Sermons
Sunday January 8, 2012
Seekers & Searchers
(Joshua 2:8-14, Resp. Ps. 29 John 1:10 -18
I begin this morning with a quote from Richard Rohr from the Book, EVERYTHING BELONGS. RELIGION HAS NOT TENDED TO CREATE SEEKERS OR SEARCHERS, HAS NOT TENDED TO CREATE HONEST HUMBLE PEOPLE WHO TRUST THAT GOD IS ALWAYS BEYOND THEM.
Another quote from Chittister’s Book THE BREATH OF THE SOUL: WHAT ACTION SHALL I PERFORM TO ATTAIN GOD? THE SEEKER ASKED. “TO ATTAIN GOD, THE ELDER REPLIED, THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU MUST KNOW. THE FIRST IS THAT ALL EFFORTS TO ATTAIN GOD ARE OF NO AVAIL.
AND THE SECOND? THE SEEKER ASKED. “YOU MUST ACT AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW THE FIRST,” THE ELDER SAID.
In one of the issues of the Presbyterian Record in Theology 101, Joe McLelland, professor emeritus suggested that the younger generation no longer look to the church because we have shifted the meaning of faith. According to Dr. McLelland the modern meaning of having faith is BELIEVING CERTAIN THINGS TO BE TRUE. In this case the stress falls on creeds, a series of affirmations to which we give credence. Given the preeminence of rational thought to understand and state what we consider truth these days we have come to understand the creeds and doctrines as a rational explanation of the nature of God. A corollary of this approach is the search for proofs of divine existence. But the original meaning of belief is to trust yourself completely to someone. It is a way of life rather than right doctrine. What came first in the life of the early church was not a list of doctrines but a way of life, of being. It was this which caught the attention of those who entered the church.
In the Bible there are many names for God. God is like a shepherd, a rock, a father, a mother. But if we stop at the label and do not move beyond what they mean to us we are in danger of idolizing the name. Names are metaphors which reflect certain characteristics of God but God is much more than what the word means. God is like a father but much more. As Augustine suggested: “IF YOU UNDERSTAND IT, IT IS NOT GOD. Faith in Christ or God is not a question of a formal set of propositions but the PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
With this in mind we will consider those who identify with the church but do not necessarily share some of our understanding of the doctrines which we recognize as clues or pointers to certain truths or ways of understand the nature and actions of God in Christ. I will suggest that these folk play a critical role in the life of the church, in our personal life in Christ and our growth. We receive much from their presence as we hope that we give them much in return. I would suggest that they are defined by the role of Sojourner in the Old Testament.
1) The Sojourner
In the Old Testament there are several examples of those Gentiles who were included in the people of God. We read the story of Rahab who played a pivotal role in the advance of the Israel into the Promised Land. Jericho stood in their way forward. Joshua sent 2 spies to look over the situation. They discovered a place to hide in the house of Rahab, a local prostitute. Israel’s problem was that this was a walled city and they were armed with slings, arrows and spears. Through Rahab the spies learned that ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND MELT IN FEAR BEFORE YOU. FOR WE HAVE HEARD HOW THE LORD DRIED UP THE WATER OF THE RED SEA BEFORE YOU… Rahab hid them from the King and enabled them to escape out of her window in the wall of the city using a crimson rope which became a sign of their protection from Israel’s forces. The whole experience changed her and indicated the love of this God for different people than just the Israelites. It included Rahab who dwelt in her own lonely wilderness and her family. She was to become an ancestor to Christ as was Ruth. Both these women were Gentiles and not considered part of the covenant people. In this sense they were outsiders, aliens.
Then there is the story of Jonah. Here God takes a chance on brutal and spiritually ignorant Nineveh as well as Jonah himself. Jonah who was ticked off at the possibility that these arch enemies might repent and forswear punishment. Jonah who thought he knew better than God and who consistently resisted God in this matter. Once again we see revealed the depth and breadth of the forgiving heart of God including Jonah and others who were not considered part of God’s people.
In the Old and New Testament the inclusion of outsiders in God’s plan and people is a consistent pattern. The covenant code had laws of hospitality when it came to the outsider or alien, that is, someone who did not necessarily accept the total package of Judaism. They were called sojourners or aliens. THIS WAS A PERSON LIVING IN MUTUALLY RESPONSIBLE ASSOCIATION WITH A COMMUNITY, OR A PLACE, NOT INHERENTLY HIS OR HER PLACE. These people were without family relationships for support, security, status or privileges. They were given these gifts for living which was derived from a bond created by hospitality required by the law of Moses. In this sense the relationship could not be violated.
The law was very clear on the acceptance and role of the sojourner or alien. It arose from the historical fact that so many of the patriarchs received the hospitality of others. It was also to be extended to the poor, the weak, the disinherited. Their sojourn in Egypt where they lived in great need was the basis for their concern for others in their midst. Exodus 23:9 YOU SHALL NOT OPPRESS A RESIDENT ALIEN; YOU KNOW THE HEART OF AN ALIEN, FOR YOU WERE ALIENS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT.
2) New Testament
During the time of Epiphany the story of the 3 magi along with the Baptism of Jesus introduce the season. Here the men who were not considered Jews but Gentiles appear on the scene at the birth of Christ. They come as seekers or searchers for the King who they discerned in the appearance of the star. They are not consistently evident on the surface of the other Gospels story. While the Gospel’s indicate that Jesus came primarily to the Jews, but as John’s Gospel reminds us HIS OWN DID NOT RECEIVE HIM. It is clear that the Gentiles were always an integral part of the purpose of the Gospel story. It began in the Old Testament and was revealed as the underlying purpose of choosing a particular people who were TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS.
In the New Testament the major influx of people who came into what originally was Jewish Christian community were the Gentiles. The issue that divided the Gentiles and the Jewish Christians was the place of the Law which originally provided a place for the sojourner or alien. The question confronting the church was whether the Gentile must accept the Law of Moses in order to become a member of the church? In other words become a Jew first. It would have denied that Christ was pre-eminent. The Jerusalem Council decided that IT SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO US TO IMPOSE NO FURTHER BURDEN THAN THESE ESSENTIALS: THAT YOU ABSTAIN FROM WHAT HAS BEEN SACRIFICED TO IDOLS AND FROM BLOOD AND FROM WHAT HAS BEEN STRANGLED, AND FROM FORNICATION. IF YOU KEEP YOURSELVES FROM THESE, YOU WILL DO WELL. These laws were considered to be what one might call universal laws. This opened the door for the Gentiles. It was a way in which the early church cleared the way for Gentiles to be included. Following the way of Christ was paramount and central. The Scripture was the Old Testament with the New Testament developed as the church developed, the letters of Paul first from 50-60 AD and the Gospels after 70AD. The codifying of doctrines based on the Bible and the experience of the early church took place over 6 Centuries. As Dr McLelland points out the creeds where not to be taken literally but they were sang rather than signed. The creeds and doctrines are critically important when it comes to expressing our faith in words. As human beings language is the primary mode of communication even though they fail ultimately to communicate the fullness of God or penetrate the mystery of God. It is something of a paradox expressed in metaphor, poetry, story, word. So doctrines remain as essential pointers or clues to the God who is beyond our comprehension. This is why belief defined AS TRUSTING ONESELF COMPLETELY TO SOMEONE OR IN THJIS CASE GOD IN CHRIST, is so important. It is the difference between receiving a description of an individual and meeting them and getting to know them in an intimate way. This gift we have received in Christ.
3) The Place of the Sojourner
What drew the sojourner to Israel and later the early Church to become part of a community in which they had no kinship ties? In the case of Rahab we can only guess. Perhaps she saw the writing on the wall so far as the army of Israel was concerned. Perhaps she was tired of her way of life as a prostitute and desired a fundamental change. This she sensed in the God of the Israelites. Ruth was prepared to leave her own people out of her great love for Naomi. Neither had any idea what the future held for them but against all odds they seem to be prepared to step out in faith, i.e. trusting themselves completely to someone.
The description that we have of the early Church would suggest that it drew people into its community because of it witness to the love of Christ that was so evident in its life. Peter in Acts declares the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. He declares that the promise of these gifts is FOR YOUR CHILDREN, AND ALL WHO ARE FAR AWAY, EVERYONE WHOM THE LORD OUR GOD CALLS TO HIM. This is an inclusive invitation, not wedded to prescriptive or descriptive doctrine. The church grew because of its inclusive nature in which the poor, the rich, the not so important and important, the slave and the free found a place and nurturing relationships, acceptance and concern. It is summed up in Paul’s letter to the Galatians he writes: THERE IS NO LONGER JEW OR GREEK, THERE IS NO LONGER SLAVE OF FREE, THERE IS NO LONGER MALE OR FEMALE. FOR ALL OF YOU ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.
In our congregations to-day we have a variety of people and beliefs. We reflect different cultural influences, racial background, rearing process, family experience and the influence of our parents in faith matters, spiritual maturity, the place we are on our journey of life and spirit. In many cases we may also be influenced by other expression of religious faith and practice both Christian and other religious expressions. Our experience of the presence of God in life is channeled through our experience of life in its totality. There will be many of us who do not follow what might be called the party line, whatever that may be.
But we have been drawn to this particular Christian community. Perhaps it is the friendliness of the community, its involvement outside its walls in the community, the music, the preaching, the acceptance and support we find here, the relationships which nurture and enable us to form supportive relationships. So many reasons, many of them unknown even to ourselves, reflections of the mysterious Spirit’s work in our lives.
The sojourner in our midst plays an important role in maturing our relationship with God. They tend to think outside the box, see things from a different perspective than we might. They fulfill the capacity of what John Congram has called the HONOURABLE HERITIC. John describes them as, PEOPLE WHO QUESTION AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES. THEY ARE INVALUABLE IN THE CHURCH. BY HONOURABLE I MEAN THEY ARE SINCERELY EXPLORING THE ISSUES. Such folk are helpful and necessary to the life of a congregation. For our part we need to affirm their contribution, care for them and witness to them about the love of Christ which is described in John’s Prologue, THE CHRIST WHO IS FULL OF GRACE ND TRUTH. Often we are less than inclusive in our love when it comes to others do not believe as we do. We need to remind ourselves that God makes the determination as to who is in and who is out, not us. Interestingly this prologue as it is called, is to be understood as a hymn of praise than simply a doctrine to be accepted. It abounds in poetry and metaphor, images. As the LIFE WITH GOD BIBLE describes the introduction to John’s Gospel: IN THE BEFGINNING; WITH ENDLESS SUGGESTIVE IMAGES, JOHN’S BEGINNING HYMN OF PRAISE CALLS US TO CONTEMPLATION. There is a sense in which we are all seekers and searchers for God. We are on this journey together. A journey which requires the profound humility of prayer, worship, Spirit, and the Word.
So I leave you with my introduction to ponder:
“WHAT ACTION SHALL I PERFORM TO ATTAIN GOD?” THE SEEKER ASKED.
:TO ATTAIN GOD, THE ELDER REPLIED, “THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU MUST KNKOW. THE FIRST IS THAT ALL EFFORTS TO ATTAIN GOD ARE OF NO AVAIL.”
“AND THE SECOND?” THE SEEKER ASKED.
“YOU MUST ASK AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW THE FIRST,” THE ELDER SAID.
Advent I Sunday Nov. 27
The Visitation
( Resp. Ps. 80:1-7, Isaiah 64:1-9, Mark 13:24-37)
Introduction
The TV Program Knowledge in its’ advertisement of an upcoming series on contemporary thinkers presented one of them making this comment: THERE IS MORE TRUTH IN STORIES THAN IN DETAILED FACTS.
This is reflected in the great myths which societies inevitably develop as they attempt to give expression to their understanding of the overarching truths which they believe shape and give meaning their culture and lives. These truths are expressed in the story form of gods and heroes which are passed from one generation to another. It is basic to us as human beings that we search for meaning in our lives and living. It is an expression of the fact that we are created in the image of God. Although we are animals we are separated from the animal Kingdom in that meaning and purpose is important to us, thus the stories. The gift of language, its mystery and capacity enables us to give expression to these truths. We use story as the primary vehicle of this search for truth, meaning and purpose. Those who would call themselves Christian believe that God’s revelation in the Scriptures is more than myth because of God’s involvement in history, in human life. Through His revelation revealed in the stories of the Bible and primarily focused in Jesus Christ, God becomes personally involved in our lives. It is this involvement that gives meaning to our lives. One of the interviews in Writers and Company expressed it this way. Either our lives are episodic or narrative. In other words either are lives are simply a series of events or they are a story which has a theme, a meaning, a purpose, a truth.
I understand language as a wondrous mystery, a gift of God to all humanity. But it is quite limited in its capacity to give expression to the nature and love of God. When we consider the Bible we find that no single story can speak to or give expression to the fullness of our experience of God. Indeed there are contradictions, and differing points of view. There is no single story or image or thought that can carry then height, the breadth to the fullness of God’s revelation of love. Instead the scriptures together bear witness to the diverse ways God is experienced in human life while at the same time pointing beyond any one story to the One who inspires all these stories. The key to understanding the truth of these stories is the Christ and the gift of prayer by which the Spirit directs and aids us in our endeavor to understand and give expression to this truth. It is a dialogue with our God and with others that help us to attain discover true meaning and purpose of our lives.
I recognize that this brief introduction to the way that God’s Word and Revelation is communicated through the Scriptures in Christ by the Spirit may raise more questions than it answers. It needs further exploration but I offer it as a perspective which needs further reflection by you in prayer with our God and others both in the Christian community and those outside of our faith commitment. Basically truth is always discovered in dialogue with God and others. It is relational. It is not a monologue.
This morning, the first Sunday in Advent, I want to explore this understanding of truth as it relates to the Little Apocalypse in Mark’s Gospel
Recently when Sharon and I were visiting my brother and sister in law in my hometown, Orangeville, we attended an event called the HUMAN LIBRARY. It was an opportunity to MEET FACE-TO-FACE WITH MEMBERS OF DIVERSE GROUPS IN THAT COMMUNUITY WHO ARE OFTEN SUBJECT TO STEREOTYPING, MARGINALIZATION OR MUISUNDERSTANDING. THE BOOKS OF A HUMAN LIBRAY ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE PREPARED TO ENGAGE IN OPEN CONVERSATION ABOUT THEIR LIVES. THE READERS, ANY MEMBER OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC, CAN LOOK IN A CATLOGUE AND BORROW A HUMAN BOOK. BY DOING SO, THEY CAN ASK QUESTIONS AND LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT LIFE EXPERIENCES. Each human book was listed in a pamphlet along with a number of descriptive stereotypes. Sharon met with a person who lived with Aspergers and Mental illness and I with an atheist. Basically they told their story.
In Frederick Buechner’s Book of daily meditations: Listening to your Life, he writes about the truth of our stories. THE STORIES THAT JESUS TELLS ARE PART OF THE STORY JESUS IS, they reveal his nature. AND THE STORY JESUS IS PART OF THE STORY YOU AND I ARE BECAUSE JESUS HAS BECOME SO MUCH A PART OF OUR WORLD’S STORY THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE HOW ANY OF OUR STORIES WOULD HAVE TURNED OUT WITHOUT HIM, EVEN THE STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T BELIEVE IN HIM OR EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS OR CARE ABOUT KNOWING. Recently I met a doctor who made it clear in his conversati9on that he reflected a Judaic Christian culture but was an atheist. AND MY STORY AND YOUR STORY ARE ALL A PART OF EACH OTHER TOO IF ONLY BECAUSE WE HAVE SUNG TOGETHER AND PRAYED TOGETHER AND SEEN EACH OTHER’S FACES SO THAT WE ARE AT LEAST A FOOTNOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH OTHERS’ STORIES.
IN OTHER WORDS ALL OUR STORIES ARE IN THE END ONE STORY, ONE VAST STORY ABOUT BEING HUMAN, BEING TOGETHER, BEING HERE. DOES THE STORY POINT BEYOND ITSELF? DOES IT MEAN SOMETHING? WHAT IS THE TRUTH OF THIS INTERMINABLE, SPRAWLING STORY WE ALL OF US ARE?OR IS IT AS ABSURD TO ASK ABOUT THE TRUTH OF IT AS IT IS TO ASK ABOUT THE TRUTH OF THE WIND HOWLING THROUGH A CRACK UNDER THE DOOR? End of quotation.
Beuchner raises the question; does our life have any meaning. In Christ we would answer with a resounding Yes, although we recognize that our stories, their truth and meaning, is often quite elusive. The tragedies, darkness and evil of life make it so.
When you look at the Bible we discover that it is a story book, as I have suggested. It is the story of God’s people and their relationship with a God who has revealed His nature through their story. This story uses the metaphor of marriage and family in which one of the partners is unfaithful. In our time we might call it a story of divorce and reconciliation. The fact of the divorce is stated, but the truth and meaning of the story is described in terms of the reaction of both partners to the breakdown and reconciliation of this relationship. The impact of this dysfunctional relationship on both partners is the story told.
As we reflect on this story it becomes our responsibility to become aware of the impact of this breakdown so that we may learn from this tragic experience and take steps to resolve the situation. Similarly the facts of our lives impact on our behavior; what we understand is the purpose and meaning of our lives. Purpose and meaning are related to our understanding of truth. John 8:44 warns us about Satan who Jesus describes as a MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING AND DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHEN HE LIES, HE SPEAKS ACCORDING TO HIS OWN NATURE, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES.
When it comes to gleaming truth from the Scriptures have you ever noticed that you can reflect on a particular text at different times and learn a somewhat different truth in the light of your present experience. As I look over my old sermons on a particular text I am always struck by the living nature of these texts. How they speak to me in the light of my experience in a new and living way. It is the work of the Spirit to open us to the truth of the stories of the Bible using our experience and who we are to speak to us in the present. This morning I will present 3 interpretations of the little apocalypse, each one that reflects a different human experience. The truth of a particular story is partially shaped by our experience and understanding at the time. Given your personal experience one of these three may appeal to you. When you think about it, it could not be otherwise. We are different people, with different characters, different perspectives and experiences, at different places in our spiritual journey. God accommodates himself to us in this regard. As the Prophet cries out to God O THAT YOU WOULD TEAR OPEN THE HEAVENS AND COME DOWN. God has come down to our human level, to share our experience in Jesus Christ. This is the great accommodation. God is not socially upwardly mobile, but down.
The Little Apocalypse in Mark represents a particular type of literature and understanding of the world. It understands the world as largely under the control of evil. This change will be reflected by an event cosmic in nature. In which Christ is central. God grabs the attention of the world as He establishes His rule and renews the world and its people according to His purpose of love and justice. Isaiah cries out to God in these terms: O THAT YOU WOULD TEAR OPEN THE HEAVENS. The basis of this appeal both of Isaiah and the Psalmist is God’s steadfast love for his people in their distress. The situation of His people demands a radical response that is reflected in this type of language.
I think we need to be careful how we interpret the basic meaning of apocalyptic language and story. There are three warnings which are a reflection of the end of the world, deceivers, wars and the upheaval in nature. These three warning have consistently occurred in the history of our world Jesus also cautions us: “BUT ABOUT THAT DAY OR HOUR NO ONE KNOWS, NEITHER THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, NOR THE SON, BUT ONLY THE FATHER”.
I have noticed in my ministry that there are doom sayers who are more interested in the next world than this one. It is one of the responses of some of us older folk who may have become somewhat embittered by this life, are alienated from the present, who don’t understand what is occurring in the modern world. Near the end of our lives we can be fascinated by events that seem to suggest that the end is near. The bitterness, the confusion, the insecurity, the events which suggest a fundamental change by violent means brings about a shift in their understanding. Sometimes to the point that, although, the Son nor the angels have this knowledge they are sure of its immediacy. Date fixers often have little sense of responsibility for the world. They view the destruction of the world with a fascinated detachment.
Many in the early church expected the immanent return of Christ. When that did not happen there was an adjustment on the part of the church to reconsider what Jesus understood Some scholars have suggested that there was an interim ethics which had to be adjusted to the long haul; a way of life which could be maintained in the short term but not the long run. Another response to this delay was a jaded skepticism and a rejection of the whole idea of the return of Christ and the consummation of history. The whole story and its truth is outdated. Thus one’s hope needs to be placed in the possibilities of human institutions. But Jesus is very clear. We must not confuse God’s Kingdom and God’s future with the success of these institutions. We know all too well the inability of these human institutions, whether secular or religious to change so that they reflect love and justice. Our political and economic institutions reflect this reality. Religious institutions can be particularly resistant to change because we have a tendency to confuse God’s will with ours.
Vss. 28-31 has been interpreted in terms of Jesus immanent death. In Mark this is the last teaching of Jesus before his trial and crucifixion. Jesus is acutely aware of the impact His absence will have on His disciples. Their intense yearning for His continued presence is answered in the words: HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS AWAY.
Three Interpretations: Jesus says to us: WHAT I SAY TO YOU I SAY EVERYONE: WATCH. In the light of dramatic events which affect whole communities the return of the Christ can play a fundamental role in dealing with communal stress. War, economic collapse, earthquakes often results in a hope derived from a sense of the immanent return of Christ particularly if the community is under threat. The insistence that Christ’s return is immanent, although the exact time is unknown, can sustain and give hope to a beleaguered world and people. This was the case when the early church underwent persecution. The Afro- American slaves would sing: MY LORD, WHAT A MORNING WHEN THE STARS BEGIN TO FALL. Like Isaiah the hope is for an immediate response from God to a people in a situation in which there was no evidence that things will improve. Hope must be placed beyond the situation and that hope is in God. Historically the slaves were freed over a period of time but meanwhile this hope sustained them.
It is the hope that enabled them to endure.
Another response to the implicit threats stirred by apocalyptic visions is recorded in a story of an eclipse in colonial New England. During an eclipse the members of the state legislature panicked. Several of its member moved adjournment, no doubt to be with their families to prepare for the return of Christ. But one of them said: MR SPEAKER, IF IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD AND WE ADJOURN, WE SHALL APPEAR TO BE FOOLS. IF IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD, I SHOULD CHOOSE TO BE FOUND DOING MY DUTY. I MOVE, SIR, THAT CANDLES BE BROUGHT.” This interpretation counsels us to carry on with our responsibilities as those who are committed to the Christ. It does not suggest that we leave what we are doing and gather on the hill tops to meet the Lord. We are to be found doing the Lord’s work of caring for others and making this world a better place in which to live for all people. The Return however it is conceived or when it is going to happen gives urgency to the communal response. It gives a sense of urgency to the church to fulfill it responsibility as an expression of Christ’s bodily presence in the world.
The final interpretation concerns discovering Christ during or after a period of personal crisis. It is the realization of God’s rule in the midst of this traumatic experience and that we are safe in God’s hands. Or it may occur at the end of one’s life, a transforming visit from Christ in the midst of one’s own Galilee. It is a definitive encounter with Christ in the midst of a severe trial which has precipitated the collapse of one’s natural self-understanding and hope in the resources of the world to deal with the situation.
Each interpretation is to motivate us to be what we are called to be and do. To live in such a manner as to declare the Good news of God’s saving judgment. There certainly is an unexpected element to these visitations from God. The purpose of this is to keep us on edge. The impact of this unexpectedness ennobles our daily life, giving it meaning and purpose. It also points to the truth of Christ’s constant presence and the discovering anew the meanings and purpose of the coming of God in Christ into our lives. In this way the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
I will close again with a comment from Beuchner. He tells of an especially dark time in his life. A friend calls him from 800 miles away because he had heard that he wasn’t well. But rather than being that long distance away he was quite near. He hadn’t phoned from his home because Buechner would have told him not to come. So his friend was closer than he thought. So he visited a couple of days in which they simply walked and talked. And although they never mentioned Christ Buechner believes that CHRIST WAS AS MUCH IN THE AIR, OR THE DAPPLED LIGHT OF THE WOODS WE WALKED THROUGH. I BELIEVE, HE SAYS, THAT FOR A LITTLE TIME WE BOTH OF US TOUCHED THE HEM OF CHRIST’S GARMENT, WERE BOTH OF US, HEALED.
The apocalyptic times in our life open us to the truth and meaning of our lives and to visitations from the Christ. When we come to the end of our self-reliance Christ appears in many disguises, as friend, as foe, as opportunities to do be about God’s business. Amidst the upheavals of our personal lives and the world we are to watch for God in Christ’s visitation. It is this understanding which gives life, its meaning and direction, a sense of urgency so that time is not wasted but filled with joy and a sense of fulfillment. Thanks be to God!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Pentecost 16
Readings
Galatians 3:26-29; Psalm 133; Luke 14:12-24
Luke 14:21-22
In Jesus’ parable, the dinner host instructs his servants to “go out at once into the streets and lanes and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame … (and) … into the roads and lanes … so that my house may be filled.”
WITH WHOM ARE WE COMMUNING?
When I was first becoming involved with the Presbyterian church back in Toronto in the early 70’s, the minister there was still using something called “The Fencing of the Table” as part of the Communion liturgy. In place of an invitation, “The Fencing of the Table” was a statement of who was and who was not permitted to take Communion that morning. It went back to an era in the Presbyterian Church in Canada and in Scotland (and maybe other places as well) when the Elders visited each member prior to a Communion Service to determine their theological and moral worthiness. If they passed all the tests, then they received a token which was their ticket to Communion.
It is clear from the parable Jesus tells this morning that he did not fence any tables. And it has been gradually dawning on the church in my lifetime to reflect Jesus’ prodigal invitation rather than tradition’s prohibitive fencing. I heard of a priest in San Francisco who took the leftover wafers out onto the streets after Mass and shared them with anyone walking by who would take one, including the street people, the hookers and pimps, the addicts and dealers, and the homeless, with no questions asked about why they might have been on those particular streets and roads and lanes.
In Jesus’ parable, the upright and uptight folk were the first to be invited. But – perhaps in frustration for the preoccupations of the respectable folk who had many reasons for sending their regrets – the empty spaces were filled with a rag-tag collection of folk who might have been a good reflection then of the street people of San Francisco now, maybe even of the Comox Valley. Jesus’ parable got me thinking this week about who is and who is not welcome at our table – anytime, but maybe especially on a day called World Communion Sunday.
And during all my reflections this past week, I was particularly reminded of the difference in language between the western and the eastern branches of Christianity. So today, on World Communion Sunday, I have chosen to use the language of the Eastern Church – what we sometimes call the Orthodox Church and associate with those church buildings with the onion-shaped domes on top.
In the Western Church, the word we most commonly use for Communion is “sacrament’. The word ‘sacramentum’ was borrowed by the early church from the customs of the Roman army. A ‘sacramentum’ was the oath of allegiance a new Roman soldier took to the Emperor. So that, in the western church, to participate in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper emphasizes the act of will we make in renewing our commitment to Christ and the Church. Good enough, so far as it goes.
The Eastern or Greek Church, on the other hand, uses the word “mysterion”: the Mystery of the Lord’s Supper. And by that language, the Eastern Church goes deeper than the head and the will into the realm of the mystical and unexplainable. And, frankly, that language resonates with me more than the other.
When we participate in Communion we are participating in something mystical. Something that is creating a deep soul connectedness – beyond the limits of the senses, beyond time and space. So, let me briefly suggest some of those souls interwoven into that fabric of mystical connectedness; some of the souls who are present with us at our table this morning, even if they are not as tangibly present as we are.
First of all, particularly on World Communion Sunday, we are communing with our fellow Christians here and around the globe. Perhaps as we take Communion this morning, we can continue to imagine other Christian groups in the Valley, across Canada, in far-flung corners of our globe from Campbell River, British Columbia, to Bogota, Colombia, from Seattle, Washington, to Washington, DC, from Afghanistan to Istanbul, and places between and beyond. Gatherings characterized by many different languages, many different styles of architecture, many different shades of theological understanding, many different traditions of liturgy. Perhaps some of them are gathered in secret, in places they might otherwise be persecuted for their faith. Perhaps some are gathered in makeshift circumstances in a refugee camp somewhere. Perhaps some are in prison or in hospital or at work and not able to take Communion at all. Yet, in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper, we are all at the same table, sharing in the one meal, united by the one Spirit, and served by our one Lord who is simultaneously and mysteriously the host of all.
Secondly, we are mysteriously united in Spirit with what the church calls “The Communion of Saints”. The Communion of Saints is a term used to describe everyone who is now, who ever has been, and who ever will be in generations to come, part of the Christian movement. Time stands still in the Mystery of the Lord’s Supper and eternity breaks through. Past, present, and future become now. In the mystery of now, we are united with the ancestral generations in our family and faith history who have led to our being here this morning, as well as with descendent generations yet to come to whom we bequeath life and faith beyond us.
Perhaps for many of us, the most immediate and moving way we are experiencing the Communion of Saints is in our grieving and our remembering loved ones who have died before us. When we grieve, we feel lost and separated from those we have loved and continue to love in memory. In the Mystery of Communion, we are reunited with Jesus and with those persons we are personally grieving, who are gathered at the table with us to hand us the bread and take from us the cup in a circle that is not now and never will be unbroken.
Thirdly, when we think of the radical hospitality of Jesus, we realize we are mystically in communion this morning with at least two groups of people I can think of. One group is those who are usually socially ostracized and excluded. And the other group is our enemies.
Jesus had a particular heart for the outsiders of his day. His compassion then continues to challenge us to compassion now, as we consider who in our society today is excluded from living ‘downtown’, so to speak, at the heart of society, and who is pushed to the margins, the shadowed corners, and the back lanes, out of sight and out of mind. In our quest for justice in society and around the world, we are called to issue the radical invitation of the parable to make a place at our table for those who might make the more respectable among us feel superior or squeamish.
Jesus took this loving business very seriously. It was the heart of his message, I think. He challenges his followers then and now not just to love the people we like, but also to love people we hate, to put it paradoxically. “Love your enemies,” he said. And I bet he meant it. I know he lived it himself. So, in the mystery of Communion, our enemies are beside us at the Table as much as our friends. We recognize in Communion something beyond and beneath our differences that unites us more than separates us. Rumi has a wonderful little poem that says, “Out beyond differences of rightness and wrongness, there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” In the Mystery of Communion, we are one even with our enemies, those who have somehow wronged us, we think, or threaten to, those who get our blood boiling and our bile flowing; whoever that may be and in whatever way that expresses itself in our experience. The invitation to Communion, then, also contains the challenge to be daring enough to risk reconciliation with anyone with whom we feel any enmity. To be spacious enough to look behind and beneath our aggravations and suspicions of others to see their deeper humanity, and even divinity. Mystically, as the bread and cup are passed from hand to hand – in reality or in the imagination – a deeper energy of connectedness flows from one to the other than might be the case in our normal exchanges with people from day to day, whether that be with our friends or our enemies.
Fourthly – and finally, at least for today – in the Mystery of The Lord’s Supper, we are communing with ourselves. We are invited in Communion to bring our true selves to the table. To go beyond our hurting and defensive selves. To take off the masks our experience and our society have taught us to wear. To come before God and each other in fragile and honest vulnerability. Showing others and even discovering for ourselves what is truest and deepest about ourselves. In the mystery of the Lord’s Supper, we hand the bread and the cup from our socialized self to our deeper and truer self.
Well, perhaps you can think of others with whom we mystically share Communion. Others to whom the invitation to feast at the table is also extended beyond the obvious. Maybe, by contrast, some from whom the invitation is still withheld.
Perhaps in summary and in conclusion, I can put it this way, to broaden the parameters of the invitation. In the Mystery of the Lord’s Supper, we are communing with God and with all whom God loves. And tell me, if you will, just who is it that God does not love?
The Rev. Ted Hicks
Comox Valley Presbyterian Church
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Sunday, September 18, 2011
Pentecost 14
Readings
I Kings 3:16-28; Psalm 99:1-5; Matthew 20:1-16
Matthew 20:1
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who….”
MORE THAN FAIR
It is approaching World Series time in the glorious land of baseball. The teams that make the playoffs get big bonuses beyond their normal salaries. They get to share the extra revenue generated by the additional games played beyond the regular season, including the proceeds from radio and TV rights. And the team that wins the World Series can particularly count on mega-bucks to share out with all their members. After the Series is over, the teams sit down and figure out who gets how much of the winnings. It is not just the regular players and managers and coaches who get a share. So do others, such as the trainers, batboys, clubhouse attendants, players who were traded away during the season to another team, players on the disabled list who didn’t actually play, and so on. The team on the field sits down and considers who else deserves a share and how much each one should get. Maybe a player who was traded away doesn’t get as much but he will get some, just as a player who was added part way through the season will get some but not as much as someone who played the whole season. And so on and so on. There is no rigid formula. It depends upon the consensus and good will of the team members to determine what is fair. My guess is that the winning team – in the euphoria of their success – will probably be a bit more fair and generous than the losing team, who not only has less money to work with but who is dealing with the disappointment and even the bitterness of the loss.
Jesus tells a parable this morning about a landowner divvying up the day’s wages among all the workers. The problem is that this landowner gives everyone the same amount, whether or not they worked the whole day or even just the last hour. Everyone here gets a full day’s pay. Probably the latecomers are pretty happy with this arrangement. But the ones who worked the whole day are pretty grumpy. Maybe rightly so, we might think. Though, in truth, they got no less than what was promised them in the first place.
This parable is not meant to be a complete discourse on the nature of fairness. It’s more limited punch is to make the point that, in God’s kingdom and in God’s economy, spontaneous generosity rather than rigid fairness is the norm. Nobody loses but some who might otherwise be left out are also winners. The kingdom of God is not structured on a hierarchy of entitlement. All equally are beloved daughters and sons of God. The inequities of our normal world are replaced by a reordering of society where no one is last. Something more than fairness is at work here.
We do try hard to be fair, and for good reason. Teachers will try hard not to show favouritism to particular students, even if some show more promise in our estimation or are easier to get along with. As nations, we try to figure out a way to structure our society to be as fair as possible to everyone. And that is quite a struggle, which we never quite achieve, even in a society like ours which claims to be committed to the struggle for human rights. As parents and grandparents, we know it is important to be consistent and fair in our dealings with our children. We don’t want to frustrate them. And we also want to teach them to be fair in their dealings throughout life as well.
When my kids were young, sometimes we would share a can of cherries for a quick dessert. I noticed that my kids would count the pits after they had finished, making sure that one hadn’t got fewer than the other. I quickly learned to make a game out of it, in which I would be mighty careful to make sure they would each end up with the same number of pits in the end. Ah, sibling rivalry! I have never been convinced I handled that situation as well as I could have, as a teaching moment about the fairness and unfairness of life and how things tend to balance out over time. But I do know that I saved a lot of tense feelings and harsh words by my calculated playfulness.
Sometimes, our determination to be fair can lead us into tricky manipulations that end up tying us up in knots and leading to a resolution that satisfies no one and is patently ridiculous. So much so that, sometimes, we need to break the rules before the rules break us. Doing the right thing is ultimately more important than doing the thing right. More than rigid fairness, some situations may require some creativity instead.
Look at the classic story of Solomon trying to determine which woman gets the child. He used an obviously ludicrous example of rigid fairness to resolve a tricky situation. If two women both claim the child and there is no way to determine which is the true mother, then let’s cut the child in half and give each woman her fair share. Of course, this strategy reveals the true mother because she is the one who refuses to go along with the scheme and is even willing to give up the child to the false mother rather than see it harmed. More than fairness, apparently, love is a better rule of life.
Love is the “more” I am speaking about when I call this sermon “More than Fair”. And love has a number of aspects that I would like to elaborate on a bit this morning.
First, love means putting people first. Institutional needs come further down the list; rules come further down the list; how much it costs comes further down the list; and so on. We start with people. As a church, it is all about people: caring for people; serving people; building people up; supporting people; healing people; encouraging people; empowering people; freeing people; nurturing people; forgiving people; reaching out to people who are struggling or lost; helping people find the direction and fulfillment each is seeking in life…. People always come first in God’s reign and God’s economy. “What is fair?” is a good question. “What does this person need?” is a better one. And sometimes that leads to setting aside the rules of fairness for the rule of love.
Secondly, then, a key word for love in the Christian vocabulary is compassion. Compassion means feeling as the other person feels. Wearing his shoes for awhile. Appreciating what it is like to be in her skin. Compassion means learning to look beyond the external appearance of someone and seeing and experiencing what is hidden beneath the surface. A lot of assumptions and judgements go with seeing the surface details only. Compassionate love is almost inevitable when we get to know a person inwardly. It is my experience that when a person lets down their defences and is vulnerably honest with us, it is almost impossible not to love them. And when we love someone, the limits of fairness give way to the expansiveness of compassion.
So compassion, thirdly, leads to generosity and spontaneity, another aspect of being more than fair. A concern for fairness is a reasonable guide in our normal relationships with others. But when we are in relationship with a real-life person and that person’s honesty in telling her or his story stirs our compassion, then there is a breach in the walls of fairness that allows spontaneity and generosity to break through. What our intuition in the moment, born of compassion, tells us is right – in this circumstance, with this person – is a nudge to be honoured, even if it doesn’t fit with our usual notions of what is fair and what might set a precedent. If we are going to be concerned for precedents, let spontaneity and generosity that flow from compassion be the precedents we honour.
Jesus’ parable of the landowner divvying out the day’s wages is meant to conjure a picture of the kingdom of God in our imaginations, and how everything will be different there, even strange. It will be strange because, according to the way our world normally works, the kingdom of God is counter-cultural indeed. There will be no rules or laws in the kingdom of God. Grace will prevail in a natural, wondrous, and freeing way.
The church is called to be a living parable of the kingdom. A community where grace and creativity prevail over law and obligation. When we ourselves have experienced the grace of God at a deep and transformative level, our hearts are changed and our actions reflect our softened and opened heart. We experience that we are God’s Beloved at the heart of our being. We recognize God’s Beloved in others, beyond the prickly parts people grow on the outside. And when we are transformed by such grace, then we experience the freedom to be spontaneous, generous, and compassionate – even foolish – in our relationships and responses to one another.
What a strange community we are meant to be!
The Rev. Ted Hicks
Comox Valley Presbyterian Church
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