Pentecost 4 b

Symbols of Grace

Introduction

I find that there is meaning in most things. Perhaps it is because I am always writing sermons, or perhaps it is that I really like a good story. But I see a sunrise and wonder about it. I have noticed that most, but not all of my garden is growing and wonder why. I wonder if I would have been compelled to walk cross Niagara Falls if I was a tightrope walker, and I feel sad that they shot a bear cub in downtown Moncton just because he was lost.

Jesus knew all about the fact that we are a curious people. So did the authors of the stories about all our heroes in the Bible.

They told stories that we could relate to. They embellished the truth, or changed the location, or drew attention to the ordinary in new ways so that we might notice things differently.

This is what is meant by the word “symbolic” a symbol is something that means something else, it points us in a different direction. When we see it, we see more than what is really there, we see the meaning behind…

Today is all about symbols, from the celebration of communion right through the stories we are reading. For the most part I am just going to talk about what they meant to the people who wrote them. I hope as I do so that it helps you to see something new, something different, or some relation to your own life.

The Youngest Son

One of the things we often don’t recognize is that much of our story is about the difference between urban and rural. It is a city mouse versus country mouse world that is at stake… with the Empires of Rome and Assyria, and Babylon representing the cities… and Israel being the country.

Remember last week when I said that Israel wanted a King so it could be just like all those other big places…. Well… that is the basis of a story that goes on and on about what is the best way for us to live our lives.

Should we be close to the land? Close to each other? In relationship with God? Or should we be growing and growing? Getting rich? Moving all the time and trusting in a king?

We always seem to want the last one… but the thing we do not realize is that becoming a big city, making jobs be about money, and living that way separates us from each other. And from the very beginning God made us to be in relationship with each other.

So, we want a king… and we are told a story about the King that God chose: Who is this king? The youngest, smallest, earthiest son of a shepherd. It is not a politician, or a prince; but a person of the land.

This is not accidental. Again we are being told a story through symbolism. God choses not only the last and the least, but the one who is most connected to the land, to family, and to tradition. These are the people who will truly make a difference. These are the people who can lead but maintain a little humanity.

So even when God goes along with our bad ideas, there is a sense of grace, a sense of choosing the best possible way to remind us of who and how we are supposed to be.

The Parable

Jesus never did anything but spoke in riddles, used symbols, and taught by example. We call his way of preaching a parable.

Here is another way of saying what Jesus was trying to say without all the imagery:

“I know it does not seem like we accomplish much. But we are starting something that will lead to big changes.”

Kind of boring huh? Also, you just have to take his word for it. There is no reason to believe that little things lead to big changes, and we know from personal example that a lot of what we do seems to be wasted effort.

So he tells a story: You have all seen a garden, right? You have all seen a seed, right? Ever see a mustard seed, or a lettuce seed? They are so tiny you can lose it while you are looking right at it… but then you plant it, and something miraculous happens. You get a salad, or two, or three…. It keeps growing.

So perhaps, just perhaps, when we do nice things, it causes unexpected changes and growth.

We do not know when a smile to s stranger might completely change their world – stop them from committing suicide, etc.

This parable is the whole premise for the movie It’s a Wonderful Life…. Where old Bill Bailey thinks his life is worthless till he gets the chance to see how all the small things he did throughout it made a huge difference in the people around him.

Conclusion

There is a sense that God is in all things we do, that each and every thing connects us to the past, the present and the future.

The thing about faith is, we believe in meaning too. Things don’t just happen and we are done with them, we wrestle with them, we engage them, we try to see how this can be part of our story.

So this week may you continue to live with your eyes open, putting together the pieces of your life, and working to make a difference in how things play out.

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…

PENTECOST

The Day the Winds Came

Introduction

I have a friend, a minister in Cape Breton. He recently posted an article on his blog about a church asking to die. They were tired, they were old, they figured they were done… and Nick asked, perhaps rightly, what is the church coming to if people no longer feel any passion towards their faith.

I did not grow up in the church. I started when I was around 15, and I went because my girlfriend at the time wanted me to. It was fun, but I was also critical. I used to meet with the minister after most of his sermons and argue.

I don’t know when it changed. I never considered being a minister when I was young. I never thought I would end up going to church every week. But somewhere along the way I became passionate about the ideas and teachings of Jesus.

I know it is different for some people. They grew up in the church and it has always been a part of their lives. At the same time, a lot of those people just come to church out of habit… or else they did at one point and somehow, things changed, and they became passionate about what they believe in.

After 12 years in University studying about religion and 16 years in the church preaching it; I can tell you, that passion, no matter how strongly you feel it, comes and goes.

Today I want to talk about another group of people who had a passion for Jesus’ message, and about how their passion came and went, and hopefully as we find ourselves in the middle of this story, we will feel our faith come alive once more.

With the Kids

Experiments with flames and not seeing… Either the super-heated paraffin candle trick, or the invisible ink trick…

Spirit Musings

So what is the Holy Spirit? In the story from Acts we are told that it is like a wind, or like tongues of fire; The Psalm suggests that it is the creative power God sends forth into the world to create. Then Romans makes it out to be some sort of comforting helper that empowers our prayers.

These stories all have one thing in common, some unseen force.

The Bible actually begins with this unseen force, as the spirit of God hovers above the formless void, waiting to create everything.

Last year I spent a week learning from a brilliant man named Michael Morwood, who wrote a controversial book called “God is Near.”

He made it seem really clear, this concept of Spirit, and in fact, he thought that the Spirit was the primary way we all know God. It is the power, the force, the energy that connects us all to one another, and connects us to something larger than ourselves.

Which doesn’t really help, does it.

Ok, you know when you are afraid to do something, say, call someone who is mad at you; and you say a little prayer and then all of a sudden you have the courage to do it. That little prayer is a way of putting you in touch with the spirit which then gives you strength.

When my first daughter was born she was born dead. All blue, no life signs whatsoever, the cord had been wrapped around her neck during delivery. She was revived and rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Now, her mother had been in labour over 24 hours by this point. Add the waking up when the contractions started and rushing to the hospital and we had been awake forever. But there was no way I could fall asleep not knowing what was going on.

While I lay in a hospital room on an uncomfortable cot a voice came into my head, it said, “It will be all right.” And instantly I fell asleep.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it sounded an awful lot like me talking to myself. But I had no reason to trust my own judgement at this point. Still, that voice connected me to something larger than myself which gave me the ability to have hope.

For me, this is what the Spirit is… it is God. It is divine power. It makes us who we were born to be.

Coming After

So, in the final days before his death Jesus made a promise, that he would send the spirit.

That was Jesus whole point, after all, to get us to connect to God.

He used ideas like making it personal. Jesus called God “daddy” to try and get us to think of it as a relationship. He wanted us to realize that we are all connected at a deeper level than we can possibly imagine.

The Movie Star Wars was perhaps the greatest science fiction series ever made. It might be debatable now, but at the time the first movie came out in 79 it was something no one had ever seen before. A Space Opera with heroes and villains, princesses and robots. It was also a movie about destiny.

Young Luke Skywalker is growing up an orphan, raised by his uncle and aunt in a backwater farming community. He is no one, until he meets up with a mentor, an old hermit, who claims to have known Luke’s real father. Luke, it seems, has royal blood flowing in his veins. He was destined to be a mighty warrior, he just needs to get in touch with who he really is.

That requires him to get in touch with “the force.”

In case you have not realized it yet, Star Wars is one of the most religious non-religious movies ever made. Luke is the equivalent of Jesus, a saviour who is unaware of his true destiny until he becomes mature… then he needs to go into the desert, or away to the planet Dagobah, in order to get in touch with God, er, the Force…

When I was asked to define God in a seminary interview, I used the terms from Star Wars… they are the ones that make the most sense to me.

God is the force. God is the creative power behind the universe. God is something that exists in the energy that flows from me into the world and vice versa. God is Spirit.

Jesus says that this Spirit will come and empower us and guide us, it will help us to fund truth, it will lead us in the paths where we are to go.

So… all of what I have said so far is preamble… I have just been setting the stage. You see, the point is not that Spirit exists, it does. The point is not how we define the spirit, it is real despite our definitions. The point is - what is your destiny?

Conclusion

The thing is simply this. God is at work in you as surely as the air you breathe. But you have to open yourself up to the spirit in order for it to do any good.

Make this Pentecost an opportunity to embrace your potential and be what God created you to be.

Amen.

EASTER 7 B

Into the World as One

( Just a note to say this sermon is one of the ones where each church, and each time I did it, was substantially different. A lot of off the cuffness to it, and moving the stories and different stories... but this is the text I had in front of me)
 
Introduction

What is it that stops us from getting along with everyone?

Have you ever stopped and tried to figure that out? I think perhaps it has to do with this imagined idea that we are all different. When I look out at the crowd I see a whole bunch of people who have nothing in common with me, different ages and backgrounds, different sexes and hair colours… We are as different as I can imagine.

You don’t know anyone who has anything in common with you, do you?

I remember when I was in high school we made fun of the people who were on welfare. Can’t remember how or why it came up… but they were certainly the people who were not like us at all. When you are younger you just don’t get the whole “there but for the grace of God go I” argument.

But over the years I have seen that in almost every situation, I might have done it the same way, or made the same mistakes, or ended up in the same place. I have found homeless folks who Knew more about theology than I did, and I have found ancient people who have the same sense of humour that I do…

In fact, the more I have looked around, the more I have noticed that there is not that much different about anyone…

And yet… we still have a hard time working together.

Tuning the Forks

(from Gathering Magazine)

Listen to the sounds of an orchestra tuning; then try getting voices “tuned,” i.e., have a pianist or other musician play a note (or use a tuning fork) and see if, one by one, people can join in to become one voice, one note. It takes effort; it doesn’t happen by accident; it requires listening—to the instrument/tuning fork and to one another. As Christians, God is the one who gives us the “note.” Jesus prayed we would all be able to “tune in” to it.

The Testimony

The Psalmist suggests that our delight should be in the law of the Lord and that we should meditate on it day and night. The prophet Jeremiah put it another way once; he said that the Law of God should be written on our hearts.

Have you ever watched Raphael Nadal play tennis? I used to watch a lot of tennis and although he is one of the best players in the world, Rapha often loses games, and you can usually tell if he is going to lose in the second set… because he starts slipping.

You can almost see that he has lost confidence, that he is all of a sudden unsure of himself… His mastery of the game, then, depends on his ability to master his thoughts.

This is the difference between knowing something in your head, and knowing it in your heart.

So let’s re-write what the disciple who wrote the epistle of John was trying to say:

The world is going to tell you a lot of things about who you are, and what you can do. But what is in your heart, what God put there, is stronger. If you believe in the way of Jesus Christ, you will be in touch with your heart, in touch with God, you will be stronger, you will have real life…

Ah, yes… true… but…

We hold on to those differences, we hold on to those pains, we hold on to the idea that we have to make it through on our own, and our individualism, our desire to be our own person, makes all of this very, very hard.

What’s Yours is Mine and What’s Mine is….

Jesus prays to God, Jesus says he has taught us the way. Jesus says he has put the love into our hearts…

And, well, it will be up to us…

Do any of you remember the story of the transfiguration? A little out of season, but basically Jesus goes up to the top of a mountaintop and while he is there two other figures appear, Moses and Elijah. The three of them have a little chat about how things are going to work out, and Jesus comes down the mountain glowing.

The point is made that Jesus is not going it alone. Moses paved the way with the law, Elijah brought 

the people together and gave them spirituality through the prophets, and Jesus puts them on the path of love.

It is the combination of these things that made what Jesus did possible.

Not only that, but the first thing he does after coming out of the wilderness is to call the apostles; not just get one disciple, but get a group of people he can trust, rely on, share with and teach.

There is never a sense that it is up to one person, one individual to change the world….

Listen again to the middle of Jesus prayer to God:

“And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

So, knowing he is dying, knowing he is leaving his followers behind, he prays to God that we can work together.

My father spent many years living in Indiana, where there is a sizeable Amish population. The Amish are people who work the land, live in their houses, drive horse and buggy, and basically shy away from most of what we think makes life “easy” because they think it makes us lazy and tears families apart. I don’t think they are too far off the mark there…

In the Amish world when someone gets married and goes off to start a new family, you build them a barn.  Now, what that means is that the entire community gathers around sunrise, the women start cooking and making coffee and the men start felling trees. By lunch break the whole huge barn is framed, by sundown it is finished.

I built a deck once; took me a month.

Just one of a thousand examples I could think of to point out the difference between working together, and working on our own.

Which has basically been the theme of all of Easter; there was the whole I am the vine, you are the branches analogy, there was talk of being one family, and you even found hints of this in the whole shepherd and sheep analogy.

God wants us to work together, to have a sense of unity, to know love completely and to use that love in community. When we do that, as Jesus says, we will have his joy made complete in us…. Which is a fancy way of saying we will be fulfilled, we will know life’s purpose, we will be happy.

Conclusion

I really like the Psalm:

“Happy are those whose… delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”

I am not saying it is the only thing we are ever supposed to do… but how about looking at it this way, in everything we do, we should be conscious to try and do it the way God would want us to do it… if we do, then we will never fail.

Easter 06 - Mother's Day

All About the Love….

Introduction

Well, this is mother’s day.

Do you know that this day is celebrated in almost every country in the world, either in April or May? However, they all trace their roots back to the American Civil War, and the early 1900’s in the US.

In 1870 Julia Ward Howe made a “Mother’s Day Proclamation” ... it ameout of a group of mother's who had been meeting to protest the violence of the American civil war and was trying to re-unite families that had been divided. 

Then in 1908 Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother and began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States. It took 6 years, but it was eventually recognized and spread worldwide.

The original idea that prompted both of these women to start a holiday was the idea of love, and that this love was first learned in the family, and for most of us, through our mother….
It was meant to be a moment to recognize all the goodness that went into bringing you up…

With the Kids

Theme: Show your love by your actions (Mother's Day)
Object: A Mother's Day card

I am sure that all of you know that it is Mother's Day. Did you give your mother a card or a present for Mother's Day? This Mother's Day card says, "Mom, I love you!" Do you think your mother likes to hear you tell her that you love her? Of course she does! But do you know what your mother would like even more? She would like for you to show her that you love her.

What are some ways you can show your mother that you love her? Well, you might help out around the house. You could clean your room or empty the trash. You could show her that you love her by obeying her when she tells you to do something. You can show her you love her by getting along with your brothers and sisters. It is easy to tell your mom that you love her, but if you really love her, your actions will show it!

Do you think that God likes to hear us tell Him that we love Him? I know He does. But He likes it even better when our actions show Him that we love Him. How do we do that? The Bible tells us that, "God showed his love for us by sending His one and only Son so that we might live through him." It goes on to say that, "since God loved us so much, we ought to love one another." One of the best ways to show our love for God is to love one another. Yes, God likes to hear us say, "I love you," but He would rather see us say, "I love you."

As we celebrate Mother's Day, let's tell Mom that we love her, but more important, let's remember to show her that we love her. And as we worship today, let's tell God we love him, but more important, let's remember to show him we love him by loving one another.

Dear Lord, we have come to your house today to say, "I love you." Help us to go out of here today and show you that we love you by our actions. Amen.

Love the Parent Love the Child

Today’s readings are not about mothers per se. But the one thing they all have in common is the idea of love.

Now, love is a difficult concept to get our heads around. I love steak. I love ice cream, there is “tough love” there is the love I have for my daughters, there is the love I have for my girlfriend, there is the love I have for my mother… All of those things are quite different, I think.

Or are they…

When Jesus spoke of love he spoke of a feeling that comes from God. The disciples echoed this and claimed that if you loved God, you would keep the commandments – you would “act” out of love.

Now, none of them really said what this love looked like. There are no real speeches that say, go buy flowers on mother’s day. The Bible does not tell you that it is a commandment to hug someone when they are sad…

Instead, the Bible makes a big deal about being “like” Jesus.

And Jesus was a guy who did certain things… he ate with people who were lonely, he listened whenever anyone talked to him, whether they were rich or poor good or bad, smart or dumb, he laughed when people told him jokes, he danced at parties, he just smiled knowingly when the friends lowered their sick friend through the roof jumping the line…

The thing the disciples knew about Jesus was that he cared, passionately, about everyone and everything….

Now, I know that not all mothers are the epitome of love. I certainly know that not all sons make it easy to love them. But I do know a little about trying to love like God, like Jesus, and I know it is not easy for any of us.

The best opening monologue of any movie – or for that matter any story in my opinion, also comes from the movie, Love Actually – in which we find Hugh grant, playing the Prime minister of England, speaking in the background as the camera pans across a group of people coming into the airport from their plane. He says:

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinions starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion love actually is all around.”

The type of love that is based not on passion, not simply on romance, but based on the actual caring heart reaching out to one another, is, all around us... this is what Jesus was trying to say to his disciples when he told them that even when they could no longer see him physically with them - they would still be able to recognize the presence of what Jesus stood for – of love.

But at the same time – this is the type of love that you have to do in order to get.

There was this man who was trying to read a serious book, but his little daughter kept interrupting him. She would lean on his knee and look up and say, “Daddy I love you.” And he would reach down and pat her absently on the head and say “Yes dear, I love you too.” And then give her a little push, an encouraging suggestion to be on her way, to go play, so he could get back to his book. But as this happened a couple of times it never satisfied the little girl, so finally she ran across the room, jumped up on his lap, threw her arms around him and said, “Daddy I love you, and I just have to DO something about it!” You see, as we grow in love we are not content with the small talk love, or the pat on the head love, we want to get involved and DO something about it.

When Jesus was nearing the end of his ministry with the disciples – it was this message that he meant to get across... think back to what Jesus said was the greatest commandment we should follow: "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself." After he said that, Jesus went on to finish with... "DO THIS and you will live."

If you love me – if you are a follower of Jesus – if you love God; you will keep my commandments.

Conclusion

There is a little bit of Mother’s Day and Jesus’ Sermon overlap in this sermon.

I don’t think Jesus would mind.

The Catholic Church took the motherhood of Jesus seriously enough to make Mary, the mother of Jesus, more than a Saint.

The thing is that Jesus wanted us all to understand love and compassion, and he wanted us to live that way. And today, on Mother’s day, we can remember the first person who ever showed us that type of compassion… our mother.

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?

Easter 4 B

Risking It All

Introduction

Today I want to talk about Risk… about taking chances.

One of the things we forget about in our comfortable pew is the concept that being a Christian entails some risk – or that doing something new involves risk – or that standing up for what you believe involves risk…

What are the things that you would take risks for? Do you usually play it safe or take chances? What do you think God would have you do?

Teddy Roosevelt, one of the great leaders of that smallish country down south of us, once said, “No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.”

This was the way the disciples felt at the very beginning. It was the way Jesus felt. They thought that this whole Christianity thing was worth taking a whole lot of risk for… they thought the people that God loved were worth the risk…

That is what we will explore today.

With the Kids – The Good Shepherd

-           Does anyone have pets? What kinds?

-          What does it take to have a pet? A big responsibility…

-          Jesus said “I am the good shepherd”

o   Takes care of the sheep
o   Feeds the sheep
o   Will even risk life and death for the sheep

-          We ultimately do what we do for love. That is what Jesus was talking about – God’s love for us.

Hanging in the Glebe

Did anyone read the book, “the Bishop’s Man”?

On the surface it is a book about a Catholic Priest in Cape Breton who is called upon by the Bishop to clean up some of the messes left behind when priests do bad things.

But the real story comes from the internal thinking of said priest. He sits alone in his house and wonders whether loneliness drives us slowly crazy. He once seems to have had a brief love interest and is forever battling the demons of knowing he went against his vows. He drinks to forget about his pain and this gives us an insight into why people choose forgetfulness.

I like him.

Do you know that you can buy Bible Hero Action Figures? You should see them… all muscles and righteous anger. Samson with his bulging arms ready to take on the evil lions… If you have the internet go home and Google “Almighty Heroes Action Figures”.

It is kind of funny…. Except… it’s not. It is kinda what I learned in Sunday school. Ok, maybe the heroes of the Bible were not GI Joe, but they were heroes. Larger than life, capable of miracles, above the law, they were not very much like you and me.

They are hard people to live up to.

Even Jesus, although his action figure is a lot skinnier, is hard to live up to, isn’t he? When we hear in the Bible that we should come and follow Jesus, that we should be like him, do we really think we are capable of it?

How about this – the good shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for the sheep, who is able to fight of the lions in the night, who always knows where the good grass is, who would risk life and limb looking for one lost sheep… is that you?

I fear I am more like Father MacAskill from the Bishop’s Man… conflicted about things, wondering about things, trying to do the right thing even though the choices are hard to make….

Ah… but here is the thing. The good father does something. Despite the fact that he is no Saint, he still goes out to confront the people doing wrong. Despite the fact that he does not know what to say, he still goes to be with the family whose son committed suicide. Despite the fact that he is living in a poor area of Cape Breton  he still keeps insisting to the people that they are good honest folk…

He makes a difference because he is willing to risk – because he is willing to put aside all those things about himself that would convince us we cannot possibly help, and then go help.

Now, I personally am a big believer that we need help; that we are capable of much more when we are “filled with the Holy Spirit” so to speak. I think that there is such a thing as divine power, that can sustain us when we could not possibly do it alone.

Can you think of a time when you were really, really afraid to do something, and you said a little prayer, and all of a sudden it seemed like you had the courage to do it? How about a time when you were so overwhelmed or worried and you just all of a sudden got the feeling that everything would be ok?

I truly think that those sort of things happen all the time when we are willing to risk in the first place. We have to be willing to take those first steps, even if they lead into some pretty uncomfortable places… just look at the disciples in our story from Acts, who find themselves in prison; but somehow know that it is the strength of God that has made what they do possible… it was not them alone.

Even the Good Shepherd passage talks about how Jesus knows the father, and the father knows Jesus and that is what makes it all possible…

But again – both the disciples and Jesus always took the first step. It is the fact that they were willing to do something that starts the ball rolling.

And I hate to point it out, but it usually means they get in trouble. We don’t really like people who risk going against the status quo. We don’t really understand people who put other values first and foremost in their lives. We don’t find it easy to be welcoming, and accepting, and loving without counting the cost… none of us do….

But when we risk doing the right thing… we change everything….

There is a story told about a soldier who died in France in World War Two. His buddy’s gathered up the corpse and headed into the village to try and bury the body. When they got to the church the priest informed them that because of the rules, only a Catholic could be buried in the graveyard, but since this man was a protestant, he could do nothing.

The soldiers were uncertain what to do, but finally decided that the best thing they could do would be to bury their friend just outside the cemetery fence.

The next morning, the unit was getting ready to head out so they all went back to pay their last respects. But they could not find the body. They went to the priest, who told them:

“Well, after I saw what you did I spent the first half of the night lying awake wondering about my decision. I spent the second half of the night moving the fence.”

Going Against the Grain

I don’t know… it just seems to me that most of us take the easy road far too often.

I guess I see in these post Easter stories a group of people who were willing to take risks, both large and small…. But we in the church have tended towards the opposite, to playing it safe…

And it is no surprise. The world is becoming less and less concerned with the church. We are on the outside of what is popular and that is probably a chicken and egg thing… because we do not risk the extravagant type of love that Jesus and the disciples did, we have become more and more concerned with keeping the rules, or maintaining the buildings, or any number of things.

I know the way of Jesus matters. I know that the traditions, ideas, and understandings that the church passed down can bring happiness and hope to people. I know that the church has the power to change the world….

But are we willing to take the risks? Are we willing to accept like Jesus?

I think we should.