ST. DAVID'S UNITED CHURCH: August 2016

Sunday, August 28, 2016

MUTUAL HONOUR

August 28, 2016

Pentecost 15

(prayer)

Last Sunday, in exploring the prophetic call of young Jeremiah in the 7th century BCE and a 1st century CE sabbath healing by Jesus, I spoke about how it can be a deeply faithful act to question established barriers that function to limit people's connections to each other and their relationship with God.

That theme is expanded within today's scripture readings from Luke 14 and Hebrew 13.

The context of the reading from Luke is that Jesus is at a Sabbath evening dinner party with with a leader of the pharisees. In the verses just before our reading this morning. At the same party was a man who suffered from edema/dropsy - a disease that resulted in fluid accumulation under the skin... most commonly in the legs and feet (although it can affect many areas of the body).

The common treatment for edema is to elevate the affected part of the body and allow gravity to drain away the fluid. But the role of is only temporary, once the person goes back to normal activity, the fluid can build up again.

I imagine that the man who attended the same sabbath dinner party as Jesus could not walk for stand for very long before his legs swelled up again. By making his way to the home of the pharisee, the man's endema was made worse. In fact, I assume that when this person was out in public, his affliction must have been on display. Had people gotten used to the way he looks, so much so, that it was normal and warranted little special attention?

For an outsider, like Jesus, the ailment would be noticeable on sight. A need for healing was obvious.

As we heard last week, Jesus had a previous Sabbath experience encountering a person in obvious need of healing. In that case (cf. Luke 13), without a word to anyone else, Jesus simply approached the woman and helped her stand up straight for the first time in 18 years. After the fact, Jesus was chastised for breaking the fourth commandment by "working" on the sabbath day.

Then (in Luke 14) at the home of a pharisee on another sabbath, Jesus proactively brings up the fourth commandment issue: is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day, or not?

The text of the first verses of Luke, chapter 14 say that no one was willing to argue that sabbath healing was a breach of the seventh day work restrictions. The text doesn't describe the actual healing, but there is no reason to assume that it didn't happen.

Unlike the sabbath healing in Luke 13, chapter 14's event did not devolve in to a debate on the ten commandments.

The fact that there was no barrier to restoration work on the sabbath, the evening provide an opportunity for Jesus to engage the dinner guests in a different conversation about other barriers that can happen at events such as the sabbath feast they were all sharing... that was today's reading in verses seven to fourteen.

Jesus pointed out an obvious reality of large feast event... that where you sat often held some implied status: certain places in the room were more highly sought after by those for whom the appearance of status was important.

Think of it like concert tickets. There is a difference between having front row seats or sitting up in the nosebleeds of the upper balcony.

If you hold balcony tickets and try and sit in the front row, you will likely have an usher ask you to move.

Whenever I watch the parliamentary question period on CPAC, the seating chart of the MPs is an indicator of the status within their party.

In my late teens, I was part of of the TUXIS Youth Parliament of Alberta. Usually we, held our 'sessions' in a school gymnasium over the Christmas break, but one year, we were honored to get to use the Alberta legislature.

This was the early 1980s, so it was the days of massive Tory majorities. There were so many government MLAs that there was not enough room for rent all of them to sit on the right side of the speaker. In fact, at the time there were more government members sitting to the left of the speaker than there were opposition members.

I'm not sure, but I think that this overflow section for parliamentary members sitting on the opposite side of the house is unofficially called the 'rump'. (David??)

I can't remember which MLA of day that usually sat at the desk I got to use, but I remember finding a seating chart. Out of curiosity, I searched for my MLA's name. He was assigned a seat in the very back corner of the rump... it had to be the least desirable place in the house. And it said volumes about my MLA's status within the Progressive Conservative caucus. In fairness, he was the youngest person in the legislature and a rookie MLA.

Can you imagine the uproar if my MLA went and sat in Peter Lougheed's chair?

Whether it is at a concert, or sporting event, in a legislative assembly, or at a wedding reception... where you sit can hold some implied and explicit value and indicate the level of importance you have at the gathering.

I don't know if there was assigned seating at the pharisee's sabbath dinner party. Even if there wasn't, I am quite sure that there were some unwritten expectations as to who should it where.

So, Jesus said to the guests. 'Hypothetically, pretend that you are attending a wedding feast. You should watch where you sit; because, if you settle in too prominent of a place, you may be asked to move. Imagine how embarrassed you will be as everyone looks on as you are escorted to a lower place.

Here's a better idea, choose a humble, out-of-the-way seat. Who knows... you might get moved up. And if you do, people will marvel at your obvious status upgrade. How nice would that feel?'

This parable is dripping with irony. Jesus was clearing playing on people's sense of pride more than their humility. And if that was end of the lesson, we might be left scratching our heads about how that fits into the wider themes of Jesus' gospel.

But there's more.

'Jesus also said... the guest list to a dinner should include more that your friends and other prominent people who you want to hobnob with or impress.

What about those who are (too often) left out of these circles of status?

The more righteous thing to do is to invite the poor, the sick, the disabled.

Invite people because of what they need from you, not for what you need from them.'

Luke doesn't tell us how Jesus snagged the invite to the pharisee's feast. There is another story in Luke (chapter 7:36ff), where Jesus' appearance at another pharisee's home for a meal seems to be because Jesus was viewed as a 'prophet'. That pharisee was shocked at what he saw as un-prophet-like behaviour when it came to Jesus' interaction with a undesirable party-crasher.

When I read Luke 14, I imagine that Jesus was viewed as a honored guest by his host: one worthy of a place of honour. And... I assume that (at least part of) the host's motivation was to puff up his own reputation by being seen with Jesus.

Healing the edema-stricken forgotten man and starting a conversation about the contrasting attitudes of humility and pride must have made this sabbath dinner party an impactful and memorable one indeed... although perhaps in a very different way than the host originally envisioned.

In retrospect, it was a deeply honourable and holy time. Exactly what commandment number four calls for: honour the sabbath day and keep it holy.

The attitude that Jesus expressed at the pharisee's home was picked up and maintained by the early church leaders of the Christian movement of the late first century.

Today, we also heard the author of Hebrews write about mutual love. I love the first verse of Hebrews 13. It exhorts to let mutual love continue.

That final word is significant.

The community is being congratulated for the fact that they already are living out a mutual love, at least in some way. Let this continue, the letter says.

Then the author expands on what this means - mutual love is to extend beyond just the Hebrews Christian community. Be hospitable to strangers. Be empathetic for those who are in living in the harshness of prison.

It is not explicit in the letter, but perhaps we see hints of a Matthew 25 attitude when Jesus is quoted as saying: 'When you feed the hungry or give a drink to the thirsty; when you welcome the stranger, visit the sick, clothe the naked or visit the prisoner... you are caring for me.'

These are actions of outreach, but the letter also encourages mutual love within their community by discouraging unloving acts such as infidelity and greed.

We might summarize this as welcoming in and reaching out.

The letter encourages the church to follow the best examples of those who are (and have been) honourable leaders in this faith and action.

Do not neglect to do good

and share what you have.

Let mutual love continue.

'Mutual Love' is (by definition) not one-sided. The loved also love. The lovers also receive love.

Mutual love is shorthand for a compassionate society.

It is an expression of a compassion without barriers and assumptions of worthiness.

Mutual love is an expression of care for care's sake, not as a hidden motivation for self-gratification.

For love to be true and honest, it has to be deeper than simply behaving respectfully and being tolerant.

The kind of love that Jesus modeled and that the early church encouraged was an authentic and honest compassion that is founded in honour and acceptance.

Honour is deeper than respect.

Acceptance is deeper than tolerance.

The devine promise in the biblical good news is that Our Maker accepts the Child of God that we are - with a compassion that is eternally forgiving.

There is honour enough for all.

Unlike seating arrangements at a feast, there is no hierarchy within the realm of God.

We don't need to compete for God's affection.

There is honour enough for all.

We are not God.

And so, not one of us lives this out perfectly in every moment.

And yet, everyone of us has given and received honest and authentic selfless compassion.

The encouragement in our scriptures today is to let those examples guide us.

Let mutual love continue.

Our tasks - as people who hold faith in the kind of a world where mutual love reigns - is to see each face as the face of God in our midst and to relieve ourselves of the burdens of prejudice and resentment.

Each time we do, there will be angels among us, for we are the messengers of God.

Let us go to love God with our whole heart, mind and might and to love those we meet as ourselves.

Let us pray:

Holy One, we have honour in your eyes. This is not competitive - you have a place for all. Amen.

#271VU “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”

Sunday, August 21, 2016

YOU CAN'T DO THAT

August 21, 2016

Pentecost 14

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Luke 13:10-17

(prayer)

Now that I have crossed over the mid-life hump, I am keenly aware that how I prioritize my time and where my energy is spent has changed over the decades.

This summer, I have been spending at least one evening at Camp Maspepetoon (I was there last night) - the United Church camp on the NW corner of Pigeon Lake... where I spent so much time in my youth and young adult years... where the path of my life was foraged.

On this side of mid-life, I now can see how those years at camp allowed me to nurture important relationships and helped me develop an ethic that defines who I am today.

I am drawn back to camp at this time of my life because one of my sons is on the paid staff this summer and my daughter is out there for several weeks as a volunteer.

But also, I feel very welcomed this summer because the current camp leaders are making a concerted effort to re-connect with camp alumni in this 60th year of the camp's history.

But mostly I am enjoying my camp visits because... for a couple of hours once a week or so, as I strum familiar chords around a familiar campfire, I am reminded of younger days... for a few hours, I get to be a time traveller. I'm sure that everyone else can see the gray mustache and the bald patch, but they are gone from my mind... for a while, at least.

It is a nice feeling to realize that I still 'got it'. For a few hours, I strip 30 years off my life.

It is one of the universal ironies of life.

When we are younger, we long for the freedom of adult years.

As adults, we lament the loss of the less-complicated life of years-gone-by.

There is a meme that I see cropping up from time to time on the social media feeds of friends my age that says (in essense) what I saw as the punishments of my childhood have become my adult hobbies (sitting quietly by myself, having to read a book, going to bed early, etc.). Even skipping dessert here and there is now seen as accomplishing a life-betterment goal, not any form of discipline.

Times change. And so do I.

Over the arc of our lives, there are assumptions and formal or informal restrictions imposed on us based on who the world views us to be in that moment. These norms are based on patterns and habits well worn over many years of cultural and societal development.

And yet... in every new moment, there are those among us who challenge the long-held assumptions. And every once and a while: a wall comes down and the assumptions evolve.

Both of the scripture passages we heard this morning start with cultural and societal assumptions that attempt to stop the Spirit of God before it has a chance to move.

Jeremiah (whose father was a priest in the tradition of Aaron) grew up the village of Anathoth which was one of the towns given to the Levites (priests and temple workers). Anathoth was only a few kilometres northeast of Jerusalem - think of it as a suburb for temple workers.

We can assume that from a young age - listening to his father speak about his work in the nearby temple - Jeremiah was well informed about the concerns of the religious sects of Judean life.

Young Jeremiah grew up at a time when the formal worship of foreign gods was ingrained into Judean society. This was a legacy of King Manasseh; who lead Judah in the first half of the 7th century BCE (697-643).

Manasseh had massaged a cozy relationship with the Assyrian Empire: who had overrun the northern Israelite kingdom in the late 8th century (720 BCE). Manasseh's inclusion of foreign religiosity into Judean culture was likely motivated by keeping foreign powers at bay and improving his own economic opportunities and grip on power. Coincidentally, Assyrian expansion never included Judah. This cozy relationship had its benefits.

One has to imagine that this shift in focus did not sit well with the levitical class which eventually included priests like Jeremiah's father.

As we start to read the book of Jeremiah, Manessah's grandson Josiah was now the Judean king. Josiah was only eight years old when he became king after his father (Amon) was assassinated.

When Josiah was about 21 or so, he began a series of reforms to reverse the idolatry that had endured since his grandfather's reign. In fairness, the Assyrian Empire's power had waned and there was little geopolitical advantage to continue the status quo.

About the same time as the young king was attempting to put his own stamp on Judah's history, another young man, Jeremiah, was being called to be a prophet of God in Judah. God wanted a prophet who could encourage a spiritual reformation and a reclaiming of a faith in Yahweh as the sovereign of the nation and its people.

Although Josiah and Jeremiah were likely about the same age, the priest's son did not feel ready to take on such important responsibilities.

I am too young for this, Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah was not being unusual in his lack of confidendence - it would be a normal assumption that an older, more established and experienced person would be more readily accepted by the people whom God wanted to reach. Calling a young prophet went against common wisdom.

But Jeremiah's lack of confidence was overshadowed by God's assertions that Jeremiah was destined to be a great prophet.

To this end, God promises that this young prophet would not be alone in this work - God would inspire and guide.

Contrary to what might have been common wisdom, Jereimiah's tongue was literally emboldened with the words of God.

The assumptions and excuses were ignored and the Spirit began to move in a new way in ancient Judah.

The middle chapters of the gospel of Luke contain a series of stories from Jesus' ministry that were intended to teach the early church about the ways to live faithfully as the community of Jesus' followers. Parts of this part of the gospel are direct teaching passages; others are descriptions of events that almost always end with a memorable lesson.

The story beginning in Luke 13:10 follows this pattern.

As a faithful pharasaic Jew, Jesus regularly attend sabbath services in the local synagogue of whatever town he was in.

Over and over again, we read how he was not shy about questioning local leaders or challenging established practices.

Today we heard how - in the synagogue one Saturday, Jesus met a local woman who had endured almost two decades with a crippling back disorder that did not allow her to stand up straight without experiencing unbearable pain.

This must have meant that she was not able to perform most of the normal duties for someone of her age and status in her community. It is unlikely that she would be able lift things or walk even short distances that would have been part of normal life for a woman like her.
I have to assume that because her ailment would have restricted her travel, that this was her local synagogue. She did not come to worship that sabbath seeking healing. She came to worship because it was the sabbath - this was her "church".

The context into which Jesus inserted himself was that this woman had spent 18 years relying on the generosity of her family and community just to help her live day by day.

On a personal level, she may have lamented that she was (for lack of a better word) a burden to others. I imagined that she longed to be able to control her own life.

The story goes that Jesus healed her of this chronic ailment - opening up possibilities for her life which she must have long since given up on.

It was a moment that should have been met with astonishment and appreciation.

And yet, instead of marveling at this miraculous turn of events, the leader of the synagogue was bothered by the timing of Jesus' actions. He chastised Jesus for "working" on the sabbath day and the leader warned the crowd not to expect to find healing on a sabbath day. That's not the way things are done.

In both of our scriptures today, a significant change was being called for.

A new prophet is needed.

Jeremiah: God, I can't do that.

A forgotten life needs to be transformed.

Religious Leader: Jesus, you can't do that.

God, I can't be your prophet.

Don't worry. We'll do the work together.

Jesus, you can't do that.

Too late. I already did.

Then don't do it again.

Convince me why.

I love Jesus' response - it is one we have all heard in situations when someone is told that they can't do something.

Why? Explain your reasoning to me. Why is this a rule? If you can justify the restriction - if it makes sense - then we can all agree how to proceed.

Asking why is not a rejection of the rule or norm. It is a desire to understand it.

There are so many restrictions that we encounter everyday - they all have their story. But, it is a good thing to review the logic of society's rules from time to time.

I am sure you can imagine that there are going to be times when we would have to admit that we have no idea why certain 'rules' are in place.

Why? ... Because it's always been that way.

Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof: "We always keep our heads covered and we always wear little prayer shawls. You may ask 'how did this tradition get started?' I don't know. But it's a tradition!"

It is very common for people to fear change. Fear might be too strong a word for every situation. Change often makes us uneasy at least.

To me, the easiest way to define fear is to say that... fear is the emotion we feel, when we have little or no control over what we think will happen next.

Fear is how we feel, when we have little or no control over what we think will happen next.

When changes are happening all around us and we are uncertain about what it means for us, resisting (or attempting to hold off) change is out last vestige of control: you can't make me move.

Examples in passive resistance: limp protestor, environmentalist chained to tree...

You want to move? Well, I won't let you.

Examples in active restraint: handcuff, jail, timeouts....

But... what about when change is desperately wanted - or more importantly... deeply needed?

Initial acts of resistance can hold off change, but the desire for change that is needed seldom goes away.

In order for change to happen, we need to confront the barriers of resistance that are desperately trying to keep things the same.

In other words, to be open to change, we will need to face our fears.

Butting up against resistance is not easy. Especially resistance that is founded in intimidating phrases like tradition or heritage or ethos or the way we do things sound here or the scariest of all, that's the way it's always been done.

Let's seek some inspiration and guidance by asking: what was the response in the scriptures to the resistance.

While the scriptures are ripe with less than enthusiastic prophets (Moses questioned God's judgment in picking him to go talk to pharaoh), Jeremiah broke new ground by claiming that God was calling him too early in his life. Maybe, Jeremiah could be an adequate prophet for God... when he is older. But he was simply too young now.

The first chapter of Jeremiah does not make a point of noting that Jeremiah was virtually the same age as the Judean king - a young ruler who was addressing religious foundations of the nation's from a political perspective - but we know that this was the context. So perhaps it makes sense that God was calling a prophet who could be a true contemporary of the the king to work toward a similar goal of a societal-wide restructuring this time from a purely faith perspective.

Jeremiah was eased through the initial barriers facing his call by the fact that young leadership was not unknown at that time in Judah and perhaps most importantly, a promise that this call was an invitation to work with God more than working for God.

I have put my words in your mouth.

From Jeremiah, we see that is easier to embrace being an agent of change when we know that we are not completely on our own.

Change can (and always does, according to Margaret Meade) start with small, committed groups that evolve into transformative movements.

In spite of your age Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, you are the prophet (I and the people) need at this time. We will do this together!

After the crippled woman stood up tall, she watched her healer and her synagogue leader argue about the meaning and implication of the fourth commandment: You shall remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.

Let's review the "work" Jesus is accused of doing. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight.

The "work" Jesus did involved using his eyes to see the woman, his voice to call her over and his hands to offer healing touch. It was probably the physical touch that went over the line for the leader of the synagogue. Perhaps it was the edge of the letter of the law, but the leader felt that Jesus was not honouring nor keeping holy the sabbath day by touching the bent-over woman.

Jesus' counter argument was to go to other parts of the Torah, that described that there were a few practical and reasonable exceptions to a strict reading of the fourth commandment.

You were allowed to prepare meals, although all of components of the meals were to be gathered or purchased ahead of time. You were restricted from travelling, but could walk short distances to fulfill necessary duties, like attending the synagogue. Although most of the work of farming and ranching could be left alone for a day, the work of tending to daily care of livestock was permitted. The animals needed to eat and drink. If they were ill or in danger or if a calf was being born, the practicalities of the sabbath allowed for immediate needs to be met.

Now, while, one could convincingly argue that since this woman had had this back problem for eighteen years. What would have been the problem of waiting for one more day?

Jesus' argument was to invite the crowd to imagine how many sabbath days this woman had endured without relief; surely she had waited long enough.

The ten commandments claim the sabbath as a day for holiness and honour. Jesus proclaimed through his actions the compassion and healing miracle of God are holy acts and deserve at least as much honour as a thirsty ox.

When we read on a few verses further into Luke's gospel, the first story of chapter fourteen has Jesus eating a sabbath day meal at the home of the leader of a pharisee. In eerie similarity to today's story, a man was there who suffered from dropsy (endema) - a medical condition where the abdomin or legs swell up because of subdermal fluid accumulation. Perhaps learning from the chapter 13 experience of a heal-first-ask-questions-later style approach at the synagogue, Jesus is proactive this time: before he approaches the man with dropsy, he asked the other dinner guests: Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?

No one answers, so Jesus puts it another way: If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out [even] on a sabbath day.

No one wanted to argue that holding back salvation or healing on the sabbath day made any practical or religious sense.

We can move through even the established barriers to more welcoming and life-fulfilling acts of faith when we appreciate that God is our companion guide on this journey... and when we are focused on ways that we can help each other to become more fully a part of our communities.

In our scriptures today, I hear an encouragement to err on the side of compassion and welcome and inclusion when the voices of restriction are raised.

In our scriptures today, I hear a call to trust that God is our helper and guide along the way.

In our scriptures today, I see a desire and a call to invite people back into full community through our own brave acts of welcome and the healing of individual hearts so that all can know that they are beloved children of God.

In our scriptures today, I am hearing a call to not accept systems of exclusion and restriction just because they have been around for a while.

As the Mahatma is often quoted as having said: we are to be the change we want to see in the world.

This is a truth we see and hear expressed in Jeremiah and Luke today.

Let us move through this worship experience today out into our world with the love and compassion of our God as our helper and guide.

Let us pray:

Holy God, we pray for insight enough to see you active in our world - especially in the less obvious places. Amen.

#642VU “Be Thou My Vision”

Sunday, August 14, 2016

GIVING UP

August 14, 2016

Pentecost 13

Isaiah 5:1-7

Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2

(prayer)

When I was a teenager, I was a self-admited math and science geek.

I thrived on recognizing patterns. I enjoyed the challenge of logic puzzles (and the like).

And so, I was the perfect candidate for the Rubiks Cube when it first became popular in the early 1980s - that six-sided, 36-panelled, multi-colored, three-dimensional puzzle. The goal was simple: twist it and turn it until the nine panels on each side was made up of the same colours.

A logical quick look identified that the middle square never moved, so, that told me what colour each side needed. The same logic told me which three coloured pieces were needed in each corner and which two coloured pieces were needed on each side.

With the Rubiks Cube, there is only one solution. Each of the 26 pieces has only one correct final location.

Not entirely true because I understand that the middle squares can rotate, so maybe there are about 4100 'correct' solutions among the 43 quintillion possible configurations. Still pretty long odds.

Sadly, the best I ever did was to be able to get one side all one colour. Of course, a keen eye would see that although the colours were right, the position of several of the pieces were wrong.

I had fellow puzzle geek friends who claimed to have solved it. Other than those that just removed and replaced the stickers, likely were able to learn the basic moves that could put specific pieces in specific pieces. Although, I don't think I knew no one who figured it out on their own. Each of them picked up techniques from someone else.

Now-a-days, there are thousands of on-line videos that can teach anyone the basic moves.

There are even on-line programs that - if you enter the exact configuration you are starting with - it will tell you what moves you need to make to solve it.

Apparently, you need at least twenty moves to solve the cube depending on how mixed up it is.

The current world speed record for solving a lubricated Rubiks Cube (that has been mixed up with 40 random moves) is... 4.904seconds - by 14 year old Lucas Etter last November (2015).

Not to outdone, a specially built computer-controlled robot did it in less than onesecond this past February.

Myself, thirty years ago, I never found the energy to learn how to completely solve a Rubiks Cube.

There is no reason why I couldn't have done it. As I said I had friends at the time who could have taught me the moves.

And if I wanted to do it today, I could study the internet and learn what is needed.

But in either case, I would know that "I" did not - in fact - figure out the solution on my own.

I have to admit that I have given up on ever doing that.

I've moved on to other challenges over the years.

At a theoretical level, what is so bad with not being able to do something all on my own?

What is wrong with realizing that I can benefit from the wisdom and support of others?

In most of life, there is almost nothing that can be claimed as a purely individual achievement. Our efforts and motivations are central and perhaps the most impactful aspects of what we are able to achieve, but who among us cannot find the truth that it had taken a village to raise the child we are.

The advancement of virtually every form of science, art and culture relies on where others have been. This is necessary for new and deeper discoveries.

If each of us was forced to start from scratch, no one would ever build a better mousetrap.

Who we are (and who we can become) is a combination of our own determination and the encouraging wisdom passed on to us from others through their learnings and example.

We see these two aspects of achievement within the two scripture readings from today:

- individual determination is highlighted in the words from Isaiah... and yet we also see that there is a desire to give up when those efforts appear fruitless;

- the Hebrews Letter flips the script and invites us - in that time of discouragement - to be encouraged by appreciating the strength we can draw from the example and inspiration of others.

This will be a theme that we will see coming up again and again in the pre-set scripture readings (Revised Common Lectionary) that we will explore over the coming weeks.

Ane, we will profess this theme again in the words of the United Church Creed as we gather around the communion table in a few minutes:

We are not alone!

The tender of the vines in Isaiah plans for the vineyard's success based on the common wisdom of vinetenders of the past who learned how to maximize the quality of the grapes, and therefore the quality of the wine they hope to produce:

· Rich hillside soil is chosen.

· High quality ('choice') vines are planted.

· The plants are protected from predators with a hedge wall.

· And, even if something manages to threaten the vines, someone will be up in a watchtower to react quickly. From the watch tower, any sign of unhealthy plants will be seen early enough to prune or fertilize as necessary to heal the vines.

· So confident is the grape farmer that the grapes would be excellent that a wine vat is preemptively built ready for the expected bumper harvest.

And yet, in spite all of these efforts, the grapes are of no better quality than what could be found growing out in the wild.

In other words, none of the extraordinary efforts made a difference in the final product.

What went wrong?

Was it the soil?

Was it the plants?

Did some disease or predator escape the farmer's notice?

What more could have the farmer had done? The harvest should have been better. But it wasn't - a discouraging result.

Discouragement leads to anger. "I'm going to tear it all down!"

The greater truth is that - in spite of our honest best efforts, seldom can we control every factor.

Our best hopes and desires are not always realized.

And this can lead to a feeling of helplessness, Discouragement, sadness... even anger.

How will react?

Can we be blamed for wanting to give up?

Isaiah portrays a desire to give up. I'm going to tear it all down.

Hebrews invites us to appreciate that - even when discouraged - hope might still be in our midst.

The precise context of Isaiah is that the prophet is questioning the quality of the people's faith - in spite of all that God has done for them. The early sections of the book of Isaiah come from a very prosperous time in Israel's history. The prophet was concerned that the people were not appreciating the holiness that surrounds their lives.

Happens sometimes - when we are full of our own achievements, God's presence can be forgotten. The Masters of their own destiny, need no other master.

Isaiah wants his audience to put themselves in God's shoes, to see things from a divine perspective.

Could they fault God if God wanted to give up?

The precise context of the Hebrews letter (as I noted last week) was a struggle within a particular segment of the early Christian movement as to how they should move forward in light of their traditions and connections to the wider society. They were questioning what they believed about Jesus and... further, they openly wondered whether they should abandon the movement entirely and return to the old established way of thinking.

The author wants the audience to take a step back and look at the grand examples of the past when people persevered through discouraging times. S/he wants the church to imagine being surrounded by the encouraging spirits of all of those who held strong to their faith - that (in a real way) helped bring the hebrews [audience] to this point in history.

"Carry on that tradition.

Don't be the generation

that gives up."

Each of us has our own histories with discouragement and the times when we have faced whether it is a good use of our energy and effort to continue trying or to refocus our lives in a new direction.

Giving up something that is life-draining in favour of something else for fulfilling is almost always a good move for us.

These hard decisions are often ones that are founded in great strength, not weakness.

The context of today's bible lessons speak specifically to how encouraging we are finding our lives of faith.

A common example of spiritual discouragement comes when we are facing difficulty in life and feel helpless to change it. We may profess that it is up to God to make it all better for us.

We may even fall prey to theologies that say 'if we pray hard enough' or 'we follow some prescribed ritual to a T' we will unlock God's ability and willingness to just make our difficulties disappear. I plan to be speaking more about this topic in about a month... during the September 18th Sunday service. Preview: I don't think God works that way.

Isaiah invited the people of Israel to see how God would be justified on giving up on the people. And yet the overarching theme of the covenantal history of the First [Old] Testament is that God remains faithful even when the people are not.

As justified that God might be to just give up, God doesn't.

The Hebrews letter builds on that old story and sought to remind the church that they are not alone in their struggles. They are invited to draw strength from a great cloud of encouraging witnesses.

Both passages today can serve as reminders to us that God's style may not be to just fix or eliminate our problems, but is to accompany us in (and through) difficult and discouraging times.

The most faithful act we can do is to not try and control God, but to accept that God is our companion on the journey of this life... the easy road and the hard way.

It may not feel like it is enough sometimes... but the promise from our faith history is that God does not tear it all down and abandon us in the fruitless vineyard, but that God buoys us up in all times... even when it is hard for us to appreciate it.

The 'cloud of witnesses' is not made up only of those of the past who have learned the ultimate truth of God's accompanying presence, but also includes the fellow travellers on the road with us right now.

The person beside you right now is part of your supportive cloud of witnesses. And you are that for them!

We will tangibly live out this when - in a few minutes we come to one table and share in a common meal.

Just as a common loaf and a common cup will offer us physical nourishment, we are connected in the spiritual nourishment we share as a people of God.

We are not alone.

We live in God's world.

In life, in death,

in life beyond death,

we are not alone.

Thanks be to God.

Let us pray:

Holy God, when we are engulfed by fear and worry, remind us that we are not alone. Amen.

***offering***