Wonders Never Cease

5^th 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.

              

Surpassing Hydraulics

 Pentecost 4a14 (Gen. 24:34-67), Romans 7:15-25a, Matthew 11:16-30, July 6, 2014

 

There are days and nights when I near or perhaps am driven to near despair. Can you identify?

 

We witness the abduction of a 5 year old boy and grandparents from their Calgary home. We see the abduction of 3 teenage Israeli boys from their loved ones and then hear of their bodies being uncovered in a cave.  Only a few days later in seeming "retaliation" a Palestinian boy is burned to death. Nor are we strangers to our "own" ongoing violence: persons against persons, even men against women they supposedly "love".  

 

If you are like me we not only shake our heads but our hearts are broken. A man is refereeing a recreation league soccer game. During that game he is assaulted by one of the players and dies. His two young sons are left without their dad. 

 

Some people encourage us to stay away from the news. But do we escape such reality then?

 

Or might such reality also live and rage within us?  

 

St. Paul speaks of the good that he would – but that he can't incarnate. Some scholars debate whether this is Paul's personal confession or rather a universal observation of all of humanity. Still others claim that this is a description of one's life prior to conversion or after conversion.  I would suggest it is all of these.

 

We are too often hesitant to speak of sin, unless it is someone else's. Or, we may tend to think of sin as something really bad that someone else does or is somehow done to us. If we do admit our sin we may think of "our" sin as it were some minor transgression - like serving the wrong wine or forgetting that we should have purchased gluten free bread.

 

But as delineated in the Bible SIN is not only a problem, it is the illness at the heart of our being – the illness that brings along with it separation from God, others and creation. As such sin ushers in death, both figuratively and literally.  Sin, from a Biblical perspective is our problem.

 

Sin is rebellion against God, attempts to deny that God is God, and that we are the created ones. Part and parcel of sin is the refusal to admit that we are always in desperate need God's help: God's direction for our lives, and God's forgiveness. The consequences of our sin is all around us in both big and small ways.

 

There is human caused climate change with rising waters of the oceans and ever increasing massive storms. But we want what we want and we will have what we will have, right?

 

There is our refusal to pray in disciplined ways, to read and study God's Word, to seek God's direction in our employment of whatever we may call or think is" ours". We forget that every "thing" and every person has been entrusted to us by God, for the good of all.

 

There is also our refusal to admit that often we are wrong. We do need each other's forgiveness.  

 

Underneath all of this lies our stubborn refusal to admit that we need help. Our lives are often out of control. We so desperately need God's direction and aid in all the aspects of our lives. 

 

This doesn't imply that we don't have responsibility in the living of our lives. What this does mean is that "on our own" we miss the mark, our destiny, again and again and again.

 

We need God's help and direction, God's love and forgiveness. Just as surely as a baby needs one who will invest their lives in caring for him/her we need God! Just as surely as we need the sun, the soil and the rain, we need God to deliver us from ourselves, from each other. We need a heart and mind transplant each day – so that we do not become bitter, cynical, apathetic, self-centered and self-obsessed. All of these qualities lead to numbness, despair and ultimately death.

 

Even John the Baptist struggles with the reality of Jesus as God: he who baptized Jesus; he who came preaching a baptism of repentance; he who kicked in his mother's womb when Jesus' mother showed up at his door.

 

This believing in, working for, actively trusting God is not without resistance both from within and without. John is thrown into jail for questioning Herod's illegitimate relationship with Herod's brother's wife. It's not holiday reading – as his head is eventually presented to Herod on a platter. We are visually reminded that the forces of evil do not stand idly by while the work of God in Jesus Christ – love, truth telling, justice and mercy are being carried out.

 

It's no wonder then that while John the Baptist is in prison he has questions. He sends his disciples to point blank ask Jesus, "Are you the One to come, or shall we wait for another?"

 

John thought God's ultimate reign, the kingdom would come with a big bang, fire and blood, maybe  even violent exclusion. Meanwhile Jesus was eating with all kinds of people, welcoming them, speaking truth, but in different ways than John. Still, Jesus is doing the works of God – the blind can see, the lame can walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. Even a dead person has been raised.  The poor have good news preached to them. Jesus says, "Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds". Sometimes the proof is in the pudding.

 

We too have questions. Who is the hand, the direction of God revealed to? Is it the jihadists or the fundamentalists who are both so certain that they and they alone are right, doing God's will? Or, is the work of God captured in a box of doctrine – that claims, "here in our understanding is God? Or, might God reveal God's self to the weak and simple – in ways that will humble all of us?

 

There is so much going on within and without. 

 

It's at this point that Jesus utters something so wonderful but that may have been frequently misunderstood. He says, "Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

This is an amazingly wonderful word. Who among us hasn't carried or isn't carrying heavy burdens? Jesus invites us to approach him, draw near, cry out.

 

We all need rest. The third commandment demands this for us. Jesus claims that we can count on him. It's not all up to us. Not death, hatred, changing violence, not even climate change.

Does this then give us an excuse to do nothing – to exercise extremely limited responsibility?

 

Listen again: Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you".

 

His yoke isn't the yolk of an egg. Rather his yoke is a harness for two animals who are working at the direction of their master breaking ground, hauling whatever it may be for the well being of the entire people, family and community.

 

Often the younger and or more rebellious animals would be yoked with a more mature, experienced animal. "Take my yoke upon you". Make no mistake this is an important yoke – to love this world, to care for the down and out, to speak truth of God and ourselves by the ways we daily live.

 

But the entire metaphor of yoke is this: WE ARE NOT ALONE. Jesus is both with us and for us. He will not abandon us. We can learn from him: this co-creator of the universe, this One who journeys to the cross , who can see right into our minds and hearts. As He wills to be joined with us He is gentle and humble in heart.

 

Oh God, help us to be so yoked! Walking with him, transformation begins to overtake us. We begin to experience deep in our hearts that we are not alone.  As heavy as the responsibilities and calls of our lives sometimes are, we need never lift by ourselves.

 

Hear Jesus' invitation: come to me you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens. Even now He draws near to us.  Amen.

 

 

The Discomfiting Provision of God

Pentecost 3a14 (June 29, 2014) Genesis 22:1-14 with Romans 6:12-23 and Matthew 10:40-42 in bg.

O precious Ones of God, grace to you and peace from God the Creator, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit three in One.... and oh, also some discomfort....

Why would I say that, discomfort? Don't we attend church to be comforted, even to feel good?

 

To be sure, sometimes comfort and even "good" feelings occur to us and among us while we worship God at church. But there are other times, times when God challenges us to the depths of our being. The resulting challenge may stir up within us many different kinds of feelings – some of which are far from "good".

 

See Abraham today. I used to skip over this account as I read our Children's Bible with our youngest daughter because I didn't want her 5 year old "self" to hear this. I felt that she was just too young to deal with it. Truth be spoken, we may all be too "young" to deal with it. Maybe it is meant to deal with us!

 

Isaac was Abraham's beloved son. Not only was Isaac Abraham's beloved son, his only son still within the household, but Isaac was THE CHILD OF PROMISE. Yes – that very promise God had uttered to Abraham and Sarah so many years ago. They would be blessed with descendants, more numerous than the sands of the seashore. Through their descendants many, many others would be blessed. So it is.  Isaac is Abraham's beloved, beloved in ways that transcend any and all explanation, comprehension.

 

Together, Abraham and Sarah had waited and waited and waited - hoped and hoped, prayed and prayed for the birth of any child. Just when they had given up on it ever happening, when they were convinced that it was impossible for them, God blesses them with this child, their son, Isaac.

 

The name, Isaac, means "laughter". How they must have laughed,- during their pregnancy,  maybe even giggled. How they must have then thanked God. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. Yes, GOD IS SOOOO  GOOD!

 

But then comes our text, another word from God. "ABRAHAM!"

 

Abraham responds. "Yes... Lord. Here... I... am." God proceeds. "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and ... OFFER HIM THERE AS A BURNT OFFERING ON ONE OF THE MOUNTAINS THAT I WILL SHOW YOU."

 

Oh dear Lord, my God! What would you do if you heard in some way a word from God to kill any child, let alone your own child? Doesn't God charge us with loving and protecting our children at all costs? I truly believe that. How could anyone, especially Abraham contemplate such an act?

 

Sometimes Scripture deeply disturbs me. I take these words seriously.

 

God speaks to people throughout history in a variety of ways. There continue to be a number of people who are convinced that God is directing them, actually speaking to them. Many of these people have done wonderful things. I think of Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I also think of a number of you as I have witnessed things that you have done to help and aid others: to work at VBS, to teach Sunday School, to work at erecting this building, a beautiful house of worship where many are blessed; working at LUMS, even teaching others to preach in Third World countries. Many of you give sacrificially of your time, your talent and "your" money.

 

But in opposition to these people are others who also claim to hear God speaking to them. These people have done horrendous things, things that are criminal. Some people, vehemently opposed to abortion have worked to kill those who carry out abortions. Suicide bombers, claiming to have directly heard God, act on what they have "heard".

 

I shake my head, "No!" We may experience stirrings of hatred within us towards such people. They are wrong. This can't be God speaking to them. This must be the delusion of their own minds or worse yet, the very Evil One manipulating them into thinking such things, in order to act so destructively.

 

How then can we know when it is God speaking to us, or when it is something or someone else?

 

Abraham was convinced that God spoke to him, not just on this occasion but on a number of occasions. Abraham tried both to hear God and to then obey God.

 

So, it seems, so it is, this now. Can we imagine what Abraham may have been thinking or feeling? Oh, my God, could you really be asking me to do this thing, to kill my own Son, the Son you yourself, promised us: to slit his throat and burn his body?.... If I do this horrendous thing.... what will happen to my Sarah, Isaac's mother? If I do this horrendous thing, how will I ever be able to live with myself? And if I do this horrendous thing – what will happen to your promise? (

 

Nevertheless, in the midst of his thoughts, feelings, struggle – Abraham knows that God isn't just some idea. God's actions may not always fit our criteria of being "logical".  If God were to fit into human logic, then Isaac would never have been born. And promises that have changed the world would be dismissed as mere folly.  

 

Indeed, if God is limited to our standards of logic, our limited way of thinking, there could be no Jesus. Without Jesus, there would be no resurrection, no mercy for all who have so often spurned God by the way we treat others.

 

Somehow though, Abraham knows better, more deeply than we do. Abraham is faced with a choice. Will he obey and trust God in this harsh environment? Unlike us, he does not have the gift of retrospect, viewing Jesus from this side of the cross and resurrection. He could not know. He does not know how all this will turn out or even if it will. .

 

While Abraham hears his name being called and God speaking, he must act as a solitary individual, with no guarantee of clarity in terms of being terribly wrong and deeply deceived by himself or others. He did know that such an act is irreversible. If he does this thing it will usher in great pain for his own family and community.

 

Nevertheless, Abraham acts. He trusts God. How hard this is! ! Trusting God doesn't just involve a little bit here and there. It involves Abraham's all, not only for himself, but for his entire family.

 

Abraham does, what appears to be an unthinkable thing. He ties his beloved Isaac down. He raises the knife... BUT THEN AND THERE, miraculously GOD PROVIDES. And Isaac is spared!

 

We do not know, we cannot know the consequences of Abraham's obedience on his relationship with his beloved Isaac. But we are so blessed to glimpse the consequences of Abraham's obedience upon us.

 

We are present today. We are wonderfully privileged to hear, to experience how God chooses to act toward us. We see God give His only Son, His beloved Son on our behalf. In such giving, we are being freed from the grip of death and sin. Because of Him, we do not need to fear death or be paralyzed by any fear. Through Christ's death and resurrection we are being freed for life, for trusting God ourselves with everything we are and have. Abraham experienced it.  We can too – God does provide.

 

Are we listening? Will we obey- both in comfort and discomfort? God help us.  Amen.
!

 

OH, MY LORD!

Pentecost 2a, June 22, 2014 (Matthew 10:24-39; Genesis 21:8-21 and Romans 6:1b-11 in the b.g.)

The earliest confession of the first Christians was this: JESUS IS LORD! Their confession arose out of their circumstances, their understanding and experience of who Jesus is in the middle of their living and dying. "Lord" for them may have been the one who owned their land. "Lord" for them was the one you paid taxes to. "Lord" for them was also the one who had the responsibility to protect them from enemies. "Lord" was the person to be obeyed, respected and even feared.  

 

On the surface we are so disconnected from such understanding of the word, "Lord". Most of us own or at least buying our land. Nor would we think of the bank or the mortgage company as the One who would protect us from our enemies – or the one who might care for us when we are down and out.

 

Nevertheless, are there not ones whom we fear? Are there not powers or individuals that demand we obey them, no matter what? You know the old proverb – death and taxes – the certainties of our lives. Are they our "lords" – in the sense that we have ultimate fear of them, must obey them or do whatever we can to avoid them or minimize their bondage upon our lives? So, I ask, do we in any manner shape or form, experience anyone or anything as our "lord"?

 

I remember Harold and Emma. They loved each other. They had been married about 25 years when I met them. Life was good. But then Harold was diagnosed with cancer. The scene i am introducing you to finds Harold on his death bed. His big frame and 240 pound body has been reduced to what in many ways seems like a smallish man – now more like 180 pounds. His petite but oh, so strong Emma is beside him, holding his hand as his death draws near. Following a significant time of silence save for her quiet sobs, Harold opens his eyes. He takes Emma's tiny hands in his large, calloused hands. He utters words I will not forget. "Emma, what we have is the cross! Nothing and no one can ever take that from us." In the literal face of death, Harold speaks what for him is the truth – not a philosophy or merely a theology to be written in a book or spoken in a sermon but the very foundation of his life. He is "betting" – everything on this as he makes the journey towards death. This Jesus who dies on the cross is Harold's  Lord. And nothing can separate him from the power and love of his Lord. Thanks be to God!

 

None of this is easy: such living, loving, caring, dying. Jesus' own life is so far from conflict free. How he sometimes struggles with his disciples who so often just don't get it. They left him alone when he needed them most. His own parents don't begin to understand who He is. Even his mother, as he is beginning to teach and travel occasionally thought that he had lost his mind. He says something very interesting then. His "family" are those who do his will. In addition to all of this he often was in conflict with the authorities – including the religious authorities who don't hesitate to accuse him of BEING EVIL. 

 

Yet none of this deters him, from being and doing His Father's will. So it is, he moves on - reaching out, caring, speaking truth into the midst of all that is. In doing so, he draws others to him. He then sends them out to share this amazingly good news: God loves them. Any and all other powers do not have the final nor the lasting word. Indeed God loves all people and seeks to reclaim them from any and all powers of evil and death. The disciples are to go and live in ways that reflect his life, death and resurrection.

 

So he called his earliest disciples. So it is, he calls us. The very word disciple means LEARNER. We are to watch him, to study his words, his ways. We are to obey him. When there are conflicts of interest, competing forces demanding our attendance and allegiance, He wills us to be clear about whom we can trust, whom we are to ultimately obey. He is our Lord. Not our families. Not the government. Not sport. Not work.... not that any of these things aren't or can't be good. They each are gifts to us from God. They each have roles to play in our lives. But they are not to be our gods. They cannot bear the weight of life, nor the powers of evil or death. Only God can take on such responsibility. Remember, know Jesus is God. As the earliest Christians claimed Jesus is our Lord and our God! 

 

Remember, know – it is God who gives us, all people, all creation life.

 

Remember, know, it is God who in Jesus lives, suffers and dies to take on and ultimately overcome the powers of evil: death, hatred, violence, fear. WOW! Is it any wonder that at their best some of the most effective recovery programs for people caught in addictive behavior have as one of their main mantras, "LET GO AND LET GOD!"

 

How we need help with this!

 

Today Canadian Lutheran World Relief calls us to remember the refugees in the world. CLWR has from its inception been in the "refugee business". Some of us – or at the very least perhaps our parents or grandparents were brought to this country under the auspices of CLWR. Thanks be to God!

 

Tragically the number of people who are forced to flee their homes and become refugees continues to multiply. War and genocide are tragically ongoing realities. Do you realize that there are over 3 million Syrian refugees alone? Can you imagine if  nearly ten percent of Canadians  were forced to flee for our lives, leaving friends, homes, possessions and businesses behind? How would we survive? Might we then realize our NEED for the help of God directly and through others that God was moving to give of themselves to help us?  

 

Make no mistake. Jesus calls upon us to remember, to pray for, to do what we can to help others, especially those who are refugees.

 

Why? Because Jesus is our Lord and their Lord. Since Jesus loves the world we too are called to love the world. Since Jesus continues to bless us, we are called to bless others with gifts of our time, talents and so-called "possessions".

 

Dear God, the Holy Spirit is alive. That Spirit calls us to faith which is an active obedient trust of Jesus who calls us in ongoing ways to a living learning that involves ongoing service. 

 

To be sure: Jesus loves you – all the way to the cross, into the grave and up, out of the grave. Jesus loves us – all refugees too – all the way to the cross, whatever that may be as they flee their homes, desperately hoping to find some "camp" where they can lay their heads, have a drink and receive some food to feed their kids. 

 

Jesus loves us? Whom then are we loving, following?

 

May God move us, even drive us, to look closer, to see and learn. May we see God's face, even our children's faces and our own faces in the faces of the boys and girls around us, in the faces of the boys and girls, teenagers, adults and elderly in refugee camps. In so seeing, may we also hear God calling us to do what we can – because of who we are, God's sons and daughters. Knowing that we are moved to act trusting that death and evil as strong and mighty as they are, WILL NOT WIN THE DAY!

 

Harold is right. Dear people we have the cross. Jesus is Lord. Because he lives, we too can live. Because he lives the world will and must be loved.  Amen.