Lent I - B

Turning Towards the End

Introduction

It is now Lent. At its most basic Lent is a time of preparation, not unlike Advent is as we prepare for Christmas; but with more of an inward focus of self improvement.

Advent is about making room for the Christ child to be born, to bring new life... It is a time for us to make room for the incarnation, it is about recognizing that God is with us, and born again within us…

Lent is the other end of the spectrum…. If God is within us, and with us… then we really do have to accept that we make a lot of mistakes.

So now we have 40 days to think about it. Five weeks to look deep within ourselves in order to see how we are living our Christian faith.

Call it the long hard look at how we are doing…

And this year, we are starting with Noah… well, actually, we are starting at the end of the whole “second chance” story, after Noah has saved his faithful family, and all of the animals and birds, and the rainbow has come out and the water has receded….

We all know that the flood story was about how we never listen to God, and so we were given a second chance… well, God has established a covenant with us, God is going to be faithful, and right now, as we enter Lent, it is a time for us to ask, how are we doing on our side?

With The Kids, the story of the Rainbow and God’s Promises

I Promise

You may have noticed I am making the connection between making promises and Lenten preparation.

It is a theme running throughout our scriptures, from Noah, through Jesus, and into the future church. Paul, when he wrote after Jesus death knew the power of the promises we made, he knew that we were called to be faithful people, and he knew that God’s mission is fulfilled through us.

I know Lent is a hard sell in a secular culture. I have been struggling with how to present it all week… We no longer Fast as part of our regular religious life, we don’t eat fish on Fridays, we are a people who really are not used to going without, and we certainly think we can solve all our own problems, we do not pray to God to solve our life for us very often…

So what is it all about – what if I said it was simply taking 40 days to get in touch with the real you?

Lent was always meant to be a time when we strip away the things that focus us outwardly, and look at the things deep down, in our own hearts and minds… Our own pain, our own struggles, our own needs, and wants… when we do that, the tradition teaches us, we find not only ourselves, but our purpose…

That Whole Jesus in the Desert Thing

Today's Gospel reading is all about Jesus preparing himself.

As Christians, we spend a lot of time talking about Jesus' birth and Jesus' ministry but we spend very little time talking about what happens between the time that Jesus is a child and when he becomes a roving preacher/miracle worker/all around good guy.

But there is a transition that he makes and Mark captures it very succinctly here in these few verses.

Jesus prepares himself for the journey he is about to embark upon – the journey of his ministry.

Before he lifts a finger to help anyone or lets a single word cross his lips to teach anything, he does what he has to do to prepare.

Step one, he gets baptized. In doing this, he makes a commitment to do God's work.

Commitments are a good place to start when one is preparing for something important.

Step two, he spends some time alone in the desert. This is the time when Jesus is said to be tempted by the Devil. He allowed himself to go into those deep dark places that we often keep hidden. While in the desert, he no doubt spent time reflecting on his life and, therefore, had to deal with his own demons, his own stuff. And he cleansed not just his mind but his body too by fasting and enduring the desert conditions.

Step three, he made some plans. The minute he stepped out of his desert time, he announced to the world that he was here and his work seemed to follow in a flurry of footsteps from one dusty road to another, from tiny village to bustling marketplace. All the while he had a sense of purpose and sure-footedness. He obviously had put time into discerning his mission and plotting a loose course of action for himself.

So, Jesus prepared for the journey by making commitments, reflecting and planning.

And when it came down to the wire, it paid off. When the stressful situations hit Jesus in the face, he was able to deal with them gracefully and faithfully because he had spent that time preparing.

Nowhere will we see that more clearly than when we remember the circumstances of his death during Holy Week.

Conclusion

It when we spend time making commitments, dealing with our own personal stuff, and envisioning how our future might look.

It's a time when we try to follow the example that Jesus set. We do this so that when Easter arrives we can truly be renewed and live life attentively and with gusto. But we aren't just preparing for Easter; we're preparing for the rest of our lives.

So, I invite you to use the next six weeks to your benefit. How will you prepare?

Perhaps you want to consider taking on a certain spiritual practice that will help you do this

like praying more, giving more of your time to others, or fasting from junk food or the internet or television or carbon usage. Even if you don't make a specific commitment, I urge you to pay closer attention to your thoughts and to choose your actions wisely.

My promise to you is that if you do this, if you take the time to look within, your life will be more fulfilling. You will emerge from your desert time awake, aware and filled with purpose.

EPIPHANY 6 - B

Just a note... this is a shorter sermon focused a little on being the church as this was the sermon preached before our Annual Meeting. Enjoy.

Healing the Body

Introduction

What does it mean to be part of a church?

We often use different words to describe the church; I have heard it called: A Hospital for sinners, the Bride of Christ, A Family, a Community, the body of Christ, and even a home.

Each of these ways of seeing it are trying to get at the same thing. Church is a place of connection. It is a place where we come and are part of something; part of a loving community, a greatful family, a resourceful bunch of faithful people…

There was an old rhyme: This is the church, and this is the steeple, open it up, and here’s all the people.

Well, I think right from the very beginning church was always about people. At first they met in people’s homes, then they built magnificent cathedrals… but at some level the place never mattered…

The Bible never says “where there is an empty building, there is God.” Rather it says, “where two or three are gathered, there am I also.”

Children’s Story

Namaan’s Tale

I find a bunch of things interesting in the Bible stories we have read today. Most interestingly to me is how the characters inter-relate.

Namaan has a slave girl… who is such a part of the Family that she is concerned over his health. The King of Assyria has a general, who he cares about enough to pay exorbitant foreign medical fees in order to cure. Even Elisha the prophet, loner and troublemaker that he is, has no problem curing Namaan. Of course, he has to be all preachy about it and teach a lesson… but that is just who he is.

To me this whole story echoes some very deep truths about God’s love. It is for everyone, it is everywhere, and it doesn’t matter how stubborn we are.

I think those same core values are at the centre of what “church” is. Church is a place of love for everyone, church is an organization that believes God’s love is everywhere, not just inside these walls, and church is a place where we can bring our pain, our doubts, our stubbornness, and still be loved just as well….

The Psalm for this week, for example, talks about being at the brink of death, of our life being a living hell, and God lifting us up out of that…

At its best, that is what each of us could say about church – there was a time in our life we needed it. And the love of God was shown to us there.

If You Choose

A leper once came to Jesus and said, “If you choose, you can heal me.”

Interesting….

Ever thought about how much of life is choice? Ever thought about the choices you have made and where they have led you?

By the way, the Leper here has already made a choice too – he was an outcast, not supposed to talk to people, or touch them, or even come into town… but he seeks out Jesus and says, proudly, “the ball is in your court now, I have done what I had to… “

There might be another little insight into church. It is not like God is up there watching and watching, and is going to pull the strings like you are a puppet.

You seek God out…. That is the way it works…

There was a story once where the gods were up in the clouds trying to think where to hide the secret to the meaning of life… here was the thing, they wanted people to find it, but only when they were ready.

One of them said, “Let’s put it on the top of the highest mountain, only when they are physically perfect will they be able to get to it…”

Another said, “Let’s put it at the bottom of the ocean, then it will take all of their technical skill to search it out and find it…”

After a few moments of silence the oldest and wisest said, “Let’s hide it in the human heart, and then when they find it, we will know they have worked their hardest to get there.”

I think there is a lot to be learned from this simple Bible story we read… it really is about our choice, and what we are willing to do…

And church is a place where we encounter others along the journey who will help us as we learn to be fully human,…

Conclusion

I think we are all capable of making church what it was intended to be… But the thing is, it is a journey and an effort that we must continue each day to work on.

EPIPHANY 5 - B

Steering the Ship

Introduction

There is an old story about a sea captain who was at the top of his profession. He had earned a reputation as one who could make excellent decisions in times of crisis. People did notice, though, that just before it was time to give his orders to the crew, he would go down to his stateroom, open his safe, and pull out a slip of paper and read it. Then he would stride on deck and make the right call. 

Naturally, curiosity was high.  It was no surprise, that, when he died, one of the first things the crew did after his funeral service, was to gather in his stateroom and watch while the first mate opened the safe and pulled out the well-worn slip of paper.  He read it aloud:

“Port left, Starboard right.”

In difficult times, the captain knew to remind himself repeatedly of the basics. The captain’s little slip of paper held information that everyone already knows. But it was his secret, the basic source of his ability to act.

What if that is the answer to eternal happiness and joy – getting the basics right? I wonder….

Are you Serious

I was reading a blog about the scriptures this week and came across this criticism of the Psalm which made me stop and ask some deep questions… the author, Larry Patton, picked out three verses and wrote:

He heals the brokenhearted… (Ps. 147:3). If that’s true, then why do so many of the people I call for pastoral care weep, sound anguished, speak with voices as if worn out by shouting in a storm?

He determines the number of stars… (Ps. 147:4). Please. In Biblical times they thought the sky was a fixed dome, and the sun moved just above the clouds each day. It’s the Bible that claims Joshua made the sun stand still (Joshua 10). So pardon me if I don’t equate ancient theological metaphors with modern astronomy.

The Lord lifts up the downtrodden… (Ps. 147:6). Can the good Lord please talk some sense into those forlorn homeless men at the corner of Fresno’s Blackstone and Herndon who brandish signs like: I’m a vetran and hongry, pleas help me? They appear permanently downtrodden.

I mean, seriously, he has a point. The Bible seems chock full of platitudes or advertising slogans for God which are designed to help us feel better; or which indeed promise to make us feel better, but we often see no signs of it happening in real life.

Hmmm, I wonder who is off track, us or God?

I mean – is this a case of forgetting to go back to basics? Is the problem with the world that we don’t take the time, like the captain, to tackle our problems from the simplest possible place?

There are poor, is it God’s fault or ours? There is heartache, is it God’s fault or ours? There is dependence on God for what we should do ourselves, is it God’s fault or ours?

See… think about all of this again think about how Isaiah the prophet called Israel in the midst of tough times to go back to basics:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?... He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

God is not going to fix the problems – God has created you… God is at work in you…. You are loved. That is the port and starboard of your life…

Back to Basics

Jesus had a lot of opportunities to get off on the wrong track. He got popular really fast; he drew crowds; he healed people who mattered. I can imagine that there was a good deal of flattery, and that it felt good to his ego.

Not only that, but there were the disciples who were assuredly tickled pink by the success. After all, they wanted Jesus to become popular, to become a folk hero, and to rescue them from the Romans. In their minds there was no such thing as bad press.

But think about who Jesus was – a simple man, from a small town, with a message to share, and a lot of charisma…. He never chose the important seat at the table, he never visited kings or queens, he never asked for rewards of any kind… but the temptation must have always been there.

So here he is preaching to crowds in the synagogue; then he goes and performs a miraculous healing; and all of a sudden the whole city had gathered at his door.

What does Jesus do? He sneaks out the back… he heads out to the seashore for a walk… and finds some time to be alone and recharge his energy and refocus his priorities… it is no wonder when the disciples catch up with him that he tells them “we are moving on.”

I mean, this goes back to that old story about Jesus and the temptations in the desert. Which are basically the temptations that face us all in life: What if you could become famous? What of nothing could hurt you? What If you were rich?

None of us are immune to that are we? We sometimes get caught up in searching for fame and fortune, or we make decisions based on what we think other people want us to do… we don’t take the time to go back to basics.

Jesus does just what our sea captain did. And he does it a lot. Jesus is always heading up a mountain to pray, or into the garden to pray, or along the seashore to pray, or out in a boat to pray. He is also heading off to all of those places alone, to spend time just him and God.

I wonder how often we take the time to do things like this… I know I don’t do it enough.

Conclusion

What would you write on the note in the drawer if you were the sea captain?

What is the most basic truth that would re-assure you about life?

Jesus once suggested the whole “God loves you, love others” as the most basic rule… but I suspect we all need different messages to get us through the tough times: it might be, “You are a good enough parent.” Or perhaps “You are good at what you do.” Or even “God loves you, so do other people.”

But I think there is some truth in the idea that we too often forget the basics, and we need to take time away, we need to focus on those things, in order to handle the rough times life is going to throw at us.

NO matter what happens, though, it can help to remember that God loves us.

Epiphany 4 - B

Lead the Way

Introduction: Person of the Year

At the end of every year, Time magazine gives someone the distinction of “Person of the Year”.

This is a person who, for better or for worse, has done the most to influence the events of the year just past.

Persons of the Year have included politicians like Barrack Obama in 2008, Pope John Paul the 2^nd in 1994, and back in 1927, it was pilot Charles Lindbergh.

Time chooses people who have stepped up and taken leadership roles in our society and have offered change to the world because of it.

Does anyone know who Time magazine's “Person of the Year” for 2011 was? This time, they didn't name a politician, a religious figure or a scientist. This time, they named ordinary people like you and me by naming “The Protestor” as the Person of the Year for 2011.

As you may recall, numerous major protests took place this year throughout the world, including the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, the Moscow Protest, and the Athens Protest. In the end it was the Average Joe and Jane that stood up for what they believed in who made the most difference in changing the world.

In doing so, they became leaders, leading people in an alternative way of thinking and acting. Dictators fell, media turned its attention to topics like values, systems changed.

Children’s Story

Band Aids – Healing people

-          Jesus came to make things better. How?

-          What are simple things we can do?

-          Take this band-aid and keep it till you can give it to someone to try and cheer them up.

Deuteronomy

So we have two things on the go… the idea of a prophet, or in modern terms, a protester… and the idea of healing.

I want to make the argument that they are two sides of a coin… in order to heal the world, you have to understand it… and in order to understand it, you have to question it.

Our Hebrew reading today from Deuteronomy urges us to do this – to question authority, to determine the right things to stand for, to not worship false prophets, and perhaps most importantly, to recognize the leaders among us.

It is about seeing reality for what it really is… and recognizing that there are always going to be those who are leading the way.

In the reading, Moses tells the people: “God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people. Listen to this leader for they will speak in the name of God.”  

It is always a tricky thing, trying to figure out when someone is doing the right thing… Without a doubt, God is calling us to determine what separates a good leader from a bad leader. Who is leading from a place of justice, peace, and love? Who is leading with the authority of the divine? Because it is those people we should listen to…

But beyond that God is also calling us to become these leaders. 

As Moses said, prophets aren't these special people who come from somewhere else; they are ordinary people that we find among us. They can be you and I.

Ordinary People

This is the crucial point we need to accept: we the ordinary people are called to be leaders, to figure out what it is we should stand for and to stand up.

The Old Testament is filled with people who held no official office but were great leaders; people that you wouldn't see wearing suits and ties or campaigning for our vote. We think about Elijah, a wild and wooly man in the desert or David, a typical testerone-filled young boy who liked to play on his harp or Deborah, a woman very much like all the other women in her community. 

Last week we heard about Jonah, this ordinary fellow like you and me. And before that, we talked about Samuel, an inexperienced child. All of them and many more were able to address everyone, from kings to ordinary people, because they were grounded in God and they sought guidance from God's Spirit.

Paul too talked about how to lead from right there among the people. He said that we have to make choices that allow other people to see God through us… we have to step up and BE leaders. Sometimes it means choosing to do the things because other people need us to…

That’s what this is all about – think of the eating meat sacrificed to idols as alcohol – what, you go to church and you drink? Well, if it is going to cause someone problems, you should abstain in front of them – that is what Paul is saying, step up, lead, be willing to put yourself second…

When we do that…. We will discover just how many gifts we have to offer.

And even if we just become leaders of our own life, we are making progress. If we simply take control of our own actions and situations, and not let other people or circumstances dictate how we live, we are choosing to lead.

Shipwrecks

You have all heard by now about the shipwreck that took place in Italy.

On January 13, the Costa Concordia was carrying 4000 passengers and crew members when it came too close to the craggy coast and was thrust upon its side. The tragedy resulted in injury and death.

Reports indicate that the rescue mission was a bit of a circus, as proper procedure was thrown out the window. Crew members allegedly panicked and didn't tell passengers what to do. There are even reports that the Captain abandoned his ship, leaving passengers to fend for themselves; a nightmare created from a lack of leadership.

Contrast that with a story told by Tom Wright in his commentary “Mark for Everyone”.

He told of a great disaster at sea when a ferry boat, loaded with cars and people, failed to shut its doors properly.  This meant that the boat began to take in water and started to sink.

As you can imagine, people were screaming and running around. In the midst of the horror, one voice began to be heard, as a man, who was not a crew member, began to take charge.

Clearly and calmly, he began to give orders. The men, women and children on board responded to his calming influence, and reached the safety of lifeboats, which they certainly would have missed in the dark and panic.

Rather than get into a lifeboat himself, the man went below deck where people were trapped and helped them to safety.

This is what Jesus did. 

He was a leader who based his authority on good things like love and a desire to heal. Unlike the priests and scribes who taught from the authority of someone else, Jesus spoke with his own authority. 

Jesus' desire was to heal those overwhelmed by nightmares, to rescue people from those things that were destroying them. His voice, his actions, carried a gentle yet effective authority to which people reacted positively.

We are called to speak and act an authority that comes from the same place. And the type of leaders we are to be is modelled for us by Jesus. We are the prophets among us.

Conclusion

Demons come in many forms. I know most of them intimately. They are loneliness, and anger, self-doubt and frustration.

They are all out there and you know them as well as I do.

Perhaps, in the end, that is why Jesus had such great faith in us as his followers.

GO out there, remember who you are, embrace what God has given you, and you too can cast out the demons in the people you meet.

Believe it.