Priority 1

 

Mark 6:14-29 with Ephesians 1:3-14 in the b.g.

Pentecost 6b, July 12, 2009 (following on the heels of VBS, Discovery Canyon)

 

It's absolutely amazing the way we human beings give our allegiances to others, even to things. I know this from personal experience. I have purchased jerseys, banners and tee shirts that signify my allegiance to my favorite football team, my favorite hockey team and my favorite baseball team. Most people that know me even a little bit know my allegiances. Nor I am alone in any of this. I observe many others, millions even that have similar allegiances – even if they don't agree with the particularity of mine.

 

I remember when Martha and I were first married. She had a number of her belongings in storage in Minneapolis Minnesota. We then lived in southern Saskatchewan. It was a 13-14 hour drive one way from our home to the storage unit. I thought about that and then told her that we would get her things in the summer while we were on vacation. How thoughtful of me! That was February. But then in early April my hockey team managed to squeak into the playoffs drawing the Minnesota North Stars as their first round opponent. Miraculously we procured tickets for two days hence, borrowed a truck, rented a u-haul trailer and managed to be there in time for the hockey game while also gathering up Martha's belongings. Suddenly because of my allegiance to my hockey team we could drop everything and oh, yes by the way get Martha's belongings.

 

I am also amazed how people will give unquestioned allegiance to any number of organizations or even their job despite the fact that such allegiance may literally consume them. I have seen this with parents and children. Nor have I been exempt in this regard. I remember a young man, only 13 years of age. He was big for 13. And he wanted to play football. So, his parents registered him. His new football coach demanded that every player come to practice every evening Monday to Friday for 2 hours from mid August through November. If a player missed a practice they didn't play that next Saturday. And this young man wanted to play. So from Monday to Friday for 3 ½ months everything else: family suppers, confirmation, friendships with any boys who weren't on his team, all were put on hold. This is now over 30 and hasn't played football for more than12 years. He may watch it occasionally. But in those days football occupied such a central place in both his life and the life of his family. Of course, many of us could fill in the blanks in this story if we just changed the subject to whatever we give our time and money (our priority) to at different times in our lives..

 

This is true with many adults in carrying out our work. The higher we climb in our profession, our trade – the more demands there are. For many people – 50, 60 or 70 hour work weeks are the norm. When you divide that by 6 or 7 days we realize that  8 or more hours per day for 6 or 7 days a week and throw in commuting times – one is not surprised by the reality that there is a subsequent cost to both personal well being, family well being and communal well being. Whom, what and how we give our allegiance matters greatly!

 

The earliest Christian confession involved merely 3 words. Yet it is incredibly profound: JESUS IS LORD! Though in many ways the word "Lord" is archaic, if we scratch the surface, probe the meaning we begin to see truth. Lord meant, the one in charge, the person to whom ultimate allegiance is owed and paid. Is Jesus this person for us? What a question! For we who claim to be followers of Jesus, this is THE QUESTION.

 

Before answering this question definitively with our time, talents and possessions we do well to actually, think, wrestle, pray. Surely we would desire that the one we pay allegiance to with our lives is worthy of such trust. The Biblical witness points beyond the shadow of a doubt to the reality that Jesus loves us and the world. His life attests to this reality. His death is offered to point to this reality. And His resurrection gives us hope that death and evil, hatred and apathy, deceit and fear will not carry the day.

 

This claim is amazing. For many it seems absolutely ludicrous. After all Herod kills John the Baptist. Pilate in conjunction with the religious leaders of that day and with little or no opposition from Jesus' own followers, condemns Jesus. Then Jesus dies a painfully slow and from the perspective of all onlookers a horribly shameful death. In some ways Jesus is not alone in this. Millions have died and continue to die slow, painful deaths. Such death is often extracted at the hands of others who cared little, or who took the easy way out while benefiting from these others' deaths. 

 

There is so much pain, so much suffering, so much inequitable and unjust death and loss – that all of the other allegiances increasingly seek to have their way with us. Their voices may be loud or soft, their accompanying music causing us to dance, sing or dream. I could have that. I could do that! All that's required is that I give myself over to them. It's similar to the temptation of a pyramid scheme. You put in a little. And for giving over your "friends" you are promised wealth. What will we do? Be careful!

 

For powers need to be examined. As Jesus is reported to have said, what do we gain if having gained the whole world we lose our life, the essence of who we are - some translations have it, "our soul"? Nor is this true only personally, but also corporately and  communally as well. This is multilayered truth!

 

Am I saying that we shouldn't give allegiance or commitment to anything else other than God? Of course not! In fact in obeying God as revealed in Christ – we will love and serve others for their well-being. This will involve us in various commitments, allegiances if you will. Jesus also calls us to love ourselves. But in all of this we need to remember, we need to be aware that our actions and commitments need to be continually evaluated under the question: who and what is most important in my life in the decisions I am making. If any of our commitments and allegiances are superceding our response to Jesus as Lord they are misplaced. Then they will lead us beyond what we can immediately see – to great disappointment and ultimately to loss of the life that God intends for us,  for all people and all creation.

 

But, as we see with John the Baptist, allegiance to God does not always mean that  everything is rosy or easy. At times huge loss is involved directly as a result of our allegiance and commitment to God. What then?

 

I would be less than truthful if I didn't tell you that there is a huge cost to following Jesus as our Lord. But at the same time life is ever present and yes even eternal, that is of the highest quality. In following Jesus we are being freed from the power of fear and death, from the power of hatred and apathy – from the insecurity of worrying always about what others may think. We know the motivation of God in God's relationship to us. God loves us. Out of that love God calls us to so love and care for others that they too in experiencing love, may discover God as it's eternal source.

 

Moreover God/ Jesus has an incredible dream. Part of that dream is fleshed out in the letter to the Ephesians. God wills to gather all things up to him. This is new life, new hope a new creation. This is far different from any other "gods" that we are tempted to give our ultimate allegiance to. Truly these "gods" may seemingly offer us pleasure, happiness, even the adulation and respect of others. But these things when trusted as "god" will leave us ultimately empty, disappointed, heart broken – even lost.

 

Jesus is the one who gives his all for us, for the world. Jesus is the One who in acknowledging the power of death and evil, gives himself over to them as God's own Son, letting them do their worst to him, having their way with him. AND THE DARKNESS THEN IS SO GREAT.

 

But Jesus is also the light of the world. The darkness even at its darkest moment cannot forever quench his light. Jesus is risen! We can by the grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit trust and obey Him. Jesus is LORD! Everything and everyone else is far less than that.

 

So, whom are we trusting? Where are our ultimate investments being made? Whom are they, whom will they benefit?

 

Lord we believe, help our unbelief. Amen.

CAUTION? WORKING GOD HERE AND NOW!

 

Mark 6:1-13, with II Corinthians 12:2-10 in the b.g.

Pentecost 5b, July 5, 2009

 

Life is amazing. Reflect on this truth for a moment (Pause). Today we come to celebrate the life that God gives Rylan Whitfield and Henry Bassman. They are young. They haven't been recorded much in the annals of history, at least yet. Nevertheless if you were to speak to their parents or to their grandparents asking if their lives matter you would discover that in many ways their young lives have already brought new life, new ways of being, thinking and loving to many around them. Today, thanks be to God, Henry and Rylan are being baptized.

 

Life is amazing in so many ways. I remember first seeing Michael Jackson perform with 4 of his brothers when he was only 12 years old. He was the star of that show not just because he was cute or the youngest. Michael Jackson was the star because he was gifted! Even as a 12 year old he could sing. And man could he dance. On stage he had a presence and poise that exceeded many, regardless of age. As Michael's voice matured, the exposure to his talent increased and his fame began to explode exponentially. He became known as the king of pop. I don't think this was an exaggeration. Wherever I went this last week and a half Michael Jackson's music filled the air.

 

But life is also difficult. Michael Jackson died at the age of 50 in many ways a tormented human being. I do not know the details. I suspect few do. But all of Michael's gifts, and they were considerable, all of his wealth and it was substantial – and his millions of fans especially those closest to him who truly loved him, did not, perhaps could not prevent him from self destructing. Again, there may have been many reasons for this. Whatever they are, Michael Jackson's early death is incredibly sad.

 

At times life is incredibly difficult. We all have desires and dreams. Many of them are important, pushing us to work, to develop, to experience others. Yet even as our dreams or desires are fulfilled, perhaps especially then, they can consume us.

 

Years ago when our own children were very young, I had this burning desire to protect them. I wanted to shield them from anyone or anything that might harm them, from the many dangers that just are: speeding drivers, others who would take advantage of them to further their own desires; even from a culture that says that one must be thin or successful or popular to have any "worth". Often such efforts bordered on the desperate. Regardless of all my efforts, of all your efforts, many things wash over our lives that are beyond our control. We cannot protect our children from all such dangers – perhaps even ultimately from any.

 

Having just spent time with two close friends who are critically ill and still in what most of us would call early middle age, two people who have worked in disciplined ways at maintaining both physical and emotional health – and one of whom has striven to obey God in all the aspects of his life, I can attest from heart felt experience that life is difficult. One moment everything seems stable. Then, almost in the next instant everything changes.

 

Jesus had been spending time with many who were sick, even dying. He entered into their lives by touching them physically, emotionally and spiritually. He refused to keep his distance but cared about them by investing himself in them. Now he comes to his hometown. He goes to worship at the local synagogue – a place where he had probably spent time every week for much of his life. The people there knew him. They knew his mother, his siblings. They knew that Jesus came from lower-class folk. Those people who knew him also were convinced like so many people today that there is only so much to go around. So they believed that lower class people were lower class for a reason. They believed that lower class people were only capable of so much. Often these people themselves were part of the so-called lower class.

 

So they asked, "How can Jesus teach like that? How can Jesus quote scripture giving such an incredible interpretation? Today we are not at all sure that Jesus was literate. Having all of this in their experience, embedded in their minds, these local people took offense at Jesus. They do not trust what he says, or what he does. They are not open to the gifts that he brought to so many others just a few days earlier: a freedom from what had held them captive before - mentally, emotionally, spiritually. These local people didn't see God working in Jesus right there in their synagogue that day. They thought they knew Jesus because they were familiar with his siblings and his mother. But their familiarity and their accompanying preconceptions of limits impeded their perception of God working right there and right then. 

 

What are your preconceptions of God? High and lifted up? Absent? Only interested in spiritual things? Not concerned with peoples' food and drink, income or expenses, or the environment, politics or our sexuality? Oh, really!

 

Have we not heard, do we not know that God is the Creator of the universe: all creatures, all things, all people, including you and me, Rylan and Henry? Have we not heard, do we not the incredible claim that is at the very center of all who have been marked with the cross of Christ? We are children of God. This same God, the creator of the universe, chooses to take on flesh, to become a human being in Jesus of Nazareth. In our baptism, through that seemingly simple even foolish thing – of some water being poured or dabbed on us, or immersing us, accompanied by some words, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are joined to Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection. Yes, in our baptism we are joined with all others who have gone before us and been so marked, so washed, so immersed in Him. We dare to claim that through this seemingly simple act, often carried out before any conscious understanding on our part, we are chosen by God as God's own sons and daughters. And we further claim that through the action of God that which is self centered, insecure, apathetic, hateful, filled or controlled by fear is being drowned in an ongoing way. In all of this we believe that God is birthing within us and through us a new person again and again and again. Make no mistake, this new emerging person is the result of God's Spirit's work. This is the Spirit that came upon those early disciples after Jesus had died and been raised. This Spirit works to give us love, trust of God, openness to new possibilities. This Spirit works to open our eyes to see as Paul did that even in the midst of our mortality, our own destructive desires, that the love of God in Christ still comes through. Or as Abraham Lincoln once supposedly said, " I am often driven to my knees by the realization that I have nowhere else to go".

 

Life is amazing. It is a gift from God. Life is also more than difficult. We human beings are mortals. We suffer, often as a result of our own doing but sometimes also as a result of being part of the human fabric that is broken. In that fabric we are bandied about by the realities of good and evil engaging in a cosmic battle. At such times all of our feelings, hopes and dreams are seemingly dashed. We may feel and even think that thee is no hope. But then we are profoundly mistaken.

 

For Christ Jesus has come. He has come historically. And He continues to come through the work of His Spirit reminding us, pointing us to His life, His suffering and death, His resurrection. Will we trust Him? Will we trust that His love, his death and resurrection are for us, for all people, for all creation? Will we trust that God's reign is being worked out even in the midst of our weakness and our pain? Do we see that even now God calls us to be open to parts of ourselves dying, so that new parts of us can be born anew in Him?

 

You see something amazing is happening right here and now. God promises this. Will we see it? Will we be open to God? Will we go out with Christ's love, Christ's courage to speak truth in hope – to serve – yes, to be weak and vulnerable, trusting that even through whatever happens God is doing something amazing. God is ushering in new life, now and forever through Jesus Christ, who suffers, dies and is raised! Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief to see you working right here, right now! Amen.

A Stormy Faith

(Mark 4:35-41 with I Samuel 17:32-49 in the b.g)

Pentecost 3b, June 21, 2009, OSLC

 

Do you believe "in" the Bible? … Some of you may think, "what an odd question, Pastor! We're here, aren't we? We claim to be Christian, don't we? Of course, we believe "in" the Bible!"

 

I remember going to visit a family in the very first parish I served. They were a couple and two children who were very committed to serving God, to trying to follow Jesus in all the parts of their lives. As I walked into their kitchen, I noticed pictures on the fridge. I walked closer to view those pictures. Then I noticed a fridge magnet with large letters proclaiming this: "The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it!" I wondered then. I wonder now. If we "believe" the Bible, does that mean that we accept all parts of the Bible as literally true, as a kind of predetermined blueprint for life here and now in the 21^st century? Is the Bible to be our rulebook our answer book for life? If that's so why do so many of us spend so little time reading it?

 

This brings us to today's lessons. The first lesson delivers the familiar account of the battle of David and Goliath. It's a gruesome account of warfare in that time. The lectionary composers have left out the part where David cuts off Goliath's head. That could have been a scene in an 18+ movie with warnings of "gory violence". But even without that scene God is pictured as helping David to murder this huge man, Goliath. Goliath is pictured as being without any worth, of no value, as somehow being less than other human beings.

 

Is this the total picture of God? Is this the dominant picture of God that we should carry with us? Or is this part of the ongoing revelation of God to humanity, which continues to be unveiled to those who watch, listen?

 

The overall theme of the account of David and Goliath is important! David's people are filled with fear in the face of the military might and power of the Philistines. Even the most hardened soldiers in Israel's army are so paralyzed by fear that they are unable to do battle with Goliath. But God moves David. David fights not with so much of the then present military strength but with what he already knew, the tools of a shepherd boy. In doing so God enables him to defeat the military strength of an entire nation.

 

Now some Christians take this account as a model for the Christian life. "Trust God", they say even to the point of turning off our minds and turning our backs on any and all technology and God will give you one victory after another. Such "faith" they say will lead you to continual success and prosperity.

 

Their message sells well among some people. This message appeals to our basic instincts of greed and insecurity. Who doesn't wish to be happy, healthy, prosperous, especially if many others aren't or somehow can't be? Who doesn't want be a "winner" and not a "loser"? But is such a message truly "gospel", really good news? Is this the message that Christ brings to us through His life, death and resurrection?

 

It is good for us to reflect on the lives of some of the earliest followers of Jesus. Peter's life didn't move from victory to another without struggle. Tradition has it that Peter was eventually crucified upside down. So it was also with "St." Paul. Paul and Peter may never have been completely accepting of one another. Of course, there is also the life of our Lord Jesus, Himself. After about 3 years of living with his followers, of teaching and loving, caring and demonstrating His great concern and identity for them, there may have been 20 or so people who "threw their lot in" with him. Yet when the crunch came, when he was actually dying, almost all of them abandoned him.

 

Does trusting God mean that we will move from one victory to another – that everything will be hunky dory? Take an inventory of your own life. Glance at the lives of others whom you know and love. I think of Chloe a 9 year old girl who contracted leukemia as an infant. Many days of her life have already been momentous battles. Does this mean that God doesn't love her, or that she doesn't trust God? I think of the millions of hungry people in our world, of the millions of men, women and children who have died or are dying from AIDS. Does this mean that God doesn't care about them, or that they don't have any trust in God? Is their sin, especially the sin of those children who contract aids in their mother's womb so much greater than our sin or are we just plain luckier than them? Indeed would God, the Father of Jesus Christ, abandon people if they don't have faith or the right understanding of God?

 

In Mark' gospel for today we see that Jesus does not exclude. In Mark chapters 4 through 8 Jesus moves back and forth across the sea of Galilee a number of times.  In Mark, one side of the Sea of Galilee is understood to be the Jewish side of the lake, while the other side is understood to be the Gentile side of the lake. So, as Jesus moves from one side of the lake to the other side, Jesus is reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles. In a profound sense Jesus is reaching out to all people. In that day and age the Jewish people saw the world as being divided clearly into 2 categories: "Jews" and "Gentiles".

 

Now we glimpse Jesus and the disciples in a boat on the lake. At first everything seems alright. Indeed, a number of the disciples had been fishermen. They are in their element. Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. But then a storm arises. The wind blows violently. The little craft is being tossed about. At first the disciples attempt to ride out the storm. But the storm is too much for them. Their boat is being swamped. As their boat fills with water so too do their hearts and minds fill with fear. They are face to face with their ftheir mortality. They could die right now.

 

In desperation they rouse the sleeping Jesus. "Don't you care?" These are harsh words for one who has been with them and even at that moment is in the very same boat with them.

 

Awakened, he gets to his feet. Jesus muzzles the wind. The sea is calmed. The disciples are being delivered from the power of death brought upon them by wind and waves.

Now Christ turns and asks the disciples: "Do you not trust me?" I suspect that this is his way of saying that truly there are all kinds of storms, that there continues to be death and suffering. But --- and this is so important – I, that is Jesus, am with you. I will not abandon you!

 

Whom do we trust? Can Jesus be limited only to the pages of a book, that was written long ago and far away by people who experienced so many of the marvelous things he did in the midst of the struggles of their lives? Or, is Jesus also present today, speaking to you, directing you, breathing through the Holy Spirit on our lives, walking with us in all the storms that we encounter in our journeys of life? If He is so present will we dare to share His love with others? 

 

Who is God? Is God One who picks favorites while excluding, even executing whole races of others? Is God only on the side of the Iraqui's, the Iranians, the Israelis, the Americans or the Canadians? As we read and study the Bible it is amazing how often we are shown that God, the Creator of the universe dares to become human in Jesus of Nazareth. This God enters all the "boats" of our lives to be with us. This God has a very real but different power. This God can have power and influence over the wind and the rain, but at the same time comes into our minds and hearts in ways that far transcend our understanding. This God comes to rescue, to care for all people and all creation, to reconcile us to God and to one another.

 

Tragically hatred and war continue among us and between us, even within and among churches. Tragically people's bodies continue to be delivered to the birds of the air both at home and afar.

 

What shall we do? Whom shall we be? Dear people – may we be people upon whom the Spirit of God actively blows, calling us, moving us to trust and obey Christ. We must realize that God cannot be relegated to ancient history or even only to a book. For God is God, very much alive. Christ suffers, dies and rises seeking to love and reconcile the world both to God and then to each other. God in Christ calls us to be reconciled and reconciling in the midst of any and all storms of our lives. Trusting and obeying God is the only way we can do this.. This is the faith the Holy Spirit can birth in our lives, our hearts and our minds. Blow Spirit blow – for Christ's sake, Amen.

 

Purpose Filled Life

 

2^nd Sunday after Pentecost b, June 14, 2009

II Corinthians 5:6-18 with I Samuel 15:34-16:13 and Mark 4:26-34 in b.g.

(Underlying question – what or whom are we living for?)

 

I vividly remember two elderly women. Lydia was in her 90's. She had been sickly much of her life. In fact with many details she told me of her past and present illnesses. The last few years that I knew her, she had it tough. Due to increasingly limited mobility Lydia had been placed in a nursing home. Despite her various illnesses she had survived two husbands dying. Lydia was blessed with one son. He lived and worked some 4 – 5 hour drive from our city. Nevertheless he faithfully visited his mother once a month for 2 days. He regularly brought gifts to her, never missing her birthday, Mother's Day or Christmas. Often she complained about his gifts: the color of a sweater, the feel of a particular fabric. She wondered out loud both to her son and to myself, "Why couldn't' he come more often?" Outwardly he would smile and continue to listen. Inwardly? Only God knows what was going on inside of this man as his mother complained about his lack of sensitivity to her "needs".

 

As her Pastor I endeavored to visit Lydia at least once a month, for between a ½ hour and an hour each time. Often she told me that her life was horrible. She said that she spent most of her time staring at the ceiling. "What kind of life is this Pastor? Why couldn't I come to see her more often?" On occasion Lydia told me that she wished she could die.

 

Now, Margaret was in her mid to late 70's. She too was somewhat bed ridden, but living in a nursing home. Margaret had never married. Nevertheless she loved children, even though by society's definition she didn't have any of her own. Even when Margaret was younger her ability to move was somewhat hampered. You see, when Margaret was only 8 or 9 years old she went to bed one night able to run and jump, skip and play and woke up the next morning unable to hardly move her one leg. Margaret had contracted polio. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that must have been for her that very first morning.. You see I never met Margaret until at least 60 years after she had contracted polio.

 

Regardless of her polio Margaret smiled and laughed a lot. And Margaret got around!  Each year Margaret entered the local fair with amazing arts and crafts that she herself had fashioned. In addition she often made her way out into the country to be a regular part of our small worshiping community.

 

On a few occasions while we were visiting I would push her to tell me a little about herself. She was reluctant to do so. She was much more into telling me about her friends, about the community, all the good stuff there and also about the things that she wanted to help make even better or change for the better. Let me tell you she worked at that.

 

I remember one of the very first times I visited Margaret I asked her about her polio. She admitted that it had been tough. But she said nearly in the same sentence, "But you know Pastor I have lots to live for!" And she did.

 

A short period after Margaret had died a check came to the church from her estate. There was a notation on the check: for a new photocopier! In that moment I remembered a conversation with Margaret from years before. That particular day I came to visit her covered in ink from an old duplicating machine (Gestetner) at our church. I could never get that thing to work. So, that day I complained to Margaret about that machine and my frustration with it. Please note, this was a one time conversation that had happened years before her death. Still, Margaret remembered. You see Margaret had lots to live for. Hers was a full life, polio and all.

 

So I ask you, "what or whom are we living for?" What or whom is the audience for your life? These are important questions. Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, we do answer them. Our answers are revealed by how we invest our time, our energy, any and all the gifts that we have been given by God.

 

The man named Saul who later became known as Paul was a very religious man. He struggled to do what he thought was right. He would vehemently argue against those people who did not agree with the religious teachings of his time and circle. If such people were leading others away from the truth as he knew it, he would physically oppose them, punish them, demean them. On at least one occasion Saul was part of a group of people who killed a person who disagreed with their understanding of how God was then acting in their midst. Saul was very serious about what he believed and what others should believe. Before we completely disregard him we need to ask ourselves two questions: Don't we have our own ways of including or excluding, of shunning or embracing others? Secondly, if our basic convictions or the basic convictions of others don't matter to us, what does, what can?

 

One day while Saul was on his way to do more of what he thought was right he has an experience that alters everything he had ever thought of or felt he knew. Saul has a vision. His vision is of a person named Jesus. In this vision Jesus asks him why he, Saul, was hurting others who trusted Jesus. In this vision Jesus tells Saul that when Saul so hurts others, he is also hurting Jesus, who by the way, is God's own Son. 

 

As a result of that vision Saul's name is eventually changed to Paul. He now sets out on a  completely different path. He begins to have some humility about how he sees some others. Now he regularly examines who and what he is living for. Now he goes to places seeking to care for people that before he would have had avoided or shunned. Now Paul is convinced that each person and all creation matters to God. Paul's life is dedicated to showing and telling others that this is so because now Paul lives not for Himself but for Jesus who loves everyone so – who in dying conquers death – and in dying love conquers hatred. 

 

All of this costs Paul big time. Friends, family members, income, reputation: many people now hate him, shun him, poke fun at the wounds he had encountered as a result of telling others about the love of God in Jesus for them. But to Paul who himself who has so much to live for, who has so much to live for, it is all worth it.

 

So it is that he writes to the Corinthian Christians and through them to us. He says that he no longer regards anyone from a human point of view. It is his way of saying that we need to look beyond the externals – the height, the outer beauty, the reputation, the wealth of people if we are truly to see others. All people are in need of the love and forgiveness of God. All need to experience the reconciliation that God alone can birth. All people are fashioned by God with a variety of gifts that they themselves might not yet realize. With Christ each day is a new beginning regardless of what has happened before.

Now Paul says, that if anyone (that's right anyone) is in Christ there is a new creation. The old has passed (is passing) away. Everything has become new.

 

It seems so impossible. To our way of thinking, feeling and reasoning, it is. We have proverbs that point to this reality: you can't teach an old dog new tricks; the more things change, the more they stay the same. Indeed, many of the outward signs whose reality confronts us both on our television and computer screens can lead us to the brink of despair: the wars, the hunger, the domestic violence and violation of children. These create crises. They are real, a part of our human fabric that needs to be addressed. But crises, through the grace of God, also present opportunity. People who are being moved and transformed by God can care, imagine, hope and act right in the crises. God can take our actions so seemingly small, perhaps even insignificant, to do amazing things.

 

So, whom or what are you living for? Christ has died and been raised not only for us but for the new life and well being of the whole world. Today is meant to be a new day for you because of Christ. Today can be new beginnings for you with God, and therefore also with others, including the rest of creation. The possibilities are beyond our comprehension but oh so very good.

 

You see, like my friend Margaret we too can discover that we have much to live for through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

 

Hunger Calls!

Holy Trinity, June 7, 2009 (Isaiah 6:1-11) with John 3:1-17 b.g.

 

I will never forget the miracle of birth for each of our children. As the days just prior to their actual birth passed, the concern, the expectation, the excitement GREW. As each child was born, the respective nurse took that wee baby, gently and skillfully cared for her and then passed her to Martha. After Martha held that baby ever so close to her, nurturing her and sometimes even after the doctor checked that wee one over, then I, that baby's father was allowed to hold her.

 

And uniquely each time that I first held our new daughter, I was overwhelmed by the reality of the call upon my life to be her earthly father. No one else has this call upon their life for this child in the way that I do. As I thought and continue to reflect on that, I continue to be confronted by my own inadequacies. Initially there was my lack of experience as a father. But now over 20 years later my shortcomings are evident: my lack of patience, my capacity when frustrated to use cutting words, my lack of love at times for others and for God. As I first held those new born babies I realized that world view would deeply influence them. That has proved to be true. My perceptions and treatment of others has deeply impacted our daughters' lives. In addition my treatment of their mother and my interactions with them have impacted in untold ways their views of marriage and men. The call upon my life to be their father continues at times to be overwhelming. That call comes anew each day. Now each time that I hear the word, "Dad", or "Papa" I am reminded of it. Sometimes as I pick up the phone or sit across the table in a coffee shop from any of them to listen to their joys and struggles I am reminded of the great privilege and responsibility of that call. And whenever I pray "Our Father", I am reminded of my call as their earthly father to be an example for them of trusting God in all the realities of daily life.

 

Do you experience calls like this in your life? I wonder about this not only for you who are already fathers or mothers to specific children or who have been or who might be, but for all of us. What are the reasons for and the purpose of your life, individually and collectively?

 

When we experience such calls, they extend deeply into every area of our life. Such calls can permeate our jobs, our families, our friends, even lead us to interact with people we have never met, nearby or far away. As we receive such calls, they come personally, addressing us by name. We must know that it is a serious thing to refuse such a call! In fact, refusing such a call may put ourselves and/or others at risk. Such calls upon our lives are rarely ever only private.

 

Isaiah experiences such a call from God. Isaiah's call apparently is received in both visual and audible ways. He views the hem of God's robe. Near God, both Isaiah and the temple, one of the grandest buildings of that time, are dwarfed. Awe and fear wash over Isaiah. As he listens to the chant of the heavenly beings speaking of God, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY", Isaiah begins to profoundly realize just how different he and God are. Isaiah is not holy. God is holy. Now Isaiah begins to sense the deep chasm that exists between himself and God. Now Isaiah is aware of broken relationships with others. He sees how his own nation, chosen by God, has specifically disobeyed God in so much of its treatment of others, particularly the most vulnerable and oppressed. He and his people have not trusted God! To be sure Isaiah is also guilty. We can never totally separate ourselves from our nation, our culture. It is then, in this presence of the Holy One, with the dawning realization of his separation from God, that Isaiah cries out, "WOE IS ME, I AM LOST!"

 

It is then that the heavenly beings act towards Isaiah. One of them while holding a tong takes a burning coal from the altar of sacrifice and touches Isaiah's lips, declaring that Isaiah is forgiven! We don't hear of the pain this may have caused Isaiah. What we do behold is the reality of a new person arising within Isaiah. For now Isaiah hears God speaking in the heavenly realm. God asks the heavenly court, "Who will go for us to these people?" It is then that Isaiah is enabled to respond in faith, "Here am I, send me!"

 

So, I ask specifically, "Do we, individually and collectively, hear God calling us?"

 

Some people claim to have directly seen God. Amazing, maybe even wonderful. But most of us have not had that kind of direct experience. Still, I wonder, do we see God in Jesus of Nazareth? Do we hear God in the words that have come to us through those who have gone before us and shared their experience through the Scriptures? This morning we can listen to them: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Do we hear God speaking to us in these words, placing a call or perhaps even calls upon our lives?

 

Are we in any way like Isaiah, beginning to see ourselves as being encountered by God? Do we behold our brokenness with others, with God and with creation? Does this brokenness extend into this our congregation and even between our Church and other Churches? May God open our eyes to behold the brokenness that extends within our country between the "haves" and the "have-nots", between east and west, and sometimes between rural and urban, Anglophone and francophone, and other different ethic and religious groups in the Greater Vancouver Area. We do live in a broken world. We, like Isaiah are part of that brokenness, making our own contributions to it.

 

But God comes! God comes to our fractured world, not even just as an angelic being or beings. God comes daring to take on our human flesh. In Jesus God enters fully into our human fabric. He listens to, He feeds, He heals, He suffers, He, Himself, is betrayed and executed. Through all of this Jesus seeks to obey God the Creator's calls upon His life. To be sure there are consequences. Some of them are horrific. But there are also results!

 

Examining history we see that the consequences and blessings of obeying God's call upon our lives have continued. Being present in this place of worship gives testimony to that reality. At its best the Christian Church continues to strive to hear and to obey the call of Christ: to love God with all that we are and have and to love others from the reality of our own brokenness in the midst of the  brokenness of the world.

 

Do we hear that call emanating from God?

 

We can hear God's call upon our lives, today on Holy Trinity Sunday. In fact we can hear God's call upon our lives, each day. Sometimes that call is quite specific, individual. At other times it is definitively corporate. 

 

Our world is hungry, even starving. Many desperately need to know and experience the love of God in Jesus Christ manifested in physical, emotional and spiritual ways. We are called in our uniqueness to be the vehicles of this love of God in Christ. Our offerings, our gifts may not always be understood, nor received joyfully. But our call stands in the midst of the ongoing hunger. 

 

I am convinced that God continues to issue the call because God loves the world and even us. May we by listening and by the very grace of this wonderful, holy and loving God be empowered to respond with, "Here we are, here I am! Send us! Amen.

 

BLOWING NEEDINESS AWAY!

Day of Pentecost, May 31, 2009

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 with Acts 2:1-21 in the b.g.

 

When I first moved to Richmond I was often lost. It wasn't just that when it rained at night it was completely dark. It wasn't just that things were unfamiliar. I simply didn't know my way around. And even at the best of times I can so easily get turned around. I remember that first Christmas taking our girls to Metro Town, parking underground. After our shopping was exited through a different place than we had entered. I was immediately lost. I had no idea where home use. 

 

I could have used a GPS system in those days. Indeed I had been googling. To some degree that helpful. But when I found myself  in a different place than I had originally planned, I was up against it..

 

Even with a GPS, there are limitations. For instance a GPS can't help me with the bigger questions of my life. What might I say or do with our daughters when they struggle with their life's direction? What shall I do with myself when I am feeling inadequate as a Pastor and am tempted to fall into old patterns of working longer and harder in an effort  to compensate for my perceived incompetence. Of course such time "invested" means that I neglect time that could and should be spent with other significant people in my life: my wife, my children, myself and even God.  Or what shall I do when I begin to be convinced that I need to undertake something new, either individually, as a couple or as a congregation, but am afraid of the change such an undertaking would usher into our lives? 

 

There are many tough questions, tough decisions to be made. Some say that all things are relative, that it doesn't really matter, just make any decision and it will all work out, eventually. But if you dare to actually think about this you must realize that often this is not so. Often what we decide to do and then do actually matters. What we eat or drink, how we exercise or don't exercise, whether we invest ourselves in relationships with others and the earth, does matter. Roosters do often come home to roost.

 

Nevertheless, sometimes maybe even often we are unsure in terms of our actions. Whom should we trust? Whom can we trust:  with finances, with parenting decisions, with medical advice? What providers of information or even perceptions of the world can we trust: the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, the Enquirer, CNN, CBC or BBS? As we grow in maturity we begin to realize that there are many biases. No individual, corporation, nor institution exists without bias.

 

We could choose to bury our head in the sand and trust only our own experience. But our own personal experience is severely limited. The older I become, the more I read, the increasing number of  places that I have lived, this becomes more and more obvious to me.

 

So what can we do for guidance, for direction, for assistance as the joys and struggles of life come cascading down? What shall we do for guidance and direction as we are blessed with new life: a baby, a grandchild, a new relationship, a second chance in a relationship that deeply matters to us. Shall we go our own way, listening only to our friends? The writer of John's Gospel allows us to hear of others' experiences as they wrestle with this question. These others in John's Gospel are often people whose lives have been touched by Jesus.

 

These people struggled after Jesus left them, after he had died and was no longer physically present. The writer Luke in the book of Acts speaks of God's Spirit coming to them in their struggle. Luke says that the Spirit's approach was like the sound of a wind, as if tongues of fire had rested on their heads. Note that these are metaphors and similes pointing to an experience that transcends words or even categories of description. We must realize that some experiences are like that. Take for instance the experience of love, of birth or death. These are all very real. They are also beyond telling in terms of familiar descriptive categories or expressions such as: black, brown, yellow, green,  nice, cold, hot. Our experiences of birth and death may involve such categories but they also transcend them. Nevertheless as this Spirit comes to those early disciples – they are moved beyond their fear and their anxiety. Only then are they enabled to speak and act in ways that tell others of the power of God they experience in Jesus. Only then are they moved to sell their possessions in order that no one in their fellowship may be hungry or homeless. In their experience of Jesus they moved to regularly gather together for prayer, the breaking of bread. The barriers that once separated them in terms of gender and ethnicity are now beginning to be erased. The Spirit is beginning to move in their lives. 

 

John has his own account of this. He calls God's Spirit that Jesus says is coming to the disciples, the Spirit of truth. Jesus states that the Spirit will prove all those wrong who didn't trust Him. Those who were most opposed to Him thought that if they could kill Jesus they would get rid of him. But it didn't work. Instead it is only after Jesus' death that the disciples are fully enabled to seek to know and do God's will.

 

We need to know that this isn't easy. Doing God's will costs many of the early disciples their lives. Discipleship is not cheap! But their seeking to do God's will by following Jesus also brings them new life.  Each has value regardless of their skin color, religious conviction, economic status, or mental "accomplishments". And finally, this Spirit of truth helped the early disciples to see that the powers of this world: violence, death, domination, hatred, subjugation – as powerful as they are, have been judged by God and ultimately defeated.

 

But man oh man, woman oh woman, too often doesn't feel that way to me. When a 19 year old falls out of a boat on a beautiful summer's day in the early evening in the Okanagan – and the driver hasn't been drinking and that young man, a son of a single mom drowns, it sure feels like death and its powers continue to reign. When drugs continue to worm their way into people's lives completely and absolutely controlling some until their addiction to those same drugs has cost them the very relationships with all those whom they loved, when their addiction even costs them their very own lives, it sure feels like the powers of death and violence, subjugation are still in control. Even as nations continue to fight against other nations in North and South Korea, or as different ethnic and religious groups attempt to eliminate one another in Sri Lanka, the Sudan or the Middle East it sure feels like nothing changes. Shall we get our guns out and protect ourselves? Shall we build bigger fences or buy the meanest dog? Or, shall we attempt to withdraw just to protect ourselves? These are all options.

 

But then a wind blows up, or some water falls, or a person acts unselfishly on their own on behalf of someone else. Christ's life being fleshed out even in others makes huge difference. In emptying himself, in allowing himself to be killed, death is overcome by Jesus. Then everything begins to be turned upside down. Truly, we still groan, we are still hurt, even devastated. But we begin to see, to believe, to trust, to experience even in our own lives that these realities are not all there is. In fact there is so much more. "Death" and its derivatives need not have their way with us, nor with others.  On the third day Jesus is raised.

 

On the 50th day of Easter the church begins to be the Church – imperfect but nevertheless Spirit driven. Yes, driven to love as we are being loved. Driven to forgive as we are being forgiven. Driven by dreams and love to move beyond ourselves to actually care.

 

So whom are we trusting? What is the goal of our behavior? May God's Spirit blow on and through us – that we may be led beyond fear, apathy, self centeredness, a conviction that all that matters is what we can see, feel, taste, touch or explain. May we be led to know that as real as the power of death is, it does not have the lasting or the last word.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, come- in and through us. Or as a very fine Lutheran preacher Barbara K. Lundblad prays, "Come, Holy spirit. Come as mighty wind or gentle breath. Blow on the embers of our faith. Empower us to speak and to act so that there might come a day when there is not a needy person among us. Amen.