Indexed by Date. Sermons for Epiphany Year C

February 4, 2007

Isaiah 6: 1-8 (9-13)
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15: 1-11
Luke 5: 1-11

“To Extend the Call”

I was shopping for cat food one day and came upon a bin of odd looking, brownish yellow, curled and dried up things that looked like they used to be triangles. They were the newest thing in doggie chews: pigs ears. Who’d a thunk it? Who would have thought that you could find much use at all for that part of a pig. I thought that the next thing they’s be trying to sell was the squeal!

Then I thought of the saying, “You cant make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!” Well you certainly can’t; at least not without a different kind of process than was used to make those tough, ugly dog chews! Of course the saying has nothing to do with either pigs or purses, but about human potential. And it’s most often used in not so complimentary ways. It’s used by folks who would write people off based on where they are from, or who their parents are, or what skills they possess at present. It’s used to excuse giving up on folks when they aren’t learning as fast, or aren’t as skilled as others.

I wonder what would have happened if that expression was one by which Jesus lived? (Pause) Somewhere in my files I have a copy of a very interesting short story that imagines what could have happened if Jesus had submitted the resumes of the 12 men he had “short listed” for the job to a “Management Consultant”. In this imaginative piece the consultant puts them through the standard battery of tests and submits a report to Jesus. They found fault with Peter because of his temper; with Andrew because of his lack of leadership skills; and with James and John were both faulted because they placed personal interests above the interests of the firm. They were not “team players”. They saw Thomas as a questioner whose willingness to express doubts would hurt morale and like all tax collectors, Matthew was suspected of gouging clients at tax time. James and Thaddeus were seen as unstable. In total, eleven of the candidates received a failing grade. Eleven candidates were regarded as “sow’s ears”. The only one to pass muster was Judas Iscariot. He was regarded as the “silk purse”. He was keen, good with money and highly motivated. He was recommended as the business manager and Jesus was advised to look further to fill the other 11 spots!

I, for one, am glad that Jesus, if he received such advice, ignored most of it. Jesus obviously considered different qualities and chose his disciples for other reasons.

The “call of God” is the dominant theme of today’s lessons. Isaiah is called while worshipping in te temple and his experience of the divine, at first, serves only to remind him of his unworthiness. Yet God provided for him what was needed to turn him into a prophet who witnessed to the people and showed them the very heart of God. Wit Isaiah, who regarded himself as the “sow’s ear”, God was able to make a silk purse of the finest construction.

It was the same with the man whose name was changed from Saul to Paul and with each and every one of the disciples.

Now, let’s take a closer look at today’s gospel. I am told that this gospel shows that Jesus, who may have been a very good carpenter, didn’t know anything about fishing, or fishermen. First off, these men had fished all night and had caught nothing. They would have been tired and cranky. They would not have wanted to put off shore to have their boat used as a pulpit by an itinerant carpenter turned rabbi. They would have wanted to clean their nets, set them out to dry and then go home to explain to their wives and children why there was no money coming in that day! After all, in a few hours they would have to go out again and try their luck.

Secondly: Jesus should have known that the kinds of nets he was asking them to use were good only for fishing at night – they just didn’t work in the daytime. It was the wrong type of net and the wrong time of day, but for whatever reason Simon just did what Jesus asked and was he ever surprised. At the beginning, he might well have thought that Jesus was a poor excuse for a fisherman; a “sow’s ear” if you will, but as he and his friends struggled to bring the sinking boat ashore he was no doubt beginning to think of “silk purses”! When he reached shore with the fish, he reacted much like the others in the passages we also read today: he was deeply aware of his own unworthiness to even be in the presence of what was obviously the very power of God.

Yet, in his statement of call, Jesus accepts him for who he is and in the grace offered to him promises that the power of God will make up for what is lacking in human terms.

One thing that I notice in this passage is that Jesus does not so much “ask” Peter to follow him, but rather, tells him that from now on, “he will fish for people”. Now, at least some of these disciples, and most certainly Simon Peter, had met Jesus and witnessed his power prior to this event, but it was on this occasion that it impacted him in such a way that he was able to leave his nets and follow this man of Nazareth.

This leads me to wonder about our role as “fishers of people”; it leads me to wonder to what kind of divine power do we witness in our church and in our daily lives. Are we too quick to dismiss any suggestion that we could be God’s agents in the world? Do we look at the task and at what we understand of God and say we are an unworthy person. Do we really believe that the power of God can transform lives utterly and completely? Or do we deny that God’s grace and power can make out of each of US a silk purse of the finest quality?

Perhaps even more importantly, as the body of Christ in the world, do we offer the call to discipleship only to those we feel are qualified; to only those we deem acceptable? What, I ask, would have happened if God had called only the professionals, those with the greatest training? Since a great many of those we have come to know as prophets of great power and grace, were ordinary people, not trained for such positions of leadership, we would have missed many insights into the ways of God and God’s grace and power.

When we feel the nudge of God, the call of God, the feeling that won’t leave us, how do we react? Do we say, “here I am, do what you can with me”, or do we say, “No way! I’m not doing that! Who am I that you want to call me?” Maybe we are like I was the other day when my phone rang and the caller was looking for “Jason”. I said, “ You must have the wrong number, there is no one by that name here!”.

Who are we? Two children were greeting one another at nursery school one September day. “What’s your name?” one boy asked another. Neither could read so the name tags were only for the benefot of the teachers’‘.

“I am Robby. Robby MacDonald. That’s R-O-B-B-Y, he replied. “I live in Boston, Massachusetts. My mom is Debbie MacDonald and my dad is Robert MacDonald. I am allergic to strawberries and chocolate.”

Clearly this boy knew who he was and how to convey that to folks. And the other little boy never forgot who this new little friend was! This illustration is based on one that appeared in the February 4, 2001 issue of AHA! a now “retired” publication of by Wood Lake Books of Winfield, BC, Canada. Long after we are grown, we are asked time and again who we are. Sometimes the questioner wants only a name, and at other times we are asked for more so that the one asking can gain greater insight into what makes us tick, what is important to us, and what we live for. Who are WE? Are we God’s child, and as such worthy and gifted in many ways? Are we followers of Jesus the Christ, people who have responded to the call to participate in his great mission to show God’s love to everyone we meet? Or do we keep that news to ourselves, as if by sharing we will somehow dilute its power?! Who are WE? Are we a people who are more prepared to believe in the transforming power of God than be paralyzed by our own false sense of inadequacy? Who are we? Are we willing to trust the one who both calls and equips? God’s mission is being conveyed to us each and every day. God says to us, “I have a job for you! Come, follow me. Yes, you! I’m talking to you. NO! I don’t have a wrong number” We are charged with the task of conveying God’s mission to others. “Come, join us in this great venture of serving God together. Together we CAN do it.” We must remember that in God’s mission there is the fulfilment of the seemingly impossible promise that silk purses can be made from sow’s ears; prophets can be made from carpenters, farmers and fishermen, tax collectors and tent-makers. What will our response be? Will we say, “No way - not me. Good grief, I cant welcome them!” or will we follow the leading of the Spirit and the promise of power and grace adequate to the task and say, “Come join us” or “Here I am, God, send me!” The choice is ours. Amen.

February 11, 2007

Jeremiah 6: 17-26
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15: 12-20
Luke 6: 17-26

Back in the early 1990's I went to the Canada Day celebrations in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. They always had a midway and (at least one year) a Ferris Wheel. I came upon two children from my congregation who were having an somewhat passionate argument with their mother. There was no way that she was going to go up on that thing and she was certainly not going to let them go alone. I offered to take them. The mom looked surprised and asked, “You aren’t scared?”

“No”, I said with shrug. Truth was I had never been on one.

“Well if you are willing, that’s fine with me”, she said. The children were very happy! So we got in the lineup for the Ferris Wheel. You know how those things go. You wait for an empty car and you get on and the wheel moves one space and another car is emptied and refilled, and the wheel moves another space, until the riders are all new and then the wheen turns around a few times without stopping and then you get off in the same way you got on, one car at a time, stop, go, stop go.

As we were rounding the top, I noted that all I could see in front of me was blue sky and the rooves of buildings. All I could feel was the swaying motion of the car, and the butterflies in my stomach! I looked over at the girl who was sitting on one side of me and she had her eyes closed tightly and he hands firmly grasping the bar in front of her. I took a deep breath and whispered that it was safe to look - I wasn’t really sure it was, but I was the grown-up so I was the one who HAD to be brave. She opened her eyes and within seconds had a big smile of her face.

We all ended up on the ground again safe and sound and half an hour later I took another girl up whose mother would have taken her but her younger brother was prone to motion sickness and she couldn’t leave him on the ground alone. This time I had the necessary experience to be able to assure her, without butterflies, without crossing my fingers, that everything was perfectly safe.

Anglican preacher I know she’s really Episcopalian , but in Canada, Anglican is more recognizable! Barbara Brown Taylor uses the image of the Ferris Wheel to illustrate the passage from today’s gospel lesson. You may ask what Ferris Wheels have to do with the Beatitudes but if you think about it, actually a great deal.

First though, it is important to remember that the beatitudes are not about one group of people always being blessed and one group always being filled with woe, they are about the blessings and woes we all experience from time to time, the ways in which we respond to these ups and downs and how they impact upon our relationship with God. So addressed to the first disciples and trough them, to all of us, the beatitudes are not about us and them, they are about us and the whole of our lives.

Back to the image of the Ferris Wheel.

Obviously, at any time there is always someone at the top, looking at blue sky and “on top of the world”.

There are always others who are at that point where they feel that they are hanging off the edge of the world wondering if there is actually anything supporting the car they are in which is rocking back and forth. (Make motions)

Then, there and still others who are nearing the bottom and all they can see are the candy wrappers, the sticks and cores from caramel apples and the crushed paper cones that once held cotton candy.

So then, of lives are like that ride on the Ferris wheel. Sometimes we are on top of the world, able to see far away. We are happy and we have a feeling that “this” is why we took this ride.

Then, there are times when we are not quite sure if the Ferris wheel will fall apart and we hang on for dear life, or we just close our eyes, take a deep breath and trust that when we open them we will be at a more stable place in our journey.

And at other times we are frustrated and all that we can see is the litter from other people’s joy and we think, this can’t get any more frustrating or difficult. Then, the car you are in starts up the other side again and we can see more joy and hope in life.

Common wisdom and indeed some parts of the Bible seem to support the view that misfortune is God’s punishment for sin; and that success is God’s reward. In fact, some use this kind of theology as an excuse for not helping the poor, for example, because their poverty is God’s punishment. They may help the poor, even if they blame them for htier situation, but they see no reason to work to eradicate poverty, for example.

People who have been experiencing misfortune look for it’s cause in their own behaviour, which sometimes it is (if for example they didn’t look before they crossed the street and were hit by a car) but sometimes there is no reason. Then again some people run across the street all the time without looking (and I don’t advocate that) and are never even close to being hit. Life is much more complicated than simple cause and effect. I don’t believe in a God who punishes people or their children because of sin, but rather believe that in all the situations of our lives, at all stops on the Ferris Wheel, we can experience God’s grace and God’s blessing. We need to see these times in our lives, good and bad, for what they are, rather than blaming God or becoming paralyzed by guilt or by blaming the unfortunate.

As always, Jesus wants his hearers to set conventional wisdom aside and look at their God in fresh and new ways; ways which free them rather than ways that bind them to a past that cannot be changed.

Indeed, all of today’s passages ask the reader to look at the life of blessing in non-traditional ways.

Maybe you are not into theme parks and amusement rides. Maybe you’d ratehr garden or walk in the woods and go fishing by a stream filled with trout. The prophet Jeremiah uses the image of a tree, planted by the water, whose roots deep into the soil. A deeply rooted tree can always find the water of blessing, even when the stream of obvious blessing dries up. A tree, or any plant for that matter, that experiences times drought is forced to send the roots deeper in search of the waters of life.

Of course I’d rather be blessed. I’d rather not experience sadness and stress. Of course I’d rather be blessed with good health and healthy friends, and relatives. Of course I’d rather have food in my cupboards, but the good news is that even then God would be blessing me.

Sometimes when we are experiencing showers of blessing, we are fooled into thinking that these blessings are a “reward” for our good behaviour, or that God likes us more than someone else, or that we are hardworking and smart and deserve these blessings. Well, if we are blessed in this way, and that’s all we think about it, that is, in and of itself, the blessing. BUT if we have to work at it to see the blessing, if we have to reach and stretch our roots in order to reach the life giving waters , faced with going to doctor after doctor for answers we can come to realize that life is still blessed because we may only have the energy to focus on what is most important.

We may find that in opening ourselves to the blessing that is a little (or a great deal) harder to find, that there is more blessing than we could ever have imagined.

The reality is: we are always offered God’s blessing, the reality also is that we are sometimes too poor, or sick, or stressed to see it. The reality also is that we are sometimes too rich, too well or too self-satisfied to see it. When we are successful and healthy, in human terms, all too often we forget that God’s grace and blessing are a part of our lives.

It not that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, its that God is with us -16- at all times to bless us.

Yet there is a call in our blessing, to be a blessing to others. We are not blessed for our own sakes. Anyone who has travelled to communities in the developing world can tell you about their generosity; they will literally give you all the food they have in the house and do so with genuine joy. They will, literally, give you the shirt off of their back. They do so, I believe, because they know that their joy comes from relationships and not from material things, even though these things are sometimes essential for life.

Its not that the rich aren’t blessed but it’s that the richness is not the blessing from God. It’s that the poor are blessed BUT that the poverty is not a sign of God’s disapproval or curse.

These passages call us all, rich and poor alike, well and sick, successful and struggling, popular and shunned, to look to the god of blessing for strength for the way and meaning in life. For it is in our relationship with God and with the world God loves that true blessing can be found.

Amen.

February 18, 2007 Transfiguation Sunday

Exodus 34: 29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3: 12-4:2
Luke 9: 28-36

Do you ever watch Touched by an Angel? I think it’s still on, on Vision TV around suppertime. As those of you who are or were regular watchers will know, in every episode there is problem of some sort; most likely, someone has lost his or her way. Monica, Andrew, Tess or one of the other angels comes along, posing as a neighbour, friend or co-worker and tries to show them the way. As the program ends and as Monica, Andrew, Tess or one of the other angels reveal their true identities they invariably begin to glow. It is this glow, this inner radiance, that seems to permeate outward from, and then around, them that finally convinces the person in question that they are an angel. It is this that convinces them to finally change their lives and open themselves to the mystery that is God.

It does not mean that their journey from that point will be easy but that God will be with them as they make hard changes.

Since we journeyed to the manger in Bethlehem we have been learning just who this Jesus is and what his ministry was about. Through healings, parables, and other kinds of teaching we have learned that Jesus envisions a completely different kind of world, one in which all people have a relationship with God which transforms their lives; one in which all people have what they need; and, in which the power and sovereignty of God is recognized by all of creation.

As we know, the mission of Jesus very quickly came into a complex conflict, the end result of which was Jesus death on the cross. Yet he knew that this path was God’s call and despite the dangers, Jesus asked others to make that journey with him. He asked them because he knew that it was in that journey that true life was to be found. He knew that this journey would indeed change everything, not by revolution, as was feared by many, but by the kind of transformation that no one had ever thought possible. He needed to bring them into the presence of the living God and then allow that presence to transform their whole being.

As our Sunday readings have progressed, it was not all that long ago Jesus invited a group of fishermen to go fishing with him. Perhaps they would use their traditional skills to catch people.

Today though, we are far from the seashore, far from the place of letting down nets and catching fish. Today we stand, along with the disciples, on the mountaintop, and along with the disciples we can see past and future. They are having, quite literally, a mountaintop experience.

A “mountain-top” experience, is a term that is applied to any experience which has left one utterly speechless and in awe, yet given a clarity about life and its decisions.

Jesus mountains weren’t like the Rockies or like Everest but were places which took some effort to get to; places where they could “get away from it all” and commune with God.

After this experience the disciples KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Jesus stands in a long line of those who called people to let their faith transform their lives and their actions.

Now when I read this story my first reaction is to ask, “How did they know it was Moses and Elijah”. The text can’t answer that question. We have to take that at face value, not because of the men themselves, but because of who and what was represented by Moses and Elijah. Jesus wasn’t completely new and different, he wasn’t a crackpot asking them to follow a path that had never been walked before. The prophets had actually been doing it for generations. That was the whole point of the law of Moses: “ a closer walk with thee.” No doubt this encounter changed these disciples forever.

Talking about Moses: we met him earlier today: in the first scripture reading. He came back from talking with God and was carrying the tablets upon which the commandments were written, but what the passage for today is concerned about is not what he was carrying but what effect the encounter with God had on him. This lofty mountain-top encounter had left him with a shining face. He simply couldn’t hide it. Maybe it was like it is pictured on Touched by An Angel , maybe it wasn’t. All we have is what is recorded in the book of Exodus. The letter to the Corinthians speaks of the same story as is recorded in Exodus and Paul adds his own interpretation about what it’s purpose was. But what I want to use to connect all the stories today is the sense of mystery; the experience of being in the presence of God and how that affects people; how that affects us.

I love mysteries. Last night my sister was watching an episode of The X-files which is very creepy-mysterious and I love shows like CSI and Law and Order which always have a kind of mystery about them, or at least a crime to solve so the right person gets sent to jail and the innocent one goes free. However that’s not the kind of mystery I am talking about.

What I am talking about are those mysterious, surreal experiences that leave us with the feeling, however temporary, that we have been standing in the presence of Almighty God.

We all know about them.

I see them on the faces of other people all the time. I was at a meeting one day and the door opened and I saw our host look to the door. By the look on his face I knew before I saw them that his wife and infant daughter had arrived.

I have a picture of a friend looking at her baby and as far as she is concerned there is no one else in the world than this baby she holds in her arms. The look of joy is obvious; you can’t help but see that it permeates her whole being and that it begins the process of casting the bond between them.

Those of you who are parents: think of the moment your child was born and he or she was placed in your arms.

Or, think of the moment when a close friend or relative passed from this life to another life.

Think of those moments of clarity when you just knew you were in love, or you just new that your life had to go in a certain direction.

You see, I think these stories are not about having to climb mountains to see God, but rather about how our common, but special experiences, can be conduits for a profound and life changing experience of the divine.

As we prepare to enter the season of Lent, as we prepare to face any difficult times on our lives, we need to have this sense of presence and this time of absolute clarity. The book Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch speaks of the love between a mother and a child: when the child is born and even when the child is an obnoxious teenager and the mother thinks she is living in a zoo! I think that the experience of one carries a parent through the other till it gets better again!

These passages are about keeping our eyes open to the ways in which we can encounter the holy God -

- in seemingly common experiences;

- in experiences that come in the midst of great struggle;

- in the “gift moments’” that happen once or twice in a life-time.

We need to try and avoid our 21st century need to either explain something or cast it aside as a figment of our imagination. We need to enjoy the mountaintop encounter and then take what we can of it into our regular lives and walk the path of faith that Jesus call compels us to travel.

God is reaching our to us. Let us open our eyes and enjoy the view.

Amen!