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.

Reign of Christ - C

Not Someday but Now

Introduction

There are ideas and concepts we all struggle with. I really want an answer, that is one of my problems. I am not good just leaving things alone and letting it all work out. The same comes to my understanding of God... I want there to be answers, I want there to be a plan, I want to know why things happen.

Of course, whether I am talking to God or my girlfriend... Life does not usually go according to plan.

How about you, do you make plans or have expectations? What happens when they don't work out the way you expected?

The real problem is that plans actually make things worse. Not always, but often. And the reason is simply that nothing really works out according to plan. It is a rare day indeed when.

 Things happen eh way you thought they would.

So we go through life disappointed, in large and small ways.

God is coming to establish the kingdom on earth. That is what the people of Ancient Israel thought, and they were disappointed when Jesus did not raise an army to take over the Roman Empire.

Jesus is coming back to establish his Kingdom said Paul; going so far as to even say that we should sell all out possessions and just wait... As the years passed by the disappointment set in.

In 1900 the churches all said this would be the Christian Century and the whole world would be converted by 2000 bringing about the Kingdom of God, a world filled with peace and happiness...

See, expectations get us into trouble.

So what is it that Jesus was talking about? What did he mean when he talked about this so appalled Kingdom? How come it isn't here?

With the Kids

Follow the leader.

The Righteous Branch

 It all starts with a problem. Right? You join Alcoholics Anonymous when you are looking for a solution to your drinking problem. You go to the doctor when you feel sick. You look to God for help when you do not know what else to do.

Israel has always been a piece of real estate that people fight over. Unfortunately it is sort of a gateway between the East and West and has a port on hyena Mediterranean, no matter who you were owning Israel gave you access to shipping...  So 4000 years ago it was the Assyrians, en the Babylonians, then the Romans, then the Ottoman Turks, then the Christians, Then the Palestinians... Everyone has fought against the  Jewish people.

It must have seemed impossible after generations of warfare to hope for peace. But that is what they did... When no one else would see  to help they turned to God. And they prayed and they prayed and the prophets came to the people and said. Do not worry... god has heard your prayers... God will raise up a leader who will bring us peace and goodness and harmony...

Still, they waited. And so it was no wonder that when Jesus came he confused them... What kind of a King is this who talks about peace and seems to love everyone... What type of Kingdom does not bring happiness to the subjects? What kind of army do theses rag tag bunch of fishermen and tax collectors make?

Still... He said the right sort of things... It was confusing.

Remember Me

 So here is the really stark reminder... the crucifixion. In the eyes of world, in the eyes of the Roman’s, in the eyes of his followers and friends he seems to have failed in his mission by this point because Heaven has not come down to earth...

But... what if they are just seeing it wrong?

Here is the thing that everyone, from Jeremiah through Paul missed; the thing that Jesus tried to correct. The Kingdom of God is not a dream for the future. In fact, like I said at the beginning of the service, it is when we think we need to wait, to hope that things get better, that we miss what is right in front of our eyes.

“The Kingdom of God is among you,” Jesus said.

In other words, look around. God is everywhere, God’s Kingdom is everywhere, what you are looking for is right here right now. Ever heard the expression that you are missing the forest for the trees? This is sort of what I am trying to say. We are looking so hard for some imagined future that we fail to see all the good things that are happening right now.

“The Kingdom of God is within you,” Jesus also said.

Which is to say that God is within you, God is working through you, and you are creating your own future.  Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to solve your problems, and certainly do not think that if you are negative then you will ever find the positive.

We have all met people like that, the ones who cannot be happy no matter what, the ones who only see the negative. If they won a million dollars they would say, now everyone will be asking me for cash…

You have probably met the other ones too, the people who are so confident that you feel like you can do anything when you are with them, or are so enthusiastic that they make you feel better…

So what if the Kingdom is something like this? A state of mind? What if when we feel God is with us and the world is good, just like God said, we create a little bit of perfection right here, right now?

 Contemporary Reading: Yours the Praise

by Jim Burklo

Fire who burns inside the mountain

Earth who feeds the trees

Sea who sprays up like a fountain

Wind who sighs the leaves

You, the source of inspiration

You the beauty bring

Yours, the power in creation

Yours, the praise we sing

Seeing the Beauty

I said a lot about all of this way of thinking when we were in the season of Creation this fall. But I wanted to read you the poem and have you at least give it some thought. This has been a real eye opener for me this week… here is what I always thought, Jesus came with a plan, and it did not go well…

But in some conversations with people I trust and respect I came to see a different idea… Jesus did not have a plan; Jesus had a way of life. He was living faithfully no matter what happened. And in doing that, he helped to bring about a way of being, he helped to model a way of being that really does have a lot of power.

In the modern world we might call it the power of positive thinking. In the old days they would have said that we need to have faith.

However you look at it, what we need to be doing is seeing God’s beauty, God’s love, God’s kingdom in everything and in everyone….

Conclusion

So next week we start preparing for Christmas. It is one of our biggest festivals, it is the time when we celebrate the birth of the person who came to show us the way.

And he did. He talked about how the Kingdom was like a treasure you find in a field, or a lost coin found in a house. How it was like yeast which rises the dough… for Jesus the Kingdom was the power of God rising up inside of us to empower us.

Well, that way is still a valid thing to choose to follow, and today we have been thinking about where it might lead. I invite you to take some time this week and consider how God is at work in you, and to consider how you see the Kingdom all around d you.

Lent 2 - C

Promises

Introduction

What brings you comfort? What brings you hope?

I have to tell you, I have had a rough new year so far. I have been sick on and off for what seems like two months; things have not been easy with some of my past and present relationships; and Jacob had to be put down. Then there is the weather, and I am not really a winter sport kind of guy anymore…

When you sit back and look at the things that happen on a daily basis it is hard not to be overwhelmed. I don’t know about you, but I wake up in the morning with a list of things I could be accomplishing, knowing that I will probably not get to it all… then there is another list of things I wish I could do for fun, but don’t seem to have enough time.

I don’t mean to complain, not looking for sympathy really, just trying to establish some common ground. I bet my life is not as hectic as half of yours. I bet the things I need to worry about are far less important than the things that each of you has to worry about.

What I am getting at is a part of our Lenten journey, a part of our recognizing the world for what it is. The world is not easy. It is as simple as that.

Whether it is struggling to get ahead, or managing to keep all of the balls we are juggling in the air, each day presents challenges, it presents problems, and it throws unexpected curves at us.

So how do you handle that?

With the Kids

Rooted-ness

Counting Stars

Certain stories in the Old Testament are meant to be read for certain reasons. Take the story of Jonah and the Whale, the whole point of that book of the Bible is to tell us that sometimes God knows better than we do. Or how about Noah, a book about second chances….

Well, the story of Abraham is a story about being faithful. From start to finish Abraham struggles with doing the right thing even though he is pretty sure it is not going to work out right. And God continually tests Abraham with impossibilities. Why don’t you pack up and move to another country and start over? God asks, and Abraham follows.

But, here is the thing, this is getting old, and so is Abram.

“Look,” he says to God one night, “I’ve been doing this for a while now, I get it, you need help and I am there for you, but what about me? You promised I would have a family, and time to enjoy them, and, well, I am getting too old for that now…”

You can almost hear the resignation and sadness that the world has not worked out the way Abram wished…

“So come outside,” God replies, “take a breath… now look up… tell me what you see… “

The passage is about the stars. You cannot count them. And that is what your descendants will be like, so numerous you cannot count them. The whole sacrifice and burning fire is just about cementing the promise… it is like God and Abram become blood brothers… but the real point is the frustration and the response that God’s promises are good; really good.

“It will be worth it,” God whispers to Abram. And that is, frankly, what keeps me going for a lot of the time; the knowledge that no matter how bad things get, things will always get better. It is a promise I believe in.

Dealing with Foxes

My daughter has been bullied in school. She is going to see someone about it because the teachers and principle, as much as they have tried to help, cannot seem to get through to this kids parents, or the kid himself, that it is not ok to be mean to people.

Anyway, the counsellor who was talking to my daughter got her to draw pictures. I thought it was fascinating… what animal do you see yourself as? What animal would you see a bully as?

Jesus talks about Herod as a fox. Makes sense, he is cunning, sly, always out for himself, you cannot trust him…. The sly, trickster fox is a character we all know.

So when we feel overwhelmed like Abram it is easy to say we just have to have trust in a better tomorrow, but what about when we are dealing with the foxes of this world, what then?

Those curves that happen in our lives and make it difficult are not always random… sometimes there are people actively trying to make life worse… they might be a boss, someone you once knew, someone who is jealous of you, or even a random unemotional bureaucrat who is just following the rules, no matter how much those rules hurt.

At some level what my daughter has to do in grade two is what we have to do in adulthood, is what Jesus had to do in ancient Palestine – keep on keeping on. Be brave, do what we know is the right thing to do, follow God even when it is scary.

The lament we hear Jesus saying, speaking of Jerusalem and how God longs to protect it like a mother hen protects her chicks, is Jesus way of saying that he wishes things were different, that he wishes we accepted the help we need, that we should all know that God loves us and accept it…

But there will always be foxes, there will always be bullies, and the truth is, no matter how much we know God, like any good parent, wants to keep us from all harm, we have to do something too. We have to be the ones who face the day; and that sometimes means being here, as Jesus says, today, and tomorrow and the next day… even if it is not what we most want to do.

Lenten Roots

In both Jesus and Abram’s case there is something to fall back on. I guess that is important for us to remember. Neither of these characters was starting from scratch, they had known God all of their lives, they had been through a lot already, and they just needed reminding.

I think we are in the same boat. We have all had pretty long and interesting lives, there have been good times and bad, and we find ourselves in a church for a reason. We believe, on the whole, that good wins the day, that God’s promises are true, that things do work out.

I like to think of life like a tree; I am always reaching for new things, I am always growing and spreading out, some branches don’t get too long, some eventually break off cause I am not focusing on them, but down below the surface I am rooted deeply in what I believe, and that is what holds me in place during the storms.

Jesus knew that the people of Jerusalem could trust God, he knew that because they had long roots, all the way back to Abram and before, of doing just that… and he could not understand why the people themselves did not know that…

Well, like us, they did… but we forget. The storms come and we worry, sometimes for good reason and sometimes for no reason. But like our heroes of the faith, if we could learn to take a step back and trust, learn to say that even when bad people, bad things, or time gets in our way; things will work out… it would be a lot easier for us.

Journeying Through

I remember a presentation in Grade 12. It stuck with me every day of my life since then, it was from Josten’s, the ring company back then, trying to get us to buy a class ring. I wanted the ring, would have bought it anyway…. But they had this whole glitzy slide show, pictures of all our sports teams, and fun days at school, and everything….

And then in big letters and a booming voice it said, “These are the best days of your life! You do not want to forget them!”

And instantly I turned to my friend, sitting beside me in the auditorium and asked, “it doesn’t get any better than this? Why not kill ourselves?”

Seriously… to say, these are the best days of your life is almost like giving up hope… we need hope!

I guess this is where I started. This is what gives me hope, the sense that I am connected to something larger than myself, the sense that God has always been there for people, past, present and future.

I am not sure I could get out of bed in the morning if I really thought that this was it, that life would not get any better… But I know it does, it always does. That is faith.

Lent 1

Fiddling Along the Way

Introduction

A long, long time ago, the city of Rome burned to the ground. Some say that the Emperor, Nero, played his fiddle while he watched it burn. Nero wanted a lot of the slums and older buildings destroyed because he had big plans – he built a coliseum, and a racetrack, and gardens and palaces – all to honour him. But since everyone knew Nero wanted Rome burnt down; he needed a scapegoat. In front of the Senate, Nero blamed the “Followers of this man Christos.” This is the first time anyone ever coined the term – “Christians.”

Up until the late 60s AD this new Jewish revival movement was simply called, “The Way” and those who belonged were “Followers of the Way.” I believe that we lost a lot when the name changed. Our focus moved from doing the things that Jesus taught to the person of Jesus himself. What mattered to the Romanized version of our faith was where Jesus stood on the Pantheon – was he a stronger God than Zeus, stronger than Romulus, stronger than Caesar?

This never mattered to Jesus. In fact, whenever people tried to heap divinity onto him he rejected it. When someone called him “good” he responded that no one was “good” except God. When Peter called him the Christ Jesus rebuked him. It was not about Jesus – it was about the way that God wanted us to live.

Life as it should be…

Lent is a time when we prepare…. Now, technically, we are preparing to celebrate Easter… but if we look at it another way, we are preparing ourselves for another year of being faithful, of following Jesus, of living how God wants us to live…

We need to keep this in mind as we approach Easter. It is far too easy to make Easter into a magical celebration of how Jesus, who was God, killed himself on a cross so that we would be saved… an idea that would have stunned Jesus – who was all about trying to get us to follow his teachings about God which leads to working out our own salvation. We need to see Easter for what it is – political opposition to the values of God – and how those values triumph because of the self-sacrifice of one man.

That is why we started with a history lesson, a brief one to be sure… but I really do think it is important for us to reclaim the idea that we are living “The Way” of Jesus… that is what makes us who we are. Lent is a reminder that we are called to follow more closely in the footsteps of Jesus and come to understand how deep and meaningful our own faith can be.

It is not simply about coming to church – it is not a decision made once and followed, more or less, for the rest of our lives – The Way is a calling, a struggle, a constant decision, and the whole point of our lives.

So far this year we have been focusing on the first phase, the Epiphany or, as it is sometimes called, the “A-Ha moment”. An Epiphany is a sudden and intense realization about God. You might remember that Peter had his first aha moment during a miraculous catch of fish; or that the disciples figured some things out about God and Jesus during the transfiguration on the mountainside. For each of us it is different. Some people have that type of moment when they get sick and have to reconsider what it is that is most important to them. Others find their priorities and focus changing after the birth of a child and all of a sudden faith makes more sense.

But this is only the beginning. This is where we recognize the path, but next, we have to make a conscious decision to step out on that path and see where it might lead. Let’s think of Lent like that, we have recognized God and now we are setting out to find out more about ourselves as followers of God.

Where do we go from here?

So we set out, but where are we going? What are we doing next?

Our passage from the Older Testament can help us to recognize this: After the people had been in the Promised Land for a season, Moses gave them a ritual for remembering what God had done for them. In order to remember, “where we came from” and to look with hope at the journey ahead, we acknowledge God by bringing the first fruits – the best and first ten percent of everything we have earned, grown, or did, and offer them to God. It reflects the ancient understanding that the land and everything in it belongs to God – and invites us to be grounded in gratitude for what God has given. It is not a bad spiritual practice for us to get back into… do we give to God from the first fruits; or from what is left over? …

Perhaps that is a spiritual practice which could open us up to God more…. After all, The word Lent comes from the Old English word for the season of “spring.” So Lent can be thought of as a sort of “springtime of the Soul” It is the time when we begin to grow in our knowledge of who we are.

It all happened in Jesus life like this: As he neared thirty, Jesus heard that his cousin John had become a prophet. There was a movement out in the desert called the Essenes, and it seems like John went out and joined them for a while, but then came back to Jerusalem and began to preach from the river side.

Being curious about the whole thing Jesus decided to go down and listen – and something John said opened Jesus eyes, he decided to go into that river and get baptized right there and then. And when he did that, Jesus had an Epiphany. The disciples later described it like a voice, or a dove, come down from heaven… and it made Jesus believe two things – that he was so loved by God that he could do anything; and that God wanted him to teach others about this love.

Immediately after his eyes had been opened to this – Jesus knew that he could never return to his former life; and so he went off into the desert to find himself; That is the forty days and forty nights that we now find ourselves in the midst of.

So Lent is our forty days and forty nights in the desert. If we take this period of time and focus on ourselves, and look deeply at how we let our thoughts, fears, and struggles get in the way of our true relationship with God; we will face some temptations along the way.

Tempted in the Desert

Let’s take a look at the temptations laid before Jesus in the desert. “Satan” (which is Aramaic for the tempter) put before him these three: if you are hungry, change stones into bread. If you are the son of God, leap from a tower and rely on angels to rescue you. If you bow down before me, all the kingdoms of the world will be yours.

 Now at first it might seem like these are things we never need to worry about; this is clearly all about being “Jesus” and somehow being related to God. But look closer – these temptations represent some very real stumbling blocks to our following The Way. In a nutshell, Satan offers Jesus some very familiar things: magic, rescue, fame and power. These are the very same things that keep distracting me when I try to be faithful… I am tempted to believe that just around the corner lies something better; I am tempted to think that if I was rich and powerful I would be happy; I am tempted to believe that if I could just find the right words God would swoop down and save me from my problems; I am tempted to believe that if I was just more like that guy over there things would be okay…

That is what Satan wanted Jesus to admit; that the easier road is the better road.  These are the fantasies, the illusions, which call us from the path, that keep us from discovering our own rich reality, which is a gift from God.

What was asked of Jesus is what is asked of us – that we give up this illusion, its false promises, and “come to our senses,” trusting what Jesus taught about “The Way” set before us - which is almost never the easier way forward.

Conclusion

Lent is a season where we have to make time for our faith. God has invited us to use this season to journey inwards, to ponder those deeper questions about who we are and what life has set before us. My hope is that we all take the opportunity God is giving us. 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.