Lent - Year B -- 2015
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Lent Year B
Genesis 7: 1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22
Mark 8: 31-38
I read a story on the ‘net not long ago about a family whose cat ran away when they were packing up to move. They waited around as long as they could but finally had to leave, heartbroken about the sudden disappearance of their beloved kitty cat. Four years later they returned to their old neighbourhood and lo and behold, even though they thought she was a goner, the cat came back! Perhaps cared for by others for at least part of the interim, this cat was reunited with her original people. I went to the internet to try and nail down some details about this story but I discovered a great many such stories of pets, mostly cats, who had traversed great distances to be reunited with their people. I suspect though that many do fall prey to coyotes and eagles.
I may ask someone, “Where is home?” That is not necessarily an easy question to answer. For some people home is wherever they live, but for others, it is another place, a place of origin, or a place of connection - a place of the heart -where they don’t live any more, but would like to.
I think of the refugees who arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. Fleeing oppression, war or famine, they have left the familiar and the known and have come to a new land, often without either English or French; without anything but their wits and a solid determination to make a new life in a new land.
Since none of us here, as far as I know, are First Nations, all of our ancestors made this same journey - or we ourselves did. A family of five in a previous congregation came in the early 1990s with a shipping container, or two, filled with personal and household effects and farm machinery. More than one person I know came here as a student or on a short term work visa, fell in love with a Canadian and, as they say, the rest is history.
The Christian faith has its roots in the concept of a journey. Long before Jesus called disciples and others to be “followers”, thereby assuming a journey of some sort, the aged couple Abram and Sari were called to go on a journey to an unknown land, a journey that would take generations and never really finish.
That’s what I really wanted to talk about today - the Christian life, the life of faith being a journey, not a place where we arrive - if what we mean by that is “we are not leaving, not moving, not changing in any way”. I love the phrase from the hymn, “Lead On O Cloud of Presence”, “the journey is our home”
When I was ordained I knew that while I had arrived at that milestone, after a journey of about 7 years, it was just a momentary pause because I had a lifetime of growth, change and discernment ahead as I followed my calling.
In terms of the human journey we never arrive, if we expect arrival to mean that we are done. Perhaps the birth of a baby is a point of arrival but while the pregnancy may be over the work of parenthood is just beginning. I love the tv commercial where the first time mom has to make sure that everyone who holds the baby is super, super, clean but by the time the second child is born she is fine with handing that baby to a greasy auto mechanic while she gets something out of her purse. You spend hours building one of those swing and slide sets and then pass it on to another family to enjoy when yours have outgrown it.
Name changes are part and parcel of this journey. Sometimes people have to almost force their family and friends to call them by a more grown up name than that which they were called in childhood. We know names are important and, by the way that little ditty we recited in elementary school that went: “sticks stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” - ISN’T True, and we knew it! Name calling can hurt very much but, conversely, “good” name calling, can build up and praise and empower.
Biblical names are often filled with meaning. The change from Abram to Abraham is more than just adding a letter or two; likewise the change from Sarai to Sarah involves more than spelling. Jesus renamed Simon to Peter - he became “Rocky” and, back then, the pun WAS intended.
Even though Abram and Sari were part of a nomadic people, the tribe, the group was of crucial importance - to ask someone to pick up stakes, literally, and journey, more or less alone, into the unknown, would have been very frightening, and very foolhardy to most.
While we live in a time of seemingly unprecedented change, I am sure that there were other times of great change - we now call them revolutions - such as the “industrial revolution”. What we must never forget is that as long as we are alive we are not stopping here - we are on our way somewhere else - and this is just as true of communities and communities of faith as it is of individuals and families.
Here at Avon United we have been on a journey of faith. Those of you who have been here for 40 or 50 years or more can tell of previous amalgamations and church closure and attempts to go in various directions. You can tell me of the temporary detours and the permanent road closures and how you found life and community in ways and places you had not originally envisioned, planned, or even initially wanted. You can all tell me about the last five years and how it was that your journeyed to this place of becoming a new family of faith, Avon United Church.
Yes, you could and you should. Who you were has made you who you are, yet, as I have said before, we are not finished. We have not arrived at that place where we can say, “change is over, we can predict stability for the next 50 years.” With every change our collective journey changes and we must be more intentional -less automatic. Each day take some time to think about your journey of faith.
Lent is often seen as a time of intentional journeying. If you are of the mind to give up something for Lent do it so that you can do something else. If you are giving up junk food, take the money and give it to the food bank or to the Mission and Service Fund. If you are giving up an hour of television, spend that hour re-connecting with your spouse, with your teenager or sit on the floor with your young children and help them with their dolls, or their trucks or cuddle up and read a book together.
This is the day that Gos has made. Let us rejoice and see it for what it is, a valuable day on a journey of faith.
Amen.
Exodus 20: 1-17
Psalm 19
John 2: 13-22
One of my favourite crime dramas is Murdoch Mysteries. Set at the turn of the last century it is a serendipitous mix of logic, new inventions and romance. Of course, it is entertainment! One of the things that was being developed at that time, at least in Murdoch’s sation house, is the science of photography as it relates to solving crimes. They have a “scrutiny camera” which is the 1901 version of “video surveillance”. When they are trying to catch a crook they look at the pictures to help determine what is wrong and who to bring in for questioning.
Sometimes we can look at a picture or a sene and have a sense that something is wrong. If you were to see a firefighter entering a burning building without the normal turnout gear you would notice. If a paramedic was treating an injured person without gloves you would notice. If we saw a bakery worker picking cookies off of the floor in the kitchen and bagging them for sale, you would notice and probably raise the alarm.
We have rules, or at least a sense of how things should be.
In today’s gospel we encounter a one of those situations. Jesus arrives in the temple and he encounters something that had become commonplace - a noisy market in the “court of the gentiles”. Now the temple had four basic parts - the Holy of Holies, where, as I understand it, the High Priest went once a year to offer the sacrifice; the court for the Jewish men to worship; the court where the Jewish women worshipped and hte court of the gentiles, the place where non-Jews were supposed to be able to worship.
What we need to remember is that the sacrifice of animals was an important part of the worship in the temple and these animals had to be perfect, or without blemish. The principle was that you gave the best to God, not the defective, non-saleable. In and of itself that makes perfect sense from the perspective of showing that one was committed and making a “true sacrifice”.
Now imagine that outer area, that area reserved for non-Jews, being turned into a noisy, smelly, chaotic, farmers market. I remember the Christmas eve where we made a mistake and brought not one, but two live lambs for a manger scene. They spent the rest of the service calling to each other, LOUDLY.
Now imagine that farmers market charging exorbitant prices for their goods which were needed for worship. Keep in mind that the temple was a regional worship centre! Many people traveled for several days in order to get there! Practically then, if you had traveled a long distance you would be unable to being a healthy animal or healthy pair of doves, if you were poorer. You would be more than ready to buy a well fed and watered animal at the front door.
It sounds to me like a recipe for pandemonium, certainly not for the peace and quiet we might imagine in worship.
To make matters more complex, the regular Roman currency that people used in their daily lives, had to be changed into the only currency suitable for use in the temple when they paid what was required of them. . Who among the common folk would know what a fair exchange was? Again, there was, little choice. For both animals and temple money the worshippers had to pay the going rate,
On this day Jesus decided to act. Perhaps he was simply fed up. He had, no doubt seen this before, it was after all a regular and commonly accepted practice.
In addition to making a damning statement on the whole situation, Jesus uses this action as a teaching on the true purpose of his ministry in general and specifically on his death and resurrection - which is why we read this story during the season of Lent.
The passage from Exodus is the one from which the most familiar version of the “ten commandments” is taken - how many of us memorized them in Sunday school? These ten laws form the foundation for the entire legal code which governed life in Israel.
When we look at the Psalm, whose first section has to be one of my favourites, we find two seemingly unrelated themes. The first part expresses awe and wonder about creation. Who cannot relate. See a beautiful sunset and take the time to stop and marvel. See a new baby and notice family characteristics and how very fast children grow and develop and learn or see an eagle soaring high in the sky or see a picture of our spinning blue planet and how can you help but marvel at the beauty and intricacy of creation.
But, then, all of a sudden this passage takes a breath and expounds on the beauty, not of the earth, but of the LAW. Some people I know see the law as something which is designed to keep people from enjoying life and having any fun at all. Some laws are seen as an infringement on civil liberties for no good reason. Look at the way some people regard seat belt laws or laws requiring the use of helmets while bicycling.
This psalm implies that it is in following the law that we can enjoy and know the fullness of creation. While it does not seem to go together at first we would do well to spend time with those two things held in balance. When we look at the ten commandments, as a whole, they make a great deal of sense in terms of how to organize a community that supports the health of the body - and indeed all of creation.
When we think about it, we know that the rule of law is essential for safe communities. Most of you will remember the children’s story the last time we looked at the ten commandments when Bree commented that a world without law would be PANDEMONIUM.
Jesus life and Jesus actions call us to go beyond the letter of the law to its Spirit. There was probably nothing wrong with what was going on in the temple that day - legally speaking - but Jesus life and actions called people to delve more deeply into the Spirit of the legal principles that undergirded their lives together.
What is it that makes our lives together life giving and life sustaining. Surely we must be able to say more that we are free from wrong-doing. What do we need?
We need acts of kindness.
We need those who go above and beyond to show love, care and charity which is greater than is expected or deserved.
We need to respect those things that are important but which have no economic value. How can you value a sunset or a hillside or old growth forest, unmarred by human industry or other harsh forms of exploitation. Living a life that loves the law is not to live in FEAR of doing something wrong but living in a way that embraces the principles of what is right (not what is lawful) The life of faith does not make sense in the way of the world, but with the measurement of faith, it is simply what we do.
Let us strive to be people of faith doing as much as possible, not trying to get away with as little as we can.
Amen!
THIS SERMON NEVER PREACHED DUE O SNOW TWO WEEKS IN A ROW
Numbers 21: 4-9
Psalm 107
John 3: 14-21
A number of years ago I took my five year old nephew shopping. He chose a rubber snake and he was barely out of the store before he was swinging it by the tail as he walked along. As we drove down the road he placed the snake on the dashboard but when we stopped for lunch he made sure the snake was in the glove compartment because, he reasoned, “someone might see it in the car and take it”. A girl of about the same age in my previous congregation was equally enamoured with her collection of rubber reptiles!
Are you afraid of snakes? I don’t know the statistics about Canadians, but among American adults, 36% list snakes as their #1 fear. There is a name for the abnormal fear of snakes: it’s called OPHIDIOPHOBIA ! I don’t know what they call a rational fear of snakes!
Many years ago, an older cousin of mine was on a Girl Guide camping trip somewhere in Alberta, I believe. They discovered a rattlesnake near their tent-site and killed it because they were afraid it might bite one of them. Since Girl Guides are encouraged not to waste, they cooked it up and ate it. I was not told if it “tasted like chicken” or not!
The story from the book of Numbers is odd, very odd for the Holy Scriptures. In some ways it sounds like a great deal of hocus-pocus or magic. We read it on this Sunday in Lent because it is quoted in our passage from John’s gospel, but it might not surprise you to know I’m going to try and preach on it almost entirely without reference to Jesus because it’s a story that stands on its own.
There is an off-quoted expression, “be careful what you pray for; you just might get it!” The people that Moses was leading through the wilderness had been slaves in Egypt they had prayed for freedom and they were led into freedom by Moses. When this series of events takes place they are in the wilderness but they still weren’t happy! Time and again they complained and asked God for food, or water, or a more balanced diet and eventually it was given to them This time, however, they were given venomous snakes and many were bitten and died. They realized the error of their ways and God told Moses to make an object out of wood and bronze - a serpent on a pole and when they looked at it the people were healed. I’m not sure how a group of nomads living in tents could construct a smelter to melt copper and tin and mix them together to make bronze - the melting points of which are about 1100̊C but then again they don’t call it “the bronze age” for nothing! I looked for instructions on the internet, but the advice I found was “don’t try that at home”.
The people of Israel would have been very familiar with the headdress of the pharaoh. You’ve all probably seen it in a movie or in the famous picture of the burial mask of King Tut! At the top of the headdress was a cobra, face on, hood flared, ready to strike an unsuspecting prey. This crown was a symbol of power, death and oppression, but in the desert it became a symbol of healing and freedom; a symbol of the power of their God over the earthly powers that held them in slavery. .
Now, this snake on a stick sounds a lot like an idol to me, but in the beginning when they looked at it they were indeed asking the God of their ancestors for forgiveness for their grumbling and lack of trust in God.
Perhaps God wanted them to realize the error of their ways and to trust that God through Moses would get them to their destination. That’s essentially what their real problem was: a lack of trust in God.
I was reading in one of my biblical commentaries that people today are just like the people of Israel, even the people in faith communities. The commentator had observed that many churches have what amounts to at least one “lets go back to Egypt” committee. This committee wants to stop the clock, if not to turn it back, and return to a time in the past which wasn’t always all that great back then, but is now romanticized and seen with rose coloured glasses. In each and every church I have served there is a time, in the distant or recent past, that some people long for - when the pews were full, when there were lots of kids, when they had no worries about money. BUT the people on that “lets go back to Egypt” committee forget that they took minutes at all those long ago meetings and the minister, or anyone else for that matter, can go into the archives (thanks to people like Wheet, (A woman who is the congregational historian) or the Conference Archives!) and read those minutes which tell of meetings filled with much hand wringing about money, worries about paying the minister’s salary, or how will they ever afford to do such and so to the church or the manse, and what to do about all the people who want the services of the church, but don’t or can’t give.
In “Egypt” church life had its own problems, if we are honest. What we need to so is to realize that even if we could go back, we probably wouldn’t be happy when we got there.
I think the trick is to trust in the God who is leading us in the here and now to lead us in the right direction. The people of Israel were on a journey of faith, and our journey through Lent is much the same.
We are called to leave behind in Egypt all of those things that are not essential for our journey and to trust in God to care for us, no matter what happens. These wilderness stories, like a lot of biblical stories, are really about us and help to draw us into a deeper and closer relationship with the God of the ages!
We read this story in Lent as a way of connecting our journey with the journey of those who have gone before us.
When I was a student in Halifax there was one intersection that struck fear in the hearts of many Halifax drivers - the Armdale Rotary! On Wednesday I went to the funeral of a colleague and had it all figured out so I would not have to use “the Rotary” which is right beside Bethany United, where the funeral was held. I had two problems: because of the extreme amount of snow in the city I missed a few turns and arrived later than I had wanted to. There was no parking left at the church so I had to go in search of other places to park and in trying to follow the verbal directions of others I ended up going around the rotary at least three times before I managed to find a parking space on a side street. I wont say my fear is gone but perhaps the introduction of smaller rotaries all over the Maritimes may have inoculated me to this extreme version of it. Of course the once odd traffic rules of the Armdale Rotary have been changed to the standard ones for all traffic circles.
The message of this passage is, in part, that the God of hte Exodus, the God of the wilderness, the God of Jesus if Nazareth is the one who gives life and liberty, unlike the Pharaoh who takes it, poisons it, and manipulates it for his own ends. The Pharaoh used fear and the abuse of powerto enable him to oppress his people and to force them into projects that served to build up the ego of the dynasty for example the pyramids as monuments that oppressive power. The Serpent of the Pharaoh sucked them dry but by looking at another snake, they place their trust in the God of true life and true liberation.
In Lent we journey in such a way that we are able to put away our paralyzing fear and journey while placing our trust in God.
In Lent, we seek to let go of those things we thought we needed but which may very well be sucking the life out of us.
A young girl I baptized about 20 years ago went to university and now has a BSc in a field that would fit her to work in the oil and gas industry; but she felt she could not work for an industry that she saw as causing so much needless pollution. She worked for an environmental group for a while, now she works for a church in youth ministry while she waits for another path to become clear to her. For her, Egypt is not an option.
Let us resist the urge to go back to the seemingly easier, but oppressive life in Egypt (whatever that means for us) and trust in God to lead and direct us to new life, hope and possibility.
Amen.
SERMON NEVER WRITTEN DUE TO SNOW TWO WEEKS IN A ROW
Avon United
Psalm 118
Mark 11: 1-11
Imagine, if you will, it’s the middle of this coming June and the snow is finally ALL gone. You’ve even mowed your lawn, once or twice. You take the day off and go to Truro to get some work done on your car and are out in the car dealer’s loaner, to do some shopping and you encounter a street closure because a parade has broken out! A parade! What parade? There was nothing in the paper yesterday to warn you; there was nothing on the news this morning!
But, there is no denying the excitement! The news of it’s impending arrival passes from smart phone to smart phone as the parade draws ever closer. It’s true! It must be true! It is happening, right here in Nova Scotia - the Toronto Maple Leafs, the recent Stanley Cup winners have decided to have a victory parade in the town of Truro, Nova Scotia. Truro is, of course, the hometown of #22 Zach Sill. The Leafs, is one of the “original six”, and only one team has won the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup more times than they have BUT, and it is a major but, they had not done so since our country turned 100, in 1967. Forty seven long years have come and gone since they won the biggest prize in hockey! Forty Seven long years! It’s time for a parade. Its time for it to all hang out and for people to celebrate this victory. Bring on the Leaf’s jerseys and the blue beer!
As we know there are no parades for the losers in pro sports, even if making it to the final games is a sign of a stupendous season. A planned “homecoming” parade for the Seatle Seahawks, who lost Superbowl XLXIX earlier this year was cancelled after much media attention, a lot of it negative, had been given the event.
If the truth be told. I am no sports fan, and would only go to such a parade if my nephew was on the winning team! But I’m holding my breath for him to make his pro- hockey debut! It is his 4th year in the “Q”! (QJMHL)
We are used to parades for special occasions - a town can have a parade to celebrate the local exhibition, or the arrival of Santa Claus, or, in Charlottetown’s case, a really BIG horse race. Then there are the short parades that are held on Remembrance Day in many Canadian villages and towns in which the legion, the police and the fire department march to the cenotaph to lay wreaths to commemorate the sacrifices of war.
If you want to get from Point A to Point B on that day though, parades can be very irritating. The streets are closed. There are people everywhere! There are usually tourists everywhere; people who don’t know where they are going; people who don’t know that this street is a short-cut or you can NEVER turn left at that corner! It’s as bad as the traffic jam after a fireworks display!
A number of years ago, when I was living in NB, after we saw the election results on TV we heard that our MLA, the NEW PREMIER, was going to grace us with his presence at the local curling club. Even though some assumed the event was only for card carrying party members, I went anyway. I was his minister, after all! As I went in the door I picked up a couple of balloon sticks and could cheer with the best of them when OUR MLA, the new PREMIER entered the building. His handlers did not let him stay long but he was there, we did see him, and people were thrilled. Some of those folks had known his whole family forever! But, as is the custom, and the expectation, he resigned as party leader when they lost the next election.
A few summers ago, when I was on the Island, the local MP invited me personally, along with a few thousand others, to a picnic at his house to meet JUSTIN Trudeau. One of my neighbours, a woman in her 60's, I think, was absolutely ecstatic when she managed to get his autograph. I shook hands with him but the thrill was quite momentary. I was more interested in seeing people I had not seen in a while.
Today, we came to church to see a parade. We hold a Palm Sunday parade of some sort every year! We get those special plants from the local florist and we wave them in the air, like silly children, or like people acting like silly children at a hockey game or a political rally.
Perhaps we came with the hope that the crazy new minister will not make everyone actually take part in the parade; that’s too childish for folks in their 60s, 70s and 80s!
One of the things we ministers are supposed to do today is to tell you the rest of the story of Holy Week because if you don’t come to the special services later this week, and only show up for Easter, you might forget that Jesus was betrayed, convicted and executed as a common criminal in the days between now and next Sunday - we are supposed to call it Palm- Passion Sunday (with passion meaning suffering and death, NOT the other meaning of passion!
But this passage, this week asks us to take a look around and make a kind of assessment. We are reviewing pictures of a crime scene and we are asking, “What is out of place here?”
What is out of place? First of all we have Jesus being hailed as the Messiah! The people were shouting Hosanna, which means “save us now”. They threw their coats on the ground for the donkey and the disciples to walk on. Both are signs of support. The people are ready to get behind him and to overthrow the oppressive Romans. That is what the Messiah is supposed to do and be; a religious political leader; a leader far better than King David had ever thought of being. Israel would be great once again! Their day was coming; it was here!
Yet, here Jesus is on a donkey - poor people rode donkeys. Powerful leaders rode fine horses. A political leader would only ride a donkey if he were coming in peace.
You know, if the people had been paying attention they would have realized that Jesus did not want to seize political power. They would have realized that Jesus wanted a different kind of world, different than the one in which “might was right” and the world in which the powerful were supposed to succeed.
In his short ministry Jesus talked about love. He talked about turning the other cheek. He spent time with the people in society who were outcastes and he did not curry favour with the rich or the powerful. I was reading something about a would be politician who did not “suffer fools gladly” and the comment of the reporter was this, “As we know, politicians have to suffer a lot of fools”. Jesus did not care about their money and their power and the importance they placed on statusand wealth. If anything, he saw these things as barriers to a good relationship with God God and with other people. He liked good food as much as the next person and liked to have a good time, but it seemed to him that those who were living for that and striving for that, at the expense of all else, were missing soemthing very important and they were in danger of losing their souls.
Many people go through the phase of hero worship - young people change the posters on their bedroom walls to reflect what is important in their lives and what they are looking for in life - beauty, money, six-pack abs, fast cars, monster trucks, etc etc. In the movie The Shawshank Redeption a wrongly incarerated Andy Dufresne gets a movie star poster from the prison black market and puts it on the wall of his cell. Over his 17 years in the State Prison Rita Hayworth is transformed into Marilyn Monroe and finally into Raquel Welch, What we don’t know, until the end of the movie, is that these posters do much more than satisfy his need to look at the female form, they hide his escape tunnel, dug inch by by painstaking inch, as he dug towarad freedom.
The question asked of us on Palm Sunday is: Why are we at this parade? Are we here because we were curious and got caught up in the excitement, more or less accidentally?
Are we here because we want Jesus to change the world and GET FOR US prosperity like we had in the good old days, when things were right with the world?
Or are we here because we have experienced the very power of God in his topsy-turvy kind of vision. We want for the world what he speaks of - justice for everyone, not just the ones who can “take it by force”. God’s love for everyine; not just the strong and the ones with the right views!
The real question is not: Where are we today and what are we doing, but the real quesion is, “Where will we be on Thursday and Friday when the others turn against him? Where will we be?
Come, join us for the journey.