heart. I suspect that if we could catch ourselves in a moment of pure honesty, we can recall times when we have held the same attitude as this Pharisee from the story in Luke. Certainly, we have judged others as unworthy of our attention and I suspect that many (if not all of us) would have liked to assume that God agreed with us.

//

Inclusivity is one of the most challenging biblical concepts we deal with. And inclusivity is always related to a sense of worthiness. Is compassion, acceptance, respect deserved?

//

The prophet Joel lived through a time of drought. The traditional rains had been sparse for a season or two. The insect population had grow and strived on the stumped stalks of dry grain.

The passage Sherrill read today was written after a wonderful spring rain. It seemed to bring hope out of the dry ground and held the promise of great things to come.

It was a real experience in the here-and-now that Joel’s audience had longed for. They did have hope.

Joel used this time of shared hope to also speak of hope in God. Often times, the rains can seem fickle: bathing some fields and leaving others dry; and as they knew too well, sometimes the rains must be elsewhere, because they sure ain’t here. But every once and a while, you get one of those soaking rains that seem to stretch as far as one can imagine.

We have the advantage of satellite weather maps to be able to see these times more directly. We have all looked at those days where the rain clouds stretch from one corner of the province to another. Rain falling on all!

//

Well the days are surely coming, says the prophets, when God will rain down Spirit in everyone. Not just a few here and ignoring others. Not just the worthy or pious, but on all flesh – men, women, the young, the old, the slave, the free. All will imagine the vastness of God from the youngest boy to the oldest woman.

A socked in soaking rain, does not discriminate – everything gets wet. That’s the image of God’s outpouring that Joel is talking about. No one is left unaffected by the Spirit.

No one is left unaffected by the Spirit.

//

Centuries later, after Jesus’ crucifixion, a few of the disciples had had glimpses of resurrection, but only seven weeks later, at the spring harvest festival (known as the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), they experienced a radical sense of inclusive community with a large group of total strangers. In spite of the obvious differences of language and nationality, they were able to find a common sense of Spirit. It was Peter who raised Joel’s old words of promise. We have been witnessing an outpouring of Spirit of Biblical proportions. God is literally raining over us.

Our women see visions;

our men clear their eyes.

With bold new decisions,

your people arise!

//

When God’s spirit indiscriminately pours out over us, we all get covered in the life giving rains. We all get wet – the old and the young, the Pharisees and the tax collectors, the men and the women, the worthy and the unworthy (how ever you define that).

//

Earlier this week, I was among four of us from St. David’s who attended the regular fall gathering of Yellowhead Presbytery (the regional body of the United Churches that includes Leduc). A main function of Presbyteries is to oversee and nurture and support the congregations within its bounds. Practically, since the members of the Presbytery is mostly the ministers and lay reps from the congregations, when the Presbytery visits with a congregation, it is usually people from one church working with another.

I have visited lots and lots of churches as a Presbytery rep over my 20-plus years in paid accountable ministry.

I have heard almost single church describe themselves as welcoming. We’re no different here: look at the sign at the back with all of the name tags.

[Aside, you know it might not be a bad habit to re-claim to wear those more often. After all, we have a new student inter with us for a few months and no matter how outgoing and popular any of us is, we can’t possibly know everyone or expect that everyone knows us. If you don’t have one, there is a list to sign at the back to get one made by the office. But I digress ...]

Lots of churches want to known as welcoming. Any many churches try really hard to be. But as I have said a few times over the years on those presbytery visits, ‘if you want to have an open door policy, you’d better be ready for who ever comes in those doors.’

When the make up of a community changes, the whole group is affected. When new people come to a church, they are just welcomed into the community of faith that is already here, they change the very dynamics of that community because, they, too, bring a glimpse of the holy with them. If God is indeed in and through and around and beyond all of us, each new configuration of people brings a fresh insight into the width and length and breadth of God.

I know in the 70s and 80s when churches first began to be more sensitive to the inclusivity of language, when it comes to male and female words and imagery, it was a struggle for many people to imagine that their faith could hold all of that newness. But here we are 30, 40 years later still being drenched by the Spirit. God was big enough for us all.

That continues, even today, as other barriers to faith and community are challenged. I believe that God is big enough for us all.

Inclusivity is a gift because is shows us more of God that we could possibly experience on our own. If that gift remains a challenge, I encourage you to continue to imagine how vast the love God, which we celebrate and glimpse in the life of Jesus and the resurrected Christ, can be.

Thank God for the outpouring of Spirit that unites us all

Let us pray;

God, help us open ourselves to our innermost depths and to the far reaches of your love and influence. Hold us under the wonder of your Spirit. Amen.

#144MV “Like a Healing Stream”

TIME WILL TELL

October 17, 2010
Pentecost 21
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Luke 18:1-8

(prayer)

The scripture readings from the Hebrew Bible since the Labour Day weekend have helped us hear the story of the Babylonian Exile.

In the early 6th century BCE, the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah was conquered by an Empire across the eastern wildernesses. Jehoiachin was the new king of Judah; Ezekiel was a priest in the temple; Jeremiah was a renowned prophet living in Jerusalem at the time.

The Babylonians began by gain control of the countryside: forcing people off their land or at the very least plundering their produce and livestock. Then, in a calculated way, some of the key political and religious leaders were forced to leave Judah and travel to Babylon where they would have to live as refugees. Ezekiel and King Jehoiachin were among those exiles. The temple was pillaged of its riches.

The Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle (known as Zedekiah) as a puppet king in Judah. Jeremiah, the prophet, remained among the people still in Jerusalem and he spoke his mind about what he saw as the evil of Zedekiah’s reign and the hope he held out for the people in exile.

Over the next decade or so, Judah became part of the Babylonian empire in practice if not in name. In a series of waves, more Judean people were exiled to Babylon (artisans, smiths and those able to fight in Babylon’s armies). Eventually, Zedekiah tried to regain power and autonomy for himself, but the Babylonians were having none of that, so they laid siege to Jerusalem until the people were starved out.

The nation of Hebrew was erased from the map during the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s reign. The grand temple built by King Solomon and much of the city’s other buildings, were burned to the ground; the once protective city walls were torn down.

Zedekiah was captured. For his treason to Babylon, he was forced to watch the execution of his sons before his eyes were put out and he, too, along with all of the remaining population of Jerusalem were sent into exile.

//

Two weeks ago, we sang along with the exiles in songs of lament and anger for what had happened to them.

Last week, we read a letter written by Jeremiah addressed to the first waves of exiles in Babylon. This was during those years of Zedekiah’s puppet leadership. The message was that the people were not to give up, but that they were make lives for themselves in Babylon. They were to let ‘that place’ be their home; they were to plant crops and raise families, so that the people of Judah would survive, even as the land of Judah was occupied.

Today, we heard Jeremiah’s hope. The days are surely coming... when the lands of Judah and Israel will again be planted by Hebrew people. I love the poetry Jeremiah uses here. It is not just wheat and flax that will be grown, but the seeds of humans and animals will also take root in the land.

The old language of covenant is used in a renewed way. Jeremiah makes reference to the liberation of the exodus during Moses’ time when the law took written form on tablets from the rock of Horeb, the holy mountain of the Sinai. But in these days that are surely coming, the law would be written anew, not on stones or paper, but engraved within the very hearts of the people.

They will be contracted to God at the level of feeling and emotion. The very essence of who the people were would be inseparable from a life consistent with God’s Torah. No one would have to preach or prophesy, because everyone (from the greatest to the least) would already know what they need to know.

Jeremiah was not speaking of a short-term hope – he was envisioning the long view. The day is not here, yet, but the days are surely coming; so stay alive (physically, emotionally, theologically) during this exile, because restoration and renewal are on their way.

Time will tell, Jeremiah was saying. A persistent, stubborn forward looking faith was needed.

//

Move ahead 600 years and Jesus teaches about persistence as well. The widow versus the judge: it is a mismatch - a man and a woman (an obvious legal and practical difference); a respected leader with power and a lonely widow dependant on the generosity of others to survive. Jesus doesn’t say so directly, but we can assume that the woman’s case was valid and just, but that her low station in life was bogging down her case.

But she is persistent and will not let the judge ignore her. He does rule in her favour, but openly admits that it has more to do with her nagging persistence than the merits of her case.

The parable is part of some teaching on prayer. The message seems to be if an unjust judge is affected by persistent demands for justice, how much more can we expect from God who is the most just of all judges. Jesus teaches that God does hear the people’s cries for justice and will respond justly and quickly: the delay will not be long. Time will tell.

If the parable ended there, I admit that I would not be very comfortable with it. I do not finding myself among those who believe that we have a vending-machine kind of God. If we plug in the right amount of quarters and loonies and press the right buttons at the right times, God will automatically give us what we want.

An unfortunate reading of this passage can result in an assumption that more prayer will force God to act in our behalf. My mind and my experience has seen and reflected on miraculous turns of events that have be enveloped in attitudes of prayer. I can’t say that prayer makes no difference. I have simply seen too many times when prayers have not forced God to do what I (or others) want to have happen. I just can’t believe that it is as simple as putting together a jigsaw puzzle of piety.

In the 1993 movie Shadowlands, Anthony Hopkins playing CS Lewis says: “I don’t pray to change God. I pray because I have to. I pray because I can’t help myself. Prayer doesn’t change God. It changes me.” That seems to be closer to what makes sense to me.

Fortunately we are not forced to interpret this passage to mean that we can make God do what we want simply by praying long and hard enough: Luke has that final summary teaching of Jesus at the end of the passage to make us think that the message is really about faith, not about how to prayer or how often. It’s one of those cliff-hanger [what do you think?] questions.

“And yet… when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth.”

It is faith that is to be persistent. Can people believe that God cares, even when we don’t get the instant responses we expect to our prayers? Do we have the will to keep that kind of faith?

//

In the context of the whole parable, perhaps we are being invited to have faith enough so that justice will prevail. We are being invited to consider that that the very essence of God is justice and compassion and ‘we’ are called to be agents of the love and fairness shown in and through Jesus.

//

Wouldn’t this world be a much better place if people of faith approached our relationships with others with unwavering compassion and a sense of fairness for all? We would not allow systems of greed to acquire wealth on the backs of the weak or misfortunate. We would be persistent in our efforts to ensure that each person was valued for who they were: a beloved child of God – that discrimination in all of its obvious and subtle forms would be challenged and named as un-holy and unacceptable.

It’s not like the voices for justice have been silent. And we have witnessed steady progress; particularly within the last 100 years. In our part of the world, we have seen virtually attempt to limit equality turned upside down bringing us a real taste of that old Christian hope that within the loving community Jesus strove for, there is no distinction between people. Paul, in his letter to the Galations, spoke in the language of the obvious divisions of the mid-first century and say there was no longer male or female, no longer slave or free, jew nor greek. The spirit of that hope has kept voices of justice crying to ensure that other divisions, like that of race or religion or sexual orientation or nationality are not used to deny people the equality and dignity we all have earned and deserve as children of God.

We have witnessed progress and change. Ant yet our persistence is still required. The rash of recent suicides of young gay youth has to remind us that justice is not only about changing laws but changing attitudes. Bullying and teasing and taunting seldom draw much attention until something tragic happens. And so we need to have the persistence of Jesus’ parable-widow; we need to keep up the pressure until it is no longer acceptable to treat someone with less than the full God given dignity we all deserve.

There is a lot of work to do. Within our global family, besides obvious examples of racism and homophobia, in too many corners of our globe, women are treated as sub-human, less than property; slavery even still exists as people are forced into indentured service. Some of these practices are rooted old cultural and religious traditions. Those roots are deep for some people – the kind of progressive dignity I am preaching about sounds too radical for them.

//

Can we believe that the big changes in attitude which are needed are possible?

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find [that kind of] faith on the earth?”

//

Being a disciple of Jesus, being a person of God is not a one-time event. It is a progressive calling, an on-going, dynamic vocation. Clearly, we have not found the ability to change the world in an instant; we have not discovered the undeniable mountain moving faith. But mountains can move – maybe if it is one bolder at a time.

The exiles needed to ‘settle’ for Babylon and a hope that a restoration to Judah would come. The Biblical history tells us that it was seven decades before that began to happen. Only the youngest of original exiles, would have been able to see the entire time of captivity from start to finish and return to Judah as the most senior of elders.

Time exists beyond any one of us and it endures any one life. But faith can transcend time, when hope is heart-felt and passed on.

We all made promises of that kind of faith with Claire and her family this morning [baptism].

In just a couple of weeks it will be November 1st: All Saints’ Day – the day set aside on the Christian calendar to honour all of the faithful people who have helped us get where we now are. We are recipients of wonderful blessings from those who have journeyed the road of faith before us. And we have new roads to traverse that will further benefit humankind and the world we all share.

‘Time will tell’ if that kind of faith can be found on the earth.

Let us pray:

Patient God;

Prepare us to do what you call us to do. When we are faint of heart and our faith grows dim, enlighten us with hope and perseverance, so that we never give up on your vision of justice. Amen.



#675VU “Will Your Anchor Hold?”

DIGGING DEEP MYSTERY

October 3, 2010
Pentecost 19
Psalm 137
Luke 17:5-10
(prayer)
By ... the wa...ters, the wa...ters of Babylon;
Whether it’s that traditional Israeli melody or Boney M’s disco version:
By the rivers of Babylon;
where we sat down;
Or even my own feeble attempt at song-writing almost thirty years ago:
My river cries a tear,
songs of home don’t reach my ear.
The notes they play amongst the trees,
Their melody won’t set me free.
The 137th Psalm begs to be sung. After all, it is a psalm about the painful result of being forced to sing folk songs, which simply reminded the exiled Judeans how far they were from home as they sat by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Babylon.
However, I have yet to see a musical version of Psalm 137 (including my own) which included the final verses of the Psalm. Boney M didn’t sing ...
By the rivers of Babylon,
We plot our revenge,
We’ll take your kids,
And bust in their heads!
I guess it’s just easier to pretend that the psalm ends at verse 6, instead of verse 9.
//
Today, the Lectionary invites us to look at some hard scripture passages to hear.
Anguish and Anger are the themes of Psalm 137 – cries of lament and cries for revenge.
And what about the example Jesus used to make the point that there were obligations to being a disciple. He is completely complicit with the institution of slavery. “Look, no slave would expect any reward or appreciation for simply doing the jobs their owners demand. Disciples are like worthless slaves: just do what you’re supposed to do, don’t ask for any reward!”
//
It would have been nice if Jesus had spoken against slavery.
But in all fairness, it did take the rest of us almost 2000 more years to get to that point – and we still have places in our world where slavery – or near slavery – is accepted and expected.
Here’s a hard question: if we say that slavery is immoral and Jesus is complicit with slavery, are Jesus’ ethics out of whack?
//
This is a perfect example of the dangers of a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible. In fact, passages like those in Luke 17 were used to justify the slave trade for centuries.
The simple fact of the matter is in the Biblical era (before and after Jesus’ time), in the context of empire politics, the institution of slavery was so culturally entrenched that there was no coherent movement challenging it.
//
If we get stuck on the hard, uncomfortable part of some of our Bible passages, we may miss out on some deeper mystery that can be relevant in our time and worldview, which is so different from Jesus’ time in the first century AD or the Babylonian exile in the mid-500s BC. That might take some digging.
//
Let’s look at the surface of the Luke passage: the disciples ask Jesus, to “increase their faith.” And Jesus responds by telling them, they barely have any faith, not even a mustard seed’s worth. And furthermore, they shouldn’t be asking to be rewarded in any way (even thanked) for what they are doing because they are only doing their duty.
Now, these two parts of the passage don’t necessarily go directly together when we think about when these words might have been actually said to Jesus’ disciples. Matthew has a parallel to the first part about mustard seed faith, but the slave-section is found only in Luke. This tells us that they weren’t always told together in the early church communities. Even so, whatever their original context, Luke has chosen to join them and that tells us something about what Luke wanted the early church readers to get from these teachings.
I find it interesting to speculate what might be behind the apostle’s request to “increase our faith”. A desire to learn shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing, should it? I doubt if that was the intent of the request that Jesus would have responded so harshly.
And so I wonder ... Did they think they had mastered all they had learned already and were in need of something more? Or were they asking for a quick painless upgrade: “Jesus, you do the work for us, just (magically) give us greater faith.” I’m sure they would love the power implied in a faith that could uproot trees with only a word.
//
The second part of Luke’s narrative seems to lean toward my first speculation – that the apostles felt in need of something more than they had. That hard language about the worthiness of slaves could be implying that the disciples were not necessarily making the full use of the faith they already had.
When I think of this passage like that, I can see a positive spin on the hard language – you don’t need to ask for more faith, you have more capabilities inside you that you have not fully explored yet.
Maybe, after a little bit of digging, it is fair to say that Jesus expects his followers to not hold back (or ask for quick, easy, painless fixes) but to put all of their faith and effort into the gospel which they share. That is the cost and the duty of choosing discipleship.
//
As many of you know, I am a football dad, with two young players in our family now: one in high school and one playing peewee football. Did you see the footage of the San Francisco area game where the coaches from the two teams started fighting with each other?
And hey, we live in Canada, we’ve all seen (or heard) examples of the out of control, hockey-parent.
I’m a non-repentant sports fan, but as the years have passed, I have given up most my fanaticism (the strikes and lockouts, the Pocklington moving the Oilers fiascos and the last half decade of Eskimo and Oiler seasons have given me perspective). I still enjoy the games; I believe in the life lessons of personal discipline, teamwork and sportsmanship; I love to watch “my” team play well and win, but losing sleep over a loss or a bad play or wanting to yell at the ref or attack a parent or coach – that’s not me anymore, if it ever was.
But I also know that there are still seed of obsessive behaviour within me and I certainly see it amongst some of the more “intense” fellow parents on the sidelines. As a team director a couple of years ago, I had to move quickly to calm down a parent as she was hurling a blue streak of insults at a 14 player on the opposing team.
I have seen the anger, the intensity, the desire for retribution or revenge. When rationality is able to re-enter the situation, there are very few who would say that acting on those hard emotions was justified. I don’t like it, but I understand it.
In the same way, as I try to get down to why the author of Psalm 137 needed to express those thoughts of revenge.
The exiles were pawns in the games of empires. Judah has the hard luck of being located at the centre of three continents. The paths between Europe, Asia and Africa meet in Judah. Empires are built on the ability to move armies and wealth around. Judah was a victim of this reality of conquest.
It wasn’t their fault that they were exiled. Someone else was to blame for their hardship. The just thing to happen would be for those others to suffer as they had.
There is an ironic truth in the common saying that “misery loves company”. For some reason, we are better able to endure difficult times, if others have to go through it with us. And there is even an odd satisfaction when the ones who cause the suffering are forced endure some suffering of their own; Indian mystics would call that simply part of Karma: the cycles of cause and effect – an English language proverb says, “what goes around comes around”.
In the hard experience of suffering, the Judeans hope for the cycle to come around for their captors who treat them harshly (we might say, ‘as less than human’).
Although it was only about a century earlier that Judah had held back, while its neighbour to the north (Israel) was similarly overrun by the Assyrians, the psalmist wished for calamity to come to their south-eastern neighbour Edom, for the Edmoites support of the Babylonian invasion and conquest of Judah.
//
It tormented the Judean people to have to sing the joyous songs of home in this land of exile. And we do well not to ignore that this torment fuelled anger as well as sadness; revenge as well as lament. The songs not only brought tears of regret to their eyes but revenge-filled visions of innocent Babylonian babies suffering and dying as payment for the Judean’s exile.
If we are able to dig deeper than our disgust with the violent desires, we might be able to understand the depth of the impact of the loss of identity being experienced by the exile.
As we uncover the historical context of this period in Hebrew history, we can recall that some four-plus centuries earlier, there was unity and prosperity for the people under the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. Israel was the dominant power in the region, while, they never gathered an empire as vast as the Assyrians or Babylonians would, they expanded their borders farther than any other time in their history. David established and built Jerusalem, as the centre of power and religion. During Solomon’s reign, a permanent stone temple was built to replace the canvas and wood tent tabernacle that had served as the centre of Hebrew worship since the time of Moses.
Even in the divisive years following Solomon’s death (where the nation was split in two with different rulers, different places and practices of worship: Israel in the north and Judah in the south), there was a sense of purpose and growing invincibility of the people and their way of life. As I noted before the northern kingdom got their lesson in humility in 721 BC when Samaria fell to the Assyrians. From the southern perspective, this was more evidence that they had been right all along, that God was really on their side. There is some speculation among biblical scholars that Judah must have made some kind of pact with the Assyrians to not help Israel in exchange for keeping their autonomy. If that was the case, the Babylonians weren’t going to honour that deal when they became the dominant region power in the 6th century.
When Judah fell, when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, when the temple was looted and left in ruins, more than rocks came crashing down. The people had lost their identity. Weren’t they God’s favoured people? Hadn’t several hundreds of years’ history been testament to that?
There is a line in Psalm 137 that says:
“how can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land (v4)?
I suspect that the deeper meaning here was not just that based on homesickness, but a crisis of faith. Does God exist for us in Babylon? There was a theology that had developed that God physically dwelled within the temple; could God even exist now that the temple was in ruins? A prophet of the time, Ezekiel even had a comforting vision where he witnessed the Spirit of God rise up out of the rubble of Jerusalem and physically move to Babylon. I don’t think the psalmist felt the same was as Ezekiel.
‘How can we sing the LORD’s song’, might mean, ‘what’s the point in singing the LORD’s song anymore.’
//
Both of today’s scripture passages give us a glimpse at a difficult prospect of faith. Have we reached a point where a deeper connection to the source of our faith is no longer possible?
Do we long to have our faith increased by some outside influence, because we feel stuck and lacking where we are -or- do we feel that the foundations of what we thought we believed have been taken away from us and we aren’t sure what is certain anymore?
Under the layers of these readings today, I believe is a deeper mystery – ultimately, we all long to have an identity that gives us purpose to life – and we long for God to love us and support us and be with us as we struggle.
//
My initial instinct was to finish this sermon right there - end with questions and mystery. But the pastor in me also holds hope in the midst of questioning, and so I want to add...
If the only words we had to go by were these two scripture passages suggested for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost in year C, we might feel as lost as a demoralized exile or a worthless slave; but we have other voices, other experiences that have been passed on to us.
The history of the Bible notes that, although extremely challenging, the Hebrew people came through the exile with a faith in God intact. There were changes to practices and dogmas, but faith endured.
Jesus’ disciples would be left fearful and ready to run on the Sabbath that followed Jesus’ crucifixion, but within days, they were risking ridicule and arrest/death themselves proclaiming that the essence of who Jesus was and his vision of how God and humanity can intersect did not die on the cross. Things were going to be different, there was a challenge of a new inclusivity that would rock the church over its first few decades, but faith endured.
So dig deep; find the faith, hope and compassion that endures.
Let us pray,
God,
Be with us, even when we have little time for you. Amen.