Creation 3 B

The Artist's Way

Introduction: In the Beginning

The unknown author of the Letter to the Hebrews says:

“In the beginning, God...founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of [God's] hands.” (Hebrews 1:10)

In the beginning, there was a blank canvas. The painter took her brush and dipped it into the rainbow of colours that was before her on the palette. As her hands danced over the stark white canvas, a masterpiece slowly emerged.

The painter created something new out of nothing-- something breathtaking out of something ordinary.

In the beginning, there was an empty page. The poet took his pen and began to write. Pretty soon, the page was filled with provocative words that stir the imagination.

The poet created wonderful poetry Where once there was nothing, now melodic verses sang out.

In the beginning, there was a lump of clay. The potter took the cold clay into her hands and worked it with strength and warmth. She created a beautiful, smooth vessel.

What once was unformed and empty, stood ready to be filled.

In the beginning, there was a vacant floor. The dancer took to its centre and he began to gently move his body. With delicate steps, the dancer created a vibrant dance.

What once was an empty space, he filled with life.

“In the beginning, God...founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of [God's] hands.” (Hebrews 1:10)

With the Kids…. Co-Creators

Art as artistic interpretation…

Make things is taking part in creation – we use the gifts that God gives us to help God make the world beautiful….

God and the Physical World

 Artists bring emotion to life. Their artwork is an expression of their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. They are creators of beauty and wonder.

And so it is with God.

We talk about God as “the Creator” all of the time. When we talk about the Holy Trinity, the first person we mention is God the Creator. Language of God as Creator is prevalent in our community worship times and it comes up in our personal prayers.

Perhaps we do not believe in God as a literal artist who crested the world in seven literal days. But we can appreciate that the work of creation is a work of art…

But we also know that God is at work in creation.  And I find that the language of an artist creating art really does help me to grasp how God works in the world.

These images of the potter at the wheel or the painter with brush in hand are conjured up when we hear scripture writers talk about God forming us with loving hands. And they give us a sense of a creative energy at play in the world. This beautiful creative energy works through the scientific world we are in.

And this work is quite beautiful to watch as it unfolds in processes like the reproduction of a baby, or a rabbit's fur changing colour to escape predators, or a sunflower turning around to face the sun.

When we see God as an artist, we can't help but see God as a scientist too. In God, the two are undeniably linked, working together to create.

God and the Spiritual World

So, step one is understanding God as the catalyst for creation in the material world.

Once we understand this, then we can begin to ponder God as Creator in the spiritual world.

If God creates all that we can see, imagine the works God creates that we don't see. Just like we might put together a tasty dish in our kitchens by following a recipe that has been handed down to us, God creates intangible things that we cannot taste, touch and smell, like love, wisdom and hope.

These are the qualities that Jesus brought to life and magnified. And they existed since the beginning.

There's that famous passage from John that we heard some from today that starts this way:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

It's telling us that the essence of Jesus existed since the very beginning.

Before there was night and before there was day, there was the divine energy of love, justice and healing. 

Before there was water and dry land, there was the divine energy of peace and joy.

And then one day, those qualities came to life in a way we can recognize.

One day, “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)

One day, there was Jesus – the artwork that revealed to us the Artist.

Conclusion: We Need All of Creation

And just as this world needs air, water, fire, and wind to exist and to thrive, it needs the intangibles to survive too. And God created all these elements – each and every one. The same God that created huge powers like love, created me and created you.

The Letter to Hebrews reminds us that some day the physical world will no longer exist as we know it but God will remain.

The concrete items that we can see with our eyes will wear out and die.

But that creative energy and its spiritual creations will remain unchanged.

The Artist's inspiration is without limit. The Artist's work is never finished. The Artist will continue to create forever.

We need all of creation – the tangible, the intangible, the human, the nonhuman, the living, the inanimate. We need it all.

If we are to understand something about the Artist, we must consider and be amazed by the Artist's creations. If we are to understand our own lives, we must follow the Artist's way.

Creation 2 B

Home: Where Heaven and Earth Meet

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah 55:10-13

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

With Kids – Liturgy of Covenanting

Singing in the Rain

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

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

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

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

Revelations 21:1-5

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

Love Come Down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luke 7:11-23

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

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

Heaven on Earth

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

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

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

Creation 1 B

Radical Amazement

(with a nod to the fabulous Rev. Ali Smith who did all the leg work for her sermon and let me pilfer it to create mine)

Introduction 

A few years back there was a movement to try and create a new church season – it would happen in the fall, and it would focus us on creation, on the world around us, and try to root us in the place where we all live.

And what better time than fall to remind us of our relationship to the earth… all the plants are being harvested, the leaves are falling, thanksgiving is just around the corner… as leaves and grass start to mould and the fields are tilled under there is just such an… earthy… feel to everything.

But there can also be such a sense of excitement. Like, when my girls first went apple picking and realized apples grow on trees, or how sweet they were… I remember when I was a kid I always used to go salamander hunting; turning over rocks and looking for the little lizards…. There were lots in point pleasant park in Halifax…

At different times along the way I have lost that sense of wonder. Bits and pieces creep back in, like when I see a beautiful sunset, or a fabulous waterfall… then I am reminded that I really should be amazed by the world around me…

So as we begin not only the fall, but the season of creation, I invite you to try, for the next five weeks, to look at the world around us, the plants and the animals, with a sense of wonder and awe…

Try to think about how it was when you first noticed things… like how a grasshopper actually flies when it jumps…

Yesterday my youngest daughter spent half an hour looking for a four leaf clover…

We need that back.

In the Beginning

(with kids?)

What is your favourite part of the planet we live on? What is your favourite fruit? What about vegetable? Animal?

In the activity of creation, we can see God at work. In the jumping of the fish, in the blooming of the flowers, in the call of a deer, in the taste of a crisp apple, in the kindness of a person's eyes, God is there.

When we closely witness these things, we are truly amazed.

Think of how it feels to watch the bright yellows and rich oranges of the sun as it dips below the horizon on a warm summer's evening.

Have you ever watched a spider spin a web? Isn't it amazing to see this little creature create this beautiful, functional work of art with great speed and determination?

What about smelling a flower? How does it feel to breathe in the intoxicating scent of a rose-- a natural, pure fragrance that brings such pleasure.

There is a reason that in our story about God creating the world each day ends with God saying, “It is good!”

It truly is, good and magical and beautiful and everything that gives us joy…

Birth Pangs

Did you ever hear that the earth was ending? You realize since the very beginning when someone lit a campfire some other caveman said, “This will be the end of everything” I honestly think sometimes that we thrive off doom and gloom… I grew up on the tail end of the nuclear arms race, and at any moment we were all going to die from a missile bombardment.

Now I can’t go a day without hearing about how we will be underwater when the ice caps melt.

Don’t get me wrong, both things could probably still happen any day now… it is just, why do we not live in hope of something better? Why are we focusing on the doom and gloom?

Paul gives me hope when he compares creation to a pregnant woman. He says that we must remember that the best is yet to come. Creation is merely experiencing the pangs of labour right now.

The creation we experience today isn't a finished product.

Through the principles of science, God is always creating. The world is always preparing to birth something new and incredible.

That's not to say that we stick our heads in the sand and don't recognize the real problems that plague this earth and our lives. It means that we change our approach, we change the lens through which we look at those problems.

I am suggesting radical amazement. I am suggesting joy. I am suggesting looking around at the world and seeing God.

Creation is God at Work

In today’s parable Jesus gives us the example of the fig tree to make this point. He says that as soon as the branches on the tree become green and tender and shoot forth leaves, you know that great change is about to happen; you know that God is at work. A new season is about to unfold.

Jesus said that all of these little bits of creation that we see around us are signs of God's presence; they are signs that change and growth continually happen in the world. Whether we are talking about the sprouts of new life in the spring or the falling leaves as the weather turns colder, God is visible in the world around us.

We can look for these same signs in our lives, to prepare for the transformations that constantly take place. When we look at creation, we begin to understand more about our own lives and about how God works in them. But first we have to appreciate creation and recognize in every moment that we are immersed in it.

Abraham J. Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi. He became one of the leading Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20^th century.  And although he died in 1972, his work still fills bookshelves… he is someone that a lot of people read as they study religion… and the reason is that it is filled with wisdom.

He made many insightful observations about God and the world but there's one little gem that speaks to the theme of Creation Time perfectly. And I want to share that with you today.

Heschel said:

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. . . [G]et up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

It's the term “radical amazement” that I love – the thought that if you take the time and open yourself up God's world will knock your socks off.

Unfortunately, it seems easier to embody “radical fear” than “radical amazement.”

Human beings are worriers by nature. We worry about what we don't know; we worry about what we do know; we worry about what we see; we worry about what we don't see.  At least I know I do.

Heschel talks, though, about how real knowledge and deep wisdom come not from fear or doubt but from awe and wonder of creation.

So radical amazement can move us forward. Thoughts like this give me hope. They help me to know what I can do. I can get up every morning and walk through my day amazed. And that will change the way I interact with creation. If everyone was radically amazed, the problems would disappear.

Heck, they wouldn't have existed in the first place.

Conclusion

So, if we live in radical amazement for what we have already seen, smelled, heard, felt, and tasted, then we can joyfully expect what is to come.

And that's helpful for our own lives too. We are a piece of creation after all, and incredible things are waiting to be born into our lives. Our lives are always full of possibility for wonderful transformation. We always await springtime for when our flowers and a sea of colour will burst forth.

Embrace radical amazement… be curious… enjoy the world and all it has to offer… and you will find God in the midst of it.

Pentecost 14 B

Thinking it Through

Introduction

In the earliest church life was difficult – but faith was easy.

I’ve often wondered about that, if there is a correlation – When the Romans were occupying your country it was a simple list that made up your bed time prayers: Keep my family safe, help me feed them, send the Romans away.

Back when Moses came and said, God will free you from slavery – it was pretty easy to see the benefits of choosing God.

If life is easy – faith is difficult.

Think about it. If I have all the food I could ever eat and more am I really as grateful as I could be? If my life is filled up with fun and activities, why make time for church? At night, if I am happy and healthy and fulfilled, what more is there to say to God than thanks?

We might not need it now – but there is a reason that most of the Bible was written during times of trial; and it is ultimately that wisdom which we need.

So today, as we start back into the fall, back to school, back to work, back to the times of our lives when we knuckle down and get things done; we are going to spend a little time thinking about the wisdom that our tradition has given us, looking to it for help.

READING
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Time with the Children – The Kissing Hand

READING PSALM 45 VU p.769

All You Need is Love

Both our Psalm and our opening reading are reminders of just how wonderful the world is when everything is going right…. They speak of seeing things for the first time, of falling in love, of waking up to the beauty all around you.

Did you ever think that perhaps the issue is attitude?

Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."

Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that your're getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" And she did it with enthusiasm; acting "as if." For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, and sharing. When she didn't return, Crane called. "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?"

"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.

READING
James 1:17-27

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness.

Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.

But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Healing from Within

In Medicine there is such a thing as a placebo effect. What that means is that most of the time, if you are given a placebo, a sugar pill, and yet, believe it is a real pill; it will cure you.

Science and faith, hand in hand, tell us that a positive attitude makes a lot of difference – that how you see the world makes a lot of difference. For James, a letter from one of the earliest of all Christian churches, this boiled down to some very simple wisdom – be the best you can be… in specifics, the means slow to anger, and forgiving, and that you should listen and work for good in the world.

Once more, simple wisdom – but for them it was enough. For us it is enough if we care to take it.

In The Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient, Norman Cousins tells of being hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body, Cousins reasoned the reverse was true. So he borrowed a movie projector and prescribed his own treatment, consisting of Marx Brothers films and old "Candid Camera" reruns. It didn't take long for him to discover that 10 minutes of laughter provided two hours of pain free sleep. Amazingly, his debilitating disease was eventually reversed. After the account of his victory appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cousins received more than 3000 letters from appreciative physicians throughout the world.

So what does this mean in your life right now? If you were to write a simple message like that contained in James about “how you should live life” what would it say?

READING
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)  So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"

He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.' You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition." Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Spoiled

Just because sometimes we need the stick instead of the carrot, Jesus comes with a reminder that the reverse is true… that true evil, true problems, they come from within as well – they are a matter of attitude.

When John the Baptist first appeared on the shores of the Jordan River, his rallying cry was “Repent”

Which actually means, turn around…

I’ve always thought of it as him calling us, like a wind turbine, or a solar panel, to turn towards the source of what is good, rather than focusing on what is bad.

Take away the whole ongoing argument with the Pharisees… which is really just about them trying to prove Jesus wrong, and look at the meat of what Jesus is saying – he is saying that our attitudes… that our own feelings, are what really cause the problems.

All of those attitudes and problems, like the feelings that would allow us to lie and cheat and steal, come because somehow we cut ourselves off from God, from looking at things the right way, from being content and happy with life.

I have to admit it is easy to let the bad thoughts and negative feelings creep in. It is hard not to let the little things get under your skin; but it is necessary.

Be on Guard – countless heroes of the faith have said to us over the years, be on guard lest your heart turn
to stone and your actions to wickedness…

Soren Kierkegaard a famous philosopher once wrote a prayer that I think we could all take to heart, he
wrote:

Lord! Give us weak eyes
for things that do not matter
and eyes full of clarity
in all your truth.

Conclusion

I think good or bad, whatever is happening in our lives, what we need to do is keep a positive attitude. Just like our momma and baby raccoon – the thing that matters most is knowing we are loved and will be ok.

That has always been God’s promise to us.

And as for us, well, it is as simple as trying always to see the glass half full.

I like to live my life looking on the bright side as much as possible.  I think of myself as being like the kid who got his report card from school and had to bring it home to his dad – despite the fact it was full of bad grades.

"What have you to say about this?" asked his father.

"One thing for sure," the boy replied, "Dad, you can be proud. You know I haven't been cheating!"

Pentecost 13

Equipped

Introduction

What is the biggest problem you face in life? I would wager that no matter what is coming up on your horizon the biggest problem is you. That is right. My biggest problem is me, and your biggest problem is you.

I have at times felt too clumsy, too dumb, too ugly, too overweight, too lonely, too shy, too evil, too good, too loving, too cold, and the list goes on and on… you may also recognize that the list already has contradictions.

That is right… I can one day feel I am too smart for something and the next day feel too dumb.

Which should be a hint that most of these feelings are made up, they are the things that get in the way of me being authentic and proud and hopeful and creative and, well, what God intended me to be?

… Ever say anything like this when it comes to religion? I am not faithful enough, I don’t know the Bible enough, and I don’t go to church enough…. When it comes to following Jesus we sometimes get in the way of the simple and true fact that we all have what it takes.

Solomon

Do any of you remember King Solomon? In Bible lore he is sometimes credited with being the wisest person ever to live…. You may have heard it before but here is the most famous story of that wisdom:

One day two women came before the King. They carried with them a little baby, which was set down on the floor, at the foot of Solomon’s throne

“O my lord,” said one of the women, “five days ago I gave birth to a child. This woman and I live in the same house, and three days later she also gave birth, but that same night her child died, and at midnight she arose and, while I was sleeping, took my son away from me, and laid her dead child in its place. When I awoke in the morning I thought at first that my son was dead, until I realised that it was not my child.”

“No,” interrupted the second woman, “she lies, my lord, she lies! The living child is mine and the dead is hers!”

“No,” cried the first woman, wildly. “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.”

King Solomon raised his hand for silence.

“One of you says ‘my child lives and yours is dead ’, and the other says ‘your child is dead and my child lives’: there is a simple way to resolve the matter. Bring me a sword.”

A sword was brought, and the assembly waited to see how the King would proceed.

“Very well,” he said, “cut the child in two, and give half to one mother, and half to the other.”

The first woman turned pale.

“O my lord,” she said in a faltering voice. “Pray, give her the child. I beg you, do not kill it.”

But the other woman’s face remained hard.

“Let it be neither mine nor yours,” she said, “divide it as the King has ordained.”

Then Solomon arose, and pointed to the first woman.

“The child belongs to her,” he said. “Give her the child, and do not kill it. She is its mother.”

King Solomon was also the person who built the temple. David tried to start it, but he could not, Solomon built this majestic, huge, architecturally interesting Temple of the Ancient world in Jerusalem which people came from all over the world to see… the house of God.

So, wisest, richest, most powerful, internationally known….

Yet even he is not sure he has done the right thing – he does not know if God has noticed the Temple, or heard the prayers… and once more he stands before the alter and prays, basically saying that he is no one without God…. Even Solomon struggled with this stuff…

The Whole Armour

What are the slings and arrows of the evil one?

Do you know there are only a couple of places in the whole Bible where Satan is mentioned? Did you know that it is not what you think? 

God and his angels are having a discussion about whether or not human beings are good and loving and deserve what God has given them; Satan who is the chief opposition in the court of angels says, “I bet I can get a human to turn away from you…” and God says, go ahead, test it on my most faithful servant, Job….

That story is the only place where we get any mention, aside from warnings by later writers like Paul, of the so called ‘evil one and his slings and arrows’ - and you know what those slings and arrows turn out to be? Self-doubt.

In Matthew it tells us that the “tempter” came and talked to Jesus after the fasted for 40 days in the desert… Probably the same guy… and what does he do? He tries to convince Jesus that if he was strong enough he would use his superpowers… if he was wise enough he would get more followers and be rich and famous… if he was good enough nothing could hurt him….

In other words, he tries to whittle away the self confidence that Jesus had… a self confidence that Jesus tried to share with us, teach us, which tells us that God loves us and equips us with everything we need:

We have truth, righteousness, faith, the spirit…. All of these things which Paul called different parts of our armour when he wrote to the church in Ephesus… These are the things that God has already gifted us with and the things that can help us overcome our own fears and doubts.

Jesus

This teaching is difficult – who can accept it?

This is what some of Jesus followers asked when they heard his words. To be honest, I bet at different times a lot of different people said that when they heard it.

“Turn the other cheek” – hmmm… I have tried but I will never be able to do that.

“Love your neighbour” – well, it seems pretty impossible to love everyone.

Nelson Mandela in his inauguration speech quoted the writer Marianne Williamson when he said:

"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Commissioning

A week ago, the United Church elected a new Moderator, our spiritual leader for the next three years. As he finished his sermon during the final worship service he said this:

“In a couple of hours, a thousand of us will be scattered from this place to the corners of this continent, this country, and then around the world. We will go filled with the power beyond our understanding, with the God who can do so much more than you can ever imagine and ask, and you are equipped to love the world!”

It is true, we all are, so let’s get started. 

Pentecost 10 - B

Be, All That You Can Be!

Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letting the Big Guy down; King David

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

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

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

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

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

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

So What Is The Right Way to Live?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Running after Signs

What do you want from church?

What do you want from Jesus?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So why do we do it?

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

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

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

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

A Calm Sea Does Not Produce a Skilled Sailor.

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

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

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

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

Pentecost 5 B

Anam Cara – Soul Friend

Introduction

A friendship Blessing

May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity
of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your
anam cara (soul friend).

~ John O’Donohue

Although we have one word for the love, the ancient languages always distinguished between the different types. In fact, in Greek there are four words for love: agápe, éros, philía, and storgē.

Agape is unconditional type of love, what you should be saying when you say “I love you.” Eros, from which the word erotic is derived is all about the passion, while Storge is strong affection like that felt between a parent and a child for example.

Today though, I want to talk about Philia, the virtuous form of love we feel for each other and all humanity. You actually know this word, you probably just did not realize it was an actual Greek term. The city of Philadelphia is actually the Greek word for “City of Brotherly Love.”

So on with Canada Day, Civic Pride, and God’s calling…

David’s Love

If you just read this, you miss a very important piece of the puzzle. Saul was the first ever king of Israel, 

David and Jonathon were friends, but Saul was his enemy. In fact, they were at war, this little funeral sermon we are reading is actually the guy who just overthrew the king, telling the people what a great guy the King was.

This was not just the fact that David liked Saul’s son. The whole story plays out like that – two adversaries who used to be friends, trying to do what they believe is right for their country. And when one dies, even though the other wins, there is sadness.

Can we do that? Is this brotherly love thing so deep in our bones that we can recognize what is best and celebrate the people we disagree with?

I like to believe it is…. I was heartened when Jack Leighton died, and every single one of his enemies, from Stephen Harper, through Chretien and the rest all had nothing but positive things to say about him.

But these are all pretty massive examples, and they are everywhere… Mahatma Ghandi forgiving the man who shot him to death right before drawing his last breath; Nelson Mandela forgiving the people who had kept in jail half of his life in South Africa; for example.

But this is the thing; Philios begins with the simple idea of wanting what is best for the person next to you. It could be as simple as choosing not to cut down the tree that your neighbour uses for shade. It could be as complex as trying to be nice to someone who has treated you badly all of your life.

When Jesus said we should love one another, he was not saying something that is easy to do…

Solidarity Brother!

Ok, again, this is one of those cases where the reading by itself makes no sense… so let’s look at it another way. This is actually part of a fundraising speech by Paul, as a steward of the church. He is looking to raise funds for the church in Jerusalem, and what he is doing is going from church to church in the provinces and “suggesting” that they give money.

Changes the whole thing eh… when he writes, “I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need,” he is talking about money, and he is suggesting that we owe it to our brothers and sisters to share if we have more than we need.

So here is a second part of the deeper meaning of love. First off we see that it means affectionately loving those we do not like. Secondly we see that it is having a sense of responsibility for those we might never meet.

There is something even deeper going on here though, one of the purposes of this appeal to the church in Corinth was to show the solidarity between the two major groups of Christians—those of Jewish background and those who were Gentile. This was a new kind of friendship made possible because they all agreed on the love of God and the teachings of Jesus even though there were other things that divided them.

Unity, brother! Solidarity Sister! This would actually make a pretty good union rally speech if you updated the language… and there is a reason for that. Unions, although they were about the workers banding together, took their cue from Jesus.

If you work together… if you support one another…. If you are willing to share… You are doing something holy, you are being Christian.

The Outcasts

Then there is Jesus. And like he always does, he pushes the edges.

In the gospel of Mark two healing stories are woven together that show Jesus’ compassion and friendship toward people on the fringes of the community (a poor woman with a hemorrhage that has lasted for 12 years) as well as those who are high ranking (Jarius, a well-respected official whose daughter is very ill).

It is stuff like this that got him into trouble. I mean. If you were rich, you saw no reason to help the poor, and if you were poor, why would you bother with the rich, and so it is like Jesus is alienating everyone….

But we see here is another level of the depth of love. If we are exploring how to be Christian, and Jesus explicit command was to love everybody – then surely we need to see that it is also about those on the margins.

Sometimes we think we are doing this. We have this “there but for the grace of God” attitude and we give a loonie to a street person. The problem is, it is Paul who said we need to help financially… Jesus said we need to love. We need to see the other person as exactly the same as us… and we need to be able to enter into their world, their hearts, and love them for who they are.

Canadians are moving away from this. For some reason we think everyone is equal, and has a fair chance, and is just the same as me and you. But this is not true. There are a lot of people who are on the outside looking in and no amount of anything is going to make them just like me. Nor should it.

But the trick here is to love people who are different. So we need to be asking ourselves, who are the “different” people out there? Who is it that we need to love and how.

You see, if we can pull all this off, if we can, even just a little, start loving the way Jesus wanted, a lot would be different for us.

Conclusion

So, my opening prayer was about Friendship… but friendship in a certain sort of way, a way that I believe echoes the concept of Philia.

In the Celtic tradition, there is a term for soul-friendship.  Anam Cara - Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and Cara is the word for friend.  It began that a person who acted as a teacher or spiritual guide – or someone to whom you confessed, revealing secrets was called an Anam Cara.    

John O’Donohue, a leading scholar on the Celtic tradition says this, “When we are understood, we feel at home.  We feel safe and nourished.  Then, we are able to become what we are meant to become.”

I think, in the end, that is what we are all about as Christians. We are the ones who are meant to be soul friends. We are the ones that are meant to help others to “become” and this is true whether we are talking about our family, our friends, our neighbours, or our country.