LENT 3 - C

INTRODUCTION OF THEME

Second Chances… They are wonderful things.

I grew up believing in them. My parents got angry about the things I did, but they always gave me a chance to make up for it. Don’t get me wrong, I never got third chances. But a mistake was just a mistake – and then you try to correct it.

You know, when you think about it this was the message that Jesus began with – that we all have a second chance to get right with God; and it was the message that he in turn had heard from his cousin, John the Baptist. John said it a different way – Repent! But basically to repent is to start over, to turn around, and to choose a different, and better path.

I am not sure if you have heard the story behind Amazing Grace… The author was John Newton, born in London in the summer of 1725, the son of a commander of a merchant ship which sailed the Mediterranean. Later he was forced into the Navy, then started working on a slave ship, and finally he became captain of his own ship.

Newton had given up religion as a child – but on one homeward journey, while attempting to steer the ship through a violent storm he had what we might call a “come to Jesus movement.” And gave it all up to become an Anglican Priest.

For the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of May 10, 1748 as the day of his conversion, and later he would write the hymn which for him was all about the second chance he was given.

READING

Luke 13:1–9

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were guiltier than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

GROWING TIME

Ask the children to pretend that they have been given the important job of looking after a fruit tree. It could be an apple tree, a peach tree, or a pear tree—something that is appropriate for your climate and area. Ask the children how they would look after the tree. Ask them if they think it would produce fruit if they ignored it and didn’t provide any water or care. Explain that God looks after the people of the world, including the children, just as a good gardener looks after a fruit tree. God provides people to care for the children and supports in the community, such as churches and schools, so that the children can be productive members of society and produce fruit in the community.

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 55:1–9

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

CONTEMPORARY READING

TO THE FIG TREE ON 9TH AND CHRISTIAN - ROSS GAY

   Tumbling through the
city in my
mind without once
looking up
the racket in
the lugwork probably
rehearsing some
stupid thing I
said or did
some crime or
other the city they
say is a lonely
place until yes
the sound of sweeping
and a woman
yes with a
broom beneath
which you are now
too the canopy
of a fig its
arms pulling the
September sun to it
and she
has a hose too
and so works hard
rinsing and scrubbing
the walk
lest some poor sod
slip on the silk
of a fig
and break his hip
and not probably
reach over to gobble up
the perpetrator
the light catches
the veins in her hands
when I ask about
the tree they
flutter in the air and
she says take
as much as
you can
help me
so I load my
pockets and mouth
and she points
to the step-ladder against
the wall to
mean more but
I was without a
sack so my meager
plunder would have to
suffice and an old woman
whom gravity
was pulling into
the earth loosed one
from a low slung
branch and its eye
wept like hers
which she dabbed
with a kerchief as she
cleaved the fig with
what remained of her
teeth and soon there were
eight or nine
people gathered beneath
the tree looking into
it like a constellation pointingdo you see it
and I am tall and so
good for these things
and a bald man even
told me so
when I grabbed three
or four for
him reaching into the
giddy throngs of
wasps sugar
stoned which he only
pointed to smiling and
rubbing his stomach
I mean he was really rubbing his stomach
it was hot his
head shone while he
offered recipes to the
group using words which
I couldn’t understand and besides
I was a little
tipsy on the dance
of the velvety heart rolling
in my mouth
pulling me down and
down into the
oldest countries of my
body where I ate my first fig
from the hand of a man who escaped his country
by swimming through the night
and maybe
never said more than
five words to me
at once but gave me
figs and a man on his way
to work hops twice
to reach at last his
fig which he smiles at and calls
baby, c’mere baby,
he says and blows a kiss
to the tree which everyone knows
cannot grow this far north
being Mediterranean
and favoring the rocky, sunbaked soils
of Jordan and Sicily
but no one told the fig tree
or the immigrants
there is a way
the fig tree grows
in groves it wants,
it seems, to hold us,
yes I am anthropomorphizing
goddammit I have twice
in the last thirty seconds
rubbed my sweaty
forearm into someone else’s
sweaty shoulder
gleeful eating out of each other’s hands
on Christian St.
in Philadelphia a city like most
which has murdered its own
people
this is true
we are feeding each other
from a tree
at the corner of Christian and 9th
strangers maybe
never again.

ENGAGING THE THEME

When I was growing up it seemed to me that my life was set out in front of me. At least, when I got to Jr High and High School. My father wanted me to be a doctor. He wanted me to go to Acadia where he went to school, where my grandparents had gone to school, where most of my aunts, uncles, and eventually my brothers went to school.

I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be different. And I ran… I went to Mt Allison intending to study art but getting lost in religion and political philosophy. I left Sackville and headed to Montreal in an attempt to get even further away from my family. Boy, did I ever think I knew it all.

If I could just be different from them. If I could just define myself somehow as not Baptist, as not a New Brunswicker, as not the “good obedient son.” And I did. I did that in spades. I was a rebellious teenager who was never far from trouble, I hung out on the streets of Montreal and idled away time and money and reputation…

I got in trouble with the law, lost friends, and went years without seeing my family.

Someday I will work the rest of my life into the sermons you hear. I think it is a pretty interesting story. But my point here is just to point out how far I veered from the plans of my family, and for that matter, from the gifts that I was probably intended to use by God.

I spent a lot of my life on the wrong path.

Now – your life may not have seemed so dramatic as this – or perhaps it is even more dramatic. I have a friend who is a minister in Ontario who actually joined the US Navy to get away from his parents and his past…

But we all do it. In some way we set out to find ourselves, we set out to be different from our parents. We set out to be original… And I would wager that all of us have made mistakes along the way.

But – here is the thing – no matter how far off of the route we are, God provides on ramps…

This is what struck me in the meandering poem I read to you… Here is this guy wandering through the city lost in his own thoughts, feeling negative about everything when all of a sudden he sees a fig tree, and he eats some figs, and so do others, and all of a sudden he remembers not only that life is good, but that he is not alone.

Give it a second chance, says the gardener, and I bet it will grow. We just need to be reminded that the second chance is out there. Perhaps it is as easy as seeing a fig tree where we didn’t expect it.

CONCLUSION OF THEME

Some 4000 years ago the prophet Isaiah spoke to a bunch of people who had lost hope – have nothing to drink? He said, come and drink with me. Are you hungry? God has provided milk and honey. Leave behind your wicked ways and turn to God and you will be welcomed…

There is always a second chance.

This is another truth of Lent that we need to wrap our heads around – no matter how far gone and no matter what we think we have done, no matter if we think we are too young, too old, too stubborn or too weak, there is a second chance.

No one has sinned too much – no one is so far gone that they are not loved by God.

But we have to take the time to work the soil, to add a little water, to accept that love and start once more to bear fruit. That is the journey of Lent.

Transfiguration

Let Your Light Shine

Introduction

Sunday Schools the world over have been singing a song since the 1920’s; this little light of mine; but have you ever stopped to think about the words.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of min, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine…

Now, what does that mean? What are we saying? What “light” do we have that we are singing about? What does it mean to shine?

This is Transformation Sunday. The time when we think about Jesus on the mountaintop and the way that he revealed God’s light to the world.

The idea of the light of God being revealed through people did not begin there though, it is as ancient as we are… Before Jesus, think about Moses; who went up on the mountain to talk to God about the ten commandments and came down with a glowing face… we are talking about people who are a lightning rod to the divine. Siddhartha Buddha for example became enlightened while meditating under a tree; or Mohammed who is said to have spoken to the angel Gabriel e on Mount Hira outside of Mecca and came away from that experience totally changed.

When someone is transfigured, it means, literally, that we become able to see the holy in that person, it means that they become on fire for God. It means seeing the light.

And it is not only in people that this can stop us in our tracks. Who has not stopped to look at a sunset, or the Northern Lights, or even the lights of fishing boats bobbing on the sea… Light has a power to make us feel awe and beauty. It brings out the best in the world around us…

So today we explore light.

Children’s Time

Stained Glass – Seeing the beauty means seeing the light inside…

Down the Mountain

So, if God came down the mountain right now and stood in front of you, glowing, I would wager that none of us would have a problem believing it.

It would be easy to see that this was someone different, powerful, holy… and we would probably listen to what they had to say.  Just like the folks did to Moses, or to Jesus…

But the thing is, those moments are rare, or non-existent in our lives. Even those perfect sunsets and candlelight dinners and northern lights are rare. The things that make us stop and focus on the beauty of the world are rare… in our day to day lives, it is harder to see God; it is difficult to see the light when it isn’t so obvious. We have to look for it.

The thing of it is, transfiguration is not something that happened once, a long time ago, it is something that has happened over and over to those who become closer to God.

In our gospel story we have Jesus taking his closest friends up the mountain with him while he prays. And there are a lot of things that could be said about the imagery here; about the people he seems to talk to, about the reaction of the disciples… but instead I want you to see it, with your mind’s eye, for what it is.

All of a sudden Jesus lights up. Whether he glows with real flames, or the sun shines through the clouds and falls on him, or what does not matter. What matters is that in this instant he becomes transfigured, he becomes alive with the light of God.  He becomes, if it is possible, even closer to God and even more Holy.

And even those who see this, even after they have looked closely and opened themselves up to this… even then, the disciples do not see it for what it is.

What matters most is that in being transfigured Jesus becomes capable of something he might not have been before; he becomes capable of coming down the mountain.

Walking in the Darkness

Hide it under a bushel, no, I’m gonna let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, no, I’m gonna let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, no… I’m gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine….

You realize that is the disciple’s reaction, right? Wow, you are the son of God, this is great, let’s stay up here… I don’t know, there could be a hundred reasons for this reaction, they had everything they ever dreamed of and wanted to stay, they were afraid of what people would do when they saw the glowing Jesus, they just sensed, rightly, that this was not going to work out well….

So they want to hide the light, keep the light, maybe even pretend they never saw it.

Again, this is not a once long ago story. This is a story that plays out every day in almost every place… everyone has those moments where they see the light… but what good is it if we don't recognize it?  What good is it if we don't see that God is shining through?  What good is it if we don't embrace these moments?

Perhaps the reason that we don’t always recognize the light of God in our midst is because transfiguration can only be seen in action.

When I began I pointed out places where we see light and it overwhelms us. And light is easy to see… the lights of a city, a candle, the stars, a campfire…. But what about the light in people… is that as easy to see?

Well, I think if I asked you for a list of famous people who have been light to others you could make a fairly good list. Think about Martin Luther King Jr. from last week, or Ghandi, Mother Theresa, even Pierre Trudeau seems to have made a difference to people.

Even if I asked you to name the types of people – a teacher or a firefighter… perhaps the stranger who stops to help someone stranded on the side of the road…

All of these people are the types of people who bring light to others.  The weird thing, is that we do not regularly talk about them as bringing God to others. In essence, we hide goodness… ask someone why they went into a burning building to save a cat, and they will say, I did not do anything special, I am no one special, anyone would do it.

But doesn’t that take away from the fact that there are people out there modelling God all the time? There are people out there BEING God all the time. And most of them have no idea they are doing it.

We do not need to hide these things under a bushel, we need to be celebrating the people who do the right things, those that do the good things, those that love unconditionally… these should be our heros. And we can find them around us every single day.

Bring it on Home Jesus

This is the transformation we witness. This is the transformation for today. This is how God is seen these days.

And a funny thing will happen when you start to recognize this. When you start to see the light in the world...when you really see it...you will start to change the way you live your life; the light will change who you are.

This week we are having an annual meeting. Let's see if we can see where the light is shining in our church, in our community. Let’s see where there are opportunities for us to reflect God’s love into the world.

We are also about to go into the season of Lent...a darker season.  Amidst the stories of fear and struggle and challenge and suffering, it will be hard for us to see the light. But I want you to remember the images that you saw here today.  Know that the world is overflowing with light.

Some days it might be a blinding light that you can't deny as if Jesus is aglow on top of a mountain. Other days it might be a little flicker that you have to search deep for. But you will find it.  And when you do, use it.  Let it shine for all the world to see.  Amen.

Creation 2 B

Home: Where Heaven and Earth Meet

note: I wrote this sermon and then really strayed from it... ad libbed more than most. I did not even write the conclusion; and it ended up different in each place I preached it. Not sure where my head was this week... guess I was beginning to get sick - I had the flu for over a week... anyway... here is the basis from which I spoke.

Introduction

Did you ever come home from school to smell cookies baking in the oven? Or have you ever been sitting around on a Christmas Eve looking at the tree and felt really, really content? How about going away on vacation or for work and then first seeing the lights of home on your way back…

There is a feeling, I don’t know if it is nostalgia, or awe, or comfort… but there is a feeling associated with home. I have often moved away from the Maritimes; and any Maritimer who finds themselves in exile will tell you, when you stand on the rocks by the ocean and breathe in that salt air again – it is magical.

I guess I am talking about moments in time where you “feel” at home. I think that means safe, warm, cozy, loved, content…. Sometimes that might be because of the place, sometimes because of what is happening, maybe even because of memories.

In ancient Celtic lore we call these, “thin places” the places where the dividing line between heaven and earth is very thin and you feel almost holy.

I guess if we go back to the beginning, this is what the story of Genesis is all about – there was a time when we felt so at home, so in tune with the world that everything was like this – but then we started turning inward, or getting greedy, or something… and we, over time, have lost that sense of being at home in the world.

Isaiah 55:10-13

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

With Kids – Liturgy of Covenanting

Singing in the Rain

There are many places in the Bible where our relationship to the natural world around us is highlighted. Think about Genesis and how we coexist with the animals – or how about the whole Jonah story – where a really big fish acts as his own personal submarine and then when he is too hot in the sun a plant grows up to offer shade. Abraham always had his formal meetings under a huge tree and life in the Kingdom of God is often compared to working in a vineyard.

But there are also passages where the world is alive… like our Isaiah passage. Where mountains and trees join us in dancing and song – where plants grow flowers just because of their love for creation…

I know, it sounds sort of silly from a modern scientific standpoint – we know that they are not alive in the sense that we are… but sitting here at my desk watching the trees rustle in the wind, and the birds play in the berry bush while the sun streams down, I can get, poetically, that the whole of creation is enjoying the beautiful day.

In Native spirituality there was an emphasis on how we were all connected – how the wolf and the deer were my brothers and sisters. Perhaps that was a better way to see it… everything is connected… and everything is “home”

Revelations 21:1-5

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Love Come Down

We have strange conceptions about heaven. They come from thousands of thousands of years of hardship. Streets paved of gold comes from a sense that we live in poverty; sitting on clouds playing harps from a time when back breaking work was the thing we most wanted to escape from.

Vikings used to say that heaven would be a place where you could battle all day without dying… they loved to fight and hated to die…

For the most part there are very few clues about heaven – and most of what we have imagined is wishful thinking… the clues we do have are mostly about feelings – that it will be a place where there is no more crying, no more pain.

The other interesting thing is the location – Jesus was always convinced we could create heaven on earth… he said things like “the Kingdom of God is among you” and kept trying to teach by example how we might help make the earth what God intended.

I don’t know, human nature being what it is, I think that perhaps we feel it would be easier to “go to” heaven than to “create” heaven. But I also think the Bible is quite clear that the dividing line is not so easy as we would like to believe.

Remember, when God created the world, it was supposed to be perfect. We may have messed it up a bit as we have gone along – it is getting a little old now. But that does not mean there is not a chance for renovation.

So what would you do to make this world a better place? What would you change? I think that we need not look any further than our own lives and our own homes to answer this question – what do you do to make your home perfect? You put in things that make you happy – flowers and paintings and portraits. You create spaces that feel comfortable and inviting…

I’ll leave you to think about it for a minute; we will get back to it with the Gospel…

Luke 7:11-23

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. The disciples of John reported all these things to him.

So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’” Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

Heaven on Earth

You might not recognize it at first, but Jesus is doing what any good preacher would do when asked a direct question, quoting scripture…  He is in fact quoting Isaiah… a few different passages of Isaiah but he is weaving all the prophecies together from the Old Testament when Isaiah talked about what it would be like when God restored the earth…

The blind seeing, the lame walking, the sick healed, the dead raised and the poor taken care of.

In a Biblical sense, that is it… that is the fulfillment of the question, what is life supposed to be like… 

Pentecost 10 - B

Be, All That You Can Be!

Introduction

When I was growing up my dad was in the Navy. We lived in a number of bases, as a little boy it was a dream come true. Helicopters landed in my back yard at one time. I saw jeeps and tanks, and went on destroyers. It was great.

I grew up thinking I wanted to be in the military. Not only because of experience, but because it is a family tradition. There has never been a generation of Anningsons who have not. So I was, for a while, but what I really wanted to be was a US Marine. And I remember my 29^th birthday being a sad day indeed… I was now too old to become a Marine

Identity is a hard thing… who are we deep down inside, and what does that mean…. I am a man, a Maritimer, a father, a minister, a writer, an ex-soldier, and an Anningson. All of those things have played a role in making me the person I am today. As have thousands of other things.

The thing is, all of those things come with expectations: There is a standard of behaviour for Anningson’s that I have to live up to in order to make them proud. There are expectations in being a father, and perhaps even more in being a minister.

You know what I am talking about: friends, families, work, they all expect something and we are trying to live up to something.

Today, I want to talk about what we expect at church. What does it mean that we are Christians.

Letting the Big Guy down; King David

When you are the king, you can do anything, right? I am sure we would all feel that way for a little while. Win 16 million dollars and you are going to take advantage of it for a little while. Get your ten minutes of fame and you are going to want the best table in the restaurant… it is just human nature.

David takes this too far a couple of times while he was the king of Israel – this story is about him killing a soldier because he has a crush on his wife…. A little over the top; a little evil to kill someone in order to become husband number two… but like most things in the Bible it is a blown up example to make a point

David decides to put his needs above the needs of others. He decided to forget about who he was deep down inside, and he needed a reminder.

God sent the prophet Nathan to remind him. He did it by telling a story. Which is the way the Bible does it with us… there once was this king who thought he was above the rules… but….

Perhaps we all need reminders every now and again… cautionary tales about getting too big for our britches… maybe we need to be taken down a notch once in a while. The thing is, what Nathan is really trying to do is remind David of who he really is – remember who you are, a shepherd’s son, the smallest brother, given strength by God to face Goliath, chosen by God because of what’s inside you to become king… do not get distracted by the world but stay true to who you are…

He fails miserably a few times at this, so do we all... but in the end, he remembers and choses the right path.

So What Is The Right Way to Live?

I keep saying this, but it is always worth remembering… every time we have an epistle reading… a reading from any book of the New Testament except Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, it is a letter. More specifically it is a letter written to a specific church, a specific congregation, in a specific town. Today, it is the apostle 

Paul writing to the church in Ephesus… and he is writing to explain to them what they should be like as a church that follows Jesus:

“…lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

Let’s look at that for a second. We are all called, we are all given opportunities and experience for a reason… it doesn’t matter whether you are a mechanic, cut wood, or a housekeeper. It is what you are called to be; at least for right now.

The thing is, in any profession, in any walk of life, in any day – we can lead a life worthy of who we were meant to be, or we can just do it for the money, to the fun, or even out of spite.

Which is going to make you a better person? Which is going to make you happier?

For Paul this means “humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity” which sounds pretty good. We should always be trying to be humble, we should be trying to be gentle and patient with one another, and we should try to work together helping each other out.

Sounds easy enough… right. It is too bad that it is not always that easy. Sometimes we make choices that hurt other people. Sometimes we fall prey to our egos or to our lack of self-esteem and we do dumb things, or fight for no reason…

Paul says we do it to build each other up, to make the world a better place, to make it possible for each person to be fulfilled. Sounds like a pretty good reason to me.

So remember who you are and live out of your Christian values, as Jesus taught them. That is the lesson from the first readings. They are realistic lessons, we are talking about a King who actually murdered someone for his own goals, and a church who often gets off track trying to be a better church than others.

And even if you are like that – even if you are far away from who you were meant to be… there is always a chance to turn around, to repent, and to learn.

Running after Signs

What do you want from church?

What do you want from Jesus?

When the crowd chases after Jesus he seems a little annoyed with them… “I gave you a free lunch; you are chasing me down for a free supper too?” he asks; which seems a little unfair, and they push him and the crowd answers, “what are we supposed to do?”

“Well, do you believe in me?” asks Jesus.

And this is the crux of the question – are we going to believe in what Jesus has to say, or are we going to have to test everything out ourselves.

Having two little kids reminds me that I was always the one who tested my parents. When they told me that I would burn myself on the cigarette lighter in the car, I still had to do it first just to see. And it has gone on through my whole life – I want to test things out before I believe in them.

Sure, there are some rules and regulations passed down that I just have to take on faith. But for the most part, I want to experience life for myself and then make decisions.

“Are you just in this for the miracles?” Jesus essentially asks. “Do you just want to see some magic tricks? Or are you going to listen.”

And it is a good question. Because honestly, being a Christian has almost never made my life easier. I make less money than if I had no morals. I have hardly any friends because people are afraid to hang out with someone who they think has a holier than thou attitude. I often have to put my needs aside for the needs of others. I give money to people even when it means I cannot afford what I want…. There are not a lot of perks to following Jesus.

So why do we do it?

Jesus answers with a wacky metaphor that means very little to us – God gives manna from heaven, I am the bread of life. With me you will never be hungry or thirsty…

Which really means that we won’t be hungry for more; which really means that we will be fulfilled.

Chase after the things that others tell you will make you happy, and you might get them, but you still will have something missing. Believe in God, do what God destined you to do, and that hole will be filled with purpose.

Some days it will be a purpose that drives you to do things you do not want to do. Sometimes it will be the hardest thing you can ever imagine to respond in love, or to offer hospitality, or to be gracious…. But when that day is over, there will be a smile on your face.

A Calm Sea Does Not Produce a Skilled Sailor.

I tried this week to find a story, or an illustration to back up what I was trying to say – I couldn’t get anything that was quite right…

The real point is that we were all created with a purpose and a destiny. We all have great potential inside of us. And we often do not realize it and do not even try to live up to who we are called to be.

But it is not that hard – we need to follow the example of Jesus. We need to look to the heroes of the faith and learn from their lives and mistakes, and we need to believe… believe in God’s love and God’s purpose….

When we do that we will live from another place, a deeper place, and we will be happy.

Pentecost 2 - B 2012

For us or Against Us

Introduction

Have you ever heard the expression, “you cannot serve two masters”? It is a fairly practical bit of Biblical wisdom that boils down to another expression we all know, “you are either for us, or against us!”

I would like to be able to report that the world is not that black and white. There are always moments where we agree and disagree with each other and to say that we are truly for something, or truly against it is quite hard.

But at some point, you have to make a decision; you have to decide what it is that is most important to you.

Is making money more important than helping people? There are lots who would say yes, they usually run corporations. Is learning more important than working? Some people think so and get degree after degree.

I was listening to a sermon from a cowboy church in Saskatchewan on the radio, and the church has a brand, the “Diamond J” which is Jesus. The preacher asked the question, are you riding for the diamond J or are you riding for the circle S… for Jesus, or for ourselves….

Because this is where the rubber hits the road when it comes to faith, are you focussing on the good or the bad?

We want a King!

We want a king; everyone else has a king, buy us a king.

Anyone who has ever been around a toddler has had this discussion. It might be a lollipop or a bicycle. And it is no good saying, if all your friends were going to jump off a cliff, would you jump off a cliff. Cause there is always one of them who is stubborn enough to go jump off the cliff. I broke three fingers that way.

For those of you who parented the way they taught it in the 50’s… God’s answer is the equivalent of catching your child smoking and making him smoke a cigar…

You want a king? Fine, here is a king… now we will see what happens.

Ah… human nature.

At the core of this passage is a truth we often don’t want to accept. We do not usually know the best thing to do. Most of us stumble around, trust our intuition, and focus on the wrong things.

The historical point of this story from Samuel is that the people want to be a country. They want to be like other countries. They want to be recognized as “Israelites” and be proud about it. So they need a king, a leader, someone to look up to…

The moral point is a little trickier. The people want to do it themselves. They no longer want to be as connected to the divine way of doing things. They would rather be more like the people of the world.

I wager we all struggle with this choice. Do we do what we love or what brings in more money? Do we ignore the person getting teased so we don’t become the target or do we stand up for them? Do we buy cheap stuff cause we want it, or do we pay a fair price to help those who are making it?

Do we do it our way or God’s way?

Do Not Lose Heart!

I mean, it is not like God did not warn them… you want a king, your kids might end up joining the army and fighting in wars… you will end up paying taxes… you will create a middle class and your kids will move away in search of work to get rich…

We make this choice over and over throughout history. I mean, look at the disciples, at the earliest followers of Jesus, who got kicked out of the synagogue because they chose to follow Jesus’ interpretation of God’s world… it was all a choice.

Now, the thing is, as we go through life and make choices we also make mistakes.  There are going to be times when we succumb to peer pressure, or when we are going to choose the easy way out instead of the sometimes difficult “right” thing.

It would not have been much of bible if the story ended when the Israelites said, “Oh yeah, now we get it. 

Well then, we will do it the right way from now on.” And actually did. But human nature is not like that; we do the right thing for a while and then drift back into bad habits…

The disciples knew all about this. The followers of Jesus did the right thing, did the wrong thing, followed, fell away, repented and then denied. They could not even stay the course for the three years they were with Jesus. So they were realists.

And here is what those followers of Jesus write for the new members of the church:

“We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us into his presence… So we do not lose heart.”

There are days when that is the best we can hope for… the courage not to lose heart. We will have another chance, we will get another opportunity, and God is at work in us each and every day and we get better and better at this thing called life.

The House Divided

Ever been in a situation where someone has accused you of being “just like them”? It is an awkward thing…. It is like being called a hypocrite…. It happens to all of us at one point or another that we do something that others do not understand and they accuse us of being in bed with the enemy.

Ever find yourself complaining about some group of people, maybe who are gossiping, and then in that one moment of weakness you tell a story about someone and get caught gossiping yourself? What about always being careful to tell the truth and then that little white lie trips you up.

This is essentially what happened to Jesus, he has been going around healing and preaching, and actually building this really good reputation around Galilee… then one morning he goes to church. He talks to a possessed man. He yells at a possessed man. The demons leave…. And… well… who is this that talks to demons? Is it… a demon?

We don’t deal much with demon possession… but I could put it in other ways we might understand. Jesus goes into an alley way and while talking to, and helping, a drug addict, he heats the heroin on the spoon, or ties the band around his new found friends arm… and people ask, how do you know how to do that, are you a drug addict?

Or Jesus goes to an apartment where a lonely old alcoholic is spending their final days before drinking themselves to death and has a few drinks with them….

The crowd would frown on that sort of behaviour, no?

“Wait a second,” says Jesus, “you can’t change someone’s true nature! Things are not always black and white! Would you rather that person die alone? Is it more compassionate to ignore them or to keep them company?”

Jesus constantly told us that we live in the real world. He constantly brings us back to that choice we made generations ago to have a king, to be a people, to live within society, to turn our back on God.

His solutions were real life solutions. And in the midst of it all he was clear. You cannot serve two masters.

So the question is, “Are you doing the will of God.”

Conclusion

For the weeks since Easter this has been our focus – the way we live our lives…. trying to choose the ways of God instead of the ways of the world.

It is not like it is easy – but the truth is what we have at the centre of our lives will win out. Whether we have love or bitterness in our hearts makes a difference on the day to day to way we act out there in the big bad world.

To ride for the Diamond J might not always be easy, and there are those that will try very hard to get us to compromise. But in the end, those that do the will of God are Jesus brothers and sisters, and that is what we hope to be…

Easter 5 B

Connected to the Vine

Introduction
If I said the word “Evangelism” I wonder what you would hear.

The Dictionary defines it as spreading the Christian Gospel by personal witness or zealous advocacy.
Some might define it as “being on fire for the Lord” and going out and trying to convert everyone…

Jesus defined it as working in the vineyard.

Anyone out there drink wine… or how about this, ever visited a vineyard? It's really interesting to see how the grapes are grown. I used to live in wine country in Quebec, half of the people I knew were trying to make a go of it, starting their own vineyard… I have also been to a couple in Nova Scotia… There is the Jost Vineyard, which is in a place called Malagash, and there is another one down near Wolfville Nova Scotia, Pres D’en Haut.

Most people don't think of Nova Scotia as wine country, it is a pretty harsh climate all in all, and grapes need warmth and sunlight… these two are located in what is called a micro-climate, they are places where the temperature, because of sea air and hills, and what have you, remains pretty constant for a longer period of time.

Jesus is always talking about vineyards. It is a metaphor he uses all the time… so in case you have never been, here is what you need to know – they are chaotic… Grape vines do not grow in a straight line, they need to be supported on trellis… grapes are fragile, if the birds don’t get them the frost might.

Ah, but then again, anyone who has eaten a fresh grape right off the vine knows, it is worth it.

Branches (Story Time)

Adapted from Sermons4Kids.com
Object: Two branches that has been broken from a tree -- one with leaves withering, the other without any leaves at all.

-          Recently I was working in the yard and I found this branch underneath a tree. I guess it had been broken off by the wind. It still has some buds on it…

-          Do you think that if I took it and planted it in the ground it would come back to life? No, that wouldn't work, because the branches get the nutrients that they need to live from the tree.
-           Branches cannot live or grow without the tree.

Jesus said something similar… he said, "I am the vine and you are the branches….”

What do you think he meant?

I think we are supposed to stay connected to God. We will be stronger, we will grow, we will do great things.

The Tree of Life

So here is another question for you… anyone ever been to the Animal Kingdom Park in Disney World in Florida?

In the centre of that the Animal Kingdom is a massive tree, which they call, the Tree of Life. It is really a towering statue, shaped like a tree, branches, leaves, everything… but the Trunk, which is as big as a house, is carved with intricate animal carvings; presumably, of all the animals, insects, birds and fish on the earth… or at least most of them.

It is pretty symbolic. It shows we are all connected, all part of the same tree… unfortunately, it is also fake. Last week a branch, or two, or three… you get conflicting stories, fell off and almost hit some people sitting on a park bench.
There is a difference between being glued onto the “tree of life” and being a part of the real vine.

We are a part of God’s vine. We are strengthened and supported by that connection.
I don’t suppose you have heard the radio ad lately for Ronald McDonald House… it is really effective. It starts out and says look at your finger. Well… look at your finger. How much can you lift with your finger? A light shopping bag perhaps…. Now look at your hand. Do you know that your hand is 40 times stronger than your finger….

It goes on to make the point that families are like that, stronger together, and so when a child is sick and their family is with them at a Ronald McDonald House…
Well, that ad is not far from what Jesus is saying, we are the branches attached to the true vine and because of that… we are stronger.

Ah… you might ask, but what about those times when we do not feel strong? What about the people who do not feel that connection? Are they any less connected? No, of course not, everyone is a part of the vine, we are all, as it says in another passage, children of God… and God’s love is flowing out from the vine for anyone and everyone…

Part of our job, then, as the faithful few is not just to recognize our connection to God and live our lives that way but it is also to help others live as if they are branches too; to help others to feel connected to God.

So how do we do that?

Evangelism

Christians often think that they must go out and convince others to believe. We forget that God is at work in the hearts of people, drawing those who will listen into relationship.
As the reading from 1 John says, the love of God comes from God; we cannot instill it.

Our role is to have our eyes open to the places where we can help a person to hear and respond to that voice that is already calling them from within.

The story of Philip and the Eunuch is a great example of this… it is a random encounter, it is a moment in time on a bus, or a subway, or an elevator… when this Eunuch, a court official for the Queen, notices Philip reading a Bible….

I heard of someone who wore a cross pin on their lapel for exactly this reason. In case anyone notices.

Of course, the thing is, Philip jumped right in there and started talking about his faith.

In the world of business, they teach you to prepare an ‘Elevator Speech’ … think of it this way, suppose you have the best idea for a movie out there, or the perfect invention… and all of a sudden you find yourself on an elevator with Steven Spielberg, or Donald Trump. You have one minute to sell them your idea… go.

The thing is, you should have it practised, you should have it memorized, when Spielberg says, “I wish someone had a really great idea,” you need to be ready.

This, my friends, is evangelism 101. “You go to church? Why?”

Philip had his elevator speech ready, and it was so effective, that the Ethiopian wanted to be baptised right there, right then…

And it really isn’t hard. The thing I have noticed is that people are already curious about why you do the things you do. Everyone loves a story. So what if we were just more open about what we believed, where we went to church, why… what if we were a little more prepared for the questions and had good answers worked out?

See, Evangelism is not hard, and it is not hitting anyone over the head with a hammer… It is seeing what needs to be said in the right time, and the right place and doing it.

It is talking to the strangers, feeding the hungry, helping someone out when they drop their keys and are holding a bag of groceries… it is a hundred little things that show people the love God has put in our hearts.

Conclusion

Back to the vineyard; Jesus once hinted that we were to take care of the vineyard while the owner was gone. Later he says we are the branches that are meant to bear fruit.

Out of the chaos and beauty of our lives, there is a lot that really is up to us. There is just no way around it. God works through us…. Plain and simple.

So… how are you going to go out there and cultivate?

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.