Down By the Riverside

Beginning the Story

 A little different today – breaking up the story a bit and having it set the stage. So here is what we are talking about – The Assyrians are the most powerful nation on earth  - this is around 750 BC – and they have invaded everything around them. They were the Romans of their day or the British Empire of Queen Victoria… And they decide to invade Israel – so they send an army, but more importantly, they send this really good public speaker, sort of an advertising campaign, a propaganda war, and what they say is this:

No one has ever beat us. No one is capable of standing up to us. We are the most powerful nation in all of history. King Hezekiah is not going to save you. Do not listen to him… surrender. If you do, life will go on just as it did before, you will have peace and prosperity – in fact, it will be even better because you are Americans… er… Assyrians.

Good campaign – the grass is always greener – things will be better if...

and the premise is this – we are bigger, stronger, and better in every way and so we can protect you, take care of you – all you have to do is do what we say.
       
Tempting, is it not? This claim can work in so many parts of our lives. You don’t want to be an independent contractor really, do you, I mean, if you join up with Acme Carpentry life will be so much better. Wallmart offers more choices and cheaper prices, shop here instead of the local grocer. Brett is a rich professional, wouldn’t you rather marry him than Billy – stuck in a dead end job with no potential? Being part of the United Church makes you part of the largest Protestant denomination in Canada! So much better than being an independent church!
       
King Hezekiah hears this and tears his clothes. He hears it and realizes, Oh my God, they are right. Who am I to think I could do it better than the king of the whole Assyrian Empire? What can I give my people to compare with that? We are doomed unless we listen.
       

Seeing it Through Story

A Reading: Isaiah 2:1-4

The Story Unfolds

Two ways of seeing the world. That is what we are talking about here. The way of Assyria and the way of God. Might makes Right or Peace makes Prosperity.
       
Consider the difference between the American dream, and the Canadian
       
Bigger is better versus Better is Meaningful. I don’t know, there seems to be a lot of ways to say this. But let's consider it within our own social context and history. There was a time in North America where everything seemed to be settled. The World Wars were over. Everyone went to church to network and make friends. Most people had jobs. Women raised their 1.5 kids. It was all worked out because we said – ok, you take care of us, we will do whatever you say.
       
Then there was the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam, and Watergate… and and and some prophet spoke up and started to speak out against the culture of the day. Hippies became not just dropouts from society, but the ones who were standing on the edges and saying, it is not supposed to be this way.
       
If Jesus was born in the 50’s I wonder if he would be a hippie in the ’60s?
       
This was a movement that fought against stereotypes and fought against the idea that there was only one way to do, one way to be. The funny thing is, it was so successful that we hardly credit it for the way these people changed the world. Questioning authority, freedom to find your own purpose in life, women’s rights, equality, sexuality, even politics, and religion changed as a result of the ’60s.

Sometimes quietly and sometimes kicking and screaming – but it made a difference and made us remember there are always two sides to every coin.
       
Here is a question – If I said there were two ways to do something, the world’s way, and God’s way, what do you think God’s way would look like?
       
If Isaiah were talking to us here now in the 21st century, what would he say we should be like?
     
These are not trick questions, the answers are pretty similar to what they were 3000 years ago.
       
I am just asking because I think Isaiah was asking Hezekiah, and in fact, everyone, to just step back and think a little – to question authority – to be more hippy like.

Don’t tell the Woodstock crowd with their bell bottoms and burned bras, but they were not even being that original. They were serving as the prophets of the day.
       
I wonder who is doing that now?

Ideas to Take With Us

Some day – Some day nations will look up to us. Some day swords will be beaten into ploughshares. Some day we will study peace and not war.
       
This is not just a pie in the sky dream but was an actual philosophy of life that we call the Kingdom of God.
       
Way back in 700 BC there were two ways of seeing things, and there still are today. There always has been and there always will be. And I suppose there are times and places for each – for every matter under heaven.
       
The Hippie’s of the 60’s still give me hope. They inspire me and motivate me to look behind the curtain and see what is really going on.
       
And when I find myself trembling like Hezekiah and saying, “Oh God, they are right.” I think those are the times I need to look deeper and ask -  is that really true. Is there a better way?
       
What would happen if we all took the time to ask that exact question?

Advent 4 - A

A SIGN

Introduction

I cannot tell you how many times in my life I have looked for a sign. Some little signal from God to let me know that everything was going to be all right... I have prayed, I have hoped, I have bargained... I have even decided that the sign was there....

Sometimes I make it a 50/50 split with God. “Ok, God, if I drive around the corner and there is a tree still with leaves on it, I am going to take that as a sign that you want me to do this...”

Part of me knows full well that I am talking to myself – that a sign from God would not be leaves left on a tree randomly by the side of the road just when I wanted there to be leaves. I am talking to myself and justifying my decision.

But O for a sign. Some divine answer written across the sky in giant gold letters saying – THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO! - I think there are times we all wish the answer was a little clearer, a little more obvious, a little more black and white.

Times when we knew what was the right thing to do.

We have been preparing for Christmas throughout the weeks of Advent by talking about ancient prophesies and bits of wisdom that people were hoping for with the Messiah. We even got nine months out and talked about what Mary was hoping this birth would be.

Well – lets move a little closer now to the due date. Lets advance to the point where Mary is showing, obviously, that she is pregnant – and let’s take a moment to consider this all from a different angle – that of the fiance. I am pretty sure Joseph was looking for a sign. He wanted God to tell him what to do...

Because let’s face it. This was a tough situation. He had not slept with Mary, she was claiming no one ever did, the family and crowds were talking, Mary’s life was on the line, maybe his too... at the very least their reputation was on the line...

The easiest thing and best thing for him would be to cast her out, let her take her own chances, forget about this and move on. After all, it was probably an arranged marriage, it was not really about love yet. He probably hardly knew this girl.

What is the right thing to do for his family? For his reputation? For his carpentry business? Or for that matter, how did he feel about all this?
This is part of the Christmas story too...

With the Kids

- cards and feelings – getting in touch with who we are and what we feel about the season...

Wrestling with the Texts

Have you ever seen a family coping with some stressful situation that seems beyond your own ability? Like a child getting cancer, or a child being born blind, or the death of a ten year old in a tragic car crash...

Almost every time I meet these people my first response is always to say, wow... they are coping with things with such grace, they are being so strong, look at how much love that family has for each other even when things are tough...

I see it every day in other relationships as well. Students looking out for each other, adults struggling with their aging parents, sickness and death taking one spouse... and for the most part what I see is that we are way stronger than we think.

Still....

The other side is true as well. Perhaps, sadly, even more true. We see marriages end, we see kids estranged from parents, we see abused runaways on the street. We see mental illness lead to drug addiction and prison. Just as often as I see people being strong, I see people being broken.

And I know there is a there but for the grace of God moment in all of this.
I have been broken. I have given up. I know what it feels like.

...

Ok, so I want you to see this as very human, I want you to understand that we are made of strong stuff but that any one of us could find ourselves broken by the weight of the world.
Now, look again at Joseph. He is not rich, he does not live in a city where there are hundreds of prospects, he does not come from a high society family, and yet, miracle of miracles, he gets engaged, to a young, seemingly happy and bright women. Her parents have the dowry, it is perfect.

Then she becomes pregnant.

Pregnant because she sleeps around? Pregnant because a Roman soldier raped her? There really is no good possibility here. Think about how a rape victim is treated today. Think about what society thinks of High School students who get pregnant. Think about the rumours when a wife gets pregnant after a man has a vasectomy.

Imagine how bad it was 2000 years ago? There were no women's rights, there were no divorce laws. This was a society where if a man says out loud three times that he is divorced, then he is. A woman is property. A woman exists to serve the man and bear him offspring. Which, by the way, in the thinking of the day do not even contain DNA of the woman – just little versions of the man growing up to carry on the name.

By law Mary must be put to death. By custom Joseph needed to move on and forget about this marriage. By the thoughts going on in the average persons head he needs to get angry and leave her. Why should he raise another mans son? Why should he be with an immoral and untrustworthy woman. Who, by the way, is probably a lair or insane ... saying she has never had sex...

But... we are told... and angel appears to Joseph. He has a vision. This child is going to grow up to change the world.

One night, one vision, one moment in time.... and Joseph marries his young bride and raises this child from another father as his son.

What we often gloss over in these stories is that so many amazing things had to happen for this to work out, including picking just the right step father for Jesus. A man who would believe the ramblings of a crazy young girl and show love and compassion despite all wisdom and tradition telling him not to. A man who would listen to the voice of the angel in his vision and see the possibility that perhaps Mary was telling the truth.

Conclusion

An angel talking to you at night is a pretty convincing sign from God. You could take the story to be telling us that. But I actually do not think that is true.

Scrooge saw a ghost talking to him and managed to convince himself, for a minute or two, that it was only some bad food he ate the night before playing havoc with his thinking.

And we have all done that. Dismissed the sign as being a coincidence. Dismissed the vision as being a dream. Seen someone smile at us and thought to ourselves they really cannot be smiling at us. Had someone tell us they thought we could do it, and known in our heart that we could not.

Joseph could have woken up and forgot about the night before. He could have dismissed it as a dream of wishful thinking. He could have said that God is not real anyway or else why would I be in this situation. He could have done a million things to convince himself to put her away quietly, he even could have put her to death himself. It was within the law.

But he didn’t.

What Joseph did was look in his heart and realize that this person needed the love of God more than anyone in that moment, and he had it within himself to give it.

There are signs around us all day. God is speaking to you right now. And most of us have the ability to hear, if we just accept that life is never black and white and we move into the mystery of Christmas. God did the unexpected and it changed the world. Joseph did the unexpected and it changed the world.


So go out and do the unexpected. It just might change the world.

LENT 4 - C

INTRODUCTION OF THEME

The idea of Lent is to explore aspects of life, aspects of ourselves that both help and hinder our ability to be faithful. Perhaps I should say that a different way. Being human means that we have certain feelings and ideas… take love for example… we all feel it in one way or another, we can love people or we can love chocolate. But because we love we also hate – and that can be anything from our neighbour to Brussel sprouts.

But how is that feeling – love – helping our faith? And how is our love of things making it difficult to live the way Jesus taught.

That is the idea behind Lent – take something familiar and examine it more deeply with the hope of understanding it better. The more we understand it, the more we can make sure it is not interfering with the way God would have us live.

By doing this, we are seeking to become even more faithful.

So today, the idea I want us to focus on is forgiveness. And its opposite, which for lack of a better way of expressing it, I am going to call holding a grudge.

Now I think we can all agree on why holding a grudge could be a bad thing… it takes up emotional space, it forces us to remain angry or at least to have negative feelings, and if you stop and think about it… or if it gets too bad, it could even give you an ulcer.

Most importantly though – it keeps two people apart.

And I would argue this is the furthest thing from what God wants. To keep people apart.

The point of life is in fact relationships, right. Getting a job, building a house, buying a car, these are all just things that make life more or less liveable. What life is really about is who we love and how we love. It is about the love we share with God, with family and friends…. The relationships.

Forgiveness and Relationships… hmmm… That is not an easy topic is it?

READING

Luke 15:1–3, 11b–32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable:

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

2 Corinthians 5:16–21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

ENGAGING THE THEME

We have probably all heard the story of the prodigal son at one time or another I our travels. One of two sons comes of age and instead of staying on the family farm decides to take his share and set out on his own. He spends the money way too fast, probably on a new sports car and some electronics, and then realizes he cannot repay his debts… after living on the streets for a while he realizes that the farmhands back home had it way better than this and decides to go back, hat in hand, to ask his dad for a job.

This is how we have heard the story. This is what we often focus on. The son. Youth. Bad decisions… and second chances.

You know, it was hundreds of years after it was written that someone decided to put subtitles and called it the prodigal son. In truth, this story is not about the kids at all – it is about the father. It is a story about love and forgiveness.

So let’s look at it from the other side… This is the story of a father who works hard, who has built something up for his family and his sons, and whose son just does not care. In fact, the son thinks he knows better and essentially says, I would be happier if you were dead – so give me my inheritance now and I will have nothing to do with you.

And the father does. He loves the son so much he is willing to let him go and make his own mistakes. He hopes for the best but fears the worst. And while the son is gone, he continues to live a good life which he shares with his other son.

But then the son comes back – having failed, having lost everything, brought as low as he could be. And instead of saying, I told you so. Instead of coldly turning his back. The father welcomes the son back like the long lost love he is.

We are called to follow Jesus… there is a hymn about that I think…

And Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and said essentially the same thing – that Jesus showed us a new and different way to be – and that way, as the Psalm suggests, is a way of grace and love.

It is not natural. We naturally hold grudges. We naturally feel hurt. We naturally want revenge. But to walk a mile in Jesus’ footsteps we need to let that all go. We need to be like the father who just loves – and lets the son make his own mistakes – and still loves him no matter what goes wrong.

If we can manage to pull that off… we are getting closer to what Jesus was trying to teach us.

CONCLUSION OF THEME

Jesus told parables so that the people who listened to him could relate. He used ideas that everyone would get – like the difficult relationships between father and sons.

Faith, he wanted to let people know – was not something out there, different, only on Sundays… Faith was about how we live our lives. And I guess that it what I have been about during Lent – trying to bring it back close to home and helping us to understand that our faith is not mystical and different – it is about the basics – about the seemingly simple things – and choosing to do them the way Jesus would.

And like I said earlier, faith really comes down to relationships. To paraphrase Jesus explaining this to someone else… it is all about Love; love of yourself, love of God and love of Neighbor. And really, the main thing we have to do to make relationships work is forgive.

There is never going to be a moment when someone does not disappoint or hurt you – there is never going to be a time when we do everything out of love. We are always making mistakes. So to be like Jesus we have to be able to say – I love you anyway.

As we will see as the story unfolds; Jesus takes this as far as possible, actually praying for God’s forgiveness of his executioners. And sure, that is where we hope to get in life, but for now… we need to make forgiveness more a part of our day to day… don’t expect people not to make mistakes, don’t expect perfection, and allow people to love you back… when we do that we are living faithfully.

Remembrance Day 2015

An Act of Remembrance

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream – Ed McCurdy

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
Filled with women and men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.

Setting a Stage

I remember always wondering what my grandfather did during World War II. It was pretty much the one thing he never talked about – sure there was a story, but it was the details that were missing. My grandfather was a train engineer and joined the North Shore Regiment. He trained as a Bren Machine Gunner and fought until September 18^th 1944 when he was shot in the head and left for dead. He was not, though, and was found, recovered and returned to Canada – paralyzed on the right side. He could no longer work with trains so he became a teacher.

That is as far as I ever heard the story. I have filled in a few of the details… They landed in Juno and fought their way through France into Belgium, taking a few towns on the way. There was one sunny day when the allied planes bombed them by accident on a nice field in Normandy – and shortly after they reached Belgium my grandfather was shot… The Regiment continued to Germany, crossing the Rhine and fighting until the end.

See – that was the thing, my father was in the Navy, my grandfather the Army, my great great great great grandfather was even a ships surgeon in the British Navy – or so the story goes, he is the first one to emigrate to Canada – if by that we mean jumping overboard and swimming up to the Gaspe as his ship made its way to fight the French in Quebec.

When I got old enough, I enlisted and made my way through basic training in the Armoured Corp. There was a sense of honour, a sense of family pride, a sense of the idea that our family fights for queen and country.

But I still did not know what it meant.

What does it mean?

When the Iraq war broke out I was 2 years out of the military. I had left my airborne armoured unit to go back to University and was deciding whether to become a minister or not. Someone put up these fake draft notices everywhere in Montreal – I was on a recall list already. I was actually scared I was going to end up fighting… the reality of which filled me with dread. I was no longer the naive and invincible 19 year old who signed up, I figured I might die. 

I had been trained as part of the reconnaissance unit of the 8^th Hussars. My job would be to go ahead of the regular forces and gather information. Now, the life expectancy of an armoured soldier is pretty low – the scout – even less.

I would have gone had the draft be real; but I have to admit I was really, really frightened.

It made me spend a long time soul searching about WHY we make the choices we do, about what it means to fight for peace… which always seems like a contradiction at first glance.

And what I came to see is that there is a religious concept behind all this – there is a sense of justice and respect that comes from our belief in God’s love that makes us want to stand up for the underdog – to fight against bullies – to make the world as safe as possible for everyone!

We see it in the prophet Micah’s vision of a better tomorrow, a time when we allow God to be the judge of the nations and we no longer need swords and spears… a time when justice becomes the norm and everyone is fed and no one is afraid.

Now – this is a dream, remember, it is a vision – a goal – a hope… but it still has something do with what my grandfather thought he was doing when, as a 22 year old, he decided to see the world on the military’s tab.

We believe in a higher standard of right and wrong. We believe in the concept of peace and fairness. That is what it means to follow Jesus.

The Harvest of Peace

That is sort of why I threw James in there as a reading – to help give Micah a little backup in terms of how God sees the world. You see, James knew that war is caused by us – by envy, by pride, by us not trusting each other… and he suggest we need to accept that we are not wise enough to protect ourselves from this – we are not wise enough to always choose the best route forward… Just think of fighting with a family member or a spouse- do you always choose the best thing? So he suggests that we trust in a higher wisdom, a better way, God’s way.

Do you know the story of the Christmas truce from the First World War? It is an amazing story.

On December 24, 1914, thousands of soldiers put down their rifles and stepped out their trenches. British and German soldiers spent Christmas together along the Western font. For a moment of this horrible war, there was peace.

Most accounts suggest that the truce began with the singing of Christmas carols from the trenches. It was a beautiful moonlit night, with white frost on the ground.

Those who were there describe how the Germans would sing one of their carols in German and then the British would respond with one of their carols in English, until finally they all began singing the same hymn.

That hymn was “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, to which they both knew the Latin words. “Ades-tee fi-dell-less lay-tee triumph-antees...”

Two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war. All people singing God's song of peace together. Rumours tell of sharing chocolate and brandy – of playing soccer and in many cases, even refusing to fight when Boxing Day came back around.

It is hard to fight someone once you understand them. It is hard to hate someone when you realize they are just like you are; the same hopes and dreams, family back home, and fear of dying.

Love, Love, Love

To quote the immortal John Lennon – all you need is love.

Well, ok, that is not all you need, but it is at the heart of what you need. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love – everyone, always, even yourself. And then he said something even harder – go out and help people do that.

This is where it gets tricky. When someone is hurting someone, is stopping them an act of love? When we protect our loved ones by hurting or even killing someone else, is it an act of love? Well – perhaps. I don’t want to say I am condoning violence; I am just trying to point out a very real conundrum we struggle with and a “feeling” that is at the very heart of Remembrance Day.

I think that the people who sing the song of peace the loudest are the ones who have seen the most violence and destruction and disarray. I have never met a soldier who does not carry this vision close to their heart.

Over the bombs and the screams, over the chaos and confusion, they can hear hope.

And that's why these people do this. That is why they risk their lives, say goodbye to their families, and get on a boat or a plane to travel to a warzone. So that the song of peace may be heard throughout the world and that it might matter.

And it shows up in their letters, in their songs, in their poems, and in their stories.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row...” John McCrae heard the song in the fluttering of the poppies that grew up from the ground.

“Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, And smile, smile, smile.” With every step of the soldier's march, the song of peace can be heard.

In his song, “Take a Breath”, where David Rivett sings of Normandy, he says: “Look around this old world and See the flags are flying. Hear the voices crying out for love… In the streets they are shouting, and the guns they are firing. See the tears in the eyes of the dove.”

With every beat of a dove’s wing, the song of peace plays on.

That song of peace is what we sing out in our remembering. And it rings out into our world, like a trumpet blast, loud and clear.

This Remembrance Day, listen for it – in the prayers, in the reveille, in the silence, in the footsteps of the parade, in the murmur of the crowd…

And when you hear it, know that it is God's song.  It is a song that has rung out through the ages. 

A cry for harmony.  A rally for unity.  A call to action. 

For when more are able to hear it the world will change.  But we must never forget to listen.  Amen.

Pentecost 8 - C

The Good Samaritan Revisited

Opening

I have always figured Christians fall into one of two camps. I know there are hundreds of variations, but I think all of those, whether liberal or conservative, whether catholic or protestant, all fall into these two things: Either you think what you do matters most, or you think what matters most is what you think.

Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your saviour and you will get into heaven, goes the saying in one school of thought.

Follow in Christ’s way and live by his example and you will get into heaven, goes the other.

I am firmly in the last camp, just so you know. I think actions speak much louder than words. In fact, I think people who say they are not Christian and do good things are being just as faithful as I am.

In the old time biblical way of speaking of things they called actions the fruits… the fruits of your labour…. The things that grew because of what you did…

I started today with Paul’s letter to the Church in Colossae because I think this is a good place for us to start thinking about what it means to follow Jesus – Paul speaks of it as the Gospel Bearing fruit.

And by that he means that the teachings are starting to have an effect.

Has anyone ever gone on a diet? I hate it because the first thing that happens is that you get irritable, then you start to crave every single thing you should not eat, and all the while you are looking in the mirror and seeing no change.

But there comes this moment, where the extra walking, or the lack of cheesecake really does kick in and you feel good about yourself. There comes a moment where the work starts to seem like it is making a difference and you get more energy….

You see, there is a feeling in Paul’s words that we all know… we all know this sense that things start to turn around, they start to pay off, and we get it.

Paul describes it as being made strong and joyful … when things come together and we know we are on the right track.

Whether we are talking about diets, about work, about faith, or about life… those are the moments to treasure.

Readings

Psalm 82 (VU p. 799)

Luke 10:25-37
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Of Samaritans and Cutpurses

What would shock and embarrass you into action? What would you have to see happening in order to step in? I have to say there are a lot of things that I wish I did that I didn’t do. The other day I saw a father yelling at their kids in a mall, like screaming at them… and I wanted to go tell him to cool it, relax, think about what he was doing… but I just walked away feeling awkward.

On the other hand, there was a guy whose car would not start the other day and I went and boosted him since I had jumper cables. Just a stranger in a parking lot, but he told me that he had been there quite a while and no one else had stopped to help.

There is a lot going on in the Good Samaritan story, but cut right to the core and it is about loving the neighbour… which is never an easy thing.

See, the first two characters are religious; it is not just the average person passing by, but really religious people… and Jesus is trying to point out to his listeners, by embarrassing them admittedly, that the religious people are often too self-righteous to help. He is not wrong about this… there are those that think people get into their own messes because they are not faithful and will not help them, there are others who say, with all the best intentions, I will pray for you, but still just walk on by.

The last person is the unexpected person… the Samaritan, the outsider, the one you would think would not help. Like have a black person help a white person in the South in the 1960’s or having a gay person help a red neck with a flat tire…

The people saw this; they knew that Samaritans were a bunch of liars, cheats, and losers…. But… if a Samaritan did the right thing when the holy people wouldn’t… what does that mean?

Anger Management

So I am assuming you have heard a sermon once or twice about the Good Samaritan. I am also assuming that someone, somewhere, has told you to love your neighbour, and even that your neighbour might not be who you expect… so good, remember that… but I want to talk to you about righteous anger.

Or rather, about when is it NOT okay to just be religious? You see, Jesus was talking to a bunch of church goers, he was talking to Session Members and trustees and they were asking him, what are we supposed to be doing as a church… surely you don’t mean we are supposed to love everyone…. There are a lot of people who do not deserve love…

And Jesus got angry. We don’t talk about that much, but he did. And the point of this story is to put the holier than though Pharisees and Sadducees down. He is not really trying to convert them, that would be a bonus, but he IS trying to insult them.

I wonder if we are too polite? I wonder if we ignore things we should not ignore? I wonder what it would be like if you challenged people for stupid questions and dumb answers. What if someone said something and you told them that answer wasn’t good enough… how would they react.

I do not think when Jesus said we should be a good neighbour that the point was to be a pushover. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Jesus stood up for what he believed and did not suffer fools gladly. I think we have gotten into a lot of trouble in society by being too polite, too nice, too accepting… Now, don’t get me wrong, I think love is the centre of everything, and I think we need to love everyone the way God does, I would NEVER tell you to be judgemental about anyone or anything.

But at the same time, stick up for what you believe in, hold people accountable for their actions, keep pointing out when people are making mistakes…  That is all part of being faithful to the way of Jesus too.

Conclusion

Love, when it is done right, is all about honesty and openness, about transparency and accountability. So when  Jesus is saying, Love your neighbour he is saying a whole lot more than, be nice to them. He is saying that we should challenge them to be better people, we should be there when they fall into the ditch, we should accept them for who they are, we should share who we really are…

Being a real neighbour is not easy…. But it is part of the struggle of being a real Christian.

Easter 6 - C

The Rich Count Too

Introduction

I am not sure if any of you saw the movie Spiderman… the first one, a while ago now… Anyway there is a line in that movie, where Uncle Ben tells the young Peter Parker, who will one day become Spiderman, that “With great power comes great responsibility.”

It is a great line, it is actually a lot older than Spiderman, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote it down centuries before; but I am pretty sure it has been around in some form or another forever… Take care of your younger brother… if you are going to borrow the car you have to drive your sister to soccer. We all learn that as we get more freedom, more power, more life, we also have more responsibility…

Perhaps we do not stop and think about it spiritually all too often. What does it mean that the more power we have, the more responsibility we have? We usually think of it the other way – when we read the Bible we see ourselves as one of the poor, one of the powerless, one of the great majority of people who Jesus was talking to when he said, God will come and make it better.

And the heroes of the Bible… Moses Stutters, David is the youngest and smallest son, Jesus is just some small town carpenters son; and almost every other person we encounter comes from the poorest of the poor, shepherds and fishers…

But what about the other side… what is God saying to the people who have it all? And I don’t necessarily mean money, I mean resources, influence, lifestyle… which, to be fair, most of us have more of than most people in the world… What is God saying to us.

With the Kids – Comfort

Thinking of Comfort

I have often read the John passage at funerals. It is one of my favourites to preach on. I guess probably that is because I hope to be as brave as Jesus when I die. You see, he knew what was happening, he knew this was the end, and his last thoughts were about making it all right for his family and friends.

Don’t worry, he tries to say them. I am always with you, and I will send another to comfort and guide you, you do not have to go through it alone, God will be with you, in one way or another…. It is their future, their pain, their life that concerns him the most as he is losing his.

Imagine what it would feel like to know that someone was there who would teach us how to get through it, who would help us to feel at peace with the world even when tragedies happen… That is what Jesus is offering his followers. He is saying that no matter what comes, there will be someone who is there for you. 

That is a pretty powerful promise.

Lydia

So here is our hero for today, Lydia… as important a person as ever there was for the early church, but another person for whom we only have one brief story; and so I want to tell you that story again, in a more dramatic way… I have to admit that I got a little help from a book called Women of the Bible by Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda.

The wind rustled the branches overhead until they became a swaying canopy whose shadow danced across the circle of women bowed in prayer. It didn't matter that Philippi had too few Jews to support a synagogue; the river's edge had become their place of worship, a green sanctuary where they gathered each Sabbath to pray.

A woman named Lydia was there that day, on the edges, watching it all unfold. Lydia was not Jewish, but she had come to believe in this God they spoke of. She had come to Philippi from Asia Minor and was a prominent businesswoman who sold fine cloth to those who could afford it. The cloth was prized for its purple colour.

Now Lydia listened as a stranger from Tarsus began the morning prayers; "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Such prayers were like a gust of wind, fanning her longing. Though not a Jew, she wanted to know this God powerful enough to part the sea yet tender enough to yearn for the love of his people.

Paul did not stop there, he spoke of a God whose Son, Jesus, had been murdered for love. This Jesus had risen from the grave after suffering the most agonizing death imaginable. He was the Messiah, the merciful and holy One.

The women sat quietly as Paul told the story. Even the branches overhead had stopped their noisy rustling. But in the stillness, Lydia felt a strong wind rushing through her. Tears rolled down her cheeks even though she felt like singing. Afterward, she was baptized in that same river she had come to pray at. In fact, so strong was her faith that her entire household followed her example and were baptized; then Lydia insisted that Paul and Silas and probably Timothy and Luke too accept her hospitality.

Philippi seemed an unlikely place to plant the gospel. It was a prosperous Roman colony located on the main highway linking the eastern provinces to Rome and its citizens included large numbers of retired Roman soldiers. Despite its size, however, Philippi hadn't even enough Jews to provide the requisite quorum of ten reliable men to form a synagogue--and it had always been Paul's habit to preach at the synagogue first. Even so, Philippi did have its group of praying Jewish and Gentile women.

Shortly after Lydia's conversion, Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for upsetting the Roman authorities. After they were released, Lydia once again extended hospitality and invited them into her home and cared for them. In the short time that they had been away, Lydia had started a house church and the faithful were gathered there. Her home may have become the very center of the church in Phillipi.

I am sure that Lydia did not fully understand the power that she held. Luckily, she took her responsibility to be a good person seriously. This affected all of those around her and her simple actions of commitment, love and hospitality helped to set the church on a certain path.

All You Need Is Love

I guess we all know that John Lennon was right when he wrote, all you need is love… after all, he got that from some good sources, like Jesus, and the Apostles, and… well… God.

But perhaps more to the point, that is what we are talking about once again… whether you are rich or poor, whether you are young or old, all you need is love.

Why is that true?

Well, in this letter, which is thought to be written by the person who wrote the Gospel of John, we have a long passage about love. And essentially it says something we already know, that God is love… but then it goes on to say we should then be acting out of a spirit of love… and the ultimate reason given is that love conquers fear….

So it is more than just loving because you are nice, it is more than just making the other person feel good, it is more than just doing the right thing… it is a concrete way to conquer fear.

This, when you think about it, is a pretty good tool to have; because who of us is not afraid, I mean, really, we are afraid of death, of sickness, of speaking in public, of being alone, of speaking our mind, of being judged, of spiders…. Fear is at the heart of a lot of our decisions… maybe most of our decisions.

And what would it be like if we overcame that fear with love? Could that not be what drew people to the faith, whether they were rich or poor? Could that not be why Lydia is recognized as a Saint, that she did things, like bring in Paul the prisoner, despite her fear… she acted out of love in the face of fear…

Conclusion

So what about that whole “great power leads to great responsibility” thing?

I think that we have to realize that we all have choices to make, that is what Lydia is all about – she had the power and the resources to make a difference and she used them for good. And perhaps if you do find yourself with more than other people, that should be your guiding principle.

Did you know Bill Gates, certainly one of the richest people on the planet, what with basically owning the concept of computers, is also one of the biggest givers to charity in the world, like, giving more than a lot of countries….

God calls us to be responsible, and in that, to live out of a place of love.