TRANSFIGURATION C

“To put it simply: the Holy Spirit bothers us. Because he moves us, he makes us walk, he pushes the Church to go forward. And we are like Peter at the Transfiguration: 'Ah, how wonderful it is to be here like this, all together!' ... But don't bother us. We want the Holy Spirit to doze off ... we want to domesticate the Holy Spirit. And that's no good. Because he is God… he is the one who gives us consolation and strength to move forward. But: to move forward! And this bothers us. It's so much nicer to be comfortable.”

                               ― Pope Francis, Encountering Truth: Meeting God in the Everyday

INTRODUCTION OF THEME

If you look at the top of the Bulletin, you will see a quote from Pope Francis – I had never seen it before this week, but I totally agree with him… One of the problems with the Spirit of God is that it is so active – the spirit blows here, the spirit blows there; and no matter where it blows – it brings change.

The winds of change – you have heard that expression I suppose – and the winds of change do blow – they blow all the time… and that is a problem. It is a problem because there are very few of us who like change. There is no doubt, however, that the Spirit of God brings change.

Almost every character mentioned in the Bible had the spirit of God come and blow them in a new direction. It blew into Adam and made him aware of the world, it blew into Abraham and made him go to a new country and get a wife, it blew into Moses and convinced him to lead the people, it blew into Jesus and began his ministry, it blew into the disciples and strengthened them to risk their lives…

Every single time the spirit of God comes to us it pushes us in a different direction. And honestly, I am not sure about you, but I am pretty comfortable with my life. I don’t really need any major changes. I don’t want to move to a new country. I don’t want EVERYTHING to change.

Today we are talking about transformation – about change – and about how encountering God changes us. Specifically, we are talking about Jesus and a trip up the mountain where his conversation with God would forever change who he was and what he was going to do…

What would an encounter with God be like, I wonder? Could we ever have one and remain untouched? Let’s think about that and continue to focus our attention as we turn to God in prayer. 

TIME WITH THE YOUNG AND THE YOUNG AT HEART

(There is probably no better story in the Bible for the idea that the Holy Spirit changes us than this story from the life of Moses – Moses goes and talks one on one with God and because of this, his face is glowing….

Imagine it was that simple – listen to the glowing person – they are speaking for God.

We have trouble listening to other people, we have trouble believing someone else has good answers. We struggle to think that God is speaking to us. And so, there are times, unfortunately, when we do not listen.

I know, I know, we want to listen to God and we think we are good people. But life is not as simple as the glowing Moses would have us believe. .. at least, not anymore… when Moses came down from the mountain and you could see he had actually talked to God and he gave the people 10 simple rules to follow that would change everything… that was simple.

But thousands of years later we start to distrust the simplicity. It cannot be as simple as do not lie for instance, because we all know we need to lie sometimes. Like when the love of your life says, do you think I this shirt makes me look fat. There is no good answer to that, it is a trap.

And the more complex our lives, the less likely we are to believe the simple answers… the less likely we are to listen)

KIDS

If we try to listen to everyone we will just get confused. I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s think of a question we can ask the congregation. Here’s a question. Let’s ask the congregation how we should live and what we should do with our lives. Members of the congregation when I count to three I want you to call out together how you think these children should live and what they should do with their lives. Ready? Listen closely children. 1, 2, 3 Go. (Let the children listen to the chaos for a few seconds and then give a “time out” gesture to the congregation.) Well children. Was that helpful? No? Why not? You’re right. It was a very confusing trying to listen to everybody. It was crazy!. I think this teaches us something important. Sometimes it can get very confusing trying to listen to everyone’s advice. Sometimes everyone we talk to has a different idea of what we should do or not do. We need to remember what our Heavenly Father said to Peter up on the mountain of transfiguration when he was confused. He said to Peter, “This is my Son whom I have chosen, Listen to Him!” Listening to God’s Son Jesus is so very important. Getting ideas and suggestions from other people is important but it is most important that we listen to Jesus. We can listen to Jesus by reading about the life of Jesus in the bible. We can read what he said and taught and we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand too.

ENGAGING THE THEME

We all want answers. That is a part of being human I think – we wish we had answers for all those deep questions. Why do people die, what is the purpose of life, why did people in the 1970’s have lime green appliances?

We go through life feeling like if we only knew some of these answers it would be so much easier. We could accept things that happen, we could feel some sense of control; we could find peace. And we do try to find them. We read books and go to church, we watch movies and talk to friends – maybe we even try things like meditating, or yoga… Think about it – self-help books are the biggest sales out there. Everyone wishes they could find a deeper meaning for the things that happen.

The problem is – we do not really believe this – we are lying to ourselves.

I mean, I think we have the best intentions and I do think we seek out answers but there is a part of us that is never satisfied with what we hear. If I told you all you had to do to be healthy was to not eat any fried foods and walk five miles a day a part of you would say; no way, I love onion rings, I need to find something easier.

There are a lot of Biblical precedents for this – one upon a time there was a general named Namaan who had leprosy. He asked Elijah what he should do to cure the leprosy and the answer was wash in the River Jordan… but it seemed too simple, too foolish, and Namaan almost never even tried it.

Or how about the Rich Young Ruler who comes to Jesus and says I go to church, I help the poor, I follow the rules, what else do I have to do to feel good about myself? And Jesus says go and sell everything you own, give the money to the poor and follow me… does he do it? No. Was Jesus right? Yes.

So there is the thing – part of us wants the answer – part of us is really scared that the answer will mean we have to change something we do not want to change.

Who is Jesus? That is a question the disciples ask themselves every day? What is going to happen? How is he going to save us? Should we really be listening to him, because some of what he says sounds crazy!

And then they go up the mountain… They see Jesus pray. They see Moses and Elijah come to counsel Jesus. They watch as speaking to God makes Jesus seem to glow, to light up with the power of the holy Spirit…

So here is the answer. Yes, Jesus is special. Yes, God is at work in him. Yes, the Holy Spirit is inside Jesus. Yes, Moses and the Prophets support Jesus…. So…. Listen to him.

Still – like I said – Listening is hard. And it is especially hard when listening means having to do something, having to change…

How much do we really want to change?

CONCLUSION OF THEME

I wonder if it is fear. Are we afraid of change? Are we are afraid things are changing too fast? Are we thinking that following God is going to change us so much that we will no longer be ourselves?

Perhaps.

What the disciples were essentially saying when they saw Jesus is that they were comfortable the way things are. And we cannot really blame them – they are disciples of a great teacher, people are listening to them, people are feeding them, they are travelling, and they have found someone they believe in… why would they want to change that?

Listen – comes the voice of God – Listen to what Jesus is saying: Even if it is uncomfortable (and it was, Jesus has been talking about dying, about people not liking them, about all of this ending – it is certainly not going to be the same as it always has.)

And the disciples know this is true, they see the evidence, and all of a sudden they want to stay on top of the mountain – fear takes over.

Here is the thing: First, we have to really listen… which means tuning out some of the distraction, letting go of our expectations and being open to whatever God is saying.

Second: we have to accept that when the spirit is at work, everything changes. When we hear God speaking to us through our dreams and visions, WE are going to change. We have to have the courage for that.

Last but not least – we need to follow through; and when we do that, when we hear the voice and react – things really will get better – the voice of God is never going to lead us astray. So as we try to live out what we have heard we will be truly following Jesus.

“Called to Proclaim God's Mighty Acts”

Vietnamese Folk Story

Once there was an old man

who lived with his three young sons

in a small village in Vietnam.

Though they all loved each other very much,

the boys seemed to always be fighting and quarreling,

as siblings do.

One day the father called them to him.

He said:  “My sons, I want each of you to bring me a chopstick.”

So they each ran and got a chopstick.

When they all returned and stood before him again,

he asked his oldest son if he could break his chopstick in half.

The son said, “Yes, Father.  That’s easy,”

and he snapped the chopstick in two.

Next, he asked his middle son,

“Can you break your chopstick?”

And just like his brother, he said, “Yes, Father.  That’s easy,”

and snapped his chopstick in half.

Finally, the old man came to his youngest son

and asked him to also break his chopstick,

like his brothers before him.

It was harder for him,

But the youngest child was able to break his chopstick in half.

“Now,” the father said to his sons, “bring me three unbroken chopsticks.”

When they returned,

the father asked them to hold the chopsticks together and break them.

Each tried as hard as he could

but none of the boys could break the three chopsticks together,

not even the oldest and strongest boy.

It was then that the old man said,

“I hope you have learned from the chopsticks.

There is strength in unity.”

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Today is the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity –

a time set aside each year throughout the world

for churches to reflect on the importance of working together to follow Jesus.

This year’s theme came from the 1^st Peter reading that we heard this morning

and it is all about proclaiming God’s mighty acts.

Peter talked to the early Christians about how it was important to remember

that they had been called to show God’s greatness to the world.

I always get a little nervous when we start talking about proclaiming anything together with other denominations.

I have images of soapbox preachers standing on the street corners,

warning people of the perils of not accepting Jesus into their hearts

or of missionaries going door to door to teach people about the Lord.

That is simply not me.

That’s not the tradition I come from or find myself in

and it doesn’t fit with my own theology.

So, if we as churches are to work together –

to be the three chopsticks that are strong and not easily broken –

how do we do that when we all worship God in different ways

and when we all carry within our church communities different beliefs?

I think, for me, the emphasis needs to be on the word “acts”.

Peter wrote:  “You may proclaim the mighty acts of God

who called you out of darkness into the marvelous light.”

Maybe our “proclaiming” could be our “doing”.

For diverse and unique churches might not agree on the words to use

but we can almost always agree on the actions that the world needs.

Maybe we are being called not just to talk about God’s mighty acts

but to call upon the divine to help us to do some mighty acts of our own.

In this city, I’m not really sure that we do that as well as we could.

Fredericton

The churches in Fredericton are wonderful.

They are quite often the biggest supporters of not forprofit organizations.

If you look at organizations like the food bank or the community kitchen,

you may find that church people sit on boards, donate items and volunteer their time.

In our churches, we spend time praying for issues like poverty, illness, and tragedy.

We draw attention to the justice issues and the needs.

Churches are a powerful force here that are making a difference and changing lives.

But, more often than not, we do it as individual communities.

You know, a United Church did this good thing. 

The Salvation Army raised this money for that. 

The Baptist Church helped here. 

The Catholic Church helped there.

So, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in this place

provides for us a challenge.

Maybe this year we can think more about how we might be better at this.

Think about what it would have been like if Jesus stayed in one place.

If instead of gathering followers from all over,

he just stayed where he was, with those who thought like him.

I’m sure good things still would have happened –

sick people would have found healing,

the downtrodden would have found inspiration,

and the outcast would have found inclusion.

But the power of God would have been limited.

By going out into the world

and joining forces with other groups of people

who weren’t always like him –

who argued with him,

who challenged him –

he was able to change the whole world.

He spread his message of love

and proclaimed God’s mighty acts far and wide.

And that still has an impact today.

Now, I know we are sometimes hesitant

and we are sometimes afraid that if we go down those roads

that we will end up in theological debates

or disagreements about how things should happen –

because we are all very different.

But we need to imagine what wonderful things could happen if we do.

There are a few great examples of how this does happen locally.

I think of the wonderful work that the Interchurch Refugee Council does,

drawing different churches together to meet the need of newcomers to our country.

And I think of the great work of Campus Ministry at the university

that is very much the hands on work of several churches in the city.

These are two great examples of how this can happen.

Kairos

When I think about ecumenism –

this concept of the church working as one –

when I think of ecumenism,

my mind immediately goes to the organization called Kairos.

Kairos is an ecumenical group here in Canada

that has been doing the work of social justice for over 40 years.

It is made up of 11 different churches, including the United Church of Canada.

And it began with the desire of these churches to work together in meaningful ways.

The churches were and are very different

but they were able to put their differences aside

and focus on what they had in common –

a longing to make positive changes in the world –

a longing to spread God’s love through justice.

And through the years, they have done so much…

from helping refugees flee from Latin America

to tackling oil exploration on Aboriginal land in the Arctic

to apartheid in South Africa.

And we might take this for granted today,

but the fact that both Roman Catholic and varying Protestant churches

were working together was brand new and exciting.

They saw that is was possible to do together

what may have been impossible to do alone.

And today that work continues on

as they work on issues like the destruction caused by fracking and mining,

the plight of migrant workers, and gender inequality.

11 different churches accomplishing amazing things –

proclaiming God’s mighty deeds.

Let’s be inspired by their story

and make steps toward embracing such unity at the local level.

Conclusion

So, as we go forth from here this day,

the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,

let us go with our hearts ready to try something a little new

and our arms ready to greet our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let us go forward with the hope of making Christian unity

something that happens more than just one week a year.

EPIPHANY 2 C

MESSAGE  

INTRODUCTION

The Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh says, “I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize. A blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black curious eyes of a child, our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

So I want to talk to you about the wedding at Cana - Jesus was there for some reason, and when they ran out of wine, Jesus made more. This is an incredible thing with lots of deep symbolism, but I don’t want to talk about how extraordinary it was…

I want to talk about how ordinary it is. I want to talk about miracles from the other side – not parting the red sea so everyone can walk on the floor of the ocean, but simple miracles, easy miracles, everyday miracles.

And there is a reason for us to think about the miraculous – Think of it as the old glass half full conundrum. I think far too many of us see the glass as half empty – we focus on the negatives and in doing so we get stuck in desolation, stuck in darkness, stuck in the depressing aspect of life and fail to see the everyday miracles around us…

The other day Ali showed me a picture of two girls in a windstorm – one was looking away from the wind with her hands up over her face and clearly looking annoyed… The other was turning into the wind and pretending to be flying, with a huge smile. The caption at the bottom of the picture said the only difference is attitude.

AROUND US EVERY DAY

I mean, think about it, just the fact that you are alive is a miracle!  Of all the millions of possible gene combinations, you came out. The timing was right, you have the right number of chromosomes, your mother was able to carry and nurture you for 9 months.  All the conditions have to be just right for someone to be born. Being you and being alive is truly miraculous.

But just look around - The sun comes up and the moon comes out. The earth spins on its axis and we have a brand new day every 24 hours. The seasons change, no matter where you live on the earth we see the same moon, there is music… So many things that are amazing which surround us every day.

I know it is weird, but I always think the way a body works is a miracle. The heart pumping blood, the way we process oxygen, the fact that our brain makes up ideas….

And what about oceans, tides, snowfall killing blackflies, the way trees breathe in carbon dioxide which is poisonous for us, and breathe out oxygen which we breath – while we breathe out carbon dioxide for the trees?

I wonder if we go through life ignoring the small miracles – the moments that bring exceptional beauty or grace, or love into the world?

There is a commercial for life insurance from Thailand. It is called Unsung Hero and it is very moving. I will post it up on Facebook or you can google it to watch it… but here is what you see – there is a young man who seems like he lives alone who wakes up, walks to work, eats lunch, comes home, goes to bed. Every day… every day the same.

He sees a dead plant near some water that is dripping from a pipe so he moves it over, he sees a lady who cannot lift her food cart over the curb so he helps here, he sees a homeless dog so he feeds it some chicken, he sees a woman and her daughter begging so he gives them some spare change, and he sees an old lady alone in his apartment building and he leaves her some bananas.

Every day… every day the same.

Until – one day – the plant blossoms with flowers, the lady with the food cart starts giving away food to poor people, the homeless dog follows him home, the begging little girl finally has enough money to start school and the old woman gives him a hug..

Every day miracles – simple things that change the world – that move us one step on the journey from desolation to delight.

WE NEED THIS

We all need this, you know, we all need to find those miracle which move us from one place to the next and help us to see the world for what it is, a thing of beauty and wonder.

I mean, there are the extreme things too which seem miraculous. A story on Oprah Winfrey was told about Lareece Butler, who was brave enough to try skydiving for the first time only to jump out of the plane with a faulty parachute. She escaped a free fall of 3,000 feet with only a broken leg, a fractured pelvis, and a concussion. As Butler plummeted, the chute's ropes twisted around her. She later told reporters she had prayed, God save me, please; I have a son, but could recall nothing else until she woke up in the hospital, surrounded by her amazed and grateful family.

Now, I am not trying to suggest prayer was what caused her to survive – it was just luck. But it is a miracle nonetheless, and we hear stories about miraculous things like this every day, a house fire where everyone lives, a dog who barks and warns of an upcoming tornado… these are the more obvious things…

But again – back to the simple….

Jesus was at a party and they ran out of wine – he pointed out that there was plenty of wine in the barrels over there by the wall… now people had checked, and those barrels were filled with water; but now they were filled with wine.

It is not a stunning miracle, it is not even an obvious miracle, someone might have moved the barrels, or they just assumed it was water when it was really wine all along – who knows.

But the message beneath the surface is – don’t give up on life. Don’t expect the negative. Don’t accept that things have to go wrong. There is always a solution. There is always a better way to see it. There is always a way forward. After every rain shower the sun comes out.

Thousands of years ago Isaiah said to the people, it will not always be like this, you have to see that God is at work all around you making things better. Beauty, love, peace, they have a way of rising up from the ashes all around us.

And if we are looking for the miracles, if we are expecting the good, then we will find that life is filled with them. So let us celebrate that we have a god in whom all things are possible. We have a god who changes the ordinary into the extraordinary, who changes water into wine, who changes desolation into delight. May our eyes be open to the miracles surrounding us this day.

Amen.

Remembrance Day 2015

An Act of Remembrance

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream – Ed McCurdy

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

Setting a Stage

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

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

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

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

But I still did not know what it meant.

What does it mean?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Harvest of Peace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love, Love, Love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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