More Than Feel Good

Pentecost 13b, John 6:56-69 – August 23, 2015 FOLLOWING AIN'T EASY, BUT THEN.

So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the holy one of God." (verses 66-69).

 

Mark Twain once wrote: "Most people are bothered by those passages in Scriptures which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always notice the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand."

 

I think Twain is on to something, something REALLY BIG, something which we tend to ignore.

 

Attempting to live as a Christian, to actually follow Jesus in the way we live out our lives, is anything but easy. This is especially underlined in the Gospel of John where the word 'believe' is almost always a verb, an action word, rather than merely a noun.

 

Over the last weeks we have listened in as the crowds that were following Jesus gradually disperse. Early in this chapter Jesus miraculously feeds the crowds. They come after him, wanting, even demanding more. He tells them that "following" him in this way is all wrong. He isn't about tea and crumpets or even steak and potatoes. He's about so much more than any of that. He's about living with, in and from God. Such living involves loving even one's enemies. Such living will not be controlled by the fear of death. Such a life involves both knowing and being known by God in conscious and unconscious ways. There are struggles and massive wrestling with oneself and God. This living Jesus calls ... ETERNAL LIFE.

 

This life dear people – although incredibly good, is not easy.

 

Let me say more.

 

There was once a man who did some wonderful things. He had worked his way into upper level management in a large corporation. The vast majority of his employees experienced that his fairness. He told the truth. Upon making a promise he kept it. On more than one occasion he had given an employee a second chance even after a major mess up. He was a faithful husband. He was an active and generous member of his congregation in terms of time, talent and money. He and his wife loved their children and grandchildren with all their hearts.

 

One day this man came in to talk to his Pastor. He remarked that lately he hadn't been feeling that good as he left church. The implication was that the Pastor's sermons were not uplifting but had in fact at times depressed him.

 

His pastor thought long and hard before replying. Then the pastor said, "There are times when the Gospel will make us feel good, lift us up, sometimes even carry us. Those are the times when we are struggling with illness, with loss, with the struggles of those we deeply care about. Then this news of Jesus, of God becoming human, suffering and dying on our behalf and on behalf of the entire world will comfort us, will bring us living hope"...

 

"But", the Pastor continued,  "There are other times – those times when we are doing well, when we feel as if all is right with the world, when we tend to forget God or at the very least some of those God deeply loves – the sick, the poor, the struggling, those affected by tragedy or our way of life, even the neighbor who irritates or wrongs us – in those times this Word (Jesus) afflicts us, challenges us, reminds us of our hardness of heart or lack of faith, demanding that we change."

 

The man listened. Then he walked out, pensively.

 

Not long after that, the man retired. There was a wonderful retirement meal – many deserved accolades. He and his wife enjoyed pulling their 5^th wheel over much of North America. They still supported their church and the work of God in the world in so many ways – even bringing clothes and shoes to Mexican orphanages. They continued to worship wherever they travelled. They actively sought to be open to what God was calling them to be and do.

 

But major struggles were on the horizon. One of their children battled addiction. Dementia raised its ugly head. The man's wife became ill with dementia. It wasn't easy caring for her but he did a wonderful job, even after she began to forget who he was.

 

I now suspect that this man realized that the power of the news of Jesus is so much deeper than simply making us "feel good". I suspect that he realized in profound ways that God through Jesus and the Spirit accompanies us into the very depths of suffering, pain, loss, uncertainty and death helping us through and ... beyond.

 

Don't be fooled! The sayings of Jesus, observing the very life and death of Jesus is anything but easy! His ways are sometimes impossible to understand. And following him? See where he goes! Jesus isn't meek and mild. He says radical things: "Eat my body! Drink my blood and you will live forever."

 

On so many levels this is offensive. We are not cannibals. But even if we are enabled to see beyond the literal meaning of his words, there is a direction to Jesus' suffering, dying and resurrection that we cannot avoid nor evade.

 

In becoming human God shows us another way. God's way in Jesus is the way of sacrificial love, of refusing to blame our enemies for whatever is wrong in the word. It is the way of refusing to pretend that everything is alright. Everything is not alright! As human beings we suffer from a propensity to blame, to hate, to hurt, to exclude, to hoard, to think of ourselves first and foremost. We often try to act as if we are God, that we alone matter, that we can "handle things" on our own. None of this is true.

 

From Adam on we have loved to play the blame game. Will we who are created from the earth face our responsibility for what we are doing to the earth, to each other, in our thinking and consumptive absorption? Will we acknowledge our incapacity to stop the damaging thoughts that fill our minds and hearts – thoughts of hatred or dismissal of so many around us? Indeed, where is our capacity to quell the fear that sometimes overwhelms us causing us to build more walls around us seeking to shut out others including God?

 

As Jesus speaks and lives, many of his disciples abandon him. Jesus then looks at the twelve and asks them if they too will go away. Peter, moved by the Holy Spirit replies, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life."

 

Somehow Peter knew that other ways may well be easier. How easy it is to hate. Yes, he could go back to fishing for a living, to his family, back to his old ways. But the way things were before, were not ways that were leading him to new life. He now could see and sometimes experience new life with others, new life with himself, new life even with God. To be sure, this new life wasn't easy. He wrestled with so many things now that he wasn't even aware of before.  And yet, this new way is now the only way he can live, no matter what happens. So, when Jesus asks them if they too will abandon him, Peter says, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"

 

You see, Mark Twain is right. The passages of Scripture that really get us are the ones that have a clear meaning:  Love our enemies. Do good to those who wrong us. Come honestly to Jesus in our deepest need. Eat his body. Drink his blood. Some are so offended by Jesus and his honest gifts and demands that they leave and never come back.  Others think, "This is impossible", or at the very least unrealistic. So, will we also go away?

 

Sometimes we do go. Our minds wander. We are filled with fear. We turn our backs on others. We don't want to be disciplined in reading, in prayer, in giving. We don't wish to see those who make us feel uncomfortable. (There are so many of them). Sometimes we harbor grudges, cling to our money while thinking of ourselves first and foremost.

 

But, dear people, this is not life. These ways lead only to separation and death - from God, and ultimately - from ourselves.

 

Yet even now, Jesus draws near seeking to draw us in. May we not only hear but may we ourselves be moved, in the midst of all our living and dying to confess with Peter, "Lord to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. For we have come to believe and know that you are the holy one of God".

Let us pray – O God, help us so to live, believing and following your Son, our suffering and risen Lord, Amen. 

 

IMAGINE!

Pentecost 12b, August 16, 2015

Key verses –"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them". John 6:56, 57

 

Imagine.

 

Imagine a mother. A mother who gives birth to a child that is then taken from her. The mother has done nothing wrong. And yet that child is wrenched away from her bosom, from her loving arms. That wee child is taken to a place unknown to the mother – to a place that mother cannot find.

 

Time passes. Not a single day passes wherein that mother longs for, years after, wanders about her child. Is her child safe? Is her child growing up? Is her child being loved? How is it with her child? How she longs for her child, aches for her child! She would give anything to be with her child. She would give her very life, all of her past, all of her future – to be with that child – to have that child be loved, be safe, be enabled to live. How she would love to see her child, hold her child, whisper into her child's ear, "I love you!"

 

The pain of separation is immeasurable for that mother. Can you imagine?

 

And then one day there is a call. Her child has been found – unharmed, safe. The authorities will bring her child to her in a few hours. Can you imagine?

 

Her heart is pounding nearly out of her chest, threatening to burst its meager limitations.  Her mind is racing –thoughts, questions, memories, hope for the future. Those hours feel like an eternity. But then, then her doorbell rings. There are men in her doorway, standing with her child, a beautiful boy. Yes, he is fifteen years old – FIFTEEN  YEARS OLD. He Is her son. She can tell – she reaches out – she wants to hug him and hold him and never let him go. She has dreamed of this moment for years – and then chastised herself for dreaming what may well be impossible. But now the impossible is possible. Yes, she reaches out – to touch his face, hold him, tell him how she loves him, how special he is to her – that there is no one else like him – to her.  

 

But he steps back. He isn't sure. Many things have happened in his life. And she is – at least in that moment – kept at bay. How she loves him. BUT SHE WON'T HURT HIM. She wants him to be so close to him – she is there – she is available, she is reaching out – but he is not responding, unsure, perhaps unable in that moment to trust anyone – EVEN HIS MOTHER.

 

She is so close to him. She knows that if he will just come one step closer – their relationship will grow in ways that will be so GOOD. But in that moment they are frozen.

 

Imagine...

 

Do you know – do you realize deep within yourself that GOD IS YOUR FATHER, GOD IS YOUR MOTHER?

 

In some ways this is impossible to know. I am not speaking here of knowing in our heads, in some intellectual, ethereal capacity that God creates us – which God most certainly does.

 

Rather, I mean to realize that God loves us, wants the very best for us – is our beginning and our end, our home – wants to hold us, hear us, dialogue with us, go before us and encourage us. God wants us to know GOD as OUR LOVING MOTHER AND FATHER, to see also beyond ourselves – to see our brothers and sisters, men, women and children, creatures and the earth. God, like the mother in my story loves His/Her children so much, longs for us, yearns to embrace us – and continually reaches out to us.

 

This reality is underlined in today's Gospel from John. God's longing comes to us through God's own Son, Jesus who in becoming human reaches out to us and all people in direct ways. He gives His life so that we may see who we are – so loved by God. And then he sends us out – out from this place, from the Word become flesh, the Word we take into ourselves, through our mouths and into all our cells, shaping and transforming us, to carry whom we ourselves have received – to bring daily bread for others, to reflect light and love.

 

But we can only be this – as we eat and drink this bread from heaven, this body and blood of Christ, as remain in deep communion with God. God doesn't desire merely a texting relationship or simply intellectual assent. Instead God wills to be in all and through all.

 

As that old crusade hymn proclaims, Jesus loves us right where we are, just as we are.

 

In and through Jesus God also loves the world, calling us to do the same.

 

But we can't know the depths of this relationship, can't live out of the wonder of this relationship until we are being embraced and filled, moved and persuaded again and again by communion with this Christ.

 

Similar to the mother in our opening story – Jesus reaches out, longing to speak, to hold, to guide, to enable us, to be who we really are – the Sons and daughters of God.

 

What's holding us back? Even now, Jesus is reaching out to you and to me. – Amen.

           

Come N' Go

Pentecost 11b, 15 (John 6:35, 41-51) with Ephesians 4:25-5:2 in b.g. August 9, 2015

John 6:35, 41 – 51

Texts – Verse 41 – Then the "Jews" began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

Verse 48 – I am the bread of life (following verse 47 – Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

 

Do you ever wonder?

 

Do you ever wonder if you can actually do the things that you are being called to do? Can you be the mother or father you want to be, that you may sense God wills you to be? Can you be the son or daughter you want to be, you know you can be, that you may sense God wills you to be? Can you be the friend you want to be, you know you can be, that God wills you to be?

 

I suspect that we question whether or not we can be the people God calls us to be for at least 2 reasons. Firstly and often in paralyzing ways, we are aware of our deficiencies. We see our own blind spots, our biases and prejudices. We know that often unconsciously we pass these on to our children. Sometimes (frequently?) they assume our biases, our prejudices. We also realize that we are far from perfect – that we miss the mark of God's intention. This is true of we who are parents, of we who are still blessed to have one or both of our parents – and we who are called to be friends. So often, we are caught up and by our own little worlds that we miss being who God calls us to be.

 

Secondly we question whether we can be the people God calls us to be in any and all of our relationships because that calling is high, is important, truly matters. To be that parent who listens, who guides, who knows and cares for their child in at least some of the ways that God listens, knows and cares for all of us – wow, that's daunting. And yet the call stands. That call of God to be these amazing people to, with and for others is with each of us in unique ways.

 

And yet we wonder whether we can be that  - do that. We sometimes even wonder whether others can or will or are.

 

Some of this was going on with those early Jewish people who were contemporaries of Jesus – who in many ways was a good Jewish boy. But now he is making audacious claims. He says, "I am the bread that came down from heaven!"  This is scandalous. After all they know the story, the way we know stories like Mary and Joseph's trip to Bethlehem or Jesus' last trip to Jerusalem. Jesus' childhood friends and neighbors know their stories. Their people had been enslaved in Egypt. How they cried out to God! God heard their cry. And God delivered them from Pharaoh, from Egypt. But when they were free in the wilderness, they became hungry. They cry out. God responds by sending them manna, literally bread from heaven.  Praise God for that miracle long ago!

 

But now Jesus, this boy whom they had watched grow up in Mary and Joseph's house – this one who had played with them or with their own kids is saying that he is the bread that came down from heaven. Really? How ridiculous! Not only that but he is claiming that he is the bread that comes down from heaven. Such bread brings new life to people now and forever. They will not die!

 

Jesus' childhood neighbors and friends are appalled. How can Jesus make such a claim? They know him. They watched him grow up. He did not come from heaven. His claim is ridiculous – crazy, even blasphemous...

 

Before we judge these people too harshly perhaps we should take a look at ourselves.

 

Do we see God in our daily lives, around us, before us, before us working for mercy, forgiveness, hope, and new life?

 

Do we see God among us? Do we hear, view or be challenged by God in this congregation, the communities and work places we are part of? Do we hear or see God in questions, hopes, tears, doubts, declarations? Do we ever hear God in our own or other's confessions, "I believe help my unbelief"? Sometimes that is truly where we find ourselves in our faith - tenuous, questioning, wondering. 

 

But so it has often been. It's not easy, to live with questions. Nor is it "bad" to live with such questions. In fact Christians have most often found themselves in trouble when they are completely self assured. Pride goes before a fall. So it was with Peter when he boldly proclaimed –"Even if they all abandon you Lord, I will not". We know what happens next.

 

One of our most dangerous temptations here and now is to think that God only can work in the future or the past – but not here, not now, not with us in amazing, miraculous ways. . .

 

Jesus is right there in front of his contemporaries. They are convinced that they know him. What they "know" is correct. In many ways he is Joseph and Mary's son. But what they "know" is only part of the picture. There is so much more to Jesus than first meets the eye! As the Gospel writer John shares right from the beginning of his gospel - Jesus is the Word that is in the beginning. And the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us full of grace and truth...

 

This morning I see myself among those early contemporaries of Jesus. Sometimes I wonder about this preaching part of my calling. For 36 years Sunday after Sunday I have been attempting in my own (feeble?) ways to proclaim this Word. Amazingly you people come out. But even then, sometimes I wonder, did you, does anyone hear what I am trying to say? I wonder because of what I notice – some people nodding off, checking their watches, speaking to their spouses or friend. I do notice that. And sometimes it causes me to wonder. . .

 

And yet God continues to invite, to command, to bless you and me and all people to gather around the Word. In this, not only we ourselves but Christians and Jews over the centuries in myriads of places have listened for God to speak to them through the words of what we now know as Scripture. In this proclamation and listening the seemingly ordinary becomes extraordinary, stirring up faith, hope, love, and trust. In all of this, God draws near taking on flesh!

 

This is also true of the Sacraments. As we look we may only see ordinary water – hydrogen and oxygen – drawn from our taps, coming from rivers and lakes and wells.  And yet when this water is coupled with God's promises something more, much more than we can see with our eyes or even comprehend with our minds begins to happen. God's Spirit breathes upon us and others, doing away with the old and bringing forth new birth within and among us and so many others daily.

 

Miraculously, so it is also with bread and wine. Christ promises, "THIS IS MY BODY. THIS IS MY BLOOD!" As we are being drawn to him we are being made new, forgiven and driven to forgive. We begin to see that we are part of God's people,  people who will not be bound or limited by artificial human constructs of Jew and Gentile, male and female, old and young, even of the dead and the alive. 

 

Yet even in the midst of these interactions of God, I wonder because I see the obvious, speople laughing, giggling, unaware of what's happening to and among them. Sometimes, my mind wanders.

 

But God is faithful. Christ comes, to earth. He takes on our flesh becoming truly human in ways that sometimes offend us even as they offended his contemporaries. Yet at the same time Jesus is also truly divine. See his vulnerability, suffering, dying and rising.

 

Don't we see? Right now Jesus is in front of us. He comes through seemingly ordinary things: words, promises, water, bread and wine. Is it possible that He is speaking to us right now saying, "I am the bread come down from heaven"?

 

By God's grace we can come and go. Christ invites us to come and be nourished. Nourished in order to receive love and new life. And then we are to go, to live and love even as He loves us and this crazy, amazing, beautiful sometimes horrific world. It's our call from him – even as we are. Amen.

 

 

 

24-7?

Pentecost 10b15, John 6:24-35 with Ephesians 4:1-17 and II Samuel 11:26-12:13a in b.g.

August 2, 2015

Text – Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (verse 35)

Anti-text – Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." (verses 16, 27)

 

Sometimes I am confused by what Jesus says. Can you identify? Listen ... Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will NEVER BE HUNGRY, and whoever believes in me WILL NEVER BE THIRSTY."

 

Really?

 

Now I do realize that in some ways Jesus may well have been speaking metaphorically. He isn't just talking about having our bellies filled with meat and potatoes or some kind of quinoa and avocado salad. He is also very likely speaking about more than having our thirst quenched with the newest kind of sugar free or zero caloried pop.

 

But still! NEVER BE HUNGRY? NEVER BE THIRSTY?

 

Sometimes as I really try to hear Scripture I find myself arguing, even wrestling with God. Does that ever happen with you?  

 

People phone the church every month. Some of these people are on welfare, some are battling mental illnesses, some are struggling to live in any kind of lasting or caring relationship with others in their family or at work. Often their calls come near the end or beginning of the month. In some ways a number of these people are literally hungry and thirsty. Although Jesus may have been talking beyond such literal need in John's 6^th chapter, doesn't he care about these people who call the church - Lance and Patty, Dan and Maxine, Curtis and Thomas? Doesn't Jesus care that thousands if not millions of children on the streets of Calcutta and New York, Vancouver and Richmond are literally hungry and thirsty? And not only children but old women and men, even babies are crying out because of their hunger and thirst right now. . .   

 

Some in this country and other rich nations say, "God helps those who help themselves". I have looked but I don't find that particular saying in our Scriptures. Rather I hear Jesus saying things like, "Love your enemies". I hear the prophets again and again enjoining Israel (and by implication also us) to care for the lonely, the widowed, the sick".

 

In our better moments, we do we try to obey Jesus in such reality. . .

 

But today's Gospel keeps echoing in my being. Jesus declares that He is the bread of life. ALL WHO COME TO HIM, he says, will never be hungry, never be thirsty. It's so hard to believe, to accept.

 

Maybe, just maybe, it's meant to be hard, even impossible.

 

After all, when life is easy we tend to neglect or even forget God. When life is easy we may attempt to relegate God to some small, manageable compartment of our lives. We live in one of the most affluent parts of the entire world. This week at worship, across Vancouver, somewhere between 7 and 10% of people will make time to collectively worship, hear Scripture, pray, make a financial donation to care for others as they understand God calling them to do so. I do realize that worship doesn't necessarily translate into discipleship. But regular worship is part of following Jesus, is part and parcel of seeking to know and do God's will. We must know that following Jesus, responding with our lives to the love of Jesus isn't easy. Loving our enemies – not easy. Forgiving others - not easy. Loving ourselves – doing that which God calls us to for our own well being both now and in the future - not easy. Trusting God with our own mortality and the mortality of those we most deeply love – not easy.

 

Where are people coming to trust Jesus and seeking to follow Jesus in the numbers of thousands and millions? Today that's occurring in the Majority World, that part of the world we used to arrogantly refer to as the "Third World". It is in those places where people daily struggle for bare necessities, food and water, a safe place to sleep and rest, that people seem to have a clearer picture than we do of what actually matters, of what is lasting. There they cannot and do not deny the realities of mortality or immortality. There they cannot and do not cling to the illusion that they somehow are god-like and in control of their own "destiny".  As they struggle in life they are being moved to put their trust in God. Such trust means that they daily talk to God, listen for God, seek to obey and love God in all parts of their lives. They acknowledge and know their hunger on so many levels. And their hunger is often met and satisfied in Jesus of Nazareth and his followers.

 

These people are often joyful as they worship. They don't care about "how long" worship "takes". In their worship they are encountered by God and are being challenged and comforted, discovering a community beyond "normal" limitations with others joined to Christ. This is what matters.

 

On the other hand we are so easily sidetracked, even bamboozled. We are sucked into thinking that what actually matters is how we look – or what we have – or what we can get – or even what others think of us. We are deceived into being terrified that we don't have enough. How much is enough? Will we ever have enough to rest and be?

 

Nevertheless (thanks be to God!) Jesus comes to us wherever we are, whatever we have or don't have, to whatever we have or haven't done. He draws near through seemingly simple, ordinary things, through Word and Sacrament. He comes inviting us to rest, to listen, to dwell in Him. He comes giving us Himself – even as bread that nourishes us for life with God and with others, now and forever.

 

Make no mistake. The relationship with Jesus is not easy. He moves us to begin to see ourselves. Part of our being drawn near to Him, even our desire to draw near to Him is selfish. We are hungry. We want to be fed. We are lonely. We long for companionship.

 

But there is much more to this relationship with Jesus than our frequent self centeredness. Often we are insecure, jealous, afraid. As Jesus draws us near to Him, we begin to see all of that. We are ashamed. We have so much. We exhaust ourselves trying to hold onto "this". Jesus reaches towards us through all of that to embrace us, in order to free us from ourselves, our fear, our false conviction that we have to control things. He wills to free us in order that we may love and serve Him in caring for others. As these realizations begin to wash over us, even for moment we can breathe, smile, laugh, cry. Whatever is happening around and within us, to and through us - He loves us. He is the bread of life. Speak. Listen. Cry. Laugh. Rail. He is with us and for us.

 

But even that's not all. That's only the beginning. Being nurtured by Him, we also begin to see others. Not the way we saw them before – as our competitors or enemies, as ones that we were "better than" or "less than" or.... fill in the blank. No! We begin to see others – as people, people in need who are being loved and fashioned by the same God, the same Father of Jesus, this One in whom we live and move and have our being, this One whose Son today tells us that He is the Bread of life. We begin to see others and their need to know him, His love, His forgiveness, His direction and the ability he brings to see themselves and others in new ways – ways that lead them and us – to sacrificially give of themselves to aid and support others.

 

Dear people- we need this Bread of life to live, here and now and always. Without him, we live under an oppression that we continually seek to escape even as we are being driven by forces that we delusionally think we can somehow can limit or control. Such forces are so much more powerful than we are.

 

Dear people – the world also needs to feed on this Bread of life in order to live here and now and always. Without him nurturing us, guiding us, we fight, hate and hoard – insatiably seeking  more and more and more, paradoxically resulting in less and less and less for all.

 

Dear people, although being known by and following the suffering, dying and rising Jesus is never easy – He is the truth. He continues to speak. May we by His grace be drawn near Him daily. Listen to him. He is the bread of life. And somehow He promises far beyond my meager understanding that "Whoever comes to him will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty. May it be so in us and through us, for Christ's sake. Amen.

"Blown Away"

Pentecost 9b, July 26, 2015 BLOWN AWAY!

Text – Ephesians 3:14-21 with II Samuel 11:1-15 and John 6:1-21 in b.g.

 

Sometimes in the church I am literally blown away by my experience with people. Do you know what I mean?

 

Sometimes, this being "blown away" occurs in a negative sense. There is a fine, seemingly upstanding couple. I, at least, think of them as friends. But one day they abandon their business without so much as a good bye to anyone in the church, including their Pastor. A few days later we discover that they have been engaged in less than honest business practices. To our horror, there are criminal charges pending.

 

There have been other negative examples of being blown away by our life in the church together. The treasurer of a local congregation has "misappropriated" funds entrusted to them.  Some Pastors have abused their power by entering into sexual relationships with members of their own parish. And finally, I have been "blown away" in a negative sense when different members of congregations fight amongst themselves or when a congregation and synod begin to snipe at each other.

 

But there have also been many times when I have been "blown away" in positive ways by experiences with and among people within the church.

 

Recently I was visiting a parishioner having just completed my prayer with him. My eyes hadn't even opened yet when this man began to pray for me. He prayed for me in powerful, honest even ardent ways, ways that were insightful, humbling, joyful and uplifting. I can't tell you what such praying means to me. To hear someone else pray for me and for our work together in this community and in the church at large is humbling, enlivening, strengthening. I was walking on air for the rest of the day and that week.

 

There have been many times when I have been moved by the anonymous and bountiful generosity both of individuals within the church and of congregations as a whole. Individuals approach me offering gifts of money to those in need. They tell me, "No, we don't need a receipt Pastor. Just let me know when there is a need!" In those moments my heart is warmed.

 

I clearly remember one of those gifts appearing as a parishioner was dying. She desperately needed admittance to a hospice house but didn't have the requisite funds. That particular hospice house necessarily had a per diem fee of over $100. With the promise of anonymous congregation support that lady entered hospice care. Weeks later when she died the amount owing was in the thousands of dollars. Yet those parishioners gladly and anonymously picked up the fee.

 

And, I have watched time and again as congregations have opened their doors often without any charge to groups that help others. Groups such as community kitchens, food pantries, AA and NA. Sometimes such groups meet in the same church building for years.  At other times congregations open their buildings for people to come in and have coffee or a place to sleep – a place out of  the cold and the wet. Indeed some congregations open their buildings to provide sanctuary to a person or persons who have fled as refugees but are now at risk of being deported to countries where they may in fact even die or at the very least be unjustly imprisoned.

 

Yes, I have been blown away by the interaction of people within the Church many times in my life – both positively and negatively.

 

Once again we are gathered here – such as we are, the Church, part of the body of Christ. This, in and of itself, is an incredibly audacious, faith claim.

 

As part of the body of Christ we are allowed both to hear prayers and to offer prayers. Today we hear a prayer from the author of the letter to the Ephesians for his or her church. Such a prayer it is!

 

The one praying is on his or her knees. Sometimes as we pray it is good  to "be on our knees". This is a sign of humility, a sign that we need help from beyond ourselves, that we are not in control. We don't have everything figured out or worked out.

 

As we listen to this particular prayer we hear God being asked to profoundly bless that congregation. The one praying asks that the congregation will be strengthened in their inner being through the work of God's own Spirit. The one praying also asks that the risen, suffering Christ may dwell in their hearts through a trust that grows as they become more and more rooted and grounded in love.

 

The overriding implication which runs throughout this letter to the Ephesians is that such love doesn't come from the Ephesians themselves but from beyond them, from Jesus their Lord and Saviour who has died and is raised for them and the world. He is the One who calls them to live in love. Such love is not merely a feeling. Christ's love is that which drives them, moves them and embraces them into caring for and about all others.

 

The person praying acknowledges that Jesus' life, death and resurrection is that which breaks down the barriers which we humans have been confined by and limit ourselves to. These  barriers include such realities as hatred, exclusion and deep fears that there isn't enough. These barriers may also be accompanied by thoughts or feelings that we just can't reach out, care, love and be forgiven or forgiving. Jesus' life, death and resurrection can penetrate these barriers for us. 

 

Indeed as we are grounded in Christ's love such barriers lose their power over us. We can be freed to see and move beyond ourselves and our fears. This is part of the mystical fullness of God.

 

What a prayer this is for the congregation in Ephesus.

 

What a prayer this is for us – for all people who are joined to Christ and therefore to each other.  May we be filled with the fullness of Christ – daily rooted and grounded in His love.

 

For in Him, we too can be blown away.  Blown away by and in God's Spirit in ways that despite our short comings, our failures, our propensity to do and say things that are hurtful, God can still use us, change us, even transform us to help feed and love this world.

 

Somehow in that ongoing movement, that "being blown away" are the glimpses of the wonder of the ineffable God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Somehow, in such being "blown away" we get glimpses of and are graciously participants in the breadth and length and height and depth, the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. 

 

This is a knowing that is beyond intellect but which involves all that we can and ever will think. This is a knowing that is beyond sight and smell but which involves all of the senses that we will ever experience. This is a knowing that can only begin to crawl with being known but then ushers us into wonder, joy and awe – a humility that is the beginning of wisdom.

 

So, don't be afraid of being blown away – so long as the One who is doing the blowing is the Spirit of God – the breath of life who leads us to trust the bread of life!

 

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.