Home by Another Way

Beginning the Story

I want to be honest with you. This New Year has been a bit of a struggle for me. Nothing serious… Just…. Soul Searching sort of stuff. I blame the idea of New Year’s resolutions. It makes me think too much. It makes me wonder about the point… And that makes it hard.

What sort of person are you? I am the think too much type. I know other people who are the jump right in sort of people. I envy them. Of course, both types make mistakes. Both types get along okay. It is just sometimes I wish I thought about things less.

I wonder which the wise men were? Did they look up at the night sky, see a strange star, and instantly jump on their camels? Or did they go back inside, consult the star charts, get together with colleagues., and then plan in detail and expedition?

I suppose it really does not matter. They saw something new and they decided they wanted to learn more. I think that is a good response whether you are the think too much or seat of the pants type of person.

When we see something new – we should chase after it, learn from it, allow it to influence us, allow it to change us.

And this is why the struggle. Here is the thing I have been thinking a lot about these last few weeks. The church is dying because we are not those people. I don’t just mean here. I mean in general… the church, Christianity, congregations, denominations. We do not embrace the new. In fact, we ignore the very real evidence and stick to the old so strongly that our knuckles turn white.

I asked a question on Facebook last week – since I have hundreds of people who follow me – most of whom do not go to church. I asked if you once went to church if you one considered yourself Christian, why do you not go, or believe now.

I was surprised by how many people answered. I was not as surprised by the answers, they were, in fact, what I would have expected. There were only two – I am gay, or a single mother, or different in some way and the church does not accept me. And the second answer, I do not believe in the supernatural and the church insists on making belief in magic a basis for belief.

By that they meant things like the world being created in seven days, Moses parting the red sea, the virgin birth of Jesus, Jesus as superhero… that sort of thing.

Do those answers surprise you? Cause they are the same ones I have heard over and over – and I have felt. I cannot believe in fairy tales and the church is nowhere near as accepting as Jesus.

So here is the question that keeps me up at night. We have known this for years. The churches across the world have been emptying out for years. And yet we still say that everyone else is wrong and that church is doing it right. Why do we bury our heads in the sand?

The Story Unfolds

“The Wise Men” were philosophers. They were astrologers. They were scientists from Persia – a place where running water and streetlights existed when Europe was still building mud huts. There may have been three of them traveling together, or there may have been a hundred and they brought three gifts. The story really does not tell us a lot about them – it makes who they are ambiguous except for two things – they were not Jewish, and they were wise.

Interestingly enough they saw something important in the birth of Jesus. Something so important as to leave everything behind and spend years on a journey to meet this guy. I think of it sort of like those people who go off backpacking in Europe to find themselves or go to meet the Dalai Lama. They are people who know a lot who want to know more and they are willing to do anything to get that enlightenment.

An interesting model of faith for the Bible to throw in there, is it not? They have a religion by the way – Persia was almost 100% religious, and they were Zoroastrian. Which is actually a really cool religion that has elements of Hinduism and Buddhism mixed with a lot of wisdom and astrology. But they thought to themselves – hey, something is happening in Judaism. We better go take a look.

Want to review the last 40 years of Christianity – since the ’60s let's say? Everyone started doing Yoga, a Hindu spiritual practice. But we will ignore that. Everyone started doing Transcendental Meditation. Buddhism and Taoism as popular culture. But we will ignore that. Secular Humanism and Atheism – just wrong. Islam? What would they know about anything? And now the fastest growing religion seems to be the ancient Wiccan and Druid practices of medieval Europe. Still – we have nothing to learn from any of this… right?

Sorry. I don't mean to sound bitter. It is just that I think that we really have to start being more like these wise guys. We have to start pursuing life and truth – and be willing to take more risks to get there. Even if the truth we find is not what we expected.

This story that we read today – part of the Christmas Story – so part of our most important story is chock full of people willing to buck the system in order to bring about change. The wise men leave home, journey forever, disobey a king, and hide out from the authorities because they believe that spiritual knowledge is worth it.

Mary and Joseph give birth in a stable, defy their families, go against social norms, and flee as refugees to another country – because they believe something special is happening.

But we few who remain in this tradition fight tooth and nail against anything that would mean change. Gretta Vosper tries to redefine worship so that all the supernatural and hard to accept things are gone and the powers that be try to bring her up on heresy charges. Anglicans use a prayer book from the 1800s. We mostly sing music in a style that went out in the turn of two centuries ago. I could go on and on and on and implicate every denomination, every religion, every congregation in this fear of change.

You know it is true. We do not connect with the modern era. We have refused to find a way to. It might be too late.

Ideas to Take With Us

I struggle every day with this stuff. I know I struggle more than others because it is actually my job to struggle with it. But I cannot help but feel the story of the wise men seeking out Jesus – seeking our truth at any cost – is an important one for us

I just think it might be insanity to continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Which is what I think the church has been about for a long time.

We need to accept that What we have known, been and done no longer serves the purpose of helping other people to know the love of God. We have fallen behind in making a difference. This needs to change or there is no point.

I am not offering easy answers – I have struggled with what to do for my whole life. But I think I need to work harder. And I think we have to push against the edges even more. But as someone once said, nothing worth having comes easy. Time to take that to heart.

EPIPHANY 2 C

MESSAGE  

INTRODUCTION

The Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh says, “I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize. A blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black curious eyes of a child, our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

So I want to talk to you about the wedding at Cana - Jesus was there for some reason, and when they ran out of wine, Jesus made more. This is an incredible thing with lots of deep symbolism, but I don’t want to talk about how extraordinary it was…

I want to talk about how ordinary it is. I want to talk about miracles from the other side – not parting the red sea so everyone can walk on the floor of the ocean, but simple miracles, easy miracles, everyday miracles.

And there is a reason for us to think about the miraculous – Think of it as the old glass half full conundrum. I think far too many of us see the glass as half empty – we focus on the negatives and in doing so we get stuck in desolation, stuck in darkness, stuck in the depressing aspect of life and fail to see the everyday miracles around us…

The other day Ali showed me a picture of two girls in a windstorm – one was looking away from the wind with her hands up over her face and clearly looking annoyed… The other was turning into the wind and pretending to be flying, with a huge smile. The caption at the bottom of the picture said the only difference is attitude.

AROUND US EVERY DAY

I mean, think about it, just the fact that you are alive is a miracle!  Of all the millions of possible gene combinations, you came out. The timing was right, you have the right number of chromosomes, your mother was able to carry and nurture you for 9 months.  All the conditions have to be just right for someone to be born. Being you and being alive is truly miraculous.

But just look around - The sun comes up and the moon comes out. The earth spins on its axis and we have a brand new day every 24 hours. The seasons change, no matter where you live on the earth we see the same moon, there is music… So many things that are amazing which surround us every day.

I know it is weird, but I always think the way a body works is a miracle. The heart pumping blood, the way we process oxygen, the fact that our brain makes up ideas….

And what about oceans, tides, snowfall killing blackflies, the way trees breathe in carbon dioxide which is poisonous for us, and breathe out oxygen which we breath – while we breathe out carbon dioxide for the trees?

I wonder if we go through life ignoring the small miracles – the moments that bring exceptional beauty or grace, or love into the world?

There is a commercial for life insurance from Thailand. It is called Unsung Hero and it is very moving. I will post it up on Facebook or you can google it to watch it… but here is what you see – there is a young man who seems like he lives alone who wakes up, walks to work, eats lunch, comes home, goes to bed. Every day… every day the same.

He sees a dead plant near some water that is dripping from a pipe so he moves it over, he sees a lady who cannot lift her food cart over the curb so he helps here, he sees a homeless dog so he feeds it some chicken, he sees a woman and her daughter begging so he gives them some spare change, and he sees an old lady alone in his apartment building and he leaves her some bananas.

Every day… every day the same.

Until – one day – the plant blossoms with flowers, the lady with the food cart starts giving away food to poor people, the homeless dog follows him home, the begging little girl finally has enough money to start school and the old woman gives him a hug..

Every day miracles – simple things that change the world – that move us one step on the journey from desolation to delight.

WE NEED THIS

We all need this, you know, we all need to find those miracle which move us from one place to the next and help us to see the world for what it is, a thing of beauty and wonder.

I mean, there are the extreme things too which seem miraculous. A story on Oprah Winfrey was told about Lareece Butler, who was brave enough to try skydiving for the first time only to jump out of the plane with a faulty parachute. She escaped a free fall of 3,000 feet with only a broken leg, a fractured pelvis, and a concussion. As Butler plummeted, the chute's ropes twisted around her. She later told reporters she had prayed, God save me, please; I have a son, but could recall nothing else until she woke up in the hospital, surrounded by her amazed and grateful family.

Now, I am not trying to suggest prayer was what caused her to survive – it was just luck. But it is a miracle nonetheless, and we hear stories about miraculous things like this every day, a house fire where everyone lives, a dog who barks and warns of an upcoming tornado… these are the more obvious things…

But again – back to the simple….

Jesus was at a party and they ran out of wine – he pointed out that there was plenty of wine in the barrels over there by the wall… now people had checked, and those barrels were filled with water; but now they were filled with wine.

It is not a stunning miracle, it is not even an obvious miracle, someone might have moved the barrels, or they just assumed it was water when it was really wine all along – who knows.

But the message beneath the surface is – don’t give up on life. Don’t expect the negative. Don’t accept that things have to go wrong. There is always a solution. There is always a better way to see it. There is always a way forward. After every rain shower the sun comes out.

Thousands of years ago Isaiah said to the people, it will not always be like this, you have to see that God is at work all around you making things better. Beauty, love, peace, they have a way of rising up from the ashes all around us.

And if we are looking for the miracles, if we are expecting the good, then we will find that life is filled with them. So let us celebrate that we have a god in whom all things are possible. We have a god who changes the ordinary into the extraordinary, who changes water into wine, who changes desolation into delight. May our eyes be open to the miracles surrounding us this day.

Amen.

Epiphany

just a quick note to say that this is mostly a sermon written by Rev. Ali Smith. I used it as a starting point for my sermon which was a little off the cuff... 

Contemporary Reading:      “The Journey of Melchyor”

Evening chants had just begun when Baba called to me.

Near to him I advanced, seated close to his knee.

“Melchyor,” he whispered, “we'll leave this very night.

No need to wait for any more word, as we have seen the Light.”

The camels, all twenty, swaggered as they rose,

our congeries in bags concealed from any foes,

with Bab's gift of brand new gold...

'Twas for the great One as foretold.

From the home mountains of Kailash we trekked the Indus plain;

to Balthazar, at Bela, my master had explained--

a scholar so extraordinaire, who knew the dawning light,

though his gift of myrrh foretold a doom,

'twill last for just one night.

From dusk to dawn we walked and rode.

At sun-up we slept then studied our code.

Days changed the weeks to so many moons;

our caravan became known with its gilded festoons.

“Haste, haste to Karbala!” my master cried,

“From King Gaspar we mus not divide.

He brings food, and silks, and frankincense.

His arrival would dash our suspense.”

From dusty, hot sands we plodded on,

until the cooling Euphrates we won.

“Six hundred miles 'til journey's end,”

said Gaspar.  “Look, see where heaven will bend...”

To Bethlehem, in Bethlehem our goal was safe and sound.

While men and beasts stretched on the ground,

too weak we carried Baba in a stall.

Balthazar, Gaspar, and I entered entralled.

Baba, our master, wiped his tears.

He tried to calm our excited cheers.

The child approached and hugged him tight,

and master whispered, “We've seen the Light.”

“We have seen the Light!”

The Wise Men

They followed a star - a single, shiny burst of light out there somewhere in the universe; one piece of cosmic energy among millions. And trusting in that simple light, the Magi went on this enormous journey. 

They didn't quite know what they would find at the end. Something about a child born to be King of the Jews? They trusted that the light would get them there. They let it guide them. And when they got to Bethlehem, they found a poor, powerless child. 

Not quite what they expected. But just like with the star that took them so far, in this small child, they found more light. Light that would guide their way; that would guide their lives. 

By simply witnessing the light, the light became a part of them. They carried it with them where they went.

They became light-bearers. 

The journey that they thought would end when they made it to the newborn king had really only just begun when they looked into his eyes. They were forever changed and went home another way. 

Trusting the Light

Can you find yourself in this story? Have you ever been like the Magi? Do you let the light guide you? Can you even find the light in the first place?

We live in a pretty structured society. I'll admit to being one of those people who carries their calendar with them at all times, depending on it to get through the week. In our now-2013 world, things are scheduled and planned and expected to happen a certain way.

So, picture this: Someone comes to you and says, “I heard a rumour that an important child might have been born... maybe...probably. Drop what you're doing!  Put your life on hold! Go out there and find this person. 

I can't really tell you how to get there but I'm sure you'll figure it out.” What would you do? 

Would you think of a million reasons why not to follow some rumour and shifty advice? Or would you round up the camels and start riding out into the wilderness, looking up the sky, hoping for a sign from the heavens

to point you in the right direction?

Or...to update the situation for our time... would you turn on the GPS and start driving and hope some road signs would direct you where you need to go?

It's hard to muster up that kind of trust, I think. It's hard to believe that God will guide us. It's hard to go forward without a real plan.  After all, we are molded to trust no one and to be ever skeptical. But it hasn't always been that way . . .

Celtic Pilgrims

I think it's true that people used to listen to God more. I don't mean that God appeared before them with clear-cut commandments either.  “Thou shall...”  “Thou shall not...”  No. God spoke through instincts

or through the wisdom of other people or in a plethora of other ways. But people trusted and listened.

Historically, there has been a sense that the winds of God can guide us without us being so afraid or guarded.

I think we've lost the trust that people like the Magi had. We fear risk and the unknown. In this way, we limit what God can do. We continue to live in darkness when we could be walking in the light.

Celtic pilgrims used to get into tiny boats that had no rudders. They would push out to sea and sail forth,

trusting that God would guide them. They believed that amid the waves, there was a guiding force that lured them toward wholeness and holiness. They called the place they ended up their “place of resurrection” -

a place where they would be changed. Perhaps this place was their Bethlehem. 

This is our hope too – that as we journey on our own uncharted waters, we will be guided and end up in holy places that change us forever; that we too will find ourselves in Bethlehem; that we will see the light of God shining just for us.

Being Changed By the Light

No matter how open we are to the experience, though, we do catch glimpses of God in our lives – whether through the birth of Jesus at Christmas time or out in nature or in interactions with other people. And when we see God, we are forever changed. 

Like the magi, once we see the light, from then on we carry it with us wherever we go. But what shall we do with it now that we have found it?

Light is very important Christian symbol. The whole season of Epiphany that we enter into today dances around the theme of light. In fact, the whole Christian year draws upon the theme too. That's why we begin each service by lighting a candle – to remind us that Jesus or the Light of God is present with us always. 

Each week, at the end of our worship time, we share the light. It's an important reminder that we carry the light with us and that we can share it with those we encounter in a week. It's not just a symbolic gesture. 

We really are called to share that light that Isaiah reminded us had come. “Arise and shine, for your light has come,” says the prophet.

Our job is to live in the light... to shine... to show God to people in the things we say and do. When we do this, we make God accessible to other people the way that Jesus did. God goes from being this mysterious concept somewhere out there to being something people can put a face on. 

For the Magi, the face of God was this little child who would grow up to be a man who would do great things and show people how to live. For us, we might picture that face too – as Jesus' example can still very much guide our lives.  But the face of God might also be a kind action. It might be a nonjudgmental presence. 

It might be a helping hand. 

By engaging in these activities, we share the light with people. We let God shine through us. We help people to know God in ways that are real and powerful. We live God.

Conclusion

Being Christian means seeing the light. We've seen the light! So, let's get excited about that. Let's be changed by that. Let's be light-bearers and light-bringers and light-shiners for the world.

In the words of Jan L. Richardson in “Blessing of the Magi”:

There is no reversing
this road.
The path that bore you here
goes in one direction only,
every step drawing you
down a way
by which you will not
return.

You thought arrival
was everything,
that your entire journey
ended with kneeling
in the place
you had spent all
to find.

When you laid down
your gift,
release came with such ease,
your treasure tumbling
from your hands
in awe and
benediction.

Now the knowledge
of your leaving
comes like a stone laid
over your heart,
the familiar path closed
and not even the solace
of a star
to guide your way.

You will set out in fear

you will set out in dream

but you will set out

by that other road
that lies in shadow
and in dark.

We cannot show you
the route that will
take you home;
that way is yours
and will be found
in the walking.

But we tell you
you will wonder
at how the light you thought
you had left behind
goes with you,
spilling from
your empty hands,
shimmering beneath
your homeward feet,
illuminating the road
with every step
you take.

Epiphany - Year B

A Different Way

Introduction

So, have you packed away all those Christmas decorations yet? For some reason, it seems like a lot more work to take them down than it does to put them up. Did you notice that the stores are already on to Valentine’s Day?

Christmas has been over for many people for a couple of weeks but for the church, the season of Christmas ends with Epiphany, which we have been celebrating today. Epiphany marks the visit of the Magi or wise men to Bethlehem to visit the baby.

If it seems a long ways from the shepherds and angels...well...that's because it is. 

I'm sure the wise men were moving as fast as they could, but it takes some time to get from the East to Bethlehem on the backs of camels, especially when you're not exactly sure what you're looking for. 

Most scholars say it took up to two years for them to actually get there and when they arrived, Jesus' crib had been changed back into a feed box and the holy family had moved from their temporary lodgings in the shed behind the inn into a more permanent home.

Jesus, then, had moved from cute and cuddly to his terrible twos.

Children’s Story

Of Frankincense and Myrrh – Gifts and Specialness… What would we give God?

Science and Religion

We can learn so much from the wise men – a group of people that we usually don't quite understand

or lump in with the rest of the Christmas characters. We don't usually spend a lot of time trying to understand their wisdom and apply it to our lives. But today we are being called to do just that.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus telling them to embrace the mystery of Christ, to let it be revealed to them. When we do that, when we are willing dive in and swim around in the divine for a little while, then we are truly wise. 

Astrophysicists tell us that the star that the wise men followed was actually a planetary alignment – Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, all in a row, something which happens about every 400 years. It was rare and it was odd and those who know about these things would call it a sign.

And just in case you want me to back this up with some rough-shod historical science, how about this; a planetary alignment happens about every 400 years and changes everything. And here's how history proves it...

Jesus is born. 

400 years later, the Roman Empire falls. 

400 years later, the holy Roman Empire falls and divides Europe in half. 

400 years later, the first Crusades are launched. 

Another 400 years brings us to 1600 when the King James Bible was written, the 30 years war began, and the first colony was settled in Jamestown in America. 

Add another 400 years, give or take, and we're talking about now. And we live in a time when we don't know what's going to happen to the environment, to the economy, to society. But if I had to guess, I would say we might be in a time of great change. 

We might be in a place where the star is leading us into something new and different.

Perhaps all of this significance is why we can't help but be fascinated by the wise men. Perhaps it's why we push them into the manger scene although they couldn't possibly have arrived yet. Their silk robes and kingly presence, turbans and spices and camels are an interesting contrast to all of the swaddling clothes and hay.

To the shepherds, Jesus was a baby – soft and cute. To the Magi, Jesus was a hero, star-prophesied and glowing with destiny.

Matthew and Sherlock Holmes

Perhaps that's why I love the characters of the Magi so much – these Persian priests. I've been there before.  Trying to find the place I need to be at a given moment in life, not knowing exactly how to get there, trudging along in the cold, taking a stab in the dark, not knowing what might come next.

The story of the wise men is like a biblical Sherlock Holmes story. I recently went to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie when it was in theatres. And like any Sherlock Holmes story, you have this eccentric detective with a mystery to solve. 

He has no idea what the solution will end up being, where it might take him, what adventure he is about to go on. But he knows that he will figure it out, that he will end up where he needs to be. So he depends on his keen observational skills, on hunches that seem to come out of nowhere, on clues that are revealed one at a time, on all of these things in order to solve the mystery.

We often forget that the wise men went on a wild adventure like that to get to Jesus. But it's true. I mean, it's not like they were handed a map with “X” marking the spot. It's not like their camels were equipped with GPS.  

Not only did they not know how to get to Jesus but they weren't even entirely sure what or whom they were looking for. They had seen this star and heard about this special baby being born. They put the two together and began a trek to this place called Bethlehem that nobody had heard of; a little po-dunk place, off the beaten track. 

They were travellers, seekers, searchers, journeyers. This is what made them wise. They didn't dismiss those yearnings and longings that kept pulling them forward, closer and closer to God.

The Magi likely thought that the manger was their destination; that the purpose of their trip was to witness and pay homage to the babe of Bethlehem. But really, little Jesus was and is just the starting point.

And that's what the prophets have been trying to tell us for centuries. 

We hear Isaiah proclaim today: “Arise and shine for your light has come.” Even though the world feels like a dark and hopeless place, God is there, a bright light that fills you. “You will see God and then you will be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice because you will be filled with God's abundance.”

Matthew tells us that the Magi chose to go home a different way. Instead of going home the way they came, they chose a different path. Their experience of Jesus changed them. They didn't go back through Herod's territory where they would be questioned about the whereabouts of Jesus and the young child would end up killed. 

Instead, they went out into undiscovered territory. Scripture doesn't tell us what became of the Magi; it just gives us that one evocative statement that says, “They left for home by a different way.” 

Conclusion

 Once you experience God in your life, when you see that divine light shining, you are changed. You can't walk the path you did before. Finding Jesus means taking risks in life, and may mean risking all simply to find him.

But once he’s found, life may have to take a different direction, one that is responsive to and obedient to God’s call.

So as we move away from Christmas and more fully into this new year, are you willing to seek God out and be led in a different way, like the wise men of old? What does your new path look like? How is it different from the well-worn path you have been walking? 

Be brave and allow yourself to shine out there in the world because you are truly radiant. Jesus is the light of the world but you are a light in the world. Arise and shine!