Season After Pentecost - Year B -- 2009
Indexed by Date. Sermons for the Season After Pentecost Year B
Isaiah 6: 1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8: 12-17
John 3: 1-17
When I was in my first year at Mount Allison I took a course in New Testament Greek. Since the New Testament had been written in Greek it was considered a good thing for a minister to learn Greek, as all translations tend to loose something in the process of translation. I think that I can say with absolute certainty that it was the hardest course I have ever taken, with the possible exception of trigonometry in grade twelve.
I remember an exam near the end of the year in which we were given a passage to translate: I easily recognized as the first few verses of the story of Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus. I must confess that I was aided more by my knowledge of the passage in English than I was by my mastery of the Greek vocabulary.
At the end of the year I squeaked through with a 50 but encountered Greek again in theological school and was able to earn a B the second time around. When I read a commentary that discusses various translations of a Greek word I have some idea of what they are talking about but I must admit that a great deal of what I have learned has passed into that part of the brain where things can no longer be easily retrieved.
Today’s story from the Gospel according to John is about Jesus and an encounter with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. We don’t know much about this mysterious Nicodemus. He is described as a leader among the Jewish people. He is a Pharisee, which, in Jesus’ day, was a religious sect within Judaism. While it is clear that some Pharisees were in direct opposition to Jesus it is wrong to say that they all were and it is wrong to brand them all as hypocrites. Many were, no doubt, honest and sincere in their search for truth and how they lived out their faith. It is probably fair to say that most were unaware how difficult it was for the average citizen to follow the myriad of laws as they did. As far as Nicodemus is concerned, we are told that he comes to Jesus at under the cover of darkness.
A pastoral charge nearby one of mine once had a minister who was only comfortable visiting at night, after dark. Why? He had served overseas in a country where being Christian was certainly not a way to “win friends and influence people” so as much Christian activity as possible (including a visit from the minister) was done under at night, when the neighbours would not be certain that it was the Christian pastor who was visiting. But in the rural Maritimes, especially in winter, the shut-ins didn’t want to answer the door at night and wanted to go to bed early. They were not afraid of the authorities when the minister’s car was in the driveway in the middle of the day.
The night-time conversation that takes place between Jesus and Nicodemus is probably one of the most well known examples in the Bible of a two people using the same words but in very different ways. It results in an almost total and complete misunderstanding.
Remember that Nicodemus is a Pharisee; a devout man schooled in the scriptures of the people. Here he is, presumably sincerely, trying to find out who this Jesus really is. This question he asks is very important to him. Jesus can perform miracles; how could an evil person do that? Jesus tells him that it is necessary for him to be “born from above”. He needs to set aside the human lenses or values with which he looks at the word and use the lenses or values that come from God.
Of course Nicodemus is a smart cookie. He was not born yesterday. Even though he is a man he knows about a thing or two about birth - it is likely that he has children of his own, or younger brothers and sisters. He know with absolute certainty that it is only possible to be born once.
So he says, “Come on Jesus, get real. That’s impossible. You can’t put a baby back in its mother’s body, let alone a grown-up!” His mind was closed; what Jesus was saying was obviously impossible.
Now, this is where that Greek course I was talking about comes in. Jesus tells him he must be GENNETHE ANOTHEN which is translated in my bible as “born from above”, but when Nicodemus heard the words, he took them very literally. Now, some translations do use “born again” for Jesus’ words but that is not the best translation. The best translation uses the phrase “born from above” as Jesus’ words. He tells Nicodemus that he must be born from above.
Regardless of Jesus exact words, (keeping in mind that the Greek text is a translation anyway - because Jesus spoke Aramaic and not Greek) it is clear that he and Nicodemus are speaking to each other but not truly communicating.
Nicodemus hears the word birth and he thinks of one event - a life beginning event, a one time occurrence, a result of the will and physical act of two people. He decides right of the bat that this second birth is impossible and he says so. What Nicodemus needs to do is to open his mind and think metaphorically.
Re-birth can come as the result of a life experience that changes how we look at things and we know that it happens all the time, and I am not talking about beginning to “believe in Jesus”.
When I first came to this Pastoral Charge I was suffering from what had become almost constant pain in my back and my mobility was increasingly being compromised. Over the previous 2 years many therapies were of no help and many, many tests could not find anything wrong. However, once the MRI revealed what the problem was and how serious it was, I was scheduled for almost immediate surgery. After the surgery it was not long before I knew that the problem was solved and despite some setbacks and the need for physiotherapy I truly felt re-born; I felt as if I had a new lease on life.
I talked to someone the other day who has changed jobs and feels as if a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders - he can see his life in a new way. It is surely an experience of re-birth.
I talked to another person whose divorce has been finalized and who feels like a new person; like a great weight has been lifted from her, like a dark cloud has left her. It is for her an experience of rebirth.
It seems that Jesus is impatient with Nicodemus for his lack of depth and insight. In Jesus’ mind, a teacher of Israel such as Nicodemus really should know these things; if he has really paid attention to what the scriptures has been saying that is!
As I have probably said before, Jesus teachings were all based in the scriptures of his people; based in the faith and ethical stance of his ancestors. These were things that the people, especially some of the leaders, had forgotten and what was necessary was to go back to the beginning, back to the basics of the faith and to start again.
In the days before Jesus various prophets had called the people bak to the life that God had intended. Isaiah, whose call was read from the book that bears his name, was one of these prophets.
In the Gospel of John, among others, we are told that God sent Jesus to show this new way, to bring people back to a new beginning, a fresh start, a re-birth, a birth FROM ABOVE.
There are some who would say that this new birth must happen suddenly; that a Christian must be able to name the day and even the hour. My more conservative and evangelical friends in university used to tell me this all the time but I knew that my experience of growing up in the faith and maturing gradually in my commitment was equally valid.
I would agree that for some people, this “instant and powerful conversion” is the case, but for the majority, spiritual re-birth is clearly a process. And why not, our first birth was a process taking at least 9 months.
For some couples conceiving happens more easily than for others. For some women pregnancy is easier than for others and the same is true of labour and delivery. All of it may require highly specialized medical intervention. And once the baby is out of what our moderator has termed “the sea of mystery” a process of great change and growth happens. Ask any new mom and she will tell you that her baby is “changing every day”. The first smile is recorded; the first words, the first steps, potty training, tying her shoes, learning his a, b.c’s and going off to school and learning to be more and more independent and then in fewer years than that mom can imagine, bringing home her own baby from the hospital.
So just as this first birth was not instant and had some obstacles so this new birth is not. We may struggle with commitment to the Way of Christ, and even when we commit to it, we are meant to grow. We are meant to try new things and sometimes mastering them is a difficult process.
A previous parishioner was a gifted and largely self-taught musician. His mother tells me of the time when he was a teenager, how hard he worked at mastering a certain popular piece of music, it was a gift at which he had to work and work hard.
The Christian faith asks a lot of us and while it promises us a lot, it is a journey that takes all that we have and are. Sometimes we will not do as well as we could, but we have a God who picks us up, dusts us off, and says, “you are ok, you can try again”.
As we live and grow we can undergo changes we never thought possible a few months or years before as we encounter the changing world and life circumstances in which we live. No matter what our age, we are offered re-birth and growth as we encounter the presence of the risen Christ in our midst. May we all experience new life and growth each and every day.
Amen.
1 Samuel 15: 34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5: 6-10, 14-17
Mark 4: 26-34
Mean Mister Mullins was a strange old man who lived in a rundown house. He always wore the same old clothes. He really and truly looked like a scarecrow in his dark pants, dingy white shirt, black coat and old brown hat - that he always wore pulled down until it almost covered his eyes. It cast a shadow on his face, which was covered with scruffy white whiskers. All the kids in his neighbourhood called him, "Mean Mister Mullins." They would ride by on their bikes on their way to school and some would even say “hello” but he never waved or said “hello” back. They assumed that he must be very mean to ignore them like that.
The only place anyone ever saw him was sitting in that old rocking chair on his front porch. And he was there day and night, winter or summer, rocking back and forth. Sometimes during the long summer nights the kids who lived next door would hear the squeaking and creaking of that rocking chair through the open windows. To the children it was really, really creepy.
NO ONE ever visited Mean Mister Mullins. Even the adults only mentioned him when they called his place an “eyesore” and when they complained about “dropping property values”. The house WAS in bad need of painting. The tin roof was rusty, seemed to be full of holes, and he never mowed his yard, which had all kinds of trash, bottles, and cans in it. Most of it had been thrown over the fence by the local kids.
The kids sometimes went into his yard, to steal the pecans that fell from his beautiful pecan tree.
One day one of the kids in the neighbourhood came home with a bunch of his friends, to find that his Grandfather was visiting. Somehow the conversation turned to Mean Mr Mullins looking just like the scarecrow they had made together the previous summer.
His Grandfather became very serious and began to tell a very sad story about a young man with a beautiful wife and a sweet little daughter whom he loved very much. He would rock her to sleep in his rocking chair on the verandah every night. Then he would carry her up the stairs to bed. But one rainy night this man’s wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. Then his Grampie said, “It is a sad story and it is even sadder because your “Mean Mr Mullins” was that young man. He is not very well anymore and he is almost deaf and almost blind.”
The children went outside to sit under the big tree. They were clearly seeing Mean Mr Mullins in a new light. They now thought of him as Sad Mr Mullins, or they tried to!
The next day the children hatched a plan and started enact it.
Months passed. The boy next door to Mr Mullins was just eating his after school snack with his friends and his Grampie, who was visiting again, when a knock came at the door. There standing on the doorstep was “Mean Mr. ..” , oops, “Sad Mr Mullins”. He took off his hat and said, "May I come in?"
He was invited in and then the boy’s Grampie greeted him by his first name. The kids in the neighbourhood never thought that he would actually have a first name, but it was Jacob; Jacob Mullins.
Then he said, “I thought, that I would come over here and see if any of you boys could help me with a mystery. Its been going on for several months. Whenever I get back from town, my grass has been mowed. One day someone even picked up all the trash in my yard. This fall my pecans were missing AGAIN except this time I found a brown bag with some of them in it along with some money. It was resting in my rocking chair on my front porch. And just yesterday I found a big birthday cake on my front porch, but it wasn't my birthday. And do you know it had A HUNDRED AND TWENTY candles on it! Someone must think I'm ancient! Things like that have been happening for months now and I was wondering if any of you knew anything about this?"
The boys looked at each other nervously and then at the grandfather. Finally, after a long pause, the boy’s Grandfather said, "Jacob, you know, I think it might have been angels. I’ve heard that angels do things like that. What do you think?"
After pausing himself, Mr Mullins replied, "Why, yes Henry, now that I think about it, I’ll bet it was a bunch of angels." From a story posted on the PRCL-L preaching list by Rev Bass Mitchell.
Some would call them angels; and some would call them “sowers”, people who plant seeds of faith and service.
When we read Jesus parables as found in the gospels we often think of them as simple and quaint stories of a bygone era. We see them as snapshots of the “way things worked back then” with some kind of moral lesson but, the more you look at them, the more you realize that they all have a twist, or an unexpected ending. Often things DID NOT work that way back then, and all of Jesus’ hearers would have known that! Therefore, their meanings cannot always be easily discerned in Canada in 2009.
When I was a child, mustard was a weed and it was the kind of weed farmers sent their kids out to pick - (before they used herbicides for those kinds of things).
Now, back in Jesus’ day the kind of mustard to which Jesus was referring was a also a noxious weed, and no one would ever plant it deliberately. (Like the ‘bamboo’ that I spent the nine seasons trying to eradicate from my flowerbeds in Rexton).
While a mustard plant is big enough, the ones I pulled from my father’s fields were never big enough for a bird’s nest. So to make a point, Jesus is exaggerating. Actually he’s exaggerating on both ends, - the seeds certainly aren’t the smallest seeds there are, and the plants are not as big as trees. But when you have pulled enough of it out of your fields, it might seem that way.
Apparently the seed for the Lady Slipper, the floral emblem of PEI, is about the size of a speck of dust; the seeds of a pine tree are about the size of a mustard seed and the seeds of a maple tree come encased in their own little set of wings to enable the wind to carry the weeds far and wide! (Show seeds taped to the piece of paper)
They say a watched pot never boils, but I doubt that it’s really true. However it is probably true that a watched seed never sprouts, especially if, like some children, you dig it up at least twice a day to check on its progress! Seeds do their best work in secret.
Sometimes a seed surprises us. Who would think that a tulip would be smaller than an oak tree, if you were just comparing a tulip bulb with an acorn. But just try and cut a bouquet of oak trees to take to a sick friend or a dinner party.
We know that know that with the right amount of sun, moisture, and the right nutrients in the soil each seed contains ALL THAT IS NEEDED to produce the plant that it is intended to produce.
Like human birth and growth, the growth of plants from seed is also a process of development and change that takes time.
So there are easily seen comparisons between Jesus’ view of God’s kingdom and the ways of seeds, sowing and harvest once you think about it in that way. Essentially, when you look at a parable what you have to do is to compare the whole story or situation to the “ways of God’s Kingdom”.
It seems to me that what Jesus could be saying is that this Kingdom is something that happens without much intervention on our part. All we have to do is make things ready and the “plant” grows of its own accord. He is saying that like mustard, the kingdom is a tenacious thing, sometimes appearing in places where we would not welcome it. Sometimes the Kingdom and the ways of God get in the way of OUR lives, OUR goals and OUR ambitions.
Like a small seed resulting in a large bush, in which the birds of the air could make a nest, ( bald eagle, robin or hummingbird) or like a sad old man coming back to community, the kingdom can grow from even the smallest of actions performed in trust and faith. Even though the seed contains all that is needed to produce what is intended, the seed needs the right soil, the right amount of moisture and sunshine and the right temperature. Seeds of certain pine trees will not germinate until exposed to intense forest fire. This ensures the forest will not be destroyed because the trees grow too thickly and also ensure new trees will replace the old after a fire has happened. Certain seeds will not germinate until they have been frozen.
One thing is certain however, most seeds do not plant themselves. Buying a ton of seeds from Veseys will not result in a garden - unless you get out there with your hoe and your bend down and get your hands dirty and poke those little seeds into the ground. They wont grow sitting in the packages.
Jesus’ ministry was all about God’s kingdom; the reality with is both now and not yet; the time when God’s ways and wishes will be fully and completely realized. It’s not all up to us but we can have a part in it; indeed our response to God’s love and actions in our lives is essential.
We can plant many kinds of seeds, but many other factors play a part in the outcome. We aren’t called to worry about that part. Our part is to plant. Our part is to pray the prayer. Our part is to lift our voice in song. Our part is to bake the cake, to take the flowers, to do the errand, to make the phone call, to change our life in just that one little way, to seek to be a planter of seeds large and small whenever the opportunity arises.
We are called to do so needing only to believe that the smallest of seeds or the largest will produce what has been intended for them.
Amen.
1 Samuel 17: 1a,4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Psalm 9
2 Corinthians 6: 1-13
Mark 4: 35-41
Back when I was on my first pastoral charge we had a Vacation Bible School in one of the four churches and the curriculum we were using had a song about David and Goliath. We sang, “Only a boy named David, only a little sling...” There was a boy named David in the Bible School that summer; I think he was about three. He had a big smile on his face when we sang the song and the teachers, most of them relatives, always made a big deal of that being his name when we sang it. They wanted him to feel special even though he was very young - and from the smile on his face, I am sure he did.
I doubt though that we wanted him to take the story too literally, and use a slingshot to pelt adults with stones when he dud not get his way. Whatever it meant, it was NOT a story to emulate - - even if you were attacked by a nine foot tall soldier.
Many people, especially those of us who have grown up post-1960's, have a great deal of difficulty with the divinely sanctioned violence of the Old Testament. We would rather forget that the “land of promise” was taken by military force from the people who already lived there and this action was said to be sanctioned by God. We should not be surprised that the Philistines would defend their territory and make use of every “advantage”, even if it was a giant of a man.
In any armed conflict, soldiers are killed as well as many innocent civilians and property and crops are heavily damaged, sometimes deliberately. War has a certain kind of organization to it; and ways of doing things. Wars become especially difficult when one side operates by different rules and when strategies and weapons systems change and develop.
In the story of the “calming of the storm” we find that Jesus has decided to cross the sea at night and when a storm comes up the disciples are afraid for their lives. They are saved from their fear and from drowning by the power of their teacher Jesus. What are we to make of this story? Are we to take it literally and depend on this today? Should we take to sea without the proper equipment when a storm has been predicted, or in their case, cross the sea at night when a storm was almost certain.
We CAN take these stories as history; as events to be left in the past. “That was then, in ‘Bible Times’, this is now” OR we can take them just as literally believing that “God is on our side” and will ensure victory, or save from drowning those “in peril on the sea”.
Since we know that this does not always happen - are we to assume that the losers and the “lost at sea” are the “unfaithful ones”? I hope not!
We need to realize that taking these stories too literally actually removes their power for us. We need to see them as a part of our faith story so that they can retain their power as the story of God’s amazing care for the people despite the power and obstacles that are encountered.
When we look at the story of David we find an almost comical contrast between the hardened soldier, the mighty Goliath of Gath and the boy David, though capable, a mere boy. The writer goes to great lengths to make certain that the readers know the boy David is totally defenceless against the man whose armour weighs that much. Going against a giant with a slingshot is no way to win, is it?
But the point of the story for future generations is that the future King David is not going against Goliath with just a child’s slingshot; he is going in faith and trust. The story tells us that David most certainly could not have won on his own, but with God and with faith, the victory was assured.
The others, trained soldiers like his brothers, were intimidated and afraid. They knew the odds; they had been trained in combat. They knew that they did not stand a chance against the likes of Goliath.
Some of you may have watched the movie, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and remember the battle that is close to the end of the movie. It seems at first that the children and their companions are vastly outnumbered and sure to lose, but they have the great lion, Aslan on their side. When the white witch is killed all the others disappear into thin air. The children from Finchley are given their true titles as princes and princesses of Narnia.
The disciples are in the boat and crossing the sea. It is important to note that they are crossing to gentile territory, “across the sea”, and not sailing up or down the coast, to another Jewish port, to familiar and safe territory. Not only is their journey perilous, but so is the destination.
I can imagine the conversation, between their efforts to keep the boat afloat: “trim the sails”, “Why did we listen to him , it was a bad day to sail”, “turn into the wind”, “he’s a carpenter, not a fisherman”, “get a hold of that rudder”, “he’s asleep, did you realize”, “get a hold of that rudder, I said, “If I drown tonight I’m gonna give that Jesus a piece of my mind, let me tell you”. I can just hear it. Fear mixed with anger, with the “I told you so’s” of conflict and sheer desperation.
It seems to me that both of these stories are primarily about faithfulness and discipleship in the midst of what seem like incredible odds. Considering the size of Goliath, what could be more incredible than a mere boy defeating him with a small stone. Considering the animosity between Jews and gentiles, who in their right mind would cross those boundaries and go to those on the “other side” with the good news.
Yet there are those who dare to come up against the forces that inhibit life and freedom and faithfulness. When I was a university student we studied the struggle for freedom from the system of Apartheid in South Africa and we heard reports of those killed trying to climb the Berlin Wall and we thought that neither would ever be gone. Today, both are becoming history.
While it is humanitarian and not religious, the organization Médecins sans frontières, or “Doctors Without Borders” has done incredible work in dangerous conditions to bring basic medical care to war zones, and situations of disaster or extreme poverty because they believe that everyone deserves basic medical care. No doubt, some of the medical personnel work in that situation because of personal faith. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for this work.
The church faces incredible odds these days. We are no longer the power and force in society we once were. We cannot live as if we were, but we cannot allow ourselves to be absorbed into oblivion either. We still have a contribution to make. We still have a witness to offer. We are still called by the one who also equips.
In 1925 three small Canadian denominations decided to work together to further the cause of the gospel in this enormous country where people were few and there was much diversity. There could not be three churches in every town and there was envisioned a unified church which could embrace the diversity that was part of the life of the community. It was the the faithful and right solution for 1925 despite the difficulties and conflicts encountered in the early years.
We are at a similar time of refashioning and decision making as a denomination. We have too many buildings for the number of people who are part of the life and work of our church. We have a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done and we need to decide how to make most faithful use of our resources. They are not easy decisions, on the national or on the local level. Our Mission and Service Fund givings have not increased in any real way in many years but we know what has happened to the cost of living. The same is true in our local communities and churches. Fewer people are asked to do the same, or even more, with less money.
We can contemplate a certain outreach project, for example. We can get all the facts and weigh the pros and cons; we may become discouraged and feel that we cannot do what we need to because there is too much against us. We can sit down defeated and do nothing, or we can “think outside the box” (a very popular expression but also a valuable skill) and throw aside the armour of others, the ways and traditions of past battles and go forward in faith. David found the king’s armour too heavy and cumbersome so he chose just what he needed, stones and a slingshot.
We need to make some choices about what we choose to take on and the way is not always clear. How we will do this is not always clear. We may worry about failure, but we need to believe that if we act in faith and trust we will find that giants fall to the ground and storms are stilled and that we have known the presence and care of Almighty God. And what else could we ask.
Amen!
1 Samuel 17: 1a,4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Psalm 9
2 Corinthians 6: 1-13
Mark 4: 35-41
Back when I was on my first pastoral charge we had a Vacation Bible School in one of the four churches and the curriculum we were using had a song about David and Goliath. We sang, “Only a boy named David, only a little sling...” There was a boy named David in the Bible School that summer; I think he was about three. He had a big smile on his face when we sang the song and the teachers, most of them relatives, always made a big deal of that being his name when we sang it. They wanted him to feel special even though he was very young - and from the smile on his face, I am sure he did.
I doubt though that we wanted him to take the story too literally, and use a slingshot to pelt adults with stones when he dud not get his way. Whatever it meant, it was NOT a story to emulate - - even if you were attacked by a nine foot tall soldier.
Many people, especially those of us who have grown up post-1960's, have a great deal of difficulty with the divinely sanctioned violence of the Old Testament. We would rather forget that the “land of promise” was taken by military force from the people who already lived there and this action was said to be sanctioned by God. We should not be surprised that the Philistines would defend their territory and make use of every “advantage”, even if it was a giant of a man.
In any armed conflict, soldiers are killed as well as many innocent civilians and property and crops are heavily damaged, sometimes deliberately. War has a certain kind of organization to it; and ways of doing things. Wars become especially difficult when one side operates by different rules and when strategies and weapons systems change and develop.
In the story of the “calming of the storm” we find that Jesus has decided to cross the sea at night and when a storm comes up the disciples are afraid for their lives. They are saved from their fear and from drowning by the power of their teacher Jesus. What are we to make of this story? Are we to take it literally and depend on this today? Should we take to sea without the proper equipment when a storm has been predicted, or in their case, cross the sea at night when a storm was almost certain.
We CAN take these stories as history; as events to be left in the past. “That was then, in ‘Bible Times’, this is now” OR we can take them just as literally believing that “God is on our side” and will ensure victory, or save from drowning those “in peril on the sea”.
Since we know that this does not always happen - are we to assume that the losers and the “lost at sea” are the “unfaithful ones”? I hope not!
We need to realize that taking these stories too literally actually removes their power for us. We need to see them as a part of our faith story so that they can retain their power as the story of God’s amazing care for the people despite the power and obstacles that are encountered.
When we look at the story of David we find an almost comical contrast between the hardened soldier, the mighty Goliath of Gath and the boy David, though capable, a mere boy. The writer goes to great lengths to make certain that the readers know the boy David is totally defenceless against the man whose armour weighs that much. Going against a giant with a slingshot is no way to win, is it?
But the point of the story for future generations is that the future King David is not going against Goliath with just a child’s slingshot; he is going in faith and trust. The story tells us that David most certainly could not have won on his own, but with God and with faith, the victory was assured.
The others, trained soldiers like his brothers, were intimidated and afraid. They knew the odds; they had been trained in combat. They knew that they did not stand a chance against the likes of Goliath.
Some of you may have watched the movie, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and remember the battle that is close to the end of the movie. It seems at first that the children and their companions are vastly outnumbered and sure to lose, but they have the great lion, Aslan on their side. When the white witch is killed all the others disappear into thin air. The children from Finchley are given their true titles as princes and princesses of Narnia.
The disciples are in the boat and crossing the sea. It is important to note that they are crossing to gentile territory, “across the sea”, and not sailing up or down the coast, to another Jewish port, to familiar and safe territory. Not only is their journey perilous, but so is the destination.
I can imagine the conversation, between their efforts to keep the boat afloat: “trim the sails”, “Why did we listen to him , it was a bad day to sail”, “turn into the wind”, “he’s a carpenter, not a fisherman”, “get a hold of that rudder”, “he’s asleep, did you realize”, “get a hold of that rudder, I said, “If I drown tonight I’m gonna give that Jesus a piece of my mind, let me tell you”. I can just hear it. Fear mixed with anger, with the “I told you so’s” of conflict and sheer desperation.
It seems to me that both of these stories are primarily about faithfulness and discipleship in the midst of what seem like incredible odds. Considering the size of Goliath, what could be more incredible than a mere boy defeating him with a small stone. Considering the animosity between Jews and gentiles, who in their right mind would cross those boundaries and go to those on the “other side” with the good news.
Yet there are those who dare to come up against the forces that inhibit life and freedom and faithfulness. When I was a university student we studied the struggle for freedom from the system of Apartheid in South Africa and we heard reports of those killed trying to climb the Berlin Wall and we thought that neither would ever be gone. Today, both are becoming history.
While it is humanitarian and not religious, the organization Médecins sans frontières, or “Doctors Without Borders” has done incredible work in dangerous conditions to bring basic medical care to war zones, and situations of disaster or extreme poverty because they believe that everyone deserves basic medical care. No doubt, some of the medical personnel work in that situation because of personal faith. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for this work.
The church faces incredible odds these days. We are no longer the power and force in society we once were. We cannot live as if we were, but we cannot allow ourselves to be absorbed into oblivion either. We still have a contribution to make. We still have a witness to offer. We are still called by the one who also equips.
In 1925 three small Canadian denominations decided to work together to further the cause of the gospel in this enormous country where people were few and there was much diversity. There could not be three churches in every town and there was envisioned a unified church which could embrace the diversity that was part of the life of the community. It was the the faithful and right solution for 1925 despite the difficulties and conflicts encountered in the early years.
We are at a similar time of refashioning and decision making as a denomination. We have too many buildings for the number of people who are part of the life and work of our church. We have a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done and we need to decide how to make most faithful use of our resources. They are not easy decisions, on the national or on the local level. Our Mission and Service Fund givings have not increased in any real way in many years but we know what has happened to the cost of living. The same is true in our local communities and churches. Fewer people are asked to do the same, or even more, with less money.
We can contemplate a certain outreach project, for example. We can get all the facts and weigh the pros and cons; we may become discouraged and feel that we cannot do what we need to because there is too much against us. We can sit down defeated and do nothing, or we can “think outside the box” (a very popular expression but also a valuable skill) and throw aside the armour of others, the ways and traditions of past battles and go forward in faith. David found the king’s armour too heavy and cumbersome so he chose just what he needed, stones and a slingshot.
We need to make some choices about what we choose to take on and the way is not always clear. How we will do this is not always clear. We may worry about failure, but we need to believe that if we act in faith and trust we will find that giants fall to the ground and storms are stilled and that we have known the presence and care of Almighty God. And what else could we ask.
Amen!
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
Mark 5: 21-43
What Did You Expect?
It was one of those places prone to flooding, but they had not experienced a catastrophic flood in almost 40 years. This year seemed to be destined to be different. The ice was not melting as fast as it should and ice jams were forming. Everyone knew that once an ice jam had occurred a flood was certain. To top it all off the rain had been unusually heavy and it had rained for days and days. So it was not surprising that the EMO had issued a flood warning and an evacuation order. The fire department and the RCMP went from door to door telling the residents they had to leave within the hour.
Everyone left except one woman who had always been a pillar of her church and the entire community. She was always there with food for the bereaved and food for the church supper and offers to drive people to visit sick relatives in faraway hospitals or to look after their children when they were on one of those visits.
She stayed because she believed God would protect her, she was, after all, God’s servant.
The water rose so that the road was flooded. A firefighter came by in a canoe and asked her if she wanted a ride to safety. She declined.
The water rose so that her lawn was submerged and her garage and basement were becoming wet. A woman from the search and rescue team came by in a motorboat with the same offer. She again declined saying that God would protect her and rescue her if it was needed.
The water rose again so much so that she was forced to sit on the roof of her verandah. Her first floor was completely submerged. A police helicopter came by and offered to take her to the evacuation centre so she would be with her friends. Again she assured the would-be rescuer that she was trusting in God and waiting for God to rescue her if it was needed.
Night fell, the waters rose and hurricane force winds came up. The woman was swept off of her roof and was drowned.
She arrived at the pearly gates and was admitted to heaven. Once “in” she said to St Peter, “I’d like to talk to God. I’m cranky with him.”
“Why”, asked an incredulous St Peter.
“Well, God promised that if I was ever in trouble all I needed to do was to pray and I would be rescued. God did not rescue me and I drowned! I have a serious issues about that!”
St Peter shook his head and said, “Well God sent two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”
In our gospel for today, Jesus was having one of “those days”; one task was not finished before the next request was plopped down in front of him, (or in this case, touching his robes). If he was the minister of a church in 2009 he would be responding to an email request for help and trying to answer the door, the office phone and his cell all at the same time, and not having had a chance to eat his lunch. Each request would be of equal urgency and importance. Even Jesus could not be in two places at once. We are told that when he started out on a journey to help one family whose child was gravely ill he was waylaid by another person whose condition not only could not be discussed in polite company, but also would have made her “ritually unclean” for as many years as it had afflicted her. Jesus has time for her and she is cured, but more importantly she is healed. There is a big difference. She had spent years going to doctors who were only good at taking her money and he life would have been extremely limited. Jesus treated her as a valued person; that would have meant as much to her.
In the end both the girl and the woman receive what they need - and they are restored to life and to community.
We can read biblical stories such as the healing of the daughter of Jairus and the woman with “one of those women’s things” and we can assume that God is ignoring us when we do not receive the cure we want or our loved one dies.
I read a powerful story this past week In a prcl-l posting by the Rev Bass Mitchell about a minister new to a community and a woman, the salt of the earth in that community who prayed for her son every day, using what she called “The Prayer of Jairus”, which was simply, “‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” except that she substituted the name of her son for that of the daughter of Jairus.
She told the new minister that her son had sunk into a deep depression after the death of his wife and an accident which took the life of his eleven year old daughter. Since that time he has been consumed by anger, bitterness and guilt and was barely able to function. In the coming months the new minister prayed that same prayer often with the elderly mother and attempted to visit her son a number of times, each time inviting him to church. He also sent him a note.
Then one Sunday he came to church, for the fist time since his beloved daughter’s funeral, and the sermon was on this passage. Each person who attended that day was invited to take a piece of cloth that represented the hem of Jesus’ robe and hold it as a promise of healing.
A few days later the man came to the manse. He told that the minister that he had come back to the church after everyone had gone home and had taken a piece of that cloth. He lay down with the cloth and cried and cried. Finally he fell asleep on the living room sofa with the cloth in his hand and he had a dream in which his little daughter told her father that she was with Jesus and that she and her Mom were OK and that they would be together again some day. The man told the minister that he was now able to forgive himself, to forgive the driver whose car had killed his daughter and to reconnect with his mother.
Even though his wife and daughter were still gone he was able to trust them to God and he found reason to live once again.
But, the miracle of his healing did not happen “all by itself”, or “out of the blue”. Even with his mother’s prayers and the efforts of the minister he had to make an effort himself. He had to act on the prompting of the Spirit, on the care and concern he knew existed on his behalf by his mother and this new, young minister. He had to make the step to go to church that morning and then to go back to the empty church that afternoon and take the piece of cloth. He had to reach out and ask for help and for healing; it did not come to him when he was closed to it and unwilling to receive it.
Pause
We often think of miracles as things that happen like they did on the 1970's tv show, “Bewitched”. Samantha wiggles her nose and all of a sudden there is a giraffe in the backyard, and when the birthday party for her daughter is over a similar wiggle of the nose sends the poor disoriented animal back to Africa.
I don’t think there is a single instance in the gospels in which Jesus heals someone who has not requested it. He does not go about seeking out those who are sick or dying or blind or deaf and healing them, but only acts when they, or a distraught relative, seek him out and ask for it.
I think that part of the message of the gospel is that we must participate in our own growth and healing. We have a part to play, whether it is large or small. So called “12 Step” and “self help” groups can and do work miracles in people’s lives, but often the first step in this kind of miracle takes a realization that there is a problem, that something needs to be done, and the one who “has” the problem is the only one who can do that work of change and growth. The group is there for valuable help and support, but not to do the work FOR the person in need.
Quite often we confuse healing and cure when it comes to miracles. We pray for our affliction, or our child’s affliction, to go away. We pray for a change in circumstances to occur - for the price of lobster to go up, or for the rain to come so that the crop will not dry up.
There are a number of bracelets out with initials on them: WWJD- What Would Jesus Do; FROG - Fully Relying on God; and PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens, are the three most popular. Often we pray for a cure when what we need is a healing; often we tell God what we want but we do not leave ourselves open to what God is doing in our lives, or is seeking to do.
One of the things we often overlook in terms of interpreting this passage is the interruption itself. Too often we are on our way to do one thing, maybe even the work of God, and we are waylaid by someone in need or some other work of God that needs doing. Quite often it is in the interruptions that we also encounter the holy. If we plan our schedule in such a way that we leave no room for holy encounters we may miss valuable insights, growth, and opportunities for service and to discover God’s grace.
We are called to reach out to God and to participate in our own growth and healing. We are called to pray with conviction but not with a closed mind. As we pray and open ourselves to the work of God’s Spirit, we may receive answers that we weren’t expecting, and it would be sad if we missed it because we were expecting something else.
God comes to us offering life and health and wishes for us fullness of life. Let us reach out and seek that to come to pass; let us seek to be agents of the true life for others and let us be ever open to the winds of the Spirit which seeks to move us in directions we never thought possible.
Amen!
2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12: 2-10
Mark 6: 1-13
On The Move
This is moving week for clergy serving many different protestant denominations in North America (not just the United Church of Canada.) Many ministers move at this time of year and many congregations and ministers are introducing themselves to one another on this very Sunday. There will be surprises on both sides, I suspect.
It has been just two years since I came here; back to PEI where I was born and raised but where I had not lived full time since 1981 when I went away to university. While I began full time ministry in 1987, I did not even consider coming to PEI until I had been in ministry for a number of years. Some people were perplexed and must have been asking, “why wouldn’t an Islander just be itching to get back home?” or “What real Islander could stay away so long?” I suppose that I was afraid that certain members of my family would always be commenting on how I was doing in my churches - because I know everything that went on would get back to them through the PEI grapevine - because, everyone knows everyone on PEI and if they don’t, they know someone who does.
Another reason, I suppose was that I did not want to be greeted with, “Oh you are Mark’s little girl”, or “You’re Frank’s sister aren’t you?”, or “I hear you’re from Suffolk.” Or “My nephew was in your class in high school. He’s told me ALL about you.” I thought this “knowing” would come with pre- conceived notions and expectations that I would not be able or prepared to fulfill. I suspect I could also have interpreted all of that to mean, “Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? What do you know?”
Yet, when 2007 rolled around, I was ready to come home, or at least somewhat close to home, and I knew who I was, apart from who I used to be, before I left the Island. Being associate with my family isn’t usually a bad thing these days!
(Pause)
We are from the smallest province in Canada and we are part of a relatively poor region of Canada. We all know that famous and important people have to come from somewhere else - like Ontario or Quebec? Right? Yet, on Thursday the country laid to rest the Rt. Hon. Romeo LeBlanc, the only one of our Governors- General to come from the Maritimes. He came from Memramcook, a small village near Moncton, which I think has been described by Marc Lalonde as a small place “at the end of nowhere”. (Actually I’ve been there and driven by the exits to the village hundreds of times, so, with due respect to the Hon. Mr. Lalonde, it’s not THAT isolated!) Someone like him, a mere Maritimer, could not possibly become the queen’s representative, could he? (Pause) But he did and he was.
The itinerant preacher, Jesus came to his hometown of Nazareth and on the Sabbath he preached in his home synagogue. (Now, as for me I would still rather preach to five hundred strangers than to 50 or so in my “home” church.)
At first the congregation of neighbours and family were amazed. And why not? He had done well for himself. Here he was, the kid next door, all grown up. As far as we know Jesus had little formal education. On this day he obviously spoke well. He probably read the scripture well. Most congregations know a really good reader when they hear one! Jesus would have been reading the scriptures in their language of worship, Hebrew. No doubt they would all have been saying, “my, how he has grown!” “We just knew he would make a good preacher when he stayed behind in Jerusalem that Passover time!” “ How they worried about him!” “Joseph would be so proud if he could see him now”, or “Hummm, I wonder if my daughter knows how handsome he has become?”
After he read the scripture he would have sat down to interpret the passage for the day. It was probably at this point that something changed. We are told that they “took offense” at him. Luke’s gospel relates this, or a similar incident, gives us more details about the sermon and then tells us that the congregation heard his words and was “filled with rage”.
Maybe it was who he was or was not. Perhaps Mary and Joseph were not from a prominent enough family. Perhaps they were “from the wrong end of the village” and people did not consider them to have the proper bloodline to produce a rabbi.
I don’t think though that this would produce either offence or rage. Most likely it was the content of the sermon. Why? What could he have said in a sermon that was so upsetting?
One Sunday a few years ago my dad told me “well people don’t pay much attention to sermons anyway!” I did not remind him of the time, when I was just a teenager, and we had a guest preacher that irritated him greatly because of his views on the arms race. Dad was listening that day, for sure!
I suppose that when you are a guest preacher for just one Sunday you can get away with almost anything, but when you are preaching in your home church you should probably stick to safe topics, rather than be strongly prophetic or ask people to take the biblical passages seriously enough to consider changing their own lives or the community, the country or the world. That’s not something the home-grown preacher is supposed to do - but they can do it so well because the home-grown preacher knows them so well! The home grown preacher knows the heart of hope and the heart of despair that beats in each chest. The home grown preacher knows the dashed disappointments and crushing tragedies that have been experienced by people as close as his own family. The home grown preacher knows this; yet dare, s to make the gospel relevant and challenging and comforting and prophetic. Of course preachers “from away” can as well, but the people can easily dismiss it, saying, “that preacher don’t know us”.
Interestingly, the verb used in the text for “take offense” is the same word as can be used for those who begin to follow but then fall away, or those who start walking but then stumble and do not finish the journey. It would be the same word as used in explanation offered for the parable of the sower.
Maybe they said to themselves, “He should know better.” He should know that these things are just pipe dreams designed to keep us hoping. We can’t afford those kinds of pipe dreams. He should know better; he might as well learn now as later.
So while it might have sounded attractive at first, maybe they turned away because, to them, Jesus could not possibly be anything other than the kid next door. He could not possibly have a word of true hope. The scriptures could not possibly have a message that could change their lives completely. No, it’s better not to listen too much; its better to just go through the motions, to put your head down and get by. It’s harder, in the end, if you have great expectations. Just keep your religious hopes focussed on the world of heaven and we can get through this life - that’s the safe way.
If you expect something more - then that opens a whole world of problems along with the possibilities. Then everyone has to start taking the message of Good News seriously. Then it matters, to everyone and what everyone does in this life matters.
I think that some of the problem is that we often equate faithfulness with those things that other people do - clergy especially (because they have no choice but to be really religious) - people who are able to go off and do mighty and important things for God - (such as medical missionaries) (teachers and aid workers in poor countries and war zones) but despite the fact that we think PEI is the centre of the universe we know that really important work such as bringing in the kingdom of God cannot be done by ordinary folks like us, in the midst of our ordinary lives as retired folks on the old age pension, or ordinary working people, students or children.
Perhaps we don’t think we can do anything vital; perhaps we don’t think our God is powerful enough; perhaps we don’t want to take more time for God than this one hour a week - if we can fit it in!
What wee find when we search the scriptures is that what is required of us is quite a bit more: God wants a 24/7 commitment - BUT NOT instead of our regular lives, but in the midst of our regular lives - overshadowing and undergirding our lives. We need to live, eat and breathe faith. What we need to do is to live our whole lives in the light of the gospel, whether we be plumbers or preachers.
Part of the problem with the religious elites in Jesus’ was that they imposed religious observances that only a full-time observer could manage, but Jesus did not advocate part time faithfulness. His model of faithfulness was a model that informed and undergirded and expanded one’s every day life - not something that replaced it.
I know a lot of folks who equate faithfulness with avoiding sin. They say, “Well at least I have never done ........ (and they lists a few of what they consider major sins) - and everyone’s list is a little different! But that is not what the Gospel tells us - keeping our nose clean is hardly anything more than a negative achievement. I have never murdered anyone or committed adultery, but so what!
It’s not what we haven’t done but how we have lived out the faith that lives in our hearts and souls. Do we serve a God of fear so that our only goal is to avoid punishment or do we serve and God of grace who calls us to be the change we would like to see in the world.
Jesus knew the people to whom he was preaching on that day and, no doubt, the message struck very close to home. The message is still as alive and as relevant as it was 2000 years ago, but it is a message in which we must participate, actively.
Are you willing to make the journey?
Amen!
2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12:13a
Psalm 51
Ephesians 4: 1-16
John 6: 24-35
I am sure you all remember the story by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, titled “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” In case you have forgotten, it is the story of a very vain emperor who was swindled by a couple of crafty tailors. To make a long story short they promised him a set of the most exquisite clothing but warned him that they were magic and anyone unfit for his position would be unable to see the fine fabric. The king could not see them but, of course, he certainly could not admit that fact and no one else would either, Only one young child had the courage to shout out, “The emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.” Everyone knew he was naked but no one would say, no one, that is, but a child.
As we heard last week, the great King David had sinned, not once, but at least twice, and he thought he had gotten away with it. He had not!
It seems clear to me that the story of David and Bathsheba is not really about sex per se but about the abuse of power; As an ancient ruler, the mighty King David had the power of life and death over his subjects and he used it to his advantage, which included using his power over this woman. But instead of open abuse of his power, David tried to engineer a massive cover-up. I trust that your heard part one of the story last week. Poor Uriah did everything by the book and he paid with his life.
In this story Bathsheba had no active role, she is nothing but a pawn, a possession, the object of David’s desire.
This week we continue with the story; we aren’t finished with it yet.
The passage we are discussing today is about the power of story. In this passage, the prophet Nathan is a man who has the courage to tell truth to power; he has the courage to hold this story up to David and to explain it so that David can see in it his sin, and repent. The story Nathan came up with was a seemingly innocent one. David listened intently and immediately knew right from wrong; he knew the man who had taken the poor man’s pet lamb deserved to be punished because he had done something unconscionable; a rich man had stolen the valued property of another in order to please his friends and fulfil his duty of hospitality, without it costing him anything.
David’s sin with Bathsheba was at least one abuse of power. David’s army was at war but he was not with them. He was enjoying the finer things of life while his soldiers were in harm’s way and being deprived of the luxuries of home and hearth. That was another abuse of power. The third was the thinly veiled coverup that he engineered. There are probably others, but we’ll stop there.
David’s Kingdom was probably just like PEI, in that everyone would know who the child’s father really was. Everyone in the army would know why Uriah had been deliberately abandoned in battle. But it was a policy of “don’t ask and don’t tell”. Ev eryone knew that following this policy gave everyone involved a better chance of surviving. The king’s will was law and he made the rules to conform to his wishes.
Yet, there was to Nathan and others, “something wrong with this picture”.
At its founding, the vision for the kingdom of Israel was different than that of the other nations. In this kingdom the law of God was, among other things, to prevent the abuse of power; in the kingdom of Israel, even the mighty and powerful king; anointed by God, was not above the law.
So Nathan went to David and told him so. Nathan was crafty and wise though. He had to make David convict himself! He told David a story. It is a story in which the sin is egregious and obvious and David is quick to condemn the perpetrator.
It’s easy, isn’t it, to see both small and glaring faults in another. It’s much, much harder to see them in ourselves. It’s harder to see them in ourselves, because, well because, we can usually justify all of our actions. It’s harder because we don’t want to see those faults!
Too often we look at the scriptures and the “thou shalt nots” and we use them as a weapon, AGAINST others. We decide what the church should and should not approve, based on what is, or seems very clear, in the Bible. And we use the rules to restrict the lives of others and in the process we make ourselves feel better.
What happens though when we begin to regard the Bible as a mirror which reflects back to us our very soul? What if we looked at the difficult stories of the Bible and saw our true selves?
Toward the end of the 18th century the famous poet Robert Burns sat in church and noticed that the large hat of the woman in front of him was home to a louse. Never wanting to let a good idea go to waste, he wrote a poem TO the louse and its final verse begins with some very familiar words, “O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us /To see oursels as others see us”.
“Wouldn’t it be great if God would give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us”, even if that would change us from a fine lady with a fine hat, into a lady with head lice!
Just because we have power and just because we are in charge does not excuse our abusive actions when we take too much for ourselves or walk all over people to get what we want.
Our task as a people of faith is twofold: we are to speak truth to power AND we are to see in the story our own abuse of power and repent.
In the last number of years the United Church has been walking the road of repentance with regard to our relationships with the First Peoples of our land. We have had to do some deep soul searching with regard to just why it was that we participated in the residential school system. While our racism was partially well intentioned, it was, nevertheless, racism and we know it has no place in the church or a just society.
Last summer I had the privilege being in the midst of many First Nations people as we all watched the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Stephen Harper deliver Canada’s apology to our First Nations Peoples. There was great joy on the faces of many that day; but yet there was in their eyes a memory of great pain.
The residential schools in particular and our treatment of First Nations Peoples were an abuse of power in which we took what did not belong to us. We treated First nations people abominably and we justified it often as evangelism and saving their souls. We assumed we and our culture were superior and that we were justified in taking what we wanted - whether or not it was offered.
Like David, we cannot undo what has been done; we cannot give the First Nations people back their land and move to the countries of our ancestors, but we need to live a life of repentance and from now on, live new lives of respect and justice. Remember, repentance is not beating ourselves over the head, wearing a hair shirt and feeling badly about something. Repentance is about resolving to continue our journey in a new way and by new values and principles.
One of the issues with which the church has been dealing of late is the issue of empire. The global economy has made it next to impossible for our farmers to market their products at a fair price. We are importing food we can grow ourselves but I really doubt that those who grow this food are getting a fair price either. Multinationals are clearing the Amazon rainforest to raise cheap beef for our hamburger restaurants while our farmers are going broke and the planet is suffering. Our exotic fruits and vegetables are produced by workers who earn starvation wages and who receive no protection from the chemicals used to keep the crop pest and weed free. Our food distribution system is all messed up but one of the problems with speaking truth to empire is that we must acknowledge that we are also benefactors of these systems. In this instance we are both Nathan and David. This does not mean we should stop speaking but we need to realize that we speak also to ourselves.
As Christian community we need to make the difficult journey of living life in two camps. As we welcome another child into the family of God we welcome someone who will be challenged to speak the truth of God’s love to the power of the world. We are the community which challenges self-serving with self-giving; we are the community that proclaims that despair can give way to true happiness and that life comes from death.
As we participate in the Sacrament of Baptism, as parents and as congregation let us all remember the high and holy calling which beckons us onward.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.