For the Love of Empire

 

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

This traditional confession of faith, as found in Exodus 34:6, is repeated many times in Hebrew scriptures. Following centuries of use, it continues to be spoken in liturgies and prayers.

 

Unfolding from this confession of faith, the book of Jonah brings to life the enormity of God’s grace, unfathomable mercy, immeasurable love, and inexhaustible faithfulness. This is the take-away! This story goes to great lengths to illustrate the confession of Exodus 34: 6. Using humour and exaggeration, the story has us look at our human arrogance, egotism, and selfishness. Through raw and truthful expression of human emotion and understanding, the story has us laugh at ourselves. The underlying hope is that listeners’ hearts are softened to repentance and opened to trust God’s deliverance.

 

For a moment, consider the world around you, particularly your relationship with people, places, and things. Which family members exhaust you? Which neighbours annoy you? Who makes you uncomfortable? Which kind of people do you avoid? Whom do you hate? Whom to you label enemy? Who makes you mad? Who bullies you? Who has hurt you? Which world leaders anger you? Which empire or regime causes you distress? Whom do you wish to see obliterated? Who doesn’t make it to heaven?

These are your Ninevites.

Take a breath and let that settle in. And guess what? God has extravagant mercy and forgiveness towards them. All of them. Everyone of them.

Now, how do you feel about that?

Just as generations of people have believed and repeated, “God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.;” as we, with Lutheran congregations across the country, proclaim the tagline that we are about ‘Living out God’s grace and unconditional love;” we, like Jonah have a limit to how far we actually want God’s grace and unconditional love to be applied.

 

The second half of the book of Jonah is one of my all-time favourite stories. The Mystery at work in this, is that the story winds its way into the depths of my being and points fingers at the harshness of my judgements, the hardness of my heart, and truths I hide from myself; and certainly, the hidden secrets I don’t publicly share. In my mind I organize the world in a dualistic framework, where righteousness and goodness reign supreme. It means that people, places, and things who are judged to not be righteous and good, I dismiss them and subsequently relegate them (on my worst days) for damnation, fire, and eternal gnashing of teeth.

I can preach living out God’s grace and unconditional love, and God’s mercy and abounding steadfast love, but the hidden secret is that although I believe it, I don’t want it to actually come true. I delight in the concept of fairness, accountability, and just rewards. I am a Jonah.

The Mystery at work in the story, is that it is a favourite even though it points to my inadequacies.

Returning to hear the story I realize that the humorous nature of the tale arouses an actionable anger within me. I am angry at being the Jonah, enough to want to repent and try with all my heart to wish for all, God’s grace and abounding steadfast love and really mean it. The story reminds me that I will never fully reach this state, but in being reminded I can most certainly try.

 

Today, Jewish siblings mark Yom Kippur.  This is the Jewish Day of Atonement and includes actions of prayer, fasting, and asceticism. The focus is atonement and repentance. The synagogue services follow 10 days of reflection and ritual on broken relationships and asking forgiveness of others. Yom Kippur focuses on sin against God. It is a day to let go of jealousy, hatred, and conflict, to arrive at a heart and disposition that creates love and embraces kinship. The afternoon scripture reading for this holiest day of the liturgical year is the book of Jonah.

 

Myra Berstein writes for My Jewish Learning, four reasons why Jonah is read on Yom Kippur.

First and foremost, the story illustrates God’s infinite mercy. If God can forgive Nineveh, God can forgive us.

Second, the story addresses repentance and the importance of rituals to express heartfelt repentance to God.

Third, readers are reminded that the entire world with all its creatures and natural forces are in God’s hands.

And finally, it is not too late to be heard and saved. Even in the afternoon, as the day draws to a close, it is not too late for God to answer prayer.

 

It is not too late. It is not too late for the Jonah in each and everyone of us.

Jonah’s perspective, his worldview, started with himself and looked outward. He interpreted events as if he was the centre of the universe. But it was not too late for a change of perspective, God was waiting for Jonah to remember that he was part of and represented a people who had a covenant with God.

 

It is not too late to repent from self-serving prayers hoping for predetermined outcomes. It is not too late to repent our individualistic perceptions to welcome and let new-Spirit-Wisdom-filled perceptions take over.

 

It is not too late to repent and confess our brokenness.

The Jonah story is about relationship. Every time I hear the story it once again softens my heart to expand my practice and understanding of relationship, kinship, kin-dom. Mentioning Nineveh, is the author identifying and naming empire. Empire was the force who placed Jonah’s people into exile, shaped culture, held imagination and hope in bondage, and replaced community ideals with individual pursuits and self-centredness. The empire was big and formidable. Everything lived and moved within its power and its unsatiated shadow.

Empire is the world around us. Power. Wealth. It has a raging appetite for conquest, conflict, and complacency of the masses, fed by distraction to depravity and desperation. It is not too late… for empire to repent for

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and God response will be mercy.

It is not too late, for the Jonah in us to pray – seriously- for the redemption, the salvation, of the enemy.

We are called to really live out God’s grace and unconditional love in community and through community; together facing empire with God’s call to repent. Prepare yourself now, for God to wait for the empire’s change of heart, and then for God to relent from smiting, no fire or brimstone, just love.

 

We pray with Kat Armas, in the words her book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire; Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World, prays:

 

God of Unmasking,

We resist empire’s illusions that offer a sterile holiness, a conditional love. Forgive us for the times we believed this, for bowing to false gods, for letting empire name us. Let your mercy fall like rain, softening the soil of our hearts. Allow us to receive forgiveness as renewal so that we might sow a new kingdom of justice, truth, and love. For the times we have failed to see reality for what it is, open our eyes O God. ---   pg 43 Liturgies for resistance

Amen.

Reciprocity: The Practice of Forgiveness

 Last week’s sermon considered the contemplative practice of reciting the focus of ‘a rule of life’ via the 176 lines of Psalm 119. Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.

‘A Rule of Life’ is a set of purposeful practices that we consciously embrace and live in our everyday lives. The practices are chosen to deepen our relationships – with the Holy, with others, with creation, with ourselves. A rule of life both expresses and guides our values, beliefs, and faith.

The theme of today’s scriptures is forgiveness. In your everyday life, in your ‘rule of life,’ do you regularly practice forgiveness?

 

My grandparents attended the Presbyterian Church in their village. On the occasions I went with them, I would get tripped up in the Lord’s Prayer. Like we do here, I would say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. My grandparents and their congregation prayed, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

As I reflect on the practice of forgiveness, I appreciate the nuance of praying, debt and debtor. I get it. I understand. Who among us is not familiar with debt and repayment? Our culture is very familiar with debt. In 2026, consumer debt in Canada has risen to $2.6 trillion, which includes mortgages, student loans, lines of credit, car payments, credit cards. In this time of National generational building projects, the Federal government debt is over $1 trillion, combined with that of provinces debt surpasses $2.4 trillion.

Debt to be me is transactional. If I borrow from you, I am indebted to you until I repay what is owed. It works with the loaning and borrowing of money, but also, includes the owing of favours, reciprocal invitations to coffee, the exchange of gifts. There is a transactional component to relationships - a debt and debtor – in the give and take between people in relation. In a relationship there is always something left-hanging to be reciprocated, not that it has to be but that it is there as a gift of opportunity to reciprocate. I understand and experience the reciprocity of relationship with a contented joy.

I receive kind words from my partner when I leave to go to work, arriving home I give my partner a hug. Debt satisfied. I feed my cat and care for her, she cozies up with me when I am sad. I talk with a friend to commiserate about a situation, they support me – a week later my friend calls needing a ride to an appointment. That which is owing being gifted back. The transactions between persons becomes deeper with each action, until it is no longer debt or owing but continual connected relationship. This is forgiveness in its fullest, no tallied debts, simply connected relationship.

For me, the fullness of forgiveness, comes close, when I choose to interpret my debt repayment from a perspective of gratitude. What I have received, I return with love.

 

Earlier this year, the Lutheran World Federation published, Together We Pray. The book is a series of reflections and prayers contemplating the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. It was written by women leaders throughout the LWF communion. Contemplating, forgive us our trespasses, Bp. Emerita Jana Jeruma-Gringerga, of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain wrote:

Debt - “Each human person owes something to God – be it sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving not offered, contrition where we have missed the marks that God’s will and grace set before us, or sorrow for our feeble flame of faith-“

 

It is an interesting thought is it not – about debt – as that which is left undone, consciously or unconsciously. Do we leave God waiting? God has given, lent, graced, loved --- and is waiting for a response. Are we in debt, owing God a response? Perhaps a “thank you for the sense of peace I had during that difficult situation,” “thank you for the coincidence of meeting an old friend,” “thank you for the beauty of creation,” ”thank you for the gift of another day” –

Perhaps we owe God an, “I’m sorry for not listening to the nudge to take that person to dinner,” “sorry for not following the feeling to check in with a neighbour,” ”sorry for ignoring you in the child needing help.”

Perhaps debt is accumulating as a lack of response, a feeble flame of faith, as we choose not to repay the grace we have received through the cross, through the creation and essence of life – not because we have too, but because we want too.

And this ‘want too’ is grown through a rule of life that practices forgiveness as a form of gratitude, where one becomes so filled with thankfulness, they notice the marks God sets before them, where joy abounds in faithful relational living. Owing no one, no creature, no thing because we have a practice of reciprocity – a fullness of forgiveness.

Before we can live the fullness of forgiveness Bp. Emerita continues:

“The Forgiveness Project says that it is ‘first and foremost a personal journey, with no set rules or time limits,’ so a road we each travel at our own speed and in our own way. Certainly our own healing from hurt depends also on our willingness to let go of the wounds, to allow them to heal rather than picking at the scabs.”

 – p68, Bp. Emerita Jana Jeruma-Gringerga, LC in Great Britain

 

Peter asked how many times must one forgive. Practicing forgiveness is not yet a rule of life for Peter. Jesus’ response - offer limitless forgiveness, offer human forgiveness to mirror God’s unlimited mercy. Peter will find out at the cross, to what lengths God will go to show unlimited mercy. Peter has yet to grow into a rule of life that is directed by Christ’s resurrection, a forgiveness that is a practice of gratitude from the very heart of one’s being.

This week is the Lutheran commemoration day for Dag Hammarskjold, once secretary-General of United Nations. His life was lived from a ‘rule of life’ that was practiced in diplomatic service and personal spirituality. His faith centered on Jesus Christ. This relationship gave meaning to his life and reflected in action in the world. He wrote: Forgiveness is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again. (Markings, 2006)

 

Turning again to the LWF, Together We Pray, we deepen our understanding of the practice of forgiveness by praying the prayer of Rev. Dr. Nelavala Ganan Prasuna, South Andra Lutheran Church, India,

“Our Gracious and Merciful Mother and Father, We recognize our need for your forgiveness as we draw near to you and the significance of also forgiving others. We are aware that we are flawed humans who are prone to error and fall short of your desired level. Yet, you offer us pardon and redemption through Jesus Christ out of your eternal love.

We also acknowledge the weight of your words, “forgive us as we have forgiven others.” We understand that our forgiveness by you is deeply intertwined with our ability to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us. In this moment, we bring before you the hurts and wounds inflicted upon us by others.

Dear Parent God, please help us to let go the wrath and bitterness we have been holding in. Please give us the courage to continue to overlook those who have harmed us, just as you have overlooked us. We are aware that showing forgiveness entails giving up our desire for retribution and letting you heal our wounded spirits rather than tolerating the wrongdoing or ignoring the damage.

Dear Holy Spirit, knowing the depth of our suffering, empower us to love ourselves and our enemies, to bless ourselves and to bless those who curse us. We pray for our forgiveness, and for help to forgive others and view them through the eyes of compassion and realization that they too are in need of your forgiveness and grace.

Our God, we ask for healing and reconciliation through this act of forgiveness. Restore our interpersonal relationships and our broken hearts. May your parental love and forgiveness flow through us, transforming not only our lives but also the lives of those around us. Amen.

Pg 74-75, Rev. Dr. Nelavala Ganan Prasuna, South Andra Lutheran Church, India

*Here is the like if you would like to read, LWF's Together We Pray

 Together We Pray: women’s prayer book | The Lutheran World Federation

An Invitation to Life

 Imagine that you have received more than one invitation to the same thing. Each invitation was unique. Each stunningly put together. One was business-like with facts and outcomes. One was poetry like in a well-written greeting card. One invitation was given during a conversation. One in a compelling exhortation. Four invitations have been given to you this morning – it is the same invitation presented to you in 4 styles, 4 variations of the same theme. The Word from Ezekiel, Psalms, Matthew, and Romans – are an invitation to life.

Not only an invitation to life, but a wholeness of life.

The scripture readings for this 15^th Sunday After Pentecost relate to and reflect on the law of God, inviting hearers to a ‘rule of life’ that opens one to abundant life.

For our time together, I have chosen to open the invitation from Psalm 119.

 

Professor W. Dennis Tucker Jr., describes the importance of receiving and opening God’s invitation. He writes, We might do well to understand Psalm 119 as a remedy for the kind of meandering life that chases everything,

and yet is satiated by nothing.

Do you live a meandering kind of life? Chasing purpose and meaning; happiness and fun; accomplishment and promotion. Maybe the meandering feels like being on a hamster wheel, with never-ending busy-ness, expectations, responsibilities, pressure, survival, work, accumulation of wealth and things, to-do lists, checklists, bucket lists, leveling up, trying every new thing or hobby? Meandering, in this case, refers to being untethered, aimlessly searching, going down the proverbial rabbit hole, doom-scrolling, being unable to settle --- always feeling a need, a want for more ---

We might do well to understand Psalm 119 as a remedy for the kind of meandering life that chases everything,

and yet is satiated by nothing. Psalm 119 is an invitation to life, offering a pathway to wholeness; where one is satiated, fed, full, saturated, satisfied.

 

Psalm 119 expresses delight in God’s law. Eight words are used throughout the Psalm to expand one’s thoughts about God’s law, the others are: commandment, ordinance, statue, decree, precept, word, and promise. All are descriptors of God’s teaching and a structure for applying to daily living. The Psalm encourages the study of God’s teaching as a way of life. The Psalm has God as teacher and creation as classroom.

The Psalm is written in 22 sections – each section containing 8 lines to contemplate and mediate on.

Each of the 176 lines of the poem are a variation of the same theme, the same message said in a different way.

The Psalm is meant to be read aloud, to be heard. The repetition of the variations on the same theme, work like a classical music piece that grows a theme, rifting off the same melody, and in doing so offers expansive insights. Variations create pathways that activate the mind, spirit, emotion, and body. The practice of the repetition, and the hearing of the words, evoke contemplation and spark the imagination to possibilities of the invitation to life, by accepting and practicing a rule of life.

 

There is an old adage - Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The invitation to life by accepting and practicing a rule of life, is a gift, an offering to ground oneself, to focus, and to commit --- not to the same thing over and over that the world tells us we to chase – but rather, a rule of life that embraces and nurtures a relationship.

Invitations are sent by someone to someone. Here the invitation to life comes from God, revealed in law, and received and practiced by human beings. In Psalm 119 the invitation boarders on the ridiculous, going way-over-the-top to make sure the invitation is heard. The Psalm has 176 repetitions of relationship grown between God and humans through the embracing of law, a rule of life. Surely there will be at least one that gives pause to each person hearing the Psalm, that entices a person to consider the invitation to life.

 

In section 5, that is vs. 33-40, the first of the two sections we recited earlier in the service, we can separate each line into its two parts to really hear the reciprocal relationship.

The first portion of the 8 lines sound like this:

Teach me, O Lord the way of your statues / Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

Lead me in the path of your commandments / Turn my heart to your decrees /Turn my eye from looking at vanities / Confirm to your servant your promise/ Turn away the disgrace that I dread / See I have longed for your precepts

There are eight verbs. Each is the action of God. The Psalmist asks God to – teach, give, lead, turn, confirm, and see. God’s action is emphasized by placing it at the beginning of each thought. God and God’s action is the starting point, as well as the energy and catalyst of the human response to accept the invitation and live by a rule of life.

The second portion of each line are: And I will observe it to the end / And observe it with my whole heart /For I delight in it / And not to selfish gain /Give me life in your ways / Which is for those who fear you /For your ordinances are good / In your righteousness give me life.

Human response is expressed as a wholehearted, positive attitude, bathed in goodness.

 

As I have pondered Psalm 119, I wondered how this rule of life might be expressed in our daily lives. Why bother giving one’s whole heart to a relationship with God that grows through the observance of commands?

The unfulfilling answer is that the observance of commands, changes our hearts and us. I read a quote this week by Mahatma Gandhi reflecting on the 7 deadly sins. His description names sin, but it also names the missing pieces that only come through living a rule of life. Gandi name sin as:

Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles

A rule of life is practice that grows and influences one’s work, conscience, character, morality, humanity, sacrifice, and principles.

 

In September we focus our prayers on things school related. Our Bible Study this Tuesday considers learning as a lifetime necessity. Consider some of the ways we learn: school, continuing education, skills training, experiential knowledge, reading, listening to pod-casts … Sunday scripture, sermon, hymns, and prayers.

I suspect many of us feel that we do not learn and grow as much as we did in formal education settings.

Schools have schedules giving order to each day. They ensure students get all the subjects, not just picking and choosing what they like or feel they need. Each year students get a variety of teachers and classmates. Schools have in place codes of conduct to assist in making a safe environment for everyone. There are rules.

 

God is inviting you into relationship, through a rule of life. Where focusing and contemplating on God’s law, grows understanding and relationship with God.  On Psalm 119 Professor James Mays wrote, the instruction comes from God, but it must become part of the servant of God. It must be gathered into the store of the heart, the mind and mentality with which one thinks and wills. The heart itself must be converted from all else. The word is reason and opportunity for the human heart to be whole. (pg. 385 – Interpretation Series: Psalms)

And it is here – being in relationship with the One, in the classroom of creation, God’s kindom -

 one gets off the hamster wheel and stops chasing that which is empty.  

And in this action is filled with the promise of abundance, inclusiveness, comfort, praise, hope, steadfast love, faith, trust, understanding, delight, and life – wholeness.

Lectio Divina - Romans 12: 9-21

 A note for this morning’s sermon – you are invited to listen. The text is not a sermon, where you are being asked to follow a line of thought, or engage your mind in answering pointed questions to apply the Gospel to your everyday life. Rather today’s listening is simply that, listen to God’s Word from Romans 12.  Here it is presented as an interweaving of three Bible translations: the New Revised Standard Version, God’s Word Translation, and the Amplified Bible. This form of reading and listening is an adaptation of the ancient Christian prayer practice of Lectio Divina. This is a practice where the listener opens their heart to listen for God’s voice and the Spirit’s whispers without expectation or preconceived ideas. One is not to start with wanting to get-something, rather, it is listening with the joy of listening. The scripture is approached with an acceptance that Christ is central - the purpose and meaning comes through Christ.

 To prepare ourselves -our ears and our hearts- I invite you to breathe. Settle yourself. Purposefully place your hands- palms up or down or folded. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. Turn up the corner of your lips in a small smile.

Listen.

 

NRSV God’s Word Trans. Amplified Bible (Classic Ed)

 

 

Let love be genuine; Love sincerely. Let your] love be sincere (a real thing);

Hate what is evil; Hate evil hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness],

Hold fast to what is good; Hold on to what is good, but hold fast to that which is good.

 

Love one another with mutual affection. Be devoted to each other like a loving family. Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family].

Outdo one another in showing honor. Excel in showing respect for each other, giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

 

Do not lag in zeal. Don’t be lazy in showing your devotion. Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be ardent in spirit. Use your energy to serve the Lord.

Serve the Lord. Be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.

 

Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.

Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually.

Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.

 

Contribute to the needs of the saints. Share what you have with God’s people who are in need.

Contribute to the needs of God’s people [sharing in the necessities of the saints].

Pursue hospitality to strangers. Be hospitable. Pursue the practice of hospitality.

 

Bless those who persecute you; bless Bless those who persecute you. Bless them, Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; Bless and do not curse them. and don’t curse them and do not curse them.

 

 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Be happy with those who are happy. Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy].

Weep with those who weep. Be sad with those who are sad. and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].

 

Live Live Live  --- in harmony with one another, in harmony with each other, in harmony with one another;

Do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly.

Don’t be arrogant, but be friendly to humble people.

Do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks.

Do not claim to be wiser than you are. 

Don’t think that you are smarter than you really are.

Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 

Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you. Focus your thoughts on those things that are considered noble. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.

 

If it is possible, as much as it is possible, If possible, ---  as far as it depends on you so far as it depends on you -live peaceably with all. Live IN peace with everyone. Live AT peace with everyone.

 

Beloved, never avenge yourselves. Don’t take revenge, dear friends. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath, but leave room for the wrath of God. Instead, let God’s anger take care of it, for it is written, after all, Scripture says “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”, “I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord.” for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite),”says the Lord.

BUT,

INSTEAD “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink,

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink.

BUT IF your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink;

 

for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.

for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.

If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed.”

Do not. Do not.  DON’T 

be overcome by evil, let yourself be overcome by evil, let evil conquer you, 

but …  overcome evil with good.

but …. overcome (master) evil with good. 

But …  conquer evil with good.

 

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

Library: Sorted by Grace

 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God --- what is good acceptable and perfect.  (Rms. 12: 2)

 

Because of government funding cuts, five libraries in the Annapolis Valley were to close. This week a donor gave a substantial gift to keep them open. On multiple platforms people are talking about the value of libraries. Conversations considered the freedom to learn, share, explore, feel, and dream. Much was said about curiosity and imagination, new ideas and new directions of thinking. It was strongly noted that tyrannies and dystopias do not have libraries: books are burned and free thought or expression are banned.

 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God --- what is good acceptable and perfect.

 

When I teach the books of the Bible to confirmation classes, I begin with a picture of a bookshelf, filled with books. On the top shelf are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – the books ascribed to Moses and called Torah by our Jewish siblings. There is a shelf with history books like Kings and Chronicles. There is a poetry section with the books like Psalms and Proverbs. There is a shelf holding lots of books written by prophets. The library includes four gospels and a section filled with letters.

The literature spans thousands of years. The books are abundant with diversity of cultures, peoples, geography, empires, situations, perspectives, styles, and intended audiences. When one puts the books together in one place, readers will note that between the books there are contradictions, disagreeing timelines, differing details, a variety of theological perspectives, and descriptions of God that don’t easily sit side-by-side. We have put this whole bookshelf together into one. The Bible is a library.

 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God --- what is good acceptable and perfect

 

Paul, in his book Romans, sets out in the first 11 chapters his argument for salvation through Christ. Paul draws from various books in the library just mentioned, as well as some others, to craft his argument. This morning we enter the book of Romans at chapter 12, where Paul turns the script and gets to the ‘therefore,’ or the ‘now what?’ of what he is trying to say.

Paul does this by creating a new shelving system, a new structure to organize the items in the library. Items are now placed by the structure of grace.

Because of Christ, righteousness is no longer to be understood as a way to earn God’s favour, but rather the response to divine grace given. The structure of grace is living in gratitude for release from the bondage to sin. This is done in holy living that exhibits and grows the grace of God.

 

New Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier, in the Interpretation series Commentary on Romans, says this of the structuring power of grace, Living the power of the Spirit, and accepting the gracious lordship of God, the Christian’s world has been made new; and the task is now to let the structuring power of grace transform that world into the shape of grace. -pg. 195

Chapter 12 of Romans is an exhortation for holy living driven by experienced grace. Paul’s appeal continues through chapter 16. The book calls Christ followers to common life that exhibits and grows the grace of God.

Not to miss at this turning point are three key points: by grace, in Christ, one body.

 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God --- what is good acceptable and perfect.

 

Through the book of Romans, Paul is addressing an immediate concern: how to live lives of grace in the political and cultural situation of the time. And as faith community to discern the will of God, for them in that time and place.

Jews had been expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius in 49CE. This included Jewish Christians like Prisca and Aquila, characters we read about in the book of Acts. Half a decade or so later, under the reign of Emperor Nero, they return to Rome as do others. The returnees, who had lost property and community ties find a church that is now predominately Gentile Christians (no Jewish background whatsoever). Paul sets out his argument in chapters 1 -11 with a summary of the gospel of salvation in Christ. He asks, pleads, that Gentile Christians not boast over Jews, and not participate in antisemitism that is once again on the rise in Rome. Paul’s letter is concerned with animosity and friction between faith groups and house churches, and fears that Rome will consider this as civil disturbance warranting policing and persecution measures.

 

So Paul writes: By grace, in Christ, one body.

Paul uses the full library to convince the faithful to live accordingly. Specifically, to Christ followers that it is by God’s grace, through Christ, that there is one body. Unity whose heart is Christ. Now unity does not mean uniformity like a group think model where everyone states belief exactly the same way or believes exactly the same things. In talking about the individual parts of one body, Romans describes the diversity and multi-faceted abundance of parts, enacted in a variety of expressions of living grace and enacting faith.

 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God --- what is good acceptable and perfect

 

We are a library.  

Since the beginning of the Reformation, Lutheranism has followed a way of being. Education, reading, curiosity, questions, teaching (not just by the pastor), studying scripture, participating in liturgy, hymn writing and singing, and theological conversation for all, by all have been encouraged and practiced. Each week we step aside so as not to be conformed to this age. We come to church to read a different book, to hear a story from a perspective not our own. The practice of worship exercises our hearts and minds such that they are transformed. When leaving this space, we are not the same as when we arrived. We have new ideas, prayers, hopes, and a renewed spirit. All of this, and as a collection of people from a variety of experiences, we are uniquely equipped as a community to discern the will of God for this community.

 

This week I found September’s Bible studies. They are from Canada Lutheran World Relief and are on the theme of education. Each study includes specifics about how education plays an important role in the work that CLWR does around the world. As we explore the biblical texts we will see the passing of God story through learning, curiosity, and conversation. I noted how much I take for granted – free education, ability to read, liberty of expression, access to information. Sunday School, Bible Study, confirmation, summer camp, faith community, my own Bible  …

Today I give thanks for libraries – traditional library, school library, the Bible, church as library – I see grace working through all forms of library. I give thanks for the gift of libraries, for the gift of grace.

May this library keep our minds discerning and our hearts living that which is good acceptable and perfect.

By grace, in Christ, one body. Amen.

The Kindom of Heaven Is Like: A Parable for Today

 

Many years ago, when I worked at Lutheran Camp Edgewood, I found a poem that really spoke to me. The camp had old rolls of wallpaper for crafts. I took a swatch and wrote the poem on the fancy pearlized and textured wallpaper. Later saving it in a book with collected and written poems. At the time, although I couldn’t explain the poem to anyone else, it felt like an expression of a teenagers world view.

 

The first funeral in my first parish was that of a woman in her early 60s. This beautiful woman had had a hard life with unfair circumstances. This included having a debilitating body wasting illness, that placed her in a nursing home and confined to bed. She was the nicest person, with a warm smile, generous in conversation and care for those who visited and helped her. Meeting her you would not know the depth of hardship she had endured and continued to endure.

In her funeral sermon I shared the poem that I had collected and saved.

The poem written by Canadian poet Raymond Souster is this:

I wanted to smash, something, anything, against their dull stupid faces,

Then you reached down with a certain smile, put a flower in my hand.

The woman could have been the first line of the poem, and yet she was everything of the second line.

Hardship, unfairness, sickness – all the emotions, the physical energy, the impossibility of changing outcomes-

who would not become angry, hostile, scream at the pain, blame God, loss hope, or give up?

Not this kind woman. This beautiful woman, always reached out with a certain smile, coveted prayer, appreciated relationships, shared love, encouraged a new pastor… she put metaphorical flowers in my hand, and in the hands of others.

She represented for me what Jesus is trying to get across in the Gospel. She defined and was the kingdom of God in her actions. Jesus is trying to articulate the kingdom of God.

 

The older I get, the more I witness, this short poem takes on a deeper meaning.

 

It would be easy, understandable, for someone to want to smash something…

How a smoke-filled yellow sky or smoke induced blood red sun feels like being in a dystopian novel

How climate crisis has made 40C a new norm for places around the global

How hatred and greed is escalating the procurement of weapons and elite forces, only to destroy other human beings

How stories of injustice continue to multiply, while arrogant perpetrators and societies aware still double down on doing egregious harm

How someone could once again aim to kill the most beautiful tree in the Public Gardens

…smash something … there are days when, if I am honest, I most certainly want to smash something anything against their dull stupid faces.

 

The older I get, the more I witness, the more Jesus’ words take on a deeper meaning.

The kingdom of heaven is like…

Jesus is filling the ears and the imaginations of his listeners, in doing so he is laying flowers in hands.

Remember Jesus is speaking to an occupied people, a people resented by Roman rulers, who experience violence - torture – crucifixion as common place. Society operates with slavery, widespread poverty, and out-of-touch religious leaders who put rules before kindred.

 

The older I get, the more I witness, the more I understand that the ultimate deeper meaning is Jesus’ action.

The kingdom of heaven is Jesus dying on the cross, crucified.

I imagine the disciples wanting to smash something, anything, against the dull stupid faces of the Roman Empire, regional governors, the religious authorities that incited the crowds. At the foot of the cross, on the killing hill --- I can feel the eeriness of the dystopian inky sky. I can hear the jeering crowds, the crying followers. I am aware of military might; of cringing at the crass treatment, of being silenced by the force of Empire. I am sickened by the glorification of violence, disheartened by the political maneuvering, shocked at the insignificance given to human life, and the inhumanity and terror of the whole scene.

And then, you -Jesus- reached down with a certain smile and put a flower in -their hand – the world’s hand.

Put a flower in my hand; – Jesus put the kingdom of God in the mayhem- grace, front and centre for everyone with ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to receive.

The kingdom of God has drawn near and is present as Jesus acknowledges the man dying beside him and promises him life. Jesus puts a flower in the hand, forgiving those who were killing him. Jesus gives a flower with the care he has for his mother. Jesus brings the kingdom by remaining present – incarnate- when he could have left; got off the cross immediately. Jesus is the kingdom by refusing that kind of  hero glory and instead choosing to be present in hurt, suffering, and death. …and in this, offers a flower, bearing witness to the possibility of the redemption of all that is broken.

 

All of Jesus’ kindom parables in this passage are short, one sentence. The kindom captured quickly in one deep image. One flower. Across the parables there are themes:

The kindom expands – grows like plants, rises like yeast. The kingdom parables are focused on the common good and filled with abundance and diversity. This kingdom of abundance and diversity, values life and wholeness, and blooms into beauty and joy.

 

In our world and in our lives, smashing something, anything, is an understandable human response to all the mayhem  -  but the past weeks Jesus has told parables about planting seeds, growing plants, harvesting – today Jesus speaks about kingdom. Listeners are planted with seeds. Jesus is tending those words and now encouraging blooming into kingdom living, to plant new crops of seeds, to put flowers in the hands of others. Growing the kingdom of God one flower at a time. Being a present and tangible brightly coloured gift  - that warms the heart and offers grace in the world’s suffering, pain, and mayhem.

Let us go and live God’s kingdom – and with a certain smile, put a flower in another’s hand.