Easter Season - Year a -- 2011
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Easter Year A
Set in the 12th century, Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follott, is story about the building of a beautiful cathedral and the lives of those involved in that mammoth enterprise. The sequel, World Without End, follows the descendants of the original builders as they maintain and repair the massive structure erected two centuries earlier.
Despite what we may initially think, this was far from an idyllic time! In both books the characters were caught up in, and their lives inexorably changed by, the political chaos of the time and the alliances made and broken by the powerful people who controlled the country and the daily lives of all of the people.
Early in the first book, Tom Builder, a master mason is thrown out of work because the marriage of the son of a rich and powerful lord has been called off. The grand house on which he was working is no longer needed, and he has to leave and search for work. He and his family walk from town to town and are often on the verge of starvation. Sadly, his wife dies in childbirth just before they arrive at the monastery of Kingsbridge about the same time as a who soon becomes the prior, or leader of the monastery. The new prior has two goals: reform and the building of a grand cathedral! The new prior sought to make the monastery more efficient and more faithful to the rule of Benedict who taught about humility and living a Christ centred life. Some days they were more successful than others; after all, its hard to be humble when you are building what you hope will be the grandest cathedral in the country!!!! Prior Philip was well aware of this conundrum as he organized the order’s life and finances to continue this project which would take many years to complete and which would endure many setbacks.
The wider church of that era was no more successful, than this small monastery, in its mission to be the people of God in their time and place. The book is full of tales of political manoeuvring as powerful landholders and equally powerful clerics form alliances for and against rival kings and queens and try to have their relatives, including illegitimate children, installed into powerful and lucrative offices. It becomes clear in the story that the vows of poverty and chastity are not as fully followed as they should have been by the clergy and obedience was not always easy to find either!
Today’s passage from the book of Acts gives us a very different picture of the Christian life. It tells us that the Christian community was growing by leaps and bounds and what was attracting them was not the promise of wealth and power but a community that broke bread at home, worshipped in the temple and shared their earthly goods so that no one was in need!
Remember, we are told that they were growing every day. Clearly there was something about this community and their way of being in life and in the world that was attractive!
The Didache, is a very early text, probably written well before any of the books in our New Testament, and it gives guidance to the members of the early church. Some have speculated that it could have been an early catechism - an instruction book for new believers. It focusses on three things: a) Christian lessons, b) what we call sacraments - baptism and communion, and c) Church organization.
We must remember though that it’s not rule books, or even (dare I suggest) compelling biblical passages that seem to be what attracts people to become part of a community of faith
- what attracts people is the life of the community
- what attracts people is the care the people have for one another and for those outside the community
- what attracts people is the joy that is exhibited in life and in worship
- what attracts people is the movement of the Spirit within the lives of the people.
Church historians will tell us that the success of a Christian community can also be its downfall. If we go back to the books with which I began my sermon! It seems that many orders of monks, who were founded to show an alternate way of life, ended up being given great amounts of money and land which then made them wealthy! Of course, as the orders grew in numbers they needed a certain amount of wealth just to support the basic needs of the monks who lived there, but the question became: ‘how much is enough and how much is too much?’
Christian communities today struggle with these issues, but often from a somewhat different perspective. All churches, ourselves included, need to ask “For what do we use our resources?” “What functions do our buildings serve in the life of the community?” How do we free up some of our resources and move them from the maintenance of numerous buildings to the outreach that is so vital to the identity and purpose of Christian community?”
“ How do we move from merely surviving to thriving?”
“When we spend so much on maintenance - where is the rest of our ministry as a community?”
“When our buildings have such limited uses, what can we do to make them more welcoming, more accessible?”
We struggle with many dilemmas, many questions, – - at the same time as we are challenged by biblical passages such as the one from Acts which describes the very early church. While it refers to a time before church and temple parted company for good, we know that the early church was persecuted by the state. We also know that despite this people were still compelled to join and to risk the persecution and death that befell so many in those early communities. I wonder how many of us would continue with church membership and participation these days if it were a crime punishable by imprisonment or death? And if it were so, would there be enough evidence to convict us?!!
But we don’t live in that kind of world and we really wouldn’t want to. However, we do have the benefit of such tremendous privilege, such tremendous freedom. As a country we have tremendous wealth, even if we do not as individuals! When a tragedy such as an earthquake or a tsunami strikes a part of the world, we have little problem giving to relief efforts - but what about the rest of the time?
What about the food-bank for our local community when its not Christmas or Thanksgiving? Don’t people need to eat every day? We know that with the shutdown of Ocean Choice things will become more difficult for those who can’t find other work! What about Canada’s foreign aid budget? Will our new government try to reduce it in the interests of our own economy and what should our role be as Christian community in response?
Being a Christian was never easy and I don’t think it was meant to be. Lest we be discouraged by the lack of faith we perceive around us, we are called not to look at that but back at the beginnings, back to the teachings of the one whose name we bear.
Jesus called followers to love God, and to love neighbour as we loved self. This is a high calling and it is worthy of our best efforts. This calling is worthy of our time, our best talents and indeed of our entire lives. It is the most important thing we do; whether we are at our jobs, in our homes and in our communities, we are first and foremost called to be Children of God, we are named as Disciples of Jesus, and it is this high calling which gives us joy and purpose.
May it be said of us, as it was said of those early communities - that people were compelled to follow by the lives of those who were already following; they were captivated by the joy and meaning in life expressed by the Christians who truly loved one another and the world they were called to serve.
For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son so that this fragile and fractured world may have life and have it in all abundance. As servants of this same Jesus may we be compelled to proclaim the message which is deep in our hearts; may we all be drawn forward by this common vision and may it be so obvious that no one can ignore it when they meet us.
Amen.
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
Psalm 137
Romans 8: 26-31, 37-39
Luke 24:13-35
I remember a little rhyme I learned in Sunday School that came complete with hand actions: “Here is the church with the steeple; open the door and here are all the people!” (Actions important here!)
One day a Sunday School teacher was teaching it to her class of young children, - she saw one child struggling to copy her actions - and too late she remembered that this child, a bright eyed sensitive girl who was new to the community - had been born with only one hand. She thought she saw tears coming to the big brown eyes as she struggled to make a church with only one hand. Before the teacher could say anything to help, another child offered the little girl one of her hands saying, “That’s OK, I’ll help and we can make the church together!”
We know that the church is not a building, but it is the people who gather for worship, fellowship and service in that building who are “the church”.
I think of the song, “I am the church .....” By Avery and Marsh, “We Are the Church" by Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh, 1972
“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. We're many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces, all colours and all ages, too, from all times and places. And when the people gather, there's singing and there's praying, there's laughing and there's crying sometimes, all of it saying: At Pentecost some people received the Holy Spirit and told the Good News through the world to all who would hear it.”
We know in our heads what the church is - the people; we know in our heads the church is not a building despite what the sign outside says - yet when we contemplate the closure of a church building there are often real and intense feelings of loss, heartbreak and sorrow.
We usually close churches for a combination of two reasons: a lack of money and a lack of congregation. We sometimes close churches because they do not meet the needs of the congregation and building is cheaper than renovating.
Yet, we sit in a familiar space such as this one and we ask: “why does this have to be?” There are plenty of good reasons, reasons that make sense to outsiders, reasons that make sense in our minds, but in our hearts there is still anger and pain and loss.
It seems to me that when God’s people feel an ache in the heart they are called to turn to the scriptures and to turn to the community which are major sources of guidance and strength.
We can be assured that what is happening to the congregations of the Kings United Pastoral Charge, what is happening in Prince Edwards Island, what is happening in the United Church of Canada, is not new. The things we are experiencing are not new or unheard of elsewhere.
It is not just a case of, “misery loves company”! We gather to tell one another that we have not been abandoned by our God. As I have said, God’s people have gone this way before and God’s people have found a word from God to sustain them on their journey through loss.
I was talking to a colleague the other day whose church has amalgamated with another congregation and both parties to the amalgamation are leaving their buildings and they are looking to the future with no building site yet chosen. She is moving to a new church because that is what happens in these situations. She reminded me that grief and loss are not located in the past, but in the future.
I will repeat that: grief and loss are not located in the past, but in the future.
If we think about it we know it to be true in life. For example: when my father died I felt intense grief, indeed I still grieve his death - not primarily because of a past that is no more, the past is gone anyway, but because he cannot be a part of my present or my future.
I think that when we grieve the loss of a church building we don’t place all the weight of our grief on the stuff from the past but on the fear that the future without that sacred space will be less than it could be, or less than we would like it to be.
We mourn today because so much that was good about our lives has been associated with this place and we wonder how we can praise God in another space - without those things around us, in this holy space, to remind us of people and activities that meant so much to us.
We mourn because what has been so important to us is not important to our children, or because they have moved away and are making their lives elsewhere and not here where we live, and the church is just one part of what is rural depopulation and the urbanization of our province and country.
The scriptures for today speak of the people of God finding meaning and purpose in faith and life as their lives changed in very dramatic ways.
As they left Egypt and prepared for the transition from captivity to freedom the people of Israel were reminded to give thanks to God and to never forget the story of how God had been with them from the very beginning of their lives as a people!
The people of Israel were taken into exile and their beloved temple was destroyed. Their faith story was so tied to the Jerusalem temple and it’s glory that initially they found it almost impossible to sing the Lord’s song in the new and foreign place where, apparently, the locals would mock them with a request for the song that praised their now destroyed temple. Talk about rubbing salt in fresh wounds!
Yet, God’s people did learn to sing God’s song once again. Throughout their history their worship changed as they found out by experience that God was not left behind in a past that was no longer possible, for whatever reason, but that God was with them in the present.
I was listening to Maritime Magazine CBC (I think) one Sunday morning a while ago and Pauline Dakin was doing a story on St John’s United Church in Halifax. This congregation has ceased using their building for worship in the hopes that eventually they can transform the property into some kind of low cost housing project and a smaller and more sustainable worship and fellowship space. For the time being they are worshipping in rented space. (In fact they are STILL are waiting for the appropriate approvals from the city of Halifax. ) I recall one part of the interview in which the minister, the Rev Linda Yates, quoted a parishioner who said that she was worried about leaving her memories behind, but that this woman discovered that her memories had come with her, they were not in the building but they were with the people, with the community, and that they had come with her.
We come to celebrate God, and we celebrate a God who does not dwell in a building made with hands but in the whole created order - a God who is with the people wherever they are.
That being said, this is not an easy transition.
Some of you here have gathered in this church to worship God for years and years; some are relative newcomers. Some of you have walked here, some have driven many kilometres. Some of you were baptized here, exchanged your marriage vows and had children baptized here. Some of you have witnessed your children’s and grandchildren’s marriage vows here. Some have said goodbye to many relatives and friends in this sacred space and sought God’s presence in and through the unspeakable loss. Some have come here countless times to sing God’s praise, to gather at the holy table, to usher in the seasons that mark our faith as we journey from one Christmas through Easter to another one and another one as the years go by.
Some of you have poured sweat and tears and hours and dollars into this building so that it would be a worship space for the congregation called St James United Church. With the disciples in today’s gospel you say to the strangers in your midst today, “Don’t you understand, don’t you get it that our hearts are breaking?”
Yet we need to look at that Gospel passage again. We have come here today to gather around the table and to break bread as we have done many times in the past - we have come to take the bread into our bodies; to drink of the cup of blessing so that it becomes a part of us - so that we become the very life of Christ - so that we can experience the very presence of one who was raised from the dead. As we gather at this table we realize that it is often when we are most vulnerable, most broken, that we are open to the presence of the living, healing, filling presence of Christ. We will also realize that it is where the people gather and celebrate that the most strength and the most meaning and purpose can be found for the life of faithfulness and service.
God has been with God’s own people for generations; why should it be any different now.
Amen!
Acts 1: 6-14
Psalm 68
1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5:6-11
John 17: 1-11
The regular round of the biblical stories as arranged to be told in many churches from one Easter to the next can be seen as forming a metaphor for the changes of our own lives - both the regular changes from season to season and year to year and the life-changing events that give us pause and demand that we pursue a different course in the future.
You know what I am talking about, even if I have not described it very well. We’ve all been there. A loved one has died. The days after the death were a flurry of arrangements and receiving visitors and decision making. The funeral is over. The reception after the funeral is over and we go home - or finish up the last of the dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge and then we sit down and wonder, “What do I do now?”
Or, we leave the manager’s office after we have been told that the company has no more use for our talents and labour and we wonder, “What will I do now?”
Or, we have worked on a volunteer project for months, or perhaps even years, and we accomplish the task we set out to do and after all the fanfare we go home and wonder, “What do I do with all my free time now?”
Or, we are simply at one of those stages in life where the busyness of our lives has the ring of sameness from one hurried breakfast to the next. The regular chores of daily life continue on from week to week and seem to fill all our waking hours and may give us some sleepless nights as well.
In the midst of all of this we come to church and are challenged to be disciples of Jesus of Nazareth in the midst of either these great changes that have taken our road map away or the every-day busyness which leaves us little time for reflection or planning to take on anything else.
I suspect that the last place the disciples wanted to be at the ascension was standing there in the realization that they were more alone than they had ever felt.
When the prophet from Nazareth came into their lives we suppose that the change was welcome (but that is a sermon for another time). Their lives had become a whirlwind of journeying around with Jesus, encountering both adulation and conflict with those whose power had been threatened until finally the powerful elites had successfully conspired to have him executed as a common criminal. The disciples world fell apart - but within days they realized that this Good News could not be silenced, even by an enemy as powerful as death.
The ascension marked the time when they realized they would have to do without his physical presence from now on and they were left standing heavenward wondering what to do next! It must have been utterly devastating.
Next week we will celebrate Pentecost, often seen as the birthday of the church, the day on which the Holy Spirit is experienced in a very powerful way.
Yet I suspect that this “in-between” time is the norm for the church; knowing that there have been and are more powerful experiences of the presence of God and the certainty of the call of this God.
For the most of us, life is a combination of both good news and disappointments; success and failure. Sometimes we are dealt a great blow, as I described in my introduction, sometimes we are recipients of wonderful news, but most of the time we are in the day to day.
We get up and get ready for work. If you have children the activity around breakfast is more frenzied as are the arrangements for all of the after school and weekend activities. With buying gas and groceries and making sure the other necessities of life and household management are accomplished, there isn’t much time or energy left over for anything else - and day runs into day, week into week, and year into year. As the kids walk across the stage at graduation you wonder where the time went!
In the midst of all of this we are asked to be disciples, to live out our Christian faith in all that we do.
The good news is that it is not something that we necessarily have to ADD on to our already crazy schedules but it is something that we do while we are going about our regular lives; it is the quality with which we live those lives. It has the potential to change and flavour all that we do in ways we had not thought possible.
As a pastoral charge we are in the midst of change. We are now alternating between two church buildings and seeking to cope sensitively with the emotions surrounding this - we are dealing with a financial crisis, and we fear that despite all of our fundraising efforts, we will be living in this way for some time. How do we seek out our own ministry in the midst of all of this?
A few weeks ago newspapers and tv broadcasts informed us that a minister from California had predicted the end of the world would happen on the 21st of May - this year. When it did not happen it became another reason for the secular press to poke fun at all churches, no matter their theological stripe.
But, we are not meant to be standing looking upward, expecting the return of Jesus. We are called to be the church in the time and place we find ourselves. As hard as it may be for us to take the time to change from “survival mode” to “thriving mode” we need to carve out the mental and spiritual space to do this.
A while ago I asked you all to think about the question, “where is the church on Tuesday?” What difference do we make or can we make in our communities? Why are we here? We are not just a private club that exists to provide3 worship and pastoral care for our members. We are not just here to praise God on Sunday morning between 10 and 11. Our buildings need to be here for some other purpose than that one hour - every second week.
Someone once said that its not that the church has a mission but that God’s mission has a church - we must keep in mind what comes first.
Across many of our mainline churches we are struggling with the same issues and slowly realizing that we will have to “do church” in new ways from now on.
When I went to the meeting of the General Council in Kelowna two years ago we were told that the work of any General Council is like jumping into a moving stream. There are projects and emphases that are in progress and not yet finished and we will be initiating others which will not be completed in time for the next General Council in 2013. As a General Council we rarely accomplish what set out to do in just one term; it’s like planting a tree - its something we do for our grandchildren! It’s like that in our church, we build on the work of our ancestors, work with our brothers and sisters and then pass it on to our children. Of course at all ages and stages the generations overlap and we work together and sometimes struggle and disagree as we seek to answer the question, What IS our mission as a Christian community in this time and place? Our mission is not to preserve the past but to do as they did, to do the work of Christ in our time and place.
As we await the celebration of Pentecost; as we wait for the celebration of the Spirit’s power, we are reminded that as a people of faith we must rely on the guidance of this same Spirit to comfort, compel and challenge us to greater faithfulness.
We live in a time of great change. What we once took for granted can no longer be depended upon. Yet the kinds of change we face can seem so drastic, that we need to sit with it a bit, live into it, and then go forward in a new way after having made the best decisions we possibly can.
We often don’t have a lot of time to wonder and reflect and pray but we should take some. We should also realize that some of the work of our church goes on while we take the time to reflect on other work.
Its about being intentional; its not something we should just fall into because we have always done it this way or because it’s all we think we can do.
We need to work together, to seek the will of the Spirit together and then go forward certain that we are doing what we can do and determined to do that well.
Praise be to God who gives us both the mission and the ability to do it.
Amen!