May 30, 2010
Pentecost 1
Romans 5:1-5
Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31
(prayer)
I spent some time near the buckle of the Bible Belt recently. Leduc and area might have about 40 churches within our region, but in my time in North Carolina a week ago, it seemed like every corner of every town had a church on it (and most of them were Baptist or Presbyterian churches).
//
I have been working with some of the other United Churches near the south-east corner of Edmonton looking at the incredible growth that has occurred in that region in the last 15-20 years and how the United Church might have a presence in the area. Conversations naturally gravitate to having a physical presence (a church, or some other ministry-centred building): and location is absolutely key. Life in the 21st century is often too busy to be skirting around back roads looking for things.
//
The book of Proverbs provides us with one of the most intriguing images in the Bible: that of “Lady Wisdom” (Chokhmah (חכמה) in Hebrew; Sophia (Σοφíα) in Greek). Wisdom is personified as this woman who cries out to the people, calling them to live in God’s way.
She chooses her location wisely. She sets herself up “at the city gates”. Cities and towns have points of entry. It is especially true of places that may have walls or other barriers. But even wall-less communities have places where the road enters.
Like those stanchions that force people into nice lines at banks and airports, the paths of travel would meet the town at a certain critical point: the place of meeting, the bottleneck of activity. That’s where Lady Wisdom sits. That’s where she speaks.
Location, location, location!
//
We read today a bit of Wisdom’s resume. She claims to be as old as creation – in fact, we read that she was involved alongside God, the creator in the creation of the universe.
I would encourage you not to get too caught up in the personifications here. The ‘metaphor’ presents us with two distinct characters at creation: God and Wisdom. Our minds might imagine two people working together (maybe even one male and one female to use traditional old testament gendres). It’s an image of team work. But these are just images to give this story life and meaning. The hows and whats of creation are not really what is being talked about here – it’s not about a literal teamwork of two distinct divine entities. Behind the metaphor is the more-than-literal meaning that there is a wisdom to the created order - That God’s creation is wisely founded – and we are being invited to ponder what would be wise ways of living now.
We can hear holy wisdom calling out to us in the midst of the busyness of our lives – inviting us to consider the value of including a strong spirituality in our lives.
This weekend, in Edmonton, the YC event is taking place at Rexall Place. It is a high-energy Christian event for youth. It is quite popular among more evangelical, fundamentalist churches. The base theology might be a bit more restrictive that one might find in more mainline churches like the United Church, but I do like the concept. It is all about getting people excited about their faith.
I was on study leave a week ago. Although, I know that to some a minister’s study leave look like a vacation-by-another-name – and there certainly was a recreational aspect to that time for me, but more importantly, it was a time of re-creation; of encouragement; of new spiritual connections; of establishing new relations with others on their own quests and journeys of life.
I don’t know how many of you read my weekly blog, but two weeks ago I felt compelled to mention a comment I heard from someone ‘outside the church’ who I had told I was going away for a week of study leave. I blogged that
The [person’s] response was: "must be nice!" It is. I am grateful to serve a vocation that values life long learning; that believes in rejuvenation and rest as part of the learning process. I know that I can become a better minister as I take advantage of opportunities to challenge my heart, mind and soul.
I believe that to be true, not only of paid accountable ministers, but of all people of faith. Find time (make time) for an encouragement of your spirit! Listen for the wise words that can inspire (in scripture, in books, in conversations, in sermons and worship services, in the silence of your hearts).
//
If I have any wisdom for today, I think it me might be that we should try to make our spirituality as natural as breathing. In-out-in-out. The etymology of the biblical words for spirit is that they mean the same thing as breath and wind. One of the workshops I took part in while I was away – reminded us of the relationship between the words “expire”, “aspire” and “inspire” – these are all words with similar roots as the words spirit. Let go: expire, seek to be more: aspire, and be filed: inspire.
Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday and (within the church calendar) we are now in the season after Pentecost which will take us all the way almost to the end of November. Pentecost is about the followers of Jesus being inspire – in-spirited: being filled with a spirit of understand that energized them to share the Gospel (the goodnews of Jesus about the overarching love of God) with a world ... gasping ... for spirit.
On my study leave, David Wilcox and Nance Pettit spoke about the breathing process not with words like “taking a breath”. But rather, “accepting a breath”. The air is there, be just need to let it in. Wisdom is with us at the gates, we just need to listen – the spirit in with us, we just need to let it in – accept it.
I like that use of language (accept over take). It is the language of grace, of gift. It focuses on God’s ever-presence. Becoming aware of that is our role – accept the loving breath of God’s wisdom – to allow ourselves to be inspired – filled with the spirit.
That is my hope for myself and for you! As Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans hope can be the motivator to keep us going when we have trouble feeling the deep connection we desire. Paul was speaking about very literal struggles for members of the early church and I don’t discount that at all. I admire people who keep their hope in the midst of real suffering. But I also see value in Paul’s words for times where the struggle is more subtle. It is natural for human beings to long for understanding and purpose in life. Our biblical heritage offers us some wisdom in this regard.
My hope for us all, is that we find way to truly let it in!
Let us pray:
Thank you God for the world we enjoy;
Thank you for Jesus as our guide and refuge; and
Thank you for the Spirit which fills us with hope.
AMEN.
#153MV “Body, Mind and Spirit”
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
May 16, 2010
Easter 7
John 17:20-26
Acts 16:16-34
[slide]
Space: the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise - its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. [fade out]
(prayer)
//
I loved Star Trek.
I was too young to appreciate the original series when it was first on TV in the late sixties. I’m not even sure if it ran on one of the two Canadian TV channels, we had at the time. But I certainly grew up on the syndicated episodes. I was eager and excited when Star trek the Motion Picture came out in 1979 and when the Next Generation TV show first aired in 1987. It was Captain Picard’s voice we heard earlier with the 24th century (more politically correct) version of Kirk’s famous opening monologue.
//
I am pretty sure that I have seen every single episode of every one of the six TV series (including the animated cartoon version and the all too short lived prequel: Enterprise. And I have seen each and every movie in the theatre: and I loved them all.
//
Now in mid-life, as I reflect on my years as a Trekkie/Trekker, I think that a major reason why I have been drawn to Gene Roddenberry’s universe, is the overlying “hopeful” theme that permeates throughout the various Star Treks.
“Live Long and Prosper” – what an incredibly hopeful phrase. It is a phrase that values the life of others. It is counter to the “everyone for themselves” attitude that seems all to dominate in the real world.
I love the idea that was made explicitly clear in the eighth motion picture – Star Trek: First Contact: when humankind realized that they were not alone, they set aside the eons of quarrelling and domination. They effectively ended hunger and need among the people of the earth. We are desperately aware in our world today, we have the resources to feed and care for every man, woman and child of every nation. We simply lack the will to make the distribution possible. I love the idea that the hope of that day is possible, even if it is not today.
//
When the Apollo 8 (the first space craft to carry humans out of earth’s orbit) [slide] took the first pictures of the earth hanging alone in the darkness of space, the images made a startling point.
The world was nowhere near as ordered as we sometimes think. South (on this famous “earthrise photo”) is to the left; north to the right. Actually, it was December 24th when this picture was taken, so Antarctica is fully in the southern summer sun at about the 10 o’clock position of the photo. The day is just ending for west central Africa which is at the bottom of the image.
In this picture one can see land, and water and cloud – shadow and light. But there is no national boundaries; in 1968, there was no sign of English or French Canada, there was no capitalism or communism, there was no arms race or Viet Nam; there were no divisions of race or creed. There was one world – and we were seen as we truly are > one!
I know that the Apollo 8 astronauts read the creation story from Genesis chapter 1 that night, but they could have just as easily have read Galatians 3:28 – There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one [in Christ Jesus].
//
//
Both of today’s scripture readings contain words and actions that point to a hopeful future.
//
The verses from John 17 are part a long section of that book. John’s gospel doesn’t talk about the last supper Jesus and his disciples had on the Thursday before the Passover; instead the gospel writer devotes four-and-a-half chapters to a summary of what Jesus meant to the early church – it is part teaching and part encouragement. In today’s passage, John writes about how (because of Jesus) the disciples are brought closer to God. Jesus was sent by God, God made things known to Jesus. And Jesus sends out the disciples with the knowledge he has given them. Therefore (in essence) it is God and God’s knowledge that the disciples bear.
For the community of the early church who first read John (late first century), these were hopeful words. They were not alone. They were messengers of the most high God, because they pass on the gospel of Christ and Jesus and God are one!
Because of this divine unity – the church is united. The purpose of all this Jesus says is that “all may be one”. [Slide] John 17: 21 is (in fact the motto of the United Church – it’s the latin phrase at the bottom of our crest (ut omes unum sint = that all may be one).
These words are encouragement for the present and hope for the future.
//
Our other reading is chalked full of hope.
First Paul and his companions (which as I said last week – include the author of the book of Acts – “we”, “us”), encounter this slave girl, who has some ability to get people to pay her owners for fortune telling services. In the understanding of the time, she is said of be dominated by a “spirit”. In our modern age, we might have determined that she may have been suffering from some physical or mental disorder. Regardless of the cause of her problem – whatever it did to her – possibly causing convulsions or fits of screaming (certainly something disruptive or to Paul ... annoying) – it added to her credibility as one who could divine the future. How accurate her predictions were, is unclear – what is clear is that she made her owners a lot of money.
So when Paul healed her of this ailment - when he forced the spirit out of her – she was not only free of the effects of her problem, she was also free of her owners’ will.
//
I caught a bit of the congressional hearings in the US about the gulf oil spill. The leaders from BP, the company who own the blown out rig, pledged to compensate those damaged by the effects of the oil leaks: of course the phrase BP President Lamar McKay kept using was they would pay all legitimate claims. Sounds like a very carefully worded phrase, most likely aimed at discounting as many claims as possible. And there will be claims, a lot of people and companies will lose a lot of money. And we can see that the government and legal system will most certainly be involved.
//
The slave girls owners want to make a claim that Paul and Silas had harmed the economic viability of their business, but even they wondered how legitimate that would be seen, so they played the race card: ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’
Outsiders: it’s a good thing Paul wasn’t in Arizona. Paul and Silas are jailed.
We heard the story: they were not distraught but joyful – they sang hymns and praised God as loudly from behind bars in the high security cell, as they had down by the river with Lydia and the others at the place of prayer: maybe even louder! They flaunted the charges – further highlighting their strange customs and practices.
Then an earthquake: escape for the prisoners was available. When the jailer awoke and realized that the walls were breached, he quickly decided that suicide would be quicker and easier than the painful punishment that surely awaited him when the magistrates learned of the escape.
Then a voice of hope from inside the prison: we are all here!
This was a strange response indeed – compassion from a prisoner towards his jailer. But Paul cared not about his early incarceration, for he was not alone – he was accompanied by the very spirit of God and that was his true liberty.
This hopeful compassion changed the jailer’s life and the live of his family.
If I had read on a few more verses, we would have heard that Paul went back to jail after he visited the jailer’s family. Even when the orders came in the morning to let them go, they refused until the magistrates came down and personally apologized – which (incredibly) they did!
//
Hope is necessary. It is belief sometime in spite of evidence. Hope is faith that we are not alone and that we have the skills and support to see us through whatever happens to be coming our way.
//
In today’s scripture, we see hope in what unites us, what liberates us. Peace is our hope, not conflict or imprisonment or death.
//
I know that hope is often not very practical. Some people laugh and mock the hopeful, as naive or manipulative. Hope actually gets in the way of greed and domination. The powerful try to crush hope –because it is so threatening.
But how do you counter real hope. You can’t! The walls of the prison could not halt Paul’s singing. Jesus’ impending arrest could not break the relationship between humanity and the divine.
Let us boldly go into the future, with eternal hope as our companion – hope and confidence that as Jesus said: the love with which you [God] have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
We are not alone. Thanks be to God!
Let us pray:
Free us God, from all that hinders hope. Amen.
#37MV “Each Blade of Grass”
Easter 7
John 17:20-26
Acts 16:16-34
[slide]
Space: the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise - its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. [fade out]
(prayer)
//
I loved Star Trek.
I was too young to appreciate the original series when it was first on TV in the late sixties. I’m not even sure if it ran on one of the two Canadian TV channels, we had at the time. But I certainly grew up on the syndicated episodes. I was eager and excited when Star trek the Motion Picture came out in 1979 and when the Next Generation TV show first aired in 1987. It was Captain Picard’s voice we heard earlier with the 24th century (more politically correct) version of Kirk’s famous opening monologue.
//
I am pretty sure that I have seen every single episode of every one of the six TV series (including the animated cartoon version and the all too short lived prequel: Enterprise. And I have seen each and every movie in the theatre: and I loved them all.
//
Now in mid-life, as I reflect on my years as a Trekkie/Trekker, I think that a major reason why I have been drawn to Gene Roddenberry’s universe, is the overlying “hopeful” theme that permeates throughout the various Star Treks.
“Live Long and Prosper” – what an incredibly hopeful phrase. It is a phrase that values the life of others. It is counter to the “everyone for themselves” attitude that seems all to dominate in the real world.
I love the idea that was made explicitly clear in the eighth motion picture – Star Trek: First Contact: when humankind realized that they were not alone, they set aside the eons of quarrelling and domination. They effectively ended hunger and need among the people of the earth. We are desperately aware in our world today, we have the resources to feed and care for every man, woman and child of every nation. We simply lack the will to make the distribution possible. I love the idea that the hope of that day is possible, even if it is not today.
//
When the Apollo 8 (the first space craft to carry humans out of earth’s orbit) [slide] took the first pictures of the earth hanging alone in the darkness of space, the images made a startling point.
The world was nowhere near as ordered as we sometimes think. South (on this famous “earthrise photo”) is to the left; north to the right. Actually, it was December 24th when this picture was taken, so Antarctica is fully in the southern summer sun at about the 10 o’clock position of the photo. The day is just ending for west central Africa which is at the bottom of the image.
In this picture one can see land, and water and cloud – shadow and light. But there is no national boundaries; in 1968, there was no sign of English or French Canada, there was no capitalism or communism, there was no arms race or Viet Nam; there were no divisions of race or creed. There was one world – and we were seen as we truly are > one!
I know that the Apollo 8 astronauts read the creation story from Genesis chapter 1 that night, but they could have just as easily have read Galatians 3:28 – There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one [in Christ Jesus].
//
//
Both of today’s scripture readings contain words and actions that point to a hopeful future.
//
The verses from John 17 are part a long section of that book. John’s gospel doesn’t talk about the last supper Jesus and his disciples had on the Thursday before the Passover; instead the gospel writer devotes four-and-a-half chapters to a summary of what Jesus meant to the early church – it is part teaching and part encouragement. In today’s passage, John writes about how (because of Jesus) the disciples are brought closer to God. Jesus was sent by God, God made things known to Jesus. And Jesus sends out the disciples with the knowledge he has given them. Therefore (in essence) it is God and God’s knowledge that the disciples bear.
For the community of the early church who first read John (late first century), these were hopeful words. They were not alone. They were messengers of the most high God, because they pass on the gospel of Christ and Jesus and God are one!
Because of this divine unity – the church is united. The purpose of all this Jesus says is that “all may be one”. [Slide] John 17: 21 is (in fact the motto of the United Church – it’s the latin phrase at the bottom of our crest (ut omes unum sint = that all may be one).
These words are encouragement for the present and hope for the future.
//
Our other reading is chalked full of hope.
First Paul and his companions (which as I said last week – include the author of the book of Acts – “we”, “us”), encounter this slave girl, who has some ability to get people to pay her owners for fortune telling services. In the understanding of the time, she is said of be dominated by a “spirit”. In our modern age, we might have determined that she may have been suffering from some physical or mental disorder. Regardless of the cause of her problem – whatever it did to her – possibly causing convulsions or fits of screaming (certainly something disruptive or to Paul ... annoying) – it added to her credibility as one who could divine the future. How accurate her predictions were, is unclear – what is clear is that she made her owners a lot of money.
So when Paul healed her of this ailment - when he forced the spirit out of her – she was not only free of the effects of her problem, she was also free of her owners’ will.
//
I caught a bit of the congressional hearings in the US about the gulf oil spill. The leaders from BP, the company who own the blown out rig, pledged to compensate those damaged by the effects of the oil leaks: of course the phrase BP President Lamar McKay kept using was they would pay all legitimate claims. Sounds like a very carefully worded phrase, most likely aimed at discounting as many claims as possible. And there will be claims, a lot of people and companies will lose a lot of money. And we can see that the government and legal system will most certainly be involved.
//
The slave girls owners want to make a claim that Paul and Silas had harmed the economic viability of their business, but even they wondered how legitimate that would be seen, so they played the race card: ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’
Outsiders: it’s a good thing Paul wasn’t in Arizona. Paul and Silas are jailed.
We heard the story: they were not distraught but joyful – they sang hymns and praised God as loudly from behind bars in the high security cell, as they had down by the river with Lydia and the others at the place of prayer: maybe even louder! They flaunted the charges – further highlighting their strange customs and practices.
Then an earthquake: escape for the prisoners was available. When the jailer awoke and realized that the walls were breached, he quickly decided that suicide would be quicker and easier than the painful punishment that surely awaited him when the magistrates learned of the escape.
Then a voice of hope from inside the prison: we are all here!
This was a strange response indeed – compassion from a prisoner towards his jailer. But Paul cared not about his early incarceration, for he was not alone – he was accompanied by the very spirit of God and that was his true liberty.
This hopeful compassion changed the jailer’s life and the live of his family.
If I had read on a few more verses, we would have heard that Paul went back to jail after he visited the jailer’s family. Even when the orders came in the morning to let them go, they refused until the magistrates came down and personally apologized – which (incredibly) they did!
//
Hope is necessary. It is belief sometime in spite of evidence. Hope is faith that we are not alone and that we have the skills and support to see us through whatever happens to be coming our way.
//
In today’s scripture, we see hope in what unites us, what liberates us. Peace is our hope, not conflict or imprisonment or death.
//
I know that hope is often not very practical. Some people laugh and mock the hopeful, as naive or manipulative. Hope actually gets in the way of greed and domination. The powerful try to crush hope –because it is so threatening.
But how do you counter real hope. You can’t! The walls of the prison could not halt Paul’s singing. Jesus’ impending arrest could not break the relationship between humanity and the divine.
Let us boldly go into the future, with eternal hope as our companion – hope and confidence that as Jesus said: the love with which you [God] have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
We are not alone. Thanks be to God!
Let us pray:
Free us God, from all that hinders hope. Amen.
#37MV “Each Blade of Grass”
Sunday, May 9, 2010
RIVERS OF LIFE
May 9, 2010
Easter 6
Revelation 21:10; 21:22-22:5
Acts 16:9-15
(prayer)
I learned how to canoe at summer camp on Pigeon Lake. Not the most challenging work. We always kept pretty close to shore. As a young camper, canoeing would often involve a whole day activity where we ventured over to a very calm stream that meandered through the farmers’ fields. Sometimes, we would combine it with an overnight sleepout and go along the shore to the provincial camp where we would spend the night. In my more recent camp experiences, canoeing was done mostly off in the waters just off the shore of the camp’s own beach.
Of course there was a time back in 1992, when a certain camp manger (whose maiden name was Patti Melnyk) made the news because a group of camp canoeists got caught in one of those sudden summer storms that Alberta lakes sometimes see. But for the most part, camp canoeing was pretty tame stuff.
Back in the late 70s, early 80s, the camp offered a specialized canoe camp. For a couple of summers, I went on those trips as the official “lifeguard” – now all I had was my Bronze Medallion, but that was all that was required. This canoe camp involved a couple days of instruction at the lake and then it was off to the Red Deer River for a 5 day trip from Red Deer to Drumheller. Now I was the life guard, so I was given one of the fastest canoes and was to bring up the rear, because if there was a problem, it’s easier to paddle down stream than up stream.
Now I was the life guard, so I had to appear confident. I didn’t want it to show that (other than that mini creek by the lake) this was my first river experience – [slide] The Red Deer River is a very calm river (running at only a few km/h), but it was surprising noticeable. I still remember the sense of panic that came over me as I walked the boat out in the water and felt the current sweeping against my legs and then the exhilaration of having that water “move” us.
Our first day was relatively short, but we did get to ride the only real set of “rapids” on the trip some where just before the Canyon Ski Hill (okay we called them rapids). My first experience as a 19-20 year old rookie canoe trip life guard, was to have to paddle back against the rapids and rescue “Liz”’s canoe which had lodged itself on a big flat rock right in the middle of the river. Baptism by fire.
The rest of my two summers with the canoe camp paled to that first day’s experience. I do recall the wonder of the experience: the landscape and the variety of plant life (in the river and on the banks - nourished by the river. This was my first time seeing the Alberta badlands; I remember the shallow water, the fish swimming by – I knew that I was traversing a river of life.
Later in my life, I would get to know the Naramata creek [slide] as it laps by the United Church’s Naramata Centre in (you guessed it) Naramata BC – As a visitor to the Centre, I was used to seeing in as it makes its way for its final metres as it enters the Okanagan Lake – but one day as I was hiking the old Kettle Valley rail bed, I came across the creek in a new way - up the hill, it was a water falling torrent. In its dynamic movement, in its sounds of water over rock, in it’s capacity as Salmon spawning stream – the Naramata Creek is a river of life.
And then I completed my river resume, so far going along with the St. David’s Youth Group: white water rafting almost two years ago. [slide] The rocky hills climbing out of the fast moving water – it all seemed to be alive.
//
Through the history of humankind, water has meant life. Life evolved and flourished in the fertile grounds near the waters of this earth. Great societies developed along the shores of the Medeteranean Sea, the Nile river, The Tigris, the Euphrates, the Yangtse, the Amazon, the Ganges, the Sea of Japan.
Our biblical story revolves so much around the Jordan river and the Sea of Galilee – the waters nourish life, annual floods re-new soil – these are literally “rivers of life” – a reality of the ancient world, and the very dawn of human civilization, not to mentions so many other species on this globe.
It should come as no surprise that central to the city of God envisioned by John of Patmos is a river of life – nourishing the tree of life, with its endless fruit and medicinal leaves that heal wounds of cultures and nations, not just wounds of the body.
Later we will sing the beloved traditional hymn,”Shall We Gather at the River. As we do, you might want to think of the imagery from our reading from Revelation.
//
Our other reading from Acts also takes place by a river. Paul felt called to take the gospel to Macedonia. As we read between the lines of today’s passage, we can presume that when Paul arrived in Philippi he asked around about local groups of faith-filled people. The message seemed to lead him to the river. Paul learned that on the Hebrew Sabbath day, there was a group that worship just outside the city gate – by the river. And so on the Saturday, he went and found Lydia and the other women gathered at the river – a place of life, a grove of trees serving as a refuge from the world of commerce, from the busyness of the city: in all ways that truly mattered, it was a sanctuary. It was a place and a space for prayer: a place (locale) and a space (environment) ... for prayer.
//
That is what we often need to truly find ourselves able to worship and commune with God: place and space.
The journey by Paul and his companions to Philippi is the first account of the gospel venturing from Asia to Europe. This is an unfamiliar landscape. And so, it is not surprising to see that Paul looks for something familiar – a group to share Sabbath worship.
Lydia is clearly the key person in this group as far as the rest of the story goes. She is described with two very telling ways: she is a dealer of purple cloth and she is the head of her household. These are two unusual descriptions for a woman of that age. Dealing in purple cloth means that she dealt regularly with members of the wealthiest families. The dye used to create purple at the time was exceeding rare and was therefore expensive. That’s why, purple is a colour that is often associated with royalty – they could afford it. Now we aren’t sure where in the commercial chain Lydia was – did she weave the cloth to be dyed purple, did she dye the cloth, was she a wholesaler, making the deals for the cloth for wealthy clients. Sometime, it is assume that she must have been somewhat wealthy herself, but that wouldn’t have to be true. What is clear is that she was well connected.
As the head of her house, she is likely a widow, with no adult sons. Was she barren, were her children young? What is clear is that was a woman of influence.
What a blessing that Paul’s journey lead to her. She was open to new and re-newed expressions of faith. And she was able to generate excitement in this new land for Paul and the gospel of Christ. We know from other parts of the New Testament that there was an early church community in Philippi. There is no reason not to assume that it began as a house-church – in Lydia’s house. Later in the book of Acts, after Paul has run into a bit of trouble with local authorities (which we will talk about next week), he goes back to Lydia’s house. That’s clearly his home base while he is in Philippi.
And it all began with simple, but faithful worship down by a river.
//
//
We gather by the figurative rivers because we hope that “worship” can be life giving. “Taking time to be holy” (as another old hymn puts its) is our attempt to be nourished in the spirit. We desire to be feed, to be encouraged to grow as members of the human and global society and as children of God. Worship can also be a time to grow in wisdom: to advance of knowledge and experience of faith. And sometime most importantly we can be part of the adventure of creating community with each other and with God, and that provides support and sustenance for the rest of life.
//
Sometime, we think of worship quite narrowly. We think of Sunday Church. Or in some denominations, “worship” is even further limited to the offering of sung praise.
In our United Church tradition, we have been good as seeing the whole of our Sunday experience as worship: from the announcements to the benediction – it is all acts of worship.
Now in a diverse worship opportunity, some parts might appeal to certain people more than others. What is worshipful for you?
· Is it the music – sung, listened to?
· Is it the sermon?
· Is it the prayers?
· Is in “sola scriptura” – the scripture alone?
· Is it the community of the people you are in church with?
· Is it the story time?
· Is in Sunday School?
· Is it the coffee afterwards?
· Does you mind wander and move you into a very personal worship?
· Is it some combination?
· Does it change from week to week?
My best hope is that, somewhere in these Sunday worship times, each of you find yourself at a river of life.
//
And I hope that, like Paul, you are able to find spiritual nourishment in non-traditional places and spaces.
As the United Church’s “A Song of Faith” words it:
God is creative and self-giving,
generously moving
in all the near and distant corners of the universe.
Nothing exists that does not find its source in God.
Our first response to God’s providence is gratitude.
We sing thanksgiving.
Finding ourselves in a world of beauty and mystery,
of living things, diverse and interdependent,
of complex patterns of growth and evolution,
of subatomic particles and cosmic swirls,
we sing of God the Creator,
the Maker and Source of all that is.
Each part of creation reveals unique aspects of God the Creator,
who is both in creation and beyond it.
//
When Jesus was told to quiet the worshipping praise of the crowd, he is reported as having replied, “If their tongues were stilled the rocks and stones would shout.”
//
For me, the image of the River of Life is very powerful. What has that worshipping power for you? Discover it. Let it discover you. Commune with God and know that you are not alone.
Let us pray:
God, open us to the paths you call us to travel. And lead us to the places and spaces where we can find you especially close. Amen.
#710VU “Shall We Gather at the River”
Easter 6
Revelation 21:10; 21:22-22:5
Acts 16:9-15
(prayer)
I learned how to canoe at summer camp on Pigeon Lake. Not the most challenging work. We always kept pretty close to shore. As a young camper, canoeing would often involve a whole day activity where we ventured over to a very calm stream that meandered through the farmers’ fields. Sometimes, we would combine it with an overnight sleepout and go along the shore to the provincial camp where we would spend the night. In my more recent camp experiences, canoeing was done mostly off in the waters just off the shore of the camp’s own beach.
Of course there was a time back in 1992, when a certain camp manger (whose maiden name was Patti Melnyk) made the news because a group of camp canoeists got caught in one of those sudden summer storms that Alberta lakes sometimes see. But for the most part, camp canoeing was pretty tame stuff.
Back in the late 70s, early 80s, the camp offered a specialized canoe camp. For a couple of summers, I went on those trips as the official “lifeguard” – now all I had was my Bronze Medallion, but that was all that was required. This canoe camp involved a couple days of instruction at the lake and then it was off to the Red Deer River for a 5 day trip from Red Deer to Drumheller. Now I was the life guard, so I was given one of the fastest canoes and was to bring up the rear, because if there was a problem, it’s easier to paddle down stream than up stream.
Now I was the life guard, so I had to appear confident. I didn’t want it to show that (other than that mini creek by the lake) this was my first river experience – [slide] The Red Deer River is a very calm river (running at only a few km/h), but it was surprising noticeable. I still remember the sense of panic that came over me as I walked the boat out in the water and felt the current sweeping against my legs and then the exhilaration of having that water “move” us.
Our first day was relatively short, but we did get to ride the only real set of “rapids” on the trip some where just before the Canyon Ski Hill (okay we called them rapids). My first experience as a 19-20 year old rookie canoe trip life guard, was to have to paddle back against the rapids and rescue “Liz”’s canoe which had lodged itself on a big flat rock right in the middle of the river. Baptism by fire.
The rest of my two summers with the canoe camp paled to that first day’s experience. I do recall the wonder of the experience: the landscape and the variety of plant life (in the river and on the banks - nourished by the river. This was my first time seeing the Alberta badlands; I remember the shallow water, the fish swimming by – I knew that I was traversing a river of life.
Later in my life, I would get to know the Naramata creek [slide] as it laps by the United Church’s Naramata Centre in (you guessed it) Naramata BC – As a visitor to the Centre, I was used to seeing in as it makes its way for its final metres as it enters the Okanagan Lake – but one day as I was hiking the old Kettle Valley rail bed, I came across the creek in a new way - up the hill, it was a water falling torrent. In its dynamic movement, in its sounds of water over rock, in it’s capacity as Salmon spawning stream – the Naramata Creek is a river of life.
And then I completed my river resume, so far going along with the St. David’s Youth Group: white water rafting almost two years ago. [slide] The rocky hills climbing out of the fast moving water – it all seemed to be alive.
//
Through the history of humankind, water has meant life. Life evolved and flourished in the fertile grounds near the waters of this earth. Great societies developed along the shores of the Medeteranean Sea, the Nile river, The Tigris, the Euphrates, the Yangtse, the Amazon, the Ganges, the Sea of Japan.
Our biblical story revolves so much around the Jordan river and the Sea of Galilee – the waters nourish life, annual floods re-new soil – these are literally “rivers of life” – a reality of the ancient world, and the very dawn of human civilization, not to mentions so many other species on this globe.
It should come as no surprise that central to the city of God envisioned by John of Patmos is a river of life – nourishing the tree of life, with its endless fruit and medicinal leaves that heal wounds of cultures and nations, not just wounds of the body.
Later we will sing the beloved traditional hymn,”Shall We Gather at the River. As we do, you might want to think of the imagery from our reading from Revelation.
//
Our other reading from Acts also takes place by a river. Paul felt called to take the gospel to Macedonia. As we read between the lines of today’s passage, we can presume that when Paul arrived in Philippi he asked around about local groups of faith-filled people. The message seemed to lead him to the river. Paul learned that on the Hebrew Sabbath day, there was a group that worship just outside the city gate – by the river. And so on the Saturday, he went and found Lydia and the other women gathered at the river – a place of life, a grove of trees serving as a refuge from the world of commerce, from the busyness of the city: in all ways that truly mattered, it was a sanctuary. It was a place and a space for prayer: a place (locale) and a space (environment) ... for prayer.
//
That is what we often need to truly find ourselves able to worship and commune with God: place and space.
The journey by Paul and his companions to Philippi is the first account of the gospel venturing from Asia to Europe. This is an unfamiliar landscape. And so, it is not surprising to see that Paul looks for something familiar – a group to share Sabbath worship.
Lydia is clearly the key person in this group as far as the rest of the story goes. She is described with two very telling ways: she is a dealer of purple cloth and she is the head of her household. These are two unusual descriptions for a woman of that age. Dealing in purple cloth means that she dealt regularly with members of the wealthiest families. The dye used to create purple at the time was exceeding rare and was therefore expensive. That’s why, purple is a colour that is often associated with royalty – they could afford it. Now we aren’t sure where in the commercial chain Lydia was – did she weave the cloth to be dyed purple, did she dye the cloth, was she a wholesaler, making the deals for the cloth for wealthy clients. Sometime, it is assume that she must have been somewhat wealthy herself, but that wouldn’t have to be true. What is clear is that she was well connected.
As the head of her house, she is likely a widow, with no adult sons. Was she barren, were her children young? What is clear is that was a woman of influence.
What a blessing that Paul’s journey lead to her. She was open to new and re-newed expressions of faith. And she was able to generate excitement in this new land for Paul and the gospel of Christ. We know from other parts of the New Testament that there was an early church community in Philippi. There is no reason not to assume that it began as a house-church – in Lydia’s house. Later in the book of Acts, after Paul has run into a bit of trouble with local authorities (which we will talk about next week), he goes back to Lydia’s house. That’s clearly his home base while he is in Philippi.
And it all began with simple, but faithful worship down by a river.
//
//
We gather by the figurative rivers because we hope that “worship” can be life giving. “Taking time to be holy” (as another old hymn puts its) is our attempt to be nourished in the spirit. We desire to be feed, to be encouraged to grow as members of the human and global society and as children of God. Worship can also be a time to grow in wisdom: to advance of knowledge and experience of faith. And sometime most importantly we can be part of the adventure of creating community with each other and with God, and that provides support and sustenance for the rest of life.
//
Sometime, we think of worship quite narrowly. We think of Sunday Church. Or in some denominations, “worship” is even further limited to the offering of sung praise.
In our United Church tradition, we have been good as seeing the whole of our Sunday experience as worship: from the announcements to the benediction – it is all acts of worship.
Now in a diverse worship opportunity, some parts might appeal to certain people more than others. What is worshipful for you?
· Is it the music – sung, listened to?
· Is it the sermon?
· Is it the prayers?
· Is in “sola scriptura” – the scripture alone?
· Is it the community of the people you are in church with?
· Is it the story time?
· Is in Sunday School?
· Is it the coffee afterwards?
· Does you mind wander and move you into a very personal worship?
· Is it some combination?
· Does it change from week to week?
My best hope is that, somewhere in these Sunday worship times, each of you find yourself at a river of life.
//
And I hope that, like Paul, you are able to find spiritual nourishment in non-traditional places and spaces.
As the United Church’s “A Song of Faith” words it:
God is creative and self-giving,
generously moving
in all the near and distant corners of the universe.
Nothing exists that does not find its source in God.
Our first response to God’s providence is gratitude.
We sing thanksgiving.
Finding ourselves in a world of beauty and mystery,
of living things, diverse and interdependent,
of complex patterns of growth and evolution,
of subatomic particles and cosmic swirls,
we sing of God the Creator,
the Maker and Source of all that is.
Each part of creation reveals unique aspects of God the Creator,
who is both in creation and beyond it.
//
When Jesus was told to quiet the worshipping praise of the crowd, he is reported as having replied, “If their tongues were stilled the rocks and stones would shout.”
//
For me, the image of the River of Life is very powerful. What has that worshipping power for you? Discover it. Let it discover you. Commune with God and know that you are not alone.
Let us pray:
God, open us to the paths you call us to travel. And lead us to the places and spaces where we can find you especially close. Amen.
#710VU “Shall We Gather at the River”
Sunday, May 2, 2010
CHANGING TIMES
May 2, 2010
Easter 5
John 13:31-35
Acts 11:1-18
(prayer)
As a minister in the United Church, I am not only connected to this congregation, but I am part of the wider church. The United Church is structured as a series of Councils, each one made up of the smaller Councils that precede it. That’s why we sometimes the United Church as a Councilliar church. The congregation (pastoral charge) is the base of the denomination. Congregations send representatives to Presbyteries; Presbyteries send representative to Conference and Conferences send representatives to the General Council, which is the national organizing body of the church.
As a minister, my main wider church connection is with the Presbytery. One of the main roles of Presbyteries is to work with congregations that are looking for new ministers. The first step of that process is to take a good look at the needs and capacities of the congregation and see what kind of ministry is needed and is possible.
//
I spent sometime this past week with people representing four congregations who are looking at working together and sharing a full time minister. All four congregations have histories that go back to the late 19th century. One of them still meets in a building that was built in 1903. And the really good news is that all four churches are open to working out a new relationship between them.
There a few regions like this within Yellowhead Presbytery where, ideally, we would have smaller churches, with part-time ministers, work together so that full time ministry is possible. You’d be surprised how hard it is to get some of these churches interested in moving forward in this way. It’s almost as if they are reluctant to admit that things have changed and that shrinking is not the only option.
//
It should come as no surprise to anyone that some of the churches in smaller towns or in rural areas are the victims of changing times.
There is no longer a family on every quarter section. Road improvements and the fact that many families have two or more vehicles, which means that people are more mobile, which opens up the possibilities for how they use their time. And further to that point ... we are busier than our grandparents and great-grandparents were – or at the very least we have more things on the go, that’s for sure.
Many churches that once flourished have shrunk significantly, just due to changing rural populations. When we also consider the cultural changes around church, we can understand why some churches have had to close or why they can no longer afford the ministry levels they have enjoyed in the past.
//
These congregations (and our own here in Leduc) were results of the imperialistic European expansions into North America. Since Christianity was deeply imbedded into European culture at the time, as people immigrated into these lands, they brought their beliefs and practices – and they dominated and flourished.
We are all aware of some of devastating impacts that had on the culture of the peoples who already inhabited these lands. As Canadians and as people of the United Church, we are just coming to terms with the fallout from things like the aboriginal residential school programs – set up by government policy and willingly and complicitly run by churches.
//
Building on centuries of Christian dominance in Europe, the new nations of the America’s would often be described as “Christian Nations” – that, in spite of common constitution separations of church and state; and ... rights and freedoms of religious expression and practice.
This presumption (either legislated or implied) that Christianity was the true religion of the society and culture could be described as “Christendom”.
In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Most historians would describe that as the beginning of the Age of Christendom.
The founding of the United Church of Canada in 1925 was a product of this thinking. Many European countries had “national churches” – the coming together of some of the transplanted British churches in Canada was an attempt to create something like that here. I’m never quite sure of the legal significance to it, but [did you know] that the UCC was actually brought into being by an Act of the Canadian Parliament. It’s the only church in Canada to have ever been created in that way.
The United Church of Canada is a Christendom Church.
//
I would suggest that the Age of Christendom has, for most part, ended.
There was a time, even a half a century ago within our nation, when Sundays were expected to be days for church exclusively. Laws prohibited stores from opening and doing business; sports organizations never would think about scheduling games or practices on Sundays [A preacher-dad wouldn’t have to miss his son’s second day of summer games football try-outs]. It was even illegal to sign a business contract on a Sunday. The law in Alberta was even called “The Lord’s Day Act”.
All that has changed over my life time; I am part of the generation that witnessed the change.
I know that this is a depressing prospect for some people (who were raised in the church before the days of Sunday shopping), but (personally) I am less concerned, in fact, I think it provides opportunities that are wonderful and exciting.
//
This is not your great-grandfather's church.Times have changed and the church needs to get with it.
The funny thing is that it has always been that way - changing.
//
Jesus reminded his closest followers that they had been loved. Loved in the spirit of the way the old scriptures describe God loving creation. Jesus further reminds them that love is to be dynamic – it is to be shown and shared.
34”I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
The fact that this conversation is maintained and relayed through the writing of the gospel of John, we can imply that it was a strong belief of the early church that one of the signs of a person’s discipleship was that they loved as Jesus loved.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that the Greek language has more than one word for love: I had mentioned phillos [slide]: “brotherly love”; love of friends and family. There is also: agape [slide] “unconditional love”. I never had cause to mention eros [slide] as in erotic – that’s passionate love. Back to agape [slide] – that’s the word used again in John. Love - like Jesus loved – without reserve, just ... love.
It’s amazing how hard unconditional love is – unconditional anything is hard to accept. There’s always a catch. There is always an exception isn’t there?
Surely even love has its limits.
//
The News made its way to the followers in Jerusalem that Peter had been dining with gentiles while he had been away visiting the “believers” living in Lydda and Joppa. Jesus had said that they were to love one another as he had loved. Now this may been intended to mean unconditional love, but it was limited to just their small group, right? Love one another means love just each other, right?
Even though Jesus had demonstrated a willingness to reach beyond the origins of his own faith with his words and action, the “Jesus-Movement” which Peter and the others kept alive after Jesus death and resurrection was pretty much contained within Judaism, certainly that was true among the believers in Jerusalem.
Things were starting to change. Paul had now become an Apostle and he was spending time in gentile territory. We can tell from some of Paul’s letters that there was a significant vein of thought within the early church that felt that it was okay if gentiles became believers as long they followed the beliefs of the original disciples. In other words, gentiles could become Christian, but it would involve a conversion to Judaism, because for the original followers, this Way of Jesus was simply a new expression of their historic faith.
But the times they were a-changin’.
Peter felt that God was calling him out of this bubble. And so he told the others the story
‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven [slide], being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” The voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. If then God gave them the same gift that God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’
The Love of Christ was trying to be “unconditional” – who was Peter that he should get in the way.
The times they were a-changin’. [slide]
And they still are!
//
With the dying of Christendom, being a Christian changes. No longer can we rely on government or society in general to force everyone to follow our practices.
And I say, Amen!
The job of sharing the Christian message and showing the Way of Jesus is the job of the Church and of the people who count themselves among the followers of Jesus – not the job of government.
To be honest, “we” got lazy and willingly gave that job away because we liked the numbers of people in church (many of whom were there simply out of a sense of societal obligation). We let inflated numbers justify our in-action.
Today ... there is little societal pressure to go to church. In fact, the pressure might actually be the opposite. You go to church? Why?
//
So why are we still here? Why are you here? My guess is because you have a sense of a connection to something beyond yourself. Maybe it is a strong feeling that has convinced you that there is a God and that this God makes a difference in your life. Maybe it’s less defined, but is a yearning for Spirit (like there was for the gentiles in Caesarea). Maybe you’re trying to figure out if there is something more. Perhaps there is simply something compelling in the story of Jesus that draws you. Accounts passed on to us about the meeting of the human and the divine – and the comfort which the thought of that brings to what might appear to be our finite existence. It was the author of the gospel of John who expressed this with words like these: And God so loved the world, [slide] that in Jesus there is not condemnation, but unending safety.
There’s that word again: LOVE (agape).
//
Some of the baggage of the age of Christendom causes us problems in the 21st century. Our arrogance: that we had the “only monopoly on the truth” was a means of stifling questions and worries, rather than addressing them and letting them teach us and grow us in the Spirit. Diversity and change were seen as threats, not opportunities.
I believe that a change in this attitude in many churches is leading to wonderfully honest 21st century faith. The times they are a-changin’.
When I was a Commissioner to the United Church’s General Council in 2006, we got a sneak peak at an advertising campaign that the church had just approved, which aimed to let people know that we (the UCC) value people’s questions; that we encourage really faithful engagement and that we weren’t going to try and quell compelling “real” questions with easy (but unsatisfying) answers.
Remember these United Church ads that were intended to start faith conversations with challenging questions, not end them with EZ answers: [slide]
//
//
It isn’t all change. There is still a firm foundation on which all of this diversity can safely rest.
A belief that at the heart of God, at the heart of Jesus’ gospel is “agape”. We echo the words of ancient storyteller of creation – that the world we know - a world whose origins are in God - is “good”. Genesis 1:31God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very good.
How tragic it is that Christianity has spent far too long preaching against this. We have convinced far too many people that to be Christian means that you can’t believe in a good world, but that you had to believe in a sinful one; that we can’t rely on God for unconditional love but must earn God’s love; that Jesus’ life means nothing – that he is merely the forced sacrificial martyr sent with the sole purpose of making God’s love conditional.
In my heart, I just don’t feel that. It may put me at odds with traditional Christian orthodoxy, but I can’t reconcile it with the call to love like Jesus loves – agape.
And I know that I am not alone!
The times are changing, I think more and more people are beginning to realize that the heart of the gospel is love not sin; and that we do a dis-service to that gospel (“good news”), when we try to hinder the Spirit’s efforts to show that God’s love is truly unconditional.
We are to love as Jesus loved – as the Spirit of Christ continues to love!
//
We are invited to be witnesses to the [slide] Holy Mystery ... which is Wholly Love.
Let us pray: >>>>>>
(prayer)
Holy God,
May we know, deep in our hearts, that you love us. Amen.
>> offering >>
Easter 5
John 13:31-35
Acts 11:1-18
(prayer)
As a minister in the United Church, I am not only connected to this congregation, but I am part of the wider church. The United Church is structured as a series of Councils, each one made up of the smaller Councils that precede it. That’s why we sometimes the United Church as a Councilliar church. The congregation (pastoral charge) is the base of the denomination. Congregations send representatives to Presbyteries; Presbyteries send representative to Conference and Conferences send representatives to the General Council, which is the national organizing body of the church.
As a minister, my main wider church connection is with the Presbytery. One of the main roles of Presbyteries is to work with congregations that are looking for new ministers. The first step of that process is to take a good look at the needs and capacities of the congregation and see what kind of ministry is needed and is possible.
//
I spent sometime this past week with people representing four congregations who are looking at working together and sharing a full time minister. All four congregations have histories that go back to the late 19th century. One of them still meets in a building that was built in 1903. And the really good news is that all four churches are open to working out a new relationship between them.
There a few regions like this within Yellowhead Presbytery where, ideally, we would have smaller churches, with part-time ministers, work together so that full time ministry is possible. You’d be surprised how hard it is to get some of these churches interested in moving forward in this way. It’s almost as if they are reluctant to admit that things have changed and that shrinking is not the only option.
//
It should come as no surprise to anyone that some of the churches in smaller towns or in rural areas are the victims of changing times.
There is no longer a family on every quarter section. Road improvements and the fact that many families have two or more vehicles, which means that people are more mobile, which opens up the possibilities for how they use their time. And further to that point ... we are busier than our grandparents and great-grandparents were – or at the very least we have more things on the go, that’s for sure.
Many churches that once flourished have shrunk significantly, just due to changing rural populations. When we also consider the cultural changes around church, we can understand why some churches have had to close or why they can no longer afford the ministry levels they have enjoyed in the past.
//
These congregations (and our own here in Leduc) were results of the imperialistic European expansions into North America. Since Christianity was deeply imbedded into European culture at the time, as people immigrated into these lands, they brought their beliefs and practices – and they dominated and flourished.
We are all aware of some of devastating impacts that had on the culture of the peoples who already inhabited these lands. As Canadians and as people of the United Church, we are just coming to terms with the fallout from things like the aboriginal residential school programs – set up by government policy and willingly and complicitly run by churches.
//
Building on centuries of Christian dominance in Europe, the new nations of the America’s would often be described as “Christian Nations” – that, in spite of common constitution separations of church and state; and ... rights and freedoms of religious expression and practice.
This presumption (either legislated or implied) that Christianity was the true religion of the society and culture could be described as “Christendom”.
In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Most historians would describe that as the beginning of the Age of Christendom.
The founding of the United Church of Canada in 1925 was a product of this thinking. Many European countries had “national churches” – the coming together of some of the transplanted British churches in Canada was an attempt to create something like that here. I’m never quite sure of the legal significance to it, but [did you know] that the UCC was actually brought into being by an Act of the Canadian Parliament. It’s the only church in Canada to have ever been created in that way.
The United Church of Canada is a Christendom Church.
//
I would suggest that the Age of Christendom has, for most part, ended.
There was a time, even a half a century ago within our nation, when Sundays were expected to be days for church exclusively. Laws prohibited stores from opening and doing business; sports organizations never would think about scheduling games or practices on Sundays [A preacher-dad wouldn’t have to miss his son’s second day of summer games football try-outs]. It was even illegal to sign a business contract on a Sunday. The law in Alberta was even called “The Lord’s Day Act”.
All that has changed over my life time; I am part of the generation that witnessed the change.
I know that this is a depressing prospect for some people (who were raised in the church before the days of Sunday shopping), but (personally) I am less concerned, in fact, I think it provides opportunities that are wonderful and exciting.
//
This is not your great-grandfather's church.Times have changed and the church needs to get with it.
The funny thing is that it has always been that way - changing.
//
Jesus reminded his closest followers that they had been loved. Loved in the spirit of the way the old scriptures describe God loving creation. Jesus further reminds them that love is to be dynamic – it is to be shown and shared.
34”I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
The fact that this conversation is maintained and relayed through the writing of the gospel of John, we can imply that it was a strong belief of the early church that one of the signs of a person’s discipleship was that they loved as Jesus loved.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that the Greek language has more than one word for love: I had mentioned phillos [slide]: “brotherly love”; love of friends and family. There is also: agape [slide] “unconditional love”. I never had cause to mention eros [slide] as in erotic – that’s passionate love. Back to agape [slide] – that’s the word used again in John. Love - like Jesus loved – without reserve, just ... love.
It’s amazing how hard unconditional love is – unconditional anything is hard to accept. There’s always a catch. There is always an exception isn’t there?
Surely even love has its limits.
//
The News made its way to the followers in Jerusalem that Peter had been dining with gentiles while he had been away visiting the “believers” living in Lydda and Joppa. Jesus had said that they were to love one another as he had loved. Now this may been intended to mean unconditional love, but it was limited to just their small group, right? Love one another means love just each other, right?
Even though Jesus had demonstrated a willingness to reach beyond the origins of his own faith with his words and action, the “Jesus-Movement” which Peter and the others kept alive after Jesus death and resurrection was pretty much contained within Judaism, certainly that was true among the believers in Jerusalem.
Things were starting to change. Paul had now become an Apostle and he was spending time in gentile territory. We can tell from some of Paul’s letters that there was a significant vein of thought within the early church that felt that it was okay if gentiles became believers as long they followed the beliefs of the original disciples. In other words, gentiles could become Christian, but it would involve a conversion to Judaism, because for the original followers, this Way of Jesus was simply a new expression of their historic faith.
But the times they were a-changin’.
Peter felt that God was calling him out of this bubble. And so he told the others the story
‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven [slide], being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” The voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. If then God gave them the same gift that God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’
The Love of Christ was trying to be “unconditional” – who was Peter that he should get in the way.
The times they were a-changin’. [slide]
And they still are!
//
With the dying of Christendom, being a Christian changes. No longer can we rely on government or society in general to force everyone to follow our practices.
And I say, Amen!
The job of sharing the Christian message and showing the Way of Jesus is the job of the Church and of the people who count themselves among the followers of Jesus – not the job of government.
To be honest, “we” got lazy and willingly gave that job away because we liked the numbers of people in church (many of whom were there simply out of a sense of societal obligation). We let inflated numbers justify our in-action.
Today ... there is little societal pressure to go to church. In fact, the pressure might actually be the opposite. You go to church? Why?
//
So why are we still here? Why are you here? My guess is because you have a sense of a connection to something beyond yourself. Maybe it is a strong feeling that has convinced you that there is a God and that this God makes a difference in your life. Maybe it’s less defined, but is a yearning for Spirit (like there was for the gentiles in Caesarea). Maybe you’re trying to figure out if there is something more. Perhaps there is simply something compelling in the story of Jesus that draws you. Accounts passed on to us about the meeting of the human and the divine – and the comfort which the thought of that brings to what might appear to be our finite existence. It was the author of the gospel of John who expressed this with words like these: And God so loved the world, [slide] that in Jesus there is not condemnation, but unending safety.
There’s that word again: LOVE (agape).
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Some of the baggage of the age of Christendom causes us problems in the 21st century. Our arrogance: that we had the “only monopoly on the truth” was a means of stifling questions and worries, rather than addressing them and letting them teach us and grow us in the Spirit. Diversity and change were seen as threats, not opportunities.
I believe that a change in this attitude in many churches is leading to wonderfully honest 21st century faith. The times they are a-changin’.
When I was a Commissioner to the United Church’s General Council in 2006, we got a sneak peak at an advertising campaign that the church had just approved, which aimed to let people know that we (the UCC) value people’s questions; that we encourage really faithful engagement and that we weren’t going to try and quell compelling “real” questions with easy (but unsatisfying) answers.
Remember these United Church ads that were intended to start faith conversations with challenging questions, not end them with EZ answers: [slide]
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It isn’t all change. There is still a firm foundation on which all of this diversity can safely rest.
A belief that at the heart of God, at the heart of Jesus’ gospel is “agape”. We echo the words of ancient storyteller of creation – that the world we know - a world whose origins are in God - is “good”. Genesis 1:31God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very good.
How tragic it is that Christianity has spent far too long preaching against this. We have convinced far too many people that to be Christian means that you can’t believe in a good world, but that you had to believe in a sinful one; that we can’t rely on God for unconditional love but must earn God’s love; that Jesus’ life means nothing – that he is merely the forced sacrificial martyr sent with the sole purpose of making God’s love conditional.
In my heart, I just don’t feel that. It may put me at odds with traditional Christian orthodoxy, but I can’t reconcile it with the call to love like Jesus loves – agape.
And I know that I am not alone!
The times are changing, I think more and more people are beginning to realize that the heart of the gospel is love not sin; and that we do a dis-service to that gospel (“good news”), when we try to hinder the Spirit’s efforts to show that God’s love is truly unconditional.
We are to love as Jesus loved – as the Spirit of Christ continues to love!
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We are invited to be witnesses to the [slide] Holy Mystery ... which is Wholly Love.
Let us pray: >>>>>>
(prayer)
Holy God,
May we know, deep in our hearts, that you love us. Amen.
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