Wonders Never Cease
5th Sunday after Pentecost, July 13, 2014 (Matthew 13:1-9a with Isaiah 55:10-13 and Ezra 3)
Main thought – the love of Jesus (this self-giving, this presence of Matthew 28, this hope foreshadowed in Isaiah 55 – return from exile; and Ezra 3 – the building of the temple to mixed results) bears fruit – is good. Your kingdom come.
Malady – often we won't or can't hear this proclamation amidst the glitz, the noise, the anxiety of our lives. See the original context of Matthew (a dominated smaller country under empire.) Or we can't or won't believe it (see the earliest disciples)
Means – mostly the Gospel lesson.
L O V E. It's a four letter word. Love. But what does "love" mean for anyone who would follow Jesus?
L O V E. God, the Creator of the universe continues to send the rain in summer, the snow in winter. The earth continues to yield produce. By God's grace there is still more than enough food produced to adequately feed everyone on the globe IF ONLY we could devise some way to distribute the food to those who are most hungry, even starving. All of this gives witness to God's love. Every time you bite into an apple, munch on a salad, sip a glass of water, we can know this. Thank you God. Thank you for your love!
But there are also complicating factors. We witness floods both far and near. Tornadoes "touch" down destroying buildings, vegetation, animal and human life. Hurricanes wreak untold devastation. Droughts seek to suck the life from so many. Then there is also fire. I will never forget the Okanagan Fire of just over 10 years ago. The blazing, ever growing fire lit up the night. We human beings were unable to stop the fire's insatiable appetite.
Some of these complicating factors may be the result of human error, even human folly. But some of them seemingly just happen. Lightning strikes. Some call such happenings, an "act of God". What then do we say of God, to God?
The reality of God's love is a huge factor in our lives. God's love for the world is the very foundation of Christian faith. But how can we be so "sure" that God actually loves us, if all we examine is only nature?
Our children at VBS have been learning of God's activity in terms of God's workshop of wonders. There are so many examples in the created world whether we imagine with God, work with God, grow with God, build with God or even walk with God.
But God's clearest and most demanding activity of love for the entire human race is revealed in God's becoming human. God becomes ONE OF US! God is born as a baby to Mary. This Jesus does so much in his short life. I can't even begin to tell you all of that today. After all, some of you are in a rush to get home to see the World Cup Final. . .But do let me tell you this.
Jesus both confronts and embraces us with God's holy and merciful love for us. Jesus reaches out and touches people no one else will. Jesus feeds the hungry, without expecting anything in return. Jesus frees the condemned. Then, when both the religious and military powers are so upset by what Jesus is doing that they kill him, Jesus asks God the Father to ...... (are you ready for this?) FORGIVE THEM.
His closest friends disappear when he needs them the most, as he is being slandered, tortured, humiliated and then executed. Miraculously, He not only forgives them, but in three days as he is raised he returns to them. Then He says, not get lost or even "I am so disappointed in you" but rather, (are you ready for it?), "PEACE BE WITH YOU"
Just who will Jesus entrust with his incredible message of love and forgiveness, of his overcoming death and hatred for us? Can you believe it (pun intended!)? He entrusts those close friends who had already completely failed him. He tells them to get up, go out, to share His love, His power with everyone they meet. No holds barred!
And... they do this. Those eleven male followers of Jesus – and a whole variety of women who had been trapsing around the country side go out and show others Jesus' love. They do this in various ways. Some sell their possessions and then share the proceeds with others so that none are hungry or homeless. Some travel to foreign lands to proclaim Jesus' message. Some stay right at home and work hard with their family, friends and acquaintances.
Is this easy? No! For some reason, many people do not want to hear of God, to be called to share with others. To God, with God, everyone is important. By God's grace our hearts and minds can be transformed! By God's grace we may even become agents of transformation.
To be sure, I sometimes get discouraged. The numbers of people in North American churches are dwindling. A number of governments and corporations sometimes see the Gross National Product or profit margins as more important than those who are financially most vulnerable. Far too often church people fight amongst themselves and or put others down. Some even maim, kill or exclude each other in the name of God or Jesus!
It's quite possible Jesus understands all of this. He spent three years with a small group. They saw him do and be – amazing realities. When the crisis of his betrayal, suffering an death confronted them, none of them really lived as if Jesus was God with skin on. One of them sold him out. At least ten others abandoned him.
But Jesus doesn't give up on them. Nor does he give up on us. He encourages us to hear Him, to see His life. He loves us. He calls us to love others. At times it may seem that what we do doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things. But let me tell you, that just isn't true. We may not see it right away - nor even in our lifetimes. Nevertheless God is at work, EVEN THROUGH US!
So let me tell you two stories.
Rosa Parks, a black woman in Montgomery Alabama sat on a bus. She was told that she had to move to the back of the bus, because she was a black woman. But Rosa refused to change seats. And the civil rights movement was activated. It continues to be needed. Yet by the grace of God working in and through a whole variety of people, much has been accomplished.
A second story. For decades Muhammed Yunus revolutionizes the phenomenon of micro-credit. By giving small loans, mostly to women who could not otherwise afford or qualify for credit, he in effect provides the seed for thousands to start and sustain their own businesses. This initiative has a ripple effect economically, impacting families and communities across Bangladesh and spreading from there to the rest of the world.
Who knows what your particular gifts are, in the expansive dream of God to spread God's love throughout the world?
Firstly we need to hear, listen and soak up this love of God ourselves. This is an ongoing practice because there are so many forces within and without that seek to remove us from the experience of knowledge of such love. These resistant forces can drive us to fear, selfishness, even apathy. But as we hear and are embraced again and again by the love of God in Jesus – we too are sent out to generously and indiscriminately share His love. We may not always be welcomed. However, God's love will not return empty. Our work will not be in vain.
I want to close with a little ditty that I learned as a child. It speaks of the love of God as we see and experience it in Jesus Christ, it is profoundly true.
"Love is something when we give it away, give it away, give it away, .... love is something when we give it away we always end up having MORE! " (may be sung or read)
God bless us in receiving and giving away God's love in Jesus Christ. Perhaps the very universe is the workshop of wonders, the wonders of God. God wills to do the most extraordinary things - even through us. Amen.