Sunday, August 29, 2010

FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP: HUMILITY

August 29, 2010

Pentecost 14

Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16

Luke 14:1,7-14


(prayer)
Have you ever gone for a walk down a path in the woods? One of those windy paths that you can’t see all that far ahead because of the twists and turns and the tall trees and brush on both sides. You may have seen a map or been told where the path leads, but your destination is out of view. You just don’t know all of the details. You are left to trust the exploration.
//
This is the last Sunday of August, the final Sunday before we welcome Alex Bois-Bonifacio as a student minister here at St. David’s, the last Sunday before kids go back to school.
It is the final Sunday of my sermon series on discipleship characteristics. I have spoken about Attentiveness, Commitment, Authenticity. But I have saved the best for last: Humility.
//
Humility is the acceptance that we are not God; we do not know everything; we do not control everything. Humility is an embracing of mystery and trust and faith. And it is a ‘requirement’ expected by God, according to the prophet Micah. We sang it earlier:
Micah 6:8b What does the Lord require of you: but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
//
Jesus was given the honour of dining on the Sabbath with a leader of the Pharisees. This, in and of itself, is not surprising. As we look at the worship practices of Jesus, at the way he reads scripture, the ethical nature of his teachings, we can see that Jesus held much in common with the sect of the Pharisees. In fact, it would be fair to say that Jesus was a pharisaic jew. When we read stories of Jesus at odds with another group (called Sadducees), he is disagreeing with people who hold a very different theology and worldview to his own. But even within his own “denomination” (to use our word), the Pharisees, Jesus had his detractors.
In this dinner with a leader of the Pharisees, Jesus has four distinct teachings for the host and the crowd. In the verses I read from Luke (vv7-14), we heard the second and third of these teachings.
The first one (we didn’t hear today) is quite similar to the story that was read last week from Luke chapter 13: it concerns healing on the Sabbath, whether was lawful or not. “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?”
The fourth teaching is the story of the great banquet that no one seemed able to attend. When the gospel of Matthew relays the story, it says that this was a wedding banquet. But the RSVPs came back with “no” after “no”:
I cannot come,
I cannot come to the banquet,
don’t trouble me now.
I have married a wife;
I have bought me a cow.
I have fields and commitments
that cost a pretty sum.
Pray hold me excused, I cannot come!
The host wanted a full house, so when not enough of the invited guests committed to coming, servants were sent into all of the side streets and alleys and people from all walks of life were compelled to come to the banquet.
//
The bookend stories of Jesus’ teaching, that night at the leader’s house, were about radical inclusion. The normal rules of society that normalize exclusion will be re-written. “Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?” His actions speak the answer: “It doesn’t matter how you interpret the law, I’m doing it anyway! And you would too if it was your ox or your child who needed help. You help them right away; you wouldn’t make them wait until Sundown.”
That’s radical inclusion.
“Go into the roads and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
That’s radical inclusion.
//
The middle stories, the content of the reading today, describe the attitude that makes ‘radical inclusion’ possible.
Jesus saw how people jostled (politely) for the best seats in the room: those up near the front, close to the host. So had a teaching for everyone involved: first, a lesson for guests:
“When you go to a banquet, say a wedding feast, don’t just rush to the best seat. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if you were asked to move down later because someone more distinguished than you arrived. Why not start at the bottom? Who knows: maybe you’ll be asked to move up.”
AND then a lesson for hosts ...
“When it is your time to host a dinner, don’t invite only those close to you or those you’re hoping to get a return invitation (some rich neighbour). Invite also those who need that dinner, the poor, the cripple, lame, the blind. Your act of blessing will come back to you!”
//
Jesus preaches “humility” as the fuel to allow for radical inclusion. Humility is possible and desired for both the host and the guests.
//
In a way, I think Jesus let the crowd off a bit too easy. Perhaps he knew that there could be an inherent selfishness that could stand in the way of people acting with humility. So Jesus ends both of these stories with the one who showed humility, ultimately exalted.
//
But maybe that’s not simply to appeal to our selfish side. Maybe that is part of the message – the difference between the humble and the exalted will be blurred in the end. To God, the people at the banquet are simply guests. It doesn’t matter how they got there or when, what is important is that they are there.
There are no seats that are more honoured or lesser than others. Everyone’s cup runneth over.
Humility is an attitude that can help us begin to believe the truth about Jesus’ ‘radical inclusion’.
//
Whether we find ourselves relating to the metaphor of the host or the guests, the message is the same. Be open to the bigger picture of need and compassion. Leave room in your image of God’s love for others.
//
As I was putting the final touches on my plans for today’s service, I had CNN streaming live on my laptop. I was switching between coverage of the “Al Sharpton Rally” and the “Glen Beck Rally” both being held in Washington DC on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In case you don’t know, Glen Beck is a conservative commentator, host of a radio talk show and a FOXnews TV program and Rev. Al Sharpton is an outspoken personalities from the liberal side in the US, often becoming involved in issues of race and civil rights.
It was a very interesting contrast.
As a Canadian, I have to sift through the volumes of what even Beck called the “American gospel” – the idea that the US was practically divinely ordained to be the beacon of freedom to the world. But, underneath it all I was kind of surprised how both rallies, at least on the surface, were professing a similar message. There needs to be justice and liberty for all. Of course, once you get below the surface and the conservative-liberal ideologies come into play, how liberty and justice are achieved becomes a matter of debate.
But being as optimistic as I can, I would say that the starting point is the same, as it relates to us as individuals: SEE BEYOND YOURSELF.
//
A person needs healing, but I prefer to no worry about those things on a Sabbath day.
See beyond yourself.
I want to arrive early so I can get a good seat. If someone else needed to it here, they should have got here first.
See beyond yourself.
I want to impress others with my party. Maybe I’ve move up the social ladder.
See beyond yourself.
I am too concerned about my own life to make time to celebrate someone else’s wedding.
See beyond yourself.
//
Humility is ‘seeing beyond ourselves’. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally. It is more natural and easy to self-preserve, to focus only on our self and those emotionally close to us. Our DNA is hardwired to protect our inner circle.
Humility is a learned behaviour that has to run against that instinct. It is natural to want to be in control or at least to control as much as we can, so it requires work to risk the uncertainty that humility can bring.
So, why would we do it? Why be humble?
Because, our inner circle is not all that God has provided in this world. We are part of a bigger whole, something larger than ourselves. We are challenged by Jesus’ notion of ‘radical inclusion’.
//
Even as I share this message on humility, I know that I need to hear it as much as I need to preach it. As open as I think I am, I realize that I still have my safe limits. Humility is a progressive attitude – one cannot be or become a humble person. The best we can do is be humble in a given situation. Each situation that comes up is an new opportunity to test how deep our humility has taken hold of our lives.
//
//
Following the Way of Jesus is not easy. Discipleship has costs. Sticking with that metaphor, the costs of discipleship are an investment in trying to bring the nature of God’s realm into our world in real and tangible ways.
//
And so I hope it is helpful to think about some of the characteristics of how we can learn along Jesus’ Way.
Let us pay attention to holy all around us.
Let us be committed to the big biblical themes of God’s love reaching beyond division.
Let us live in an authentic way so that this love is obvious to those who peer into our lives.
Let us accept that we will always be humble disciples (learners). We are not better than others, not higher or lower, but along side.
As I said three weeks ago: I like the word “disciple”. It is fraught with a sense of humility – there is more to known and experienced. It is filled with a promise for what will be. It also implies concentration and effort. And like its sister-word ‘discipline’, being a disciple can involve adhering to a program and practice that leads to transformation.
It may be a twisty path, where we can't see the end from where we are, but that’s where this is ultimately going. We seek to be changed: to be transformed into people who lives show the light of Christ to the world in all that we do and say.
That is a lofty goal, it is a humble goal. It will be the work of our lifetime.
//
Let us pray:
Holy God, give us the courage we need to be humble followers of Jesus, our Christ. AMEN.

#79MV “Spirit, Open My Heart”

Sunday, August 22, 2010

FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP: AUTHENTICITY

August 22, 2010
Pentecost 13
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17



(prayer)
I am big into compromise. I’m not sure if it one of things within me that drew me into ministry or if, by the nature of the church itself, I have been taught to comprise … but I consistently find myself in situations where compromise is warranted, and helpful.
The church as an institution has a structure that often mandates group decision making. Perhaps more so than other organizations, the church finds an importance in “consulting” widely before decisions are made. These processes are often mandated into our structure, both locally as a congregation and in the wider courts of the church, like Presbytery, Conference and General Council.
The church is more than an institution, it is a movement. As a movement, the church strives for relationships without class or judgement. We believe (as the Apostle Paul wrote) that we are one in Christ. There may be diversity among us, different skill, abilities, desires, but we live and move and have our being in the one God, the one Christ, the one Spirit. We are “differently gifted”. Because that is foundational to the Jesus Movement, we want to move together as much as possible. And so compromise seems to be a natural fit within the church.
//
Now, not every group that I find myself active with operates with the same desire to find the common path. When I am sitting around a table with others charged with leadership of some kind, I am always uncomfortable when things come to a close vote. It’s easy to call “the question” and see who has 50% + 1 support, but generally, I prefer the often harder (and more time consuming) work of compromise.
Kind of unfairly, we compromisers are labelled as wishy-washy or wafflely. The mantra of our detractors is: “you’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” I would suggest that would be a good line for a country song, but it already is (Aaron Tippin, 1991).
//
The truth is that as much as compromise is valuable and almost always possible, our call as disciples includes a base from which to begin, a place from which we draw our strength and inspiration.
This is the third of four services planned around the theme of discipleship. I have been focusing on some key characteristics of discipleship for a couple of weeks now. So far, I have spoken about being ATTENTIVE to the glimpses of the spirit all around us, the work of God in the world. And last week the theme was being COMMITTED to the path and Way that Jesus led.
For me, perhaps the most important characteristic of discipleship is AUTHENTICITY. In all that we do, in all that we are as Christians, our base, our foundation needs to shine through. Even through times of change and compromise and transformation, we are invited to have that authentic grounding which unites us with our source.
//
I admit that the Hebrews passage for today was a bit verbose and tricky to follow, but there was that message at the end which sums up the author’s theme: some things are unshakable. In the end, we have to stand for something. And that something should be consistent with the life we live. Disciples need to be authentic.
//
Now, I didn’t say perfect, I said authentic. It means we build from a foundation up. One of Jesus well-known parables was about the two home builders, one who chose the quick and easy construction founded on sandy soil; the other chose a rock-solid foundation. And the rains came and the wind blew. And with a huff and a puff, the little pigs had no place to live. Wait, I may have added in a nursery rhyme. The point is: the foundation matters. That’s where authentic discipleship comes from: the foundation.
//
To explore that a bit, let’s look at the story from the gospel of Luke today.
Jesus was away from home and was visiting a local synagogue. Perhaps, the purpose of this visit was because Jesus’ reputation had grown and he had been invited to come and teach there. Jesus notices that one of the women of the congregation is all bent over. She has had some injury or illness that has left her this way for eighteen years. When someone has such an obvious physical ailment, people sometime naturally see the malady before the person. Jesus calls the woman forward and she does. He simply touches her and declares that she has been set free. She slowly straightens up … it is true the woman had been healed.
It must have been a moment of wonder and excitement. But it was also a moment of controversy. Hebrew law required that the Sabbath day be honoured as a day of holy rest and worship. It is one of the Ten Commandments. Honouring the Sabbath was an important part of living out one’s faith in Jesus’ time. What Jesus has done was interpreted as “work” by the leader of this synagogue. Saving a person’s life was allowed on a Sabbath, but the appropriatness of healing other non-life threatening illnesses was a matter of debate. It could wait until the next day. Jesus’ contribution to the discussion was that the Sabbath laws allowed for animals to be cared for: fed and walked as necessary. Surely this woman was as valuable as a donkey or an ox.
This woman’s dignity, as a daughter of Abraham, as a child of God, was paramount. She should not be made to wait for God’s touch in her life.
Jesus, within the mysteries of God’s abilities, was the divine hand for her. It is who Jesus was. He had to be who he was to be.
As far as the rules went, Jesus was concerned with the Spirit of the Law, when the letter of the law seemed out of whack with the needs of the community.
//
As followers – disciples – of Jesus, we are to be true to our calling to “love as Jesus loved”. In John 13:34-35, Jesus is recorded as saying: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
Having love for others is a sign of our discipleship. That is our unshakable foundation. That is where our authenticity is measured.
“Love for one another” means that we care about how the other person’s life is going. We all want to feel like we belong; we all want to be happy; we all want to know that our lives have value. The measure of our authenticity is centered in how we actively care about these things.
//
We are all children of God and so we have a commonality that cannot be taken from us. Within God’s family, there is variety, which is one of its greatest blessings. But in our diversity, we are one. We are to matter to each other.
And so, when sisters and brothers are suffering, we suffer too. When three weeks of flooding wash away the lives of some of our family, we are all affected. When bullets and bombs fly, we are all affected. When the cost of living outstretches a family in the inner city, we are all affected. When someone feels they have to turn to an addiction to escape the hardness of life, we are all affected.
To be a disciple of Christ is to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper – and to be kept by them.
//
Jesus’ healing abilities were mysterious and holy. We may not be able to heal the ills that plague human dignity and the integrity of our world with a simple touch, but we do have the resources necessary and the ability to truly live out the love that Jesus calls us to have. It’s just hard … and time consuming and … emotionally taxing but … possible.
The big work of discipleship is really the combination of all of the small acts of kindness and compassion we can do. As each one of us struggles and strives to be an authentic follower of Jesus, the sum of our parts will have power beyond our imaginings.
//
Jesus welcomes, loves and restores in the mystery of God’s healing reign. We are invited to celebrate that mystery. We are also called to be agents of such healing freedom. Who in our world and our communities is “bent over”, is living in the shadow in some way. How might each of us (as individuals and as a church) reach out into our world so that everyone knows they are a valuable child of God?
//
It begins with us – living as authentic disciples of our Christ.
//
Let us pray:
Holy Healing God,
When we feel weighed down by the challenges of life, help us know that we are valuable to you. Give us the courage to simply be who we are called to be: honest, authentic followers of Jesus. AMEN.

#619VU “Healer of Our Every Ill”

Sunday, August 15, 2010

FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP: COMMITMENT

August 15, 2010
Pentecost 12
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

(prayer)
Love your neighbour.
The LORD is my shepherd.
I see a new heaven and a new earth.
//
Those are nice bible passages. Comforting, soothing, hopeful. Nice.
And then what does the Lectionary give us for today? They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. And ... Do you think I have come to bring peace on the earth? No, division!
//
The truth is that following one’s faith often leads to hard roads. The degree of that difficulty can vary from being inconvenient to being life-threatening.
There was a time when the early Christians were a minority movement. That is the context of the writing of today’s two scripture readings from Hebrews and Luke. As the decades began to roll on (as ¾ of the first century passed), people’s level of intensity for the church and its message and mission was challenged. And so the writers of works like the gospel of Luke and the letter to the Hebrews highlighted characteristics that were needed among the believers.
This is the second Sunday of a four part series where I will be exploring some key characteristics of Discipleship. A disciple is a learner, a disciplined follower of a wise mentor. I am hoping that this time will allow us to ask: what is helpful when trying to learn Jesus’ way and which characteristics will we want embody as we follow Jesus’ path.
Last week, I spoke about the value of “attentiveness” – to be mindful of the activity of the Spirit in our midst – to look for, and notice, and appreciate, and react-to the glimpses of God’s work in the world. One important characteristic of discipleship is attentiveness.
Today the theme flows out of attentiveness: “commitment”.
//
The author of Hebrews uses examples of the faithful from the past as encouragement for the people of the early church. The author highlights how the people of Moses’ time had to trust that God was leading them to freedom. There is also the example from Joshua’s time when the people had entered Canaan after the exodus and encountered resistance at the first major fortified city they ran into: Jericho. They faithful walked and waited until they witnessed the walls tumble down. And Hebrews also highlights the lesser known story of Rahab who aided Israelite spies trying to gain intelligence on Jericho’s defences. The author admits that many more examples could be drawn from the scripture.
//
A message here? Sometimes faith requires risk. The letter to the Hebrews also honours those who refused to renounce their faith under threat of torture and death. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword.
//
Something that it is true in any age is that Faith is easy when the sea is smooth and calm; it’s when the storms come that our commitment is put to the test.
Now I don’t mean that in the sense that I think God maliciously sends us calamity to test us. I really *dislike* that theology. The bad stuff that happens in the world is almost always the result of human activity and human “in-humanity”. I don't buy into the "the devil made me do it' or "God is testing me" theology. However, I believe that god's with us always and supports us in and through difficult times.
How we react to these faith challenges depends of the depth of our character as disciples.
There were certainly challenges for members of the early church. For some of them, it was life and death. For some the risk was too high and faith was set aside. The authors of our scriptures today wanted to encourage people to strengthen their commitment in times of difficulty.
//
We (on the other hand) live in a relatively easy place and time to be a person of faith. There virtually no ‘danger’ to try and live out your faith in Leduc. Freedom of religious expression is a guaranteed right under the Canadian Constitution, as it is in many democratic societies.
Having said that, I would be naive (and wrong) to think that we live in a time void of religious tension. The truth is that within the so-called western countries, where there is by-and-large rights of religious freedom, practically, it can be easier to be Christian than non-Christian. Some people think that religious freedom means you can be Catholic or United or Baptist or Anglican. One the sad realities of our modern post-911 world is that there is subtle and not-so-subtle anti-islamic sentiments loose in society. Whether it is the call to ban head scarves or restrict where mosques can be built, religious persecution – even in the west - is alive and well.
In the middle-east where religious tensions are much more obvious and do lead to real and violent persecution far too often, we heard recently of Christian aid workers being killed in Afghanistan simply for being Christian; we see a wall being built in the west bank that cuts communities in half (a wall by the way that in many cases in well inside the border of the west bank, effectively shrinking the already disputed Palestinian territory).
Even today, in the most modern and advanced societies, religion is being used to justify discrimination and in some circles political pressure is exerted to attempt to make discrimination the law of the land.
The biggest fallback (I think) to democracy is that sometimes the will of 50%+1 of the people can dehumanize a minority. That’s why we have bills of rights and constitutions to ensure that fairness prevails, even (especially) when the majority think otherwise. Sometimes the mama grizzlies growl, but the majority is not always right when it comes to rights.
And so, even in our part of the world, in our North American, Euro-Australian culture, religious expression can lead to some hard situations.
The sad reality is that in our modern world, the threat of violence often comes from one religious group to another – sometimes with the same faith expression.
It is the hardest thing for me to try and defend to people outside the church – why do people who profess a religion of peace, or specifically in our case as Christians, to follow one we call the Prince of Peace, why do we find ourselves embroiled in so much conflict and destruction? I don’t have a good answer, other than to say that some of us are so convinced that we have a monopoly on the truth that we do not respect the humanity of others who think or believe differently than us. I would suggest that this goes against the very nature of Jesus' ministry.
In two weeks, I will speak about the discipleship characteristic of “humility”, which address that dilemma to some degree, but for today, I am on the tightrope of commitment.
As my friend David Wilcox sings “you gotta wonder why religion can make people so insane?”
//
Ironically, it is some people’s commitment to their particular dogma that they use to justify their actions, which can include violence. They would read today’s passages as encouragement to stay the course and remain adamant that if others are allowed to be different, it is a threat to their faith.
So, I say that it is not enough to simply be committed. What we are committed to is central to who we are and who we can be.
//
This is tricky because it’s all a matter of interpretation. And so I build from the big themes that are central to what I have come to believe. For me, I am drawn to the image of God as the loving creator: the one whom an ancient storyteller proclaimed created a world to be “good”; and whom another storyteller invited humanity to tend and care for the world and its creatures as if they were a gardener; a steward of something valuable that belonged to God. I am inspired by the stories of Jesus risking ridicule by opening doors of involvement. To play with Jesus’ own words: He was willing to suffer to let the children come to him. He defended the woman who broke protocol and wiped his head and feet with oil.
To the Corinthian Christian, the apostle Paul wrote eloquently about the value of a variety of gifts and skills and activities – all of which are from the spirit. Paul would go on to proclaim Love as the greatest of all gifts – even greater than Faith and Hope.
What is the greatest commandment?, Jesus was asked. Love God with all your heart, soul and strength. And as well, love your neighbour as yourself.
I think the centre of a disciple’s character is a commitment to this radical notion of love without reserve: Love that recognizes that all whom we encounter are founded in goodness in the eyes of the creator. The spark of the spirit is alive within all and that effects how we relate to others and the world we share.
//
My suggestion is that we resist the path of building walls around our comfort and making enemies of all who are not where we are in terms of our world view. We are to live love by example. That takes a strong commitment in a world and a culture that seems to enjoy and thrive on division.
I hope and prayer that, in the church, disciples of Christ will remain committed to this basic call to be people living out the love of God!
//
//
Certainly bucking the trend of divisive fundamentalism is challenging enough, but I also know that there is another significant challenge to our commitment.
The relative calmness of religious practice in our neck of the woods can make the other distractions of life a challenge to faithful discipleship. In fact, our faith has more to fear from apathy than from persecution.
//
How do we remain committed in a world that doesn’t usually honour the rest and attention that spirituality needs. We struggle against the notion that even an hour on Sunday, might be too much time to sacrifice to one’s faith. It’s ironic that I am saying that to you, who have committed to this time today. I hope you don’t hear this a critical of people’s choices. In fact, as person from a home where both adults work anything but Monday to Friday, 9-5 jobs, as a parent of young busy children, as a minister who has more time to lead worship than to truly worship myself, I understand how hard it is to find time for faith.
I simply want to name that the busyness of this life, the varied demands on our finite time can be a challenge to the commitment we can offer as disciples of Jesus.
//
Being aware of that, is our first best step in trying to find the time to be committed to a mission of love and compassion.
The other side of that is because everyone is busy, we can sometime feel as if we are not able to make much difference. That brings to mind an old story about a boy who came across a beach at a particularly low tide, where hundreds and hundreds of starfish were drying out in the sun. The reality is that not all of them would survive until the waters rose enough to take them back out to sea. So the boy started throwing starfish out into the surf. A passerby felt compelled to comment, you’re wasting your time, you’ll never get them all, you can’t really make a difference. The boy looked at the starfish in his hand and tossed it out to sea anyway and said, “I made a difference to that one.” And he kept tossing out starfish.
It can be hard to be committed to a mission of love and compassion if we feel that our impact barely scratches the surface of what the world needs. But as Maragaret Mead said, Don’t believe that small groups cn change the world, they’re the only ones who ever do. It was Ghandi who encourage people to be the change you want to see in the world. And of course Jesus simply calls us to love as he loves.
To be serious about learning from Christ, of being a modern disciple of Jesus, we need to be attentive to the spirit in our lives and we need to honour that presence with our commitment to live and love as Jesus did.
Not easy, but things that are truly important seldom are.
Let us pray: >>>
Come near to us God to show us the Way. Encourage us to be faithful to our calling as disciples of Christ. Amen.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLESHIP: ATTENTIVENESS

August 8, 2010
Pentecost 11
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40

(prayer)
One of the ways that people talked about Jesus was to speak of him as a teacher, a rabbi. During one of the most well-known Easter passages (from John 20), when Mary Magdalene realizes that it is the Risen Christ standing in front of her not the gardener, she exclaims “Rabbouni” – Aramaic for Teacher!
As well, we most often refer to Jesus first followers as “disciples”, a word that means students. A key aspect of the relationship between Jesus and his followers is that of Teacher and Student; Mentor and Apprentice.
I like the word “disciple”. It is fraught with a sense of humility – there is more to known and experienced. It is filled with a promise for what will be. It also implies concentration and effort. And like it’s sister-word discipline, being a disciple can involve adhering to a program and practice that leads to transformation.
When I find myself embroiled in conversations about criminal justice, I am uncomfortable with people whose only interest is punishment, with not respect for the place of discipline. Discipline gets its strength from hope. And I am a fan of hope!
//
And so, as I was preparing for this month’s worship services, I noticed that the Revised Common lection is suggesting New Testament letter (epistle) readings from the latter chapters of the book of Hebrews and the gospel lessons come from the heart of the Gospel of Luke.
As I looked at these various words of wisdom from our history of faith, I found myself thinking about what characteristics we might want to focus on, as we strive to be attentive, committed, authentic and humble disciples of our Christ.
//
Both the letter to the Hebrews and the gospel of Luke are relatively late New Testament writings. Luke found written form in the mid-70s of the first century, some 40 plus years after Jesus’ life. Hebrews would have come from around the same time, perhaps even a few years later.
What that time tells us is that the early Christian movement had several decades to develop and grow and that this growth is reflected in the writings: even in the gospel which describes for year old events.
One of the themes that the early church needed to address was: how could they keep the movement alive now that most of the original followers of Jesus had lived their full lives and were now gone?
There was so much excitement in those first years. Jesus’ followers were buoyed by the direct accounts of people who lived and learned with Jesus. There were the few who even claimed to have witnessed the Risen Christ after he had been executed on the cross. There was so much hope: God’s redemption had been glimpse – it must be close – some of the early church members expected a dramatic divine action to re-order the world. They not only hoped for a Kingdom of Heaven, but the manifestation of that Kingdom on earth.
The Lord’s Prayer expresses that desire:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
//
The image of a kingdom is less relevant to us in our day. But we can see its value in the ancient world. They lived in the world of kingdoms and empires. The powerful lived in palaces and held all the wealth and controlled the destiny of the rest of the population who lived and worked and died at the whim of the kingdom. Some rulers were benevolent, but most ruled with a selfish iron fist.
So when they imagined God as being their sovereign, who was the one who had the power and it was motivated by a desire to love and care for the people … the same language was used.
In fact, it was this language that got Jesus killed. His followers touted him as a new King. We can recall Jesus’ answer to Pilate in the gospel of John: “My kingdom is not of this world”.
So I understand that “Kingdom” is not as relevant a metaphor for the modern age, but if we hear it the way the scripture writers use it, it can still have some value for us.
//
As the New Testament story moves into its second and third generations, the call to be an attentive disciple becomes more prevalent.
“Faith is the conviction of things not seen.”
“You must be watching and ready.”
//
As more and more time passed, complacency became a concern. A hope for the future began to give way to a concern only for today. A sense of community began to give way to a concern only for the self.
And so the new generation of Christian leaders began to try and bring back the focus that was easier in the early years. Being a follower of Jesus needed to mean that a person was concerned with the bigger, longer picture as well as who and where they were in that moment.
//
The language of the scripture writers is that of “gift”: or more specifically a “legacy”. We heard inheritance language in both Hebrews and Luke this morning.
The author of Hebrews uses perhaps the ultimate inheritance story as his example: the ancient story of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham’s family lived well near the city of Ur along the mouth of the Euphrates River near the Persian Gulf. But there was a call to leave that settled live to begin something exciting and new.
There was a promise: I will be your God and you will be my people. The details were sketchy at best. Abraham who had no children was promised a great legacy. For a man in the ancient world, there could be no greater carrot on a stick.
Abraham didn’t argue the lack of details, he trusted – he had faith. And he watched for signs of the truth of the covenant as he moved along on his sketchy journey. Those signs certainly included a new land to settle in; the surprising late-life parenting of Isaac. Abraham likely lived to see his great-grandchildren. It was certainly a grand extended family, but hardly the mighty nation that was embedded in the promise – Abraham would have to leave that in the hands of future hope.
For the Hebrews writer, the metaphor is extended to the idea of the transformation of the nomadic settlements of Abraham’s time to a grand city. To the early church this was a symbolic way to express that hope for the Kingdom of God.
Luke also speaks of inheritance. God is the head of the household, who gives the kingdom. It is like a great treasure, this gift of God’s reign.
Luke wants the potentially complacent church to get excited about this promise again – be ready to receive it. Be like a servant prepared to welcome home the master of the house after a wedding feast. Or, Luke says, if that doesn’t work for you, think of a vigilant homeowner, who catches the thief before anything can be stolen.
//
To learn what it means to follow Jesus, to be a learner, a disciple includes being attentive. Attentive to our lives and the way we are interacting with the world and attentive to our hopes - for where we hope to be and who we hope to become.
//
This modern world makes that challenging. We are surrounded by so much that can distract us from discipleship. Our use of technology and our pursuit of perpetual economic growth fills our lives to the point where, I am not sure I know anyone anymore who doesn’t think their lives are TOO busy.
We are constantly making choices about how we will use our time. And we leave so much potential on the sideline. We live in a world that seldom values rest.
//
And there is a sense of general unease, even unhappiness about this reality.
So, can there not be value for us to focus on a promise of fulfillment. To be reminded our calling to follow the one who welcomed the outcast, who loved the unloved – who brought children and women into the circles once reserved for only the men of the patriarchal society.
Yesterday, the Men’s Club was blessed to listen to wisdom about the United Churches involvement in the native residential school system. That wisdom focused on listening and learning and focusing on where we are going.
//
Attentiveness is about being mindful of our surroundings and to find and focus on those things where the Spirit is active.
Attentiveness is about remaining faithful to our calling to Love God with our whole being (heart, mind and strength) and to love neighbour as deeply as we love ourselves.
//
It may seem like it is hard to fit that into an already busy life, but it is already in our lives, we just have to take the effort to notice it.

Let us pray … (ad lib)

#567VU Will You Come and Follow Me”