In July, of this past year, the
Anglican Church of Canada and the ELCIC, met in Joint Assembly in Ottawa. The Saturday morning event was a prayer
service on the front lawn of parliament hill.
The young adults of both denominations and our National Bishop and the
Anglican Primate led the service. We gathered in circles of 10-12 people to
pray, to share stories, to engage the topic of water, and to consider how to be
active in water justice. The service was
meant to make a public statement as two national church bodies that water is a
gift from God, a gift that we have in abundance. With the gift comes
responsibility, as people, as parliament, to protect, to clean up that which we
have polluted, and to insure access to potable water for all people.
On the main steps of the hill,
between the peace flame and the peace tower, the youth ran strips of bright
blue and silver cloth, moving like a river.
The circles of people gathered below.
For me it painted a picture of the kingdom of God: free flowing water, the gift of life, for all
people, living in relationship and community.
This picture of kingdom is in
process of being developed and built in places around the world. If any of you have looked through the “Gifts
of the Heart” catalogue from CLWR you will notice that some of the gifts are
about water: gifts of water storage and diversion projects and community water
systems –the building of wells. Through CLWR we are involved in fair water
access around the world. This said we
live with a disaster at home: a 2011 Canadian
government study demonstrated that the water management systems on more than
300 reserves were at high risk of malfunctioning? Some communities have no
water system at all. There are problems
with legal systems controlling water; insufficient government funds; a lack of
public awareness not helped by racism against First Nation’s people. In some
places, in this country, bottled water sells for $100 a case. In rural areas, speaking of my experience in
Northern NB, has people -those who are
poor- drinking from wells that have not had yearly testing; some have been and
contain chemicals from crop sprays, or eccolli from manure runoff. New wells need to be drilled or treatment
systems put in place in order for safe drinking water, but that population is
forgotten; it is their problem. So too
when wells run dry because the neighbour has put in a well draining the
aquifer, or a company takes water to bottle and sell, or the land shifts as the
ground is fracked.
In HRM every year the church
receives more and more phone calls, that people cannot pay their water bills;
for the poor -water is becoming inaccessible.
And this in a cultural context, where there is a corporate feeling that
there is lots of water, that everyone has access to it -but we do not live in
the kingdom of God-yet.
I read this week an opinion piece
reflecting on the millions of dollars Canadians and the Canadian government are
sending to the Philippines. The
reflection was that if there is that much money to go to disaster because our
hearts are moved, changed, saddened, and feel helpless; that means there is
that much money to rid Canada of poverty... why do we not see the disaster we
live-in-the-midst of? Why are our hearts hardened to the plight of the poor and
First Nations communities, instead of being broken such that water justice
issues are addressed here at home?
The readings today talk about
leadership in a way that we do not usually see in practice. In fact, the
readings speak to a different kind of understanding than most human beings can
accept, let alone live.
Jeremiah speaks of leaders as either
having or not having a shepherd’s heart.
What does such a heart look like? Think of the news of late, is a
shepherd’s heart that of some Canadian Senators, Rob Ford? Of course not, the
most profound characteristic of a shepherd’s heart is that it is selfless,
gaining life and energy by looking out for the flock; having the flocks best
interest at heart. It doesn’t mean being
all nice and schmultzie all the time; it could mean tough love, partnership, always
give and take....shepherds have one focus, every decision and action is for one
reason and one reason only, the best for
the sheep, the flock. Now there is a
definition of the kingdom of God: everyone living not for themselves but for
the good of all people.
Today we also hear the recount of
Jesus’ crucifixion; the shepherd heart taken to extreme. Jesus’ lays down his life for the sheep –as
the Gospel of John would say. This is a form of leadership few venture to
accept. There are examples: Bonhoeffer, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther
King. There are more recent examples,
within the last few years, of Christians, some leaders, some living out the
Gospel through service ministries, who have been killed in places like Iran,
Turkey, Korea, Uganda, because of their shepherd hearts.
As I spoke with the children about
water, I am amazed by the Mystery and message in the invisible. I am amazed that in the life giving gift of
the creator, we are given a visible sign, and that we have been given the power
to recreate that which through human sin has become broken. Is the Gospel message in water, a sign that
hearts can change in the same manner? Scripture
talks about the disciples being given power to heal and to forgive the sins of
any. ...to forgive the sins of any...
whose heart does that change? The one
who hears the words, the one who proclaims them, or both; and does the actual
substance of the water in the heart visually change?
We have come here, or have brought
our children, or chosen ourselves to become part of the Christian community
through baptism. We pray for the
baptized. We come and as we did this morning give thanks for the gift of baptism,
the gift of life giving water. We
believe that the Spirit, in, with, and under the water, whelms those who are
baptized with it. Mr. Emoto has
photographs that illustrate that Holy water is different, its nature is crystal
pure. When it whelms us, we are changed. When we come back to this place to remember,
to hear the words “your sins are forgiven”, to sing our praise, to offer prayer
–once again our being is whelmed so that we can live as if the kingdom were
present.
When Tim and I were married and moved
into our first place together we began a tradition where, in every home we have
lived, there is a shell above the sink in the bathroom, right above the taps,
with the words “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”,
painted on it. Luther said that every
day as one washed their face in the morning, as the water ran over the face, to
recommit to living baptized by setting the day’s focus, “in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
This was meant to be a heart changing action, reconfiguring one’s own
desires and selfish aims, to a DNA of living for others –in other words living
the kingdom amidst being in bondage to sin.
There is water all around us. There is an abundance of God’s gift. There is life giving water for everyone.
As a baptized people living in
Canada, what does it mean to live with a shepherd’s heart? It means water justice is demanded of us,
protection expected, responsibility to sustainable usage, and a responsibility
to wholeness –the Gospel message in
water speaks to our hearts, changing us to have shepherd’s hearts.
Live your baptism this week. Treat water as the Mystery –as God- in, with,
and under every drop. Save it, share it,
fight for it, build facility for it –in other places in the world and here. There
is no excuse, we can be held accountable, there is water for all in this
country. So what is your shepherd’s
heart going to do for water justice for all people?
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