Unbound: See I am Making All Things New

 When was the last time you saw a roadside memorial or put flowers or teddy bear at a pop-up memorial?

After the death of a young woman at the Halifax Walmart, it didn’t take long for a public memorial to form. In the parking lot around a light standard there are flowers, and teddy bears, and cards. Placed there by people from the wider community, not knowing the girl, but needing to do something with the emotions being felt.  

 

When was the last time you took yourself on a date?

Every year, on the same day, I take myself out or do something special for my non-birthday. A non-birthday is any day but, your actual birthday. I have chosen a date that I celebrate my non-birthday. I celebrate me. I go on a date with myself.

 

When was the last time you asked your friends to talk about you?

This past week I saw an episode of Blue Bloods. The main characters are in one family, a family that gets together for Sunday dinner. At dinner the grandfather shares a story about a funeral he attended for a friend. Lots of nice things were said about the friend, but he felt sad afterward because his friend didn’t get to hear all that was said. So, the grandfather asked those gathered around the table to participate in a ‘living wake.’ Everyone around the table shared what they would say if they were at grandpa’s wake right then.

 

Welcoming disquieted emotions. Dating yourself. And living wakes.

 

For the past week I have been thinking about grief and sadness, considering those who have lost loved ones this year, and those living in amplified scenarios of violence, war, climate events, and restrictive regimes. What words of good news can be preached into hearts wrapped in grief and spirits saturated in sadness?

 

In my role as pastor, I have stood by, sat with, accompanied, prayed for, prayed with, guided, supported, wanted to support, those who are grieving, those who carry sadness from all kinds of loss. My professional opinion is that grief and sadness are always with us, each of us. Just as connection and happiness are always with us, each of us. In a manner of speaking, we share a dinner table, where over the course of the meal some speak more or louder than others. Some days sadness gets the floor, other times connection, and so on. What I have learned from listening to people and participating in the grief journeys of others is that people have unrealistic expectations, are often swallowed up by fear, and people are not compassionate with themselves. Unrealistic expectations. How do we get it into our heads that grief is a set of stages that fall in sequential order and can be ticked off once complete? How do we come to believe that life will settle out and resemble what it used to be and go back to normal?

Swallowed by fear. Why are we so afraid of crying in public? Why do we feel guilty for what the ifs or what we should/could have done? Why do we feel shame that others will find out we are not coping, or that we are grieving different or too slow? Why do we feel a need to keep busy so we don’t feel emotions or lack the thereof? Why do we dread future days and how we will be, when those days aren’t even here?

Not compassionate with ourselves. Where does that feeling of having to do something come from? Where did we get the idea that we just need to be stronger or pull ourselves together? Where did we loss compassion for ourselves and not allow ourselves a stay in bed day, or the permission to be sad?

 

If I was to write a book about the journey of grief it would have three sections: Welcoming disquieted emotions, dating yourself, and living wakes.

In my ponderings, two phrases specifically spoke to me from this morning’s scriptures:

Speaking to the mourners at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go. Jn 11: 44

In the summation of Revelation, the author has God say, See, I am making all things new. Rev 21.

Unbind him and let him go. See, I am making all things new.

 

Unbind him and let him go – I picture the scene of Jesus telling those around a risen Lazarus to unbind him. Lazarus wrapped in earth covered cloth, with a smell of decay. The words are for the mourners, not for Lazarus. And I wonder if the words are more than just for that moment. ‘Unbind him.’ It is not long into the future when Jesus dies, and the women find the tomb empty. What do the disciples do? They go and hide in an upper room behind locked doors, in a grief bound by fear.  Binding themselves in a way: acting from fear they hide, put up barriers, close themselves off, and bind Jesus, relocating him back to the world of the dead. In time the disciples open the door. Opening themselves they are whelmed by the spirit. Casting off fear, they unbind themselves and in this unbinding Jesus is also unbound, set free as they share the Good News of his death and resurrection.

Unbind him and let him go –

When is the last time you unbound yourself and let yourself go?

Welcoming disquieted emotions. Dating yourself.  A living wake.

Jesus’ words offer the grieving permission to grieve, and the words commend a continued posture of walking with grief, or in other words building a grief muscle. Last week I spoke about setting one’s shoulders to face the world with a posture of Grace. The posture of grace has many facets, one being a release from bondage – being set free.

 

Unbind him and let him go -

Welcome disquieted emotions. This unbinding is about giving permission to yourself to take the time to feel. Rather than staying busy and putting flowers on a pop-up memorial - acting, this posture of walking with grief has one stop, and give time and quiet space for one’s grief wrapped heart and sad-saturated spirit to suffer through the emotions. To be unbound, grief and sadness need time and a quieting space.

Disquieted emotions are good for it means you are concerned, engaged, and care for people and are aware of the events happening in the wider world. It is good to be sad, it means you have loved deeply that which has been lost. It is good to be sad, it means you lived outside of fear. It is good to be sad, it means that you were full of hopes and dreams and life.

 

Unbind him and let him go – see I am making all things new.

Date yourself. This unbinding is about letting go of other’s expectations on you, dropping the expectations you have placed on yourself, honouring and letting go of your identity connected with who or that which you have lost, and discovering who you are becoming. This posture of walking with grief sets one’s shoulders to nurture hopes, recreate dreams, and embrace new purpose and meaning for life.

I shared the non-birthday date story with you because I have found that many people are afraid to be by themself, afraid to find out what lies inside, afraid that they will find that they are not enough. To unbind oneself from this fear is to walk through the shadow of the valley of death and grief. And rest assured, you are enough. You are enough and Christ -risen Jesus- is there in the shadow waiting. Christ with God’s words will say, see I am making all things new. You are my beloved in you I am well pleased. Let your light so shine. In Christ you are set free. You are free indeed.

 

See I am making all things new –

Living wakes. This posture of grace is about hearing in the now, from those who love and know you the best, that you are enough, you are free, that Christ has set you free. Holding a living wake reminds us that we matter, that our lives have affected the lives of those around us. It shares with loved ones that we are unbound, that it is normal to dance with grief, sadness, connection, and happiness. It is okay to talk about death. Living wakes allow us to be unbound and share with others that grief is always present at the table and in the disquieted emotions that arise, we have settled deep within us a confidence and hope in Christ, see I am making all things new.

 

 

O Lord, support us all the day long of this troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – ELW pg 325

Reformation: The Posture of Grace

 An Elder tells a story of four frogs. Frog, Frog, Frog, and Frog sit side by side on a log. Before them is an expanse of water. One frog makes a decision to jump off the log. How many frogs are on the log? … Four.

Three green frogs and one orange frog. The orange frog has not yet jumped off the log, Frog has only made the decision to jump off. The frog changed from green to orange when deciding to be open to change. This is being open to Creator. The decision to change spots changed everything. That orange frog can not go back to being green. Even if a few days down the road the orange frog wakes up cranky and wants to go back to being a green frog on a log, it can not return to that version of itself.

 

Martin Luther’s story mirrors that of the orange frog. Monk, Monk, Monk, and Monk sit side by side on a pew. Before them is the book of Romans. Luther makes a decision to ask a question.

In that decision Luther is changed, open to hearing the Word. Luther can not go back to the monk he was before asking the question. The decision changed him. Once pondering Romans and hearing the perspective of grace, being justified by God’s grace, how does one return to not seeing it on the printed page; they don’t.

 

Reformation is a re-forming. Although an historic movement of the 1500s, reformation has been and is continual. For over 500 years, Lutheran Christians have continued to emphasize and ponder God’s grace; and each time the church does, or we do, there is change.

 

This morning when we decided to come to church, we changed, we opened ourselves to hear the Word.

During your time in this space, you hear the Word, you participate in a community experience, you have thoughts, you decide to come for communion, you choose to sing and pray… every decision changes you because it opens you to something bigger than yourself, to more options, to a new experience, to meeting God, hearing Creator. When you leave this space, you are different than when you arrived. You can not go back to the person you were before you decided to come to church.

 

How many of you had a grandmother, or teacher, maybe a parent, who repeatedly told you to stop slouching, sit up straight, shoulders back, head up? When I was young, I was often reminded to correct my posture. I can still hear the words when I catch myself not standing up straight. Paul wrote the words, they are now justified by his grace as a gift. Justified by grace as a gift, were words that repeatedly rang in Luther’s ears. The words changed him. The words changed his posture.

 

On this Reformation Sunday you are invited to ponder the posture of grace.

An American theologian, Cindy S. Lee, writes about de-Westernizing spiritual formation. Traditionally spiritual formation included spiritual practices, disciplines like prayer, fasting, reading the Bible, activities designed to draw an individual closer to God. Lee suggests that spiritual practices are ‘Western’ in orientation, as they are development focused, getting better at something, achievement based, seen as a direct path to a pre-set goal. Her writing offers a different perspective. She orients spiritual formation through the lens of postures. Postures are experience based. Postures do not have an end point or final goal. Postures are a way of being. Postures are integrated learnings and wisdom. Postures are attitudes and ways of facing the world.

 

Have you had the experience of ‘setting your shoulders?’ A breathing in, shoulders up back and down, a breathing out  - a collecting of yourself, before facing a task at hand? Perhaps a job interview, a public speaking engagement, walking into a hospital room of a dying friend. That experience is setting a posture to help you face and live through what is before you.

 

On this Reformation Sunday you are invited to ponder the posture of grace.

We are the orange frog from the Elder’s story with a decision to embrace a posture of grace – this attitude opens us to the expectation of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting; finding and experiencing grace throughout our day; in the people we meet, the places we go, encounters of every kind. We open ourselves to God’s grace.

Lutheran theologian, Joseph Sittler wrote about the occasions of grace, pointing readers to the plethora of phrases in the Gospels: and suddenly…along the way…now it happened… immediately. The Gospels express and proclaim an understanding of surprise, the might-not-have-seen, the indeterminable quality of God’s grace. Rather than a state or attribute of God, “grace is understood as the energy of love, having its origin in the freedom of God who finds “occasions” for the bestowal of that love, not in the regularities of law, but in and by the instant and uncalculated response to man in the matrix of the historical madness of human cussedness and glory, that is according to the dynamics of gospel, then the “occasion” of grace must be thought of in fresh ways. The common life is the “happening-place” of it, and man as man in nature and in history supplies its normal occasions.”pg155-6 (Evocations of Grace)

When we parse Sittler’s words, the surprise is that Grace requires us. Occasions for God’s love to be given happen in human life. Humans are the receivers. God’s unconditional love – the birth of Jesus, the death of Jesus – is Grace Incarnate. Among us. For us.

 

The Posture of grace is one that is grace upon grace, an ever-deeper dwelling of God’s presence. The more we experience grace our posture changes. When we feel forgiven, we raise our heads. When we feel like we belong, we stand taller. When we experience compassion and mercy, we no longer slouch. When we feel God’s love, our posture shows confidence.

And this posture of grace, leads to a Posture of grace that sets our shoulders towards the world; a posture that pours the same grace -forgiveness, belonging, compassion, mercy, love- back into the world.

 

My posture of grace is gifted out as it is preached and taught; prayed; painted and written; crafted and gardened; smiled and hugged. I have been told that I have a positive attitude, optimistic, wear rose coloured glasses, but no I do not; today I set my shoulders to boldly share the truth – it is not positivity or optimism that is overflowing. I continually receive and give something that is far more profound and mysterious  - I’ve chosen a posture of grace.

Not only when I decide to come to church on Sunday morning, but every step from the first one getting out of bed I set my posture - Grace. I decide to be open to grace. I expect grace everywhere. I experience grace everywhere. I share grace everywhere.

 

I like the words of American author and activist Anne Lamott, words that draw us back to the story of the orange frog: I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. Amen to that.

 

And as we begin each worship service, with a blessing to adjust our posture, to a posture of grace upon grace – so we end the sermon:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

To Sit Beside Jesus

 My household had ten people at Thanksgiving dinner. As I set the table, I was particular about where I put the extra chairs, imagining where people would sit. I considered peoples’ needs: a sometimes shy 8 year old, people with hearing aids, those who like to talk, those who don’t, one who is most comfortable beside someone they know well, those who need access to get to the kitchen. It takes a little bit of planning to have a well-balanced gathering around the Thanksgiving dinner table.

This image sat with me as I thought about the reading from Mark.

James and John want to sit beside Jesus.

 

Let’s imagine the story giving the disciples the benefit of the doubt – James and John simply want to sit beside Jesus. Have you ever been going somewhere with a group of people, and you hope that you get seated beside a certain person, or you pray not to get stuck beside so-and-so? Have you attended a social event, a party, where you are attracted to having conversations with some people and avoid others as much as possible?

 

Let’s imagine the story giving the disciples the benefit of the doubt – James and John want to sit beside Jesus.

The beginning of the chapter tells us that Jesus and the disciples, that is 13 men, are on the road to Jerusalem. These 13 men have been a group, teacher and disciples, for 3 years. I am sure that they did not all get along. In fact, some of them may not even have liked each other. There are enough clues in the Gospels to know that the disciples were from various backgrounds, with diverse understandings of Messiah, and have a range of opinions on Roman occupation and how to address this. Let’s just say the disciples tolerated each other for Jesus’ sake.

 

Let’s give the disciples the benefit of the doubt – James and John want to sit beside Jesus because they know something about Jesus. I believe the disciples know a whole lot more than we give them credit for.

Let’s imagine that James and John are not asking to sit beside Jesus -at Jesus’ right or left hand- for reasons of status or ego, or to be chief officers in the Messiah’s earthly court in Jerusalem. Let’s imagine that to sit beside Jesus in glory, was seen not as of this world and realms of ruling, but rather the disciples had an inclining that Jesus was talking about the coming of God’s kindom, spiritual realms, and eternal life. The 10^th chapter of Mark goes on about conversations on the street  - ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus talks about “how hard it will be for the those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ Jesus talks about the age to come and the turning around of circumstances – reward- for those who spread good news, where first become last and last first. Then we get the story of James and John asking to sit beside Jesus. They understand in part, that Jesus is talking God’s vision, larger than their one life. Oh course, they don’t specifically know that Jesus is going to die. And certainly not the surprise of resurrection.

But let’s get real, they know death is a possibility. John the Baptist has been beheaded for what he said and did. There are those who are continually trying to trap Jesus into a fight, to insight anger from Roman authorities. Jesus has been chased out of towns. His talking with the marginalized and foreigner, eating with them, touching them or them touching him are all disruptive radical actions. Jesus draws large crowds, preaching an overthrowing of human ways – a redistribution of wealth, a change of power and authority. The disciples know that it is risky to hang around with Jesus. Jesus’ protest of the authorities in his time through word and deed is anything but quiet. Of course, the disciples know that sitting with Jesus is dangerous.

 

Let’s give the disciples the benefit of the doubt. James and John want to sit beside Jesus, to reserve their seats, to make a statement that they have chosen to sit beside Jesus, believing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is bringing change, that God has heard the cries of the people and is about to fulfill God’s promises.

 

This weekend the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth hosted a Eucharistic Congress, with the theme: ‘Communion to Heal the World.’ A Eucharist Congress is a gathering of Catholics to reflect on unity via the communion meal, to reaffirm and re-emphasize the source of faith, and to focus on the heart of the matter Jesus Christ. As part of the event, a 5km procession was walked between the church on Mumford Rd. and the Basilica downtown. The purpose was in a sense – to sit beside Jesus- the procession was a bold witness of faith, proclaiming to the world Christ is alive. The act of procession made a statement by the participants, we have chosen to sit beside Jesus, believing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus brings change, that God has heard the cries of the people and has and is fulfilling God’s promises.

 

Let’s ask ourselves, do we have the courage of James and John, to not only ask, but actually sit beside Jesus? Are we prepared to reserve our seats, to make a statement that we have chosen to sit beside Jesus, believing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is bringing change, that God has heard the cries of the people and is fulfilling God’s promises.

Every week we come and participate in Eucharist – in Holy Communion- Do you realize that by participating we are putting ourselves in a hot seat? When we participate in Communion, we sit with Jesus at the table. Jesus invites us to sit beside him at the table and share his body and blood; this sitting beside Jesus changes us for we are rubbing elbows with the incarnate Word. The Word that from the beginning has breathed God’s breath into every creature and atom of creation. As we eat at Jesus’ table, Christ’s presence rises to resurrect in us a creative grace that through the Spirit works in us to overflow into the world. Re-unified with God, Christ sits within, and we can do no other than proclaim Christ is alive!

 

Let’s ask ourselves, do we have the courage to sit beside Jesus?

The Gospels recount many instances of Jesus and who he chose to sit beside, and in many of the stories the disciples question Jesus’ choices. Not so sure themselves that they wanted to sit beside those Jesus’ invited: the marginalized and the nobodies of the time, described as widows, orphans, women, children, foreigners, Gentiles, lepers, the demon possessed, sinners. If we chose to sit with Jesus, we also sit with those whom Jesus has invited.

If we eat with Jesus at Jesus’ table, it means that we eat with the marginalized, convicted through our union with God, and Christ sitting within, we eat at a thanksgiving table that is not as nicely curated and balanced as my Thanksgiving dinner table was. When we ask to sit beside Jesus, we are choosing to sit- inviting ourselves to sit- in dangerous and risky places, meaning uncomfortable, maybe unpalatable, and certainly outside of our regular practices. We will be sitting with the least favourable persons we can imagine. When we sit beside Jesus, we will know in our hearts and by the reaction (probably unfavourable) of society around us, that we are in Christ’s presence.

To actively sit beside Jesus –

 We sit in tent encampments, we sit in prisons, we sit beside foreigners, we choose to invite the hungry to our tables and into our homes, we protest injustice with word and deed; we choose to invite others to come, sit with us in church, and to participate in God’s meal. We embrace that sitting with Jesus will be seen as disruptive radical action because we are about sitting in the heart of Christ- where there is a reversal of human ways, a redistribution of wealth, a change of power and authority. To sit in Christ is to be recreated, to experience resurrection from the ashes of humanity to all humanity and creation sitting beside Jesus – for the fulfilment and wholeness of God’s promises; a the healing of the whole world.

Swarming Locusts and Vats Full of New Wine

 

Every week I send the lector the scripture passages, so they know what they are reading on Sunday. This week I loved Bob’s response: “Got it. Swarming locusts and vats full of new wine!” Doesn’t this describe life? Since the beginning, there have been the ups and downs of devastation and abundance that are out of human control. These things happen and indiscriminately affect those in their path.

To this, the prophet Joel speaks to the people, to us, repeating the words:

Do not be afraid. Be glad and rejoice. -Joel 2: 21

 

Do not be afraid – easier said than done –

In the wake of double hurricanes hitting the Floridian coast.

In the continued ravaging of war in Ukraine.

In the ever-escalating war in the Middle East.

In the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

In the stress of systems, institutions, and government.

In the increase of marginalized and displaced persons. …

Do not be afraid.

 

Be glad and rejoice – it is Thanksgiving Sunday-

For the beauty in the colours of autumn leaves.

For the nourishment of food and water.

For the blessing of fellowship and community.

For the comforts of home and shelter.

For the relative safety and peace across the country.

For the allowance to gather to pray and worship God.

Be glad and rejoice.

 

I have to admit there were a number of times this past week, when I realized I had tears in my eyes. I was overwhelmed by things from the realm of swarming locusts, that is things that brought worry, fear, sadness, hopelessness, no control; hurricanes, war, dirty politics, and the like. And then there were other moments where I was overwhelmed by things from the vats full of wine, that is something that brought life, wonder, joy, hope, love: rainbows, the Northern Lights, hearing miracle stories, the giving of gifts, the sharing of a meal.

 

The tears in my eyes, started last Sunday, from being overwhelmed by both the swarming locusts and the vats full of new wine, at the same time!

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land celebrated their Thanksgiving festival last Sunday and posted pictures on their Facebook page from their six congregations.

 

The churches each had a display of food items brought to be shared and distributed to those in need: rice, olive oil, and fresh produce. Children are seen at the front for a kid’s corner. There are readers and preachers.

The picture that touches me the most is a pastor, behind an altar which is decorated with bananas, grapes, tomatoes, eggplant, and cabbage. The pastor is presiding at communion and is holding a large loaf of bread. There is a seriousness about him, carrying the weight of a people who are scared, hungry, and in an uncontrollable situation, and, yet, the pastor’s face has a do not be afraid, be glad and rejoice depth to it.

The ELCJHL page says:

Despite the suffering of the last year and the current situation in the Holy Land, congregations came together this weekend to give thanks to God for all he provides. As the season of many important harvests begin we pray that the coming year will be one of abundance and peace.  -FB page ELCJHL Oct. 6, 2024

 

Coming together to give thanks to God and to pray for a year of abundance and peace. The ELCJHL shares this recipe for living the prophet Joel’s words do not be afraid, be glad and rejoice. Although not in the same extreme of circumstances, we understand the benefits of coming together to give thanks to God and to pray. We fear less, have more gladness, and feel like rejoicing (have gratitude) because we are engaged in faith community.

 

I often find that when I am overwhelmed phrases from hymns come to my mind; I might even catch myself singing them in a whisper. This week I had two phrases that I continually prayed, and eventually they melded together into a mantra like practice that satisfied my spirit’s need for prayers for the swarming locusts and praise for vats full of new wine; holding both kinds of prayers in tension, and embracing all together.

Today, I share this prayer with you as a living practice of the words of the prophet Joel, do not be afraid. Be glad and rejoice.

The two hymn lines are:

For the troubles and the suffering world and For the beauty of the earth.

Both tunes are very different and between them it takes a moment for the brain to remember the other tune. There is a rhythm that is created that overwhelms me more than the locusts and the wine. I enter into a place where abundance and peace seem quite possible no matter what is going on in the world. I pray you find the practice as overwhelming.

I will start. Please join in when you are ready. Note there is a pause to breathe and birth the next tune. We will close out the sermon praying.

 

For the troubles and the suffering world. Breathe. For the beauty of the earth. Breathe.

  …….repeat until…

...

Divorced from the Foundation of Creation

 

God. 

God is relationship.                                                                                                                

God in the act of breathing life created relationships.

God is in relationship with the void.

God is in relationship with water.

God is in relationship with earth.

God is in relationship with Tree and Plant.

God is in relationship with every wild animal, with every creeping thing.

God is in relationship with every animal of the field, with every bird of the air, with every living creature.

God is in relationship with man.

God is in relationship with woman.

 

Scriptures on this 20^th week after Pentecost have us considering relationship. The first and second chapters of Genesis present us with two different versions of the creation story. One is oriented from God’s perspective and God’s work through seven days, highlighting each day of creation in relationship to the day before. The story tells of water before grasses, grasses before animals, because one needs the other for its survival. The second story in chapter 2 is focused from the perspective of man where everything was created for man’s use: the garden, every fruit tree (save one), gold, precious stones, water of great rivers named by man, used by man, and ends with the creation of woman, man’s partner.

By the way I opened the sermon, you can tell which story I have a better relationship with. I understand relationship as crafted in the first story, where relationship starts with God, and God’s relationship with each creation. You have heard me preach many times on the theme of relationship. Relationship with God, with each other, and with creation --- for me this is the Law and the Gospel, as scripture speaks repeatedly, love God and love your neighbour. When humans get this relationship with God and each other in order, all of creation breathes easy. When humans fail in relationships creation groans. When humans get relation with God and each other in order, relationships will be whole. Creation will be whole, as in the beginning when God saw that it was good.

 

Now the Pharisees who approach Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, know the creation stories from Genesis, and the Law from Exodus and Deuteronomy with the commandments about relationship with God and commandments related to their relationships with people and animals. They come to Jesus to ask specifically about one kind of relationship, that of husband and wife, and push Jesus for his teaching on divorce.

The Pharisees who approach Jesus are cunning. They are not as interested in the answer, as they are in tripping Jesus up. This is evident when some of the Pharisees later approach Jesus asking to whom they should pay taxes, to Caesar or God? Here divorce was on their minds, for John the Baptist had recently been beheaded because he had angered Roman authorities by speaking out against the divorce of Philip and Herodias, so that Herodias could marry Herod. Tripping Jesus up would make for a bad relationship between Jesus and the Roman officials, the hope being that ‘the Jesus problem’ would disappear at the hands of angry Roman authorities.

Rev. Philip Ruge-Jones, Grace Lutheran, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, wrote commentary that suggests a deeper meaning, where the author of the Gospel compared the harm done by a husband divorcing his wife, as echoing the regular violence of Rome towards the people of the occupied area. Oh course, in this moment that went above the heads of those asking the question. Stuck in the mechanics of human transaction, their distaste for Jesus, they wait to hear Jesus’ words regarding the Law, a Law where divorce was initiated only by men. Wives, at this time, were at their husband’s mercy. Divorce meant being cast away. Everything was lost: the women was divorced of security, housing, children, family, future marriage, community, safety – for women a divorce was a living death sentence.

But Jesus, in the continuation of the story, is surrounded by people bringing their children to have Jesus lay hands on them. In Mark’s Gospel, being touched, the laying on of hands, is an act that brings healing and wholeness. Jesus welcomes the children – the lowest of the low--- and blesses them, affirming that to receive the kindom of God one must be as a child --- to them belongs the kindom. And in the action of welcoming and blessing the lowest human according to human standard, Jesus also welcomes the women who are cast out and all who are marginalized, those divorced by society.

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees does not upset Roman authorities. The answer upsets the Pharisees. Jesus takes issue with the relationship the supposed righteous have with Law, as opposed to, the relationship they have with the actual people around them. Jesus takes issue with the relationship religious leaders have with the Law, as compared to their relationship with God.

 

The Gospel is not relegated to the past. Questions about divorce, in fact in some Church denominations, rules about divorce have affected many. But the conversation is bigger that spouses. Jesus’ in answering the question returns attention to creation, mentioning one part of the story brings to life the whole story. Jesus points back to God creating relationship.

When was the last time you did a relationship audit? When has the church, this congregation, done a relationship audit?

We are all divorced. We are all in relationships that are broken, separated, estranged, or tenuous.

We are divorced by never having started relationships.

We are divorced.

Divorced from the vulnerable and marginalized.

Divorced from community.

Divorced from neighbours.

Divorced from friends.

Divorced from family members.

Divorced from children.

Divorced from creatures (mammal, bird, fish, insect).

Divorced from Mother Earth.

Divorced from God.

Long ago, reads the letter of Hebrews, God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom God appointed heir of all things, through whom God also created the worlds. The Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

God continually and repeatedly from the time of creation pursued and persisted in tending and furthering relationship. God became incarnate in Jesus, suffering and dying, not because God needed a sacrifice, but to show human beings to what extravagant lengths God will go to unconditionally love creation ---

And so, in relationship with God, as children of God, loved unconditionally--- to what extravagant lengths will you, will we, as a community of faith go to tend our relationships and move from divorce to partnership? Relationship is the foundation of God’s creation, woven into the very breath we breathe; shared breath, shared life. Today experiencing relationship in this place, hearing the Gospel, fed by God’s grace, we are new creations, in better relationship with God and each other than when we arrived. Let us go into the world whole, living relationally and in each footstep plant a furthering of God’s relational kindom. 

For the healing of the world. Amen.  

Asters: Persistent in Apocalyptic Times

 

The Michaelmas Daisy, aka a richly dressed dainty petaled flower with a golden eye.

Small in size it is wise, for it grows when others die;

The last pollen of the season, tasty feast for bees;

It brings the viewer to their knees,

A bevy of purple, a myriad of bloom, splendent abreast the goldenrod; Living reciprocity.

Manifesting virtues… Love, wisdom, faith, colour… a natural star.

 

September 29^th is Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The story is Archangel Michael at the height of a cosmic and epic confrontation between the forces of good and the forces of evil. It is a cinematographer’s bounty of vast scenes of war and conflict, fire and smoke, dragons and winged beings, armies traversing the heavens and the earth. It is a time of woe and fear.

 

Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae was interviewed on CBC radio during this past week.

Simply put, he said, “It’s a very tough time in the world.” We know, we have seen or heard the news of the rise of aggression and armed conflict throughout the world; scenes of war and conflict, fire and smoke, armies traversing high and low, a time of woe and fear. A time wherein conflict ravaged areas exponentially expand, devouring cities and peoples, destroying nations.  

Yet Ambassador Rae, did not leave the interview with listeners mired in the ‘tough times,’ he highlighted the work that the United Nations has and is accomplishing. To begin, the dragons of the world, are still at the table talking. Rae talked about the UN work reducing and forgiving debt, work in development particularly in impoverished areas, and the great work – teamwork- combatting gang presence and violence in Haiti. Optimistic despite the suffering and the troubles of the world, Rae shared what I call his star virtue for moving forward in troubled times; we need to remain PERSISTENT.

 

The apocalyptic prophet Daniel lived at a time, when simply put, “it was a very tough time in the world.”

Ancient Near East histories before Daniel’s time recorded war after war and recounted a land full of gods, where each nation ascribed to a god. The Assyrian conquest as record in 2 Kings asks if any nation’s god could deliver the nation from the strong hand of Assyria. There was an understanding that the gods participated in war, comprising of cosmic and epic confrontations between them and mirroring their battles in earthly realms. By Daniel’s time, it was no longer gods who waged war, but princes, who were powerful patron angels. Wars played out between nations’ patron angels and it affected people on the earth.

Chapter 10 of Daniel records the Persian period and the conquest of the kings who followed the reign of Cyrus, King of Persia. Chapter 11 accurately records Hellenistic history, including in verse 11 reference to Alexander the Great. This part of Daniel was written before 163 BCE and the death of Antiochus IV which was prophesied as the prelude to the end of the world.

The apocalyptic text of Daniel was written to a people in the path of dragons. In a time of great oppression, revolt, riots, and civil war. A time where high priests were removed, Jewish religion was outlawed and Zeus, along with the sacrificing of pigs, was added to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Optimistic despite the suffering and the trouble of the world, Daniel shared hope:

At that time Michael, the great prince…shall rise. … at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Dan. 12:1-3)

 

This text is the first writing of resurrection in the Bible and a reference to the ‘book of life.’ Many, not all, rise; some rise to everlasting life and some, to eternal contempt. Commentaries point out that only the very good and the very bad are raised; not everyone. There is an additional reflection that the wise will shine like stars, implying that the person is a companion of the angels.

At the time of the writing of Daniel his listeners would have been familiar with Greek legends. One legend was a story espousing beauty amidst the common where the ‘Starry Maid,’ Astraea, cried when she noticed there were no stars upon the earth. Her tears fell to the earth and sprouted as flowers that looked like stars, the autumn flower we know as asters.

 

250 years after Daniel, the apocalyptic writer of Revelation repurposed the language and images from the book of Daniel to speak to some in the Jewish Diaspora (people who had fled the First Jewish Revolt when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed) and congregated with others in the Seven Churches of Asia Minor; people who were heavily persecuted under the ruthless cruel tyrannical reign of Roman Emperor Domitian.

A war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back but were defeated, and there was no longer place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down.

The outcome of the war in heaven was the reason for the persecution and oppression of believers on earth, and yet, the optimism in the text is a voice that proclaimed,

Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down (Rev. 12: 10)

 

Apocalyptic texts are arrangements of extremes layered upon each other, written when, “it’s a very tough time in the world.” The texts are filled with utopian language of the promise of hope amidst the chaos of suffering and oppression, war and conflict, and judgement that separates the righteous and the wicked. Within the apocalyptic imagery there is hope for Restoration.  

 

Apocalyptic texts were forefront in my mind when CBC radio interviewed philosopher Todd May talking about his book, “Should We Go Extinct? A Philosophical Dilemma for Our Unbearable Times.” In an apocalyptic sort of way, he asks human beings to face this question.  

May posits that humans have lots to offer, but humans also cause lots of destruction. How does the scale of value balance out? While contributing value to the world by producing and infusing large degrees of happiness, meaningfulness, and creating and appreciating art/science/beauty and the richness of planet; while having vision for a future; and birthing culture and gratitude, humans generate and devise egregious amounts of cruelty, suffering, and devastation (in his opinion one need only consider factory farming and deforestation to get the point). Does human contribution of good into the world balance the moral scale of evil perpetrated by humans? His apocalyptic coloured philosophy ends with the hope of focused minds that open us up to possibilities, a willingness to try to make human existence more justifiable. The stars will be those who embrace change and generate virtue while living in and addressing the sufferings and struggles of the world.

 

Apocalyptic texts resonate when the world is …well… like it is now. Peril and forces beyond our control have humans searching for something: explanations, justifications, a long view that this shall pass; and glimpses of words, actions, or stories that kindle hope. Humans open their understanding to the possibilities of that which we do not see: heaven and hell, angels and demons, cosmic chaos and Creator; and the possibility of contributing value to a world yet to be.

The writer of Daniel, the author of Revelation, Ambassador Rae, Todd May describe what was, is, and is yet to be.  All commend us to be Persistent (wise) – meaning engaged in the struggle to balance out fear and peril with infusions of hope, appreciation, beauty, value, and at all times protesting the forces that defy God, the devil, and all empty promises.

In Daniel the fullness of promise is that: Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Dan.12: 3)

 

In the end

God’s tears shed in response to conflict in the realm of Angels,

in protest to the struggles and the suffering of the world,

Tears fallen through the heavens to the earth, stars.

Asters of purple Wisdom, manifesting virtues, Love and faith

Shining in apocalyptic brightness,

May we, bathed in God’s tears, be wise and lead many to righteousness.

Persistent -living reciprocity- Stars forever and ever …. Purple asters.

The Ministry of Holding Space

 

The Gospel of Mark is written in three acts: the first act in Galilee, the second has Jesus traveling about, and the third takes place in Jerusalem. Mark 9 is in the second act. The second act especially is written in individual moments or standalone events. There are independent stories of miraculous events and healings, discussions with disciples, and the sharing now and then of a parable. This section has us travel all over the map.

 

Our reading today first has us in Galilee with Jesus and the disciples. Jesus does not want anyone to know. Jesus and the disciples journey into the region away from the towns because Jesus has serious things to share with the disciples. Jesus does not want to be interrupted or overheard.

Secondly, the reading has us visit Capernaum. The disciples are with Jesus, and Jesus speaks with them. Different from the region of Galilee journey, here they are not alone. We know this because Jesus draws a child into their midst, which suggests there are others around too. It is okay for others to overhear the conversation.

 

What drew my attention this week was the use of specific places for specific tasks and ministry.

The second act of the Gospel of Mark illustrates that there are different messages and ways of communicating and or acting for various contexts and audiences. Individuals have an array of needs and are at unique points in their faith journey requiring intentionally focused care.

I had a conversation with a person this week who shared with me a profound “God-moment.” God appeared at an auspicious time for this person, in a moment of choice where choosing temptation would have been life-destructing. To get their attention God appeared in an over-the-top manner, that for most of us would be so bizarre and risqué we would not have seen God in it at all. Yet, for this person, their personality, this was THE way they woke up to God’s presence. Knowing the person, it made perfect sense to me that God’s specific message to them was delivered in the extraordinarily outrageous!

This week I also reflected on the conversations I have with people, specifically those I’ve talked with at the Loneliness Café. I get all kinds of ‘God questions’ or ‘Bible themed queries,’ theological questions and the like. Although the questions might be identical, the answer or reply has never been the same. In fact, sometimes my conversation with one person, would be the exact opposite of what I would say to another. What I have said to you, may not be what I have counseled the person sitting beside you.

I have my own way of teaching and practicing Lutheran theology. I have working definitions for sin, forgiveness, grace, the cross, kindom… these are descriptions that come from my core beliefs. But when in the world, although holding true to the core, how I express the message changes depending on the conversation, the context, the relationship, and where a person is on their journey.

 

With the rise of open conversations around mental health, more practitioners share ways that ordinary people can support the mental health and wellbeing of others. A highly recommended practice is to hold space for others.

PsychologyToday.com says that holding space is:

In addition to the safe environment and full presence, holding space involves listening attentively. The listener is present for the speaker’s experience, does not make the conversation about them, does not shut down difficult conversation, and does not shy away from strong feelings. 

-Psychology Today. Com May25, 2023

Likewise, HolisticeWellnessPractice.com says:

Show up for someone, be fully present, without judgement as you sit with that person through their difficult time – March 28, 2023 holisticwelnesspractice.com

 

The independent stories and miraculous events of Jesus’ ministry, as presented in the Gospel of Mark, demonstrate and embody holding space. In each healing, each casting out of demons, Jesus is present with the individual. No judgement. No conditions. Each context and experience are unique. You will recall a few weeks ago, some were healed by words sight unseen, others were physically touched.

Holding space --- Jesus takes the disciples aside, alone, to share information that will be challenging and difficult to digest. Jesus needs to provide a space where he can sit with the disciples without distractions. Where questions can be asked, where disciples can feel and process that Jesus is going to die to bring God’s kindom.

Holding space --- In Capernaum, Jesus creates and holds space in a conversation with the disciples, creating and holding space for the eavesdroppers in the room. By physically setting a child in the middle of the conversation Jesus expands what holding space means. In the safe circle of the disciples’ conversation, Jesus challenges those present and the listener to sit with and welcome the marginalized. In the 1^st century children were considered less than human, at best property. And here Jesus extends welcome.

 

Holding space --- I have never seen these words included in the job description of a pastor. Yet, most of what I do is a holding of space for others. Pastoral care visits, grief counseling, facilitating exploration in study groups, offering coffee and conversation, and sharing in worship and prayer.

 

In this specific space, during worship, although I move us through the liturgy it is not I that is entirely responsible for holding space. Holding space is a communal action and a communal ministry. This ministry requires a commitment from all of us: to show up, to be present, to welcome the child and the marginalized, to sit together, to listen, to pray, to sing, to share Christ’s peace – to be bodies that embody the Christ.

Sacred spaces. Communities that hold space are vital for the health and wellbeing of the wider community. This space is gift!

Thank you for holding space with me and participating in this ministry. It is a holy gift that you are giving to the world!

Holding space confounds and scares away some people. Over the 20 years I have served with you, there are those who have left because holding space was a foreign concept. Coming to church was understood and practiced as an individual pursuit, rewarded by personal acquisition whether in answered prayers, deeper faith, affirming beliefs, or accolades. Some people have left because they were not finding any personal value or reward. Missing the point, or choosing, to ignore that following Jesus is not about ME.

Our stories from Mark’s Gospel demonstrate Jesus holding space for the disciples, eavesdroppers, children, the marginalized. There are stories of Jesus holding space for himself – self-care, stepping aside – this action comes out of holding space for others, so that Jesus is able to continue to minister to and be in relationship with others. Jesus’ ministry for the most part is not about personal acquisition or storing up treasures for himself. Jesus’ life and death is about the other.

 

I am often asked, “What can I do? How can I serve?”

I believe that the single greatest ministry of a community of faith is providing a holy holding space for others.

Showing up for worship is ministry. And coming with an attitude and expectation, not to acquire value for yourself, but rather a perspective of holding space for others.

Consider ---

Today, you may not hear something you desperately wanted to hear, because you held space for someone else to hear what they needed to hear.

Today, you may leave without your questions or prayers answered, instead you held space for someone else to receive their daily bread.

Perhaps you will not hear something that challenges you, you held space for someone else who was challenged by what was said and it will change their life.

And you may leave feeling like you did not experience God today, remember you held space for someone else who did experience God.

 

As we hold space for each other, Christ is embodied and present. In this space through community, Word and Sacrament, grace washes over us, all of us – the whole space; and we are held in God's grace upon grace.

Healing and Wholeness - def'n - RELATIONSHIP

 

Ableism – Ableism is defined by accessliving.org as: discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability.

Today’s readings invite us to consider and wrestle with our bias and prejudice around ableism; to ponder that each of us is one accident away from possible disability; to acknowledge that aging changes what we can and can not do. We are asked to deeply think about what healing and wholeness are.

 

The Isaiah text shares a familiar passage, repeated throughout prophetic texts: the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be opened; the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. …the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the mute speak. Human interpretations of these images have led to conditions like blindness being seen as bad, a consequence of sin, at the very least, less than. Author Amy Kenny, who has a disability, wrote a book, “My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church” describing her experience of ableism in the church. She did not see herself as less than, she did not want or need prayers for healing.  She writes that the church because of its prejudice was missing out on the prophetic witness and blessing of disability.

 

If asked, would you agree or disagree with the statement: Blindness is something to be fixed.? Healed? I have met blind people who ‘see’ very well, with their ears and hands and intuitions. Ableism is the assumption of those who see with their eyes, that sightedness of the eyes is wholeness for the blind. The text from Isaiah helps solidify the assumption; the blind shall see.

 

Too often our idea of wholeness is equated or connected in our minds to a definition of perfection. What does it mean for something to be perfect. Perfection is a fickle thing, for it is based on perceptions, personal notions, or societal ideals of what ‘perfect’ is.

 

On that nice sunny warm autumn feeling afternoon this past week, I went for a run. It was wonderful, -dare I say perfect- both relaxing and rejuvenating. It was healing. It was exactly what my spirit and body needed. By this intro you would not have guessed that during the run I tripped and landed on the sidewalk. I skinned my knee and hand, road-rashed and bruised my shoulder. The run was not any less wholesome because I was hurt in the process.

 

There are many Christians who would describe Jesus as perfect. Jesus was also human. The Gospel for today suggests that while walking on earth, Jesus had some less than graceful moments; uncharitable even; others have called out Jesus’ prejudice. In the Gospel reading, healing and wholeness is found, not in the healings, as much as, in the heated conversation between the Syro-Phoenician woman and Jesus. The heated conversation is an open wound – where the woman is called dog. In the exchange of words, healing and wholeness arrive as Jesus’ perspective changes. Jesus is the one healed as his prejudice for this woman dissipates and he acts in compassion to heal her daughter. Jesus doesn’t become ‘perfect,’ but moves into a wholeness found in relationship and this new way of being changes Jesus’ approach to ministry. Jesus’ ministry journeys into wholeness as Jesus’ understanding of who is included in the invitation to God’s grace and unconditional love expands.

 

I read a commentary, that suggested that two very different healing stories are included here. The woman’s daughter is healed from afar at the request of the mother. The second has Jesus touching the deaf man and speaking to him. These two healing stories illustrate that faith journey, healing, is not the same for everyone. The stories and healings are distinct because each person has a distinct relationship with Jesus, with God.

I think about healing and wholeness in my work as pastor when called to pray, to visit the sick, and to be present in the ER. And then there are the times I have sat at bedsides of those who are 100% dying --- when a pastor is invited to come and pray, what kind of prayers do families want? What would you want me to pray for a loved one? Healing of the sick? Raising the dead? Safe passage?

My go-to is a prayer for healing to wholeness – in some cases the prayer is answered in bodily healing, for others it is the peace of death that comes through suffering, but far more often prayers for wholeness are answered in relationships – moments and miracles that happen between family members and friends at the bedside– miracles and moments that include forgiveness, confession, repentance, gratitude, remembrance, compassion, care, service, humility, love.

 

At our last National church assembly, the church received a report from the ELCIC Task Force Addressing Ableism.  In this report the Task Force wrote:

Disability is part of being human. It is a condition or experience from injury, illness, or a unique development which makes it more difficult for a person to engage in meaningful activity or interact with the world around them. Disability can be easily identifiable, invisible, temporary, and/or permanent and is not a fixed experience. Inclusion in our context is naming that all people are made in the image of God, and so living in relationship with each person as complete and valuable in and of themselves. Inclusion seeks to engage each person as they are in the whole of our church body and family. – ELCIC task force addressing ableism report 2022

Inclusion in our context is naming that all people are made in the image of God, and so living in relationship with each person as complete and valuable in and of themselves. Inclusion seeks to engage each person as they are in the whole of our church body and family.

The Task Force speaks of relationship – living in relationship the people of God are made whole. We are each valuable and complete as we are. We acknowledge that disability is part of being human. We are healed and whole when we are in relationship, being community, loving one another and letting others love us. Relationship in community has be think of two titles from authors writing about disability that speak to me about healing and wholeness:  Shane Clifton wrote, “Crippled Grace,” and Brian Brock wrote, “Wondrously Wounded.” As pastor, I listen and hear that which cripples and wounds. There are few in this community who have not been introduced to disability. We are a community of the wondrously wounded and expressions of crippled grace.

 

So, what do we do with the passages of scripture that have the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, the mute talking? We can keep reading!

These passages do not end in the dualism, God’s grace comes in what follows. Unfortunately, what follows is not what has stuck in our minds or settled into our hearts.

Today we keep reading, God’s grace is found in what follows in the image of water in the desert. Augsburg’s Sundays and Seasons resource has this to say:

Isaiah’s images of water in the desert can help us parse the nuances of this issue. In places marred by drought, water breaking forth is wholeness and shalom; streams of water in the desert’s rainy season allow for life the whole year long. And yet deserts are vital ecosystems teeming with life, and we ought not make deserts into marshes; part of the wholeness of creation is a diversity of creation. Likewise, part of shalom in the human community is a diversity of ability. Creation models a good human life.

 

We are each made in the image of God and loved by God. We are valuable and complete as we are. We are a community who is in relationship with each other and this diversity makes us whole. We are healed through relationship with each other and God; we are wondrously wounded and are beautiful expressions of crippled grace.

 

 

We pray with a prayer written by Rev. Steve Hoffard on the occasion of a joint meeting of the ELCIC Task Forces on ableism; homophobia; racism.

 

Creator God,

You have formed every one of us in your image. All of us molded as a unique and beautiful part of your diverse creation…each of us equally loved, valued and precious in your sight.

As a church we recognize that truth and sometimes even proclaim it while sadly at the same time erecting barriers, sometimes unknowingly, too often even knowingly, to those who differ from us in anyway.

We know we have work to do. As members of the body of Christ, we are called to help each other be a better church, we ask that you come among us not only today but in the days ahead as we continue this work.

Inspire us with courage and creativity. Challenge us to new learning. Push us when we get stuck.

Help us to listen carefully to one another and to those who have been pushed to the margins and give us strength to carry on even when the work is hard. This we continue to pray until all are included and celebrated without exception ... without obstacles ... and without endless debate. In the name of the one who fully welcomes all to the table, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

-Rev. Steve Hoffard (on occasion of joint meeting of ELCIC task forces: ableism; homophobia, biphobia, transphobia; racism, white supremacy, and racial justice. Nov. 2021)