Answering the Prayer for Labourers in the Harvest

 

The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Mt.37-8

 

Frederick Buechner, American theologian and Presbyterian minister, wrote: go where your best prayers take you.

He also wrote: The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

 

The Gospel has Jesus, teaching, healing, and proclaiming good news as he moves from city to city, village to village. Crowds gather. From the midst of a crowd, Jesus says to the disciples, ask the Lord of the harvest, meaning pray – for labourers to be sent out. The harvest is plentiful, look at the crowd! Look all these people!

 

Go where your best prayers take you. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into the harvest.

This is a biblical prayer. Where does this ‘best prayer’ take us?

 

June 21 is the commemoration day of evangelist Onesimos Nesib, who died in June of 1931. Onesimos was born into the Oromo people of Ethiopia. He was captured by slave traders and taken from his homeland to Eritrea, where he was bought, freed, and educated by Swedish missionaries. Onesimos translated the Bible into Oromo and returned to Ethiopia to preach the gospel. His tombstone includes Jeremiah 22: 29 “O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!”    -Sundays and Seasons, c2022 Augsburg Fortress, pg205

Onesimos laboured in the harvest. Praise the Lord that the prayer of Matthew 9:38 was answered. But, that was in the 1920s. Was the prayer fully answered; how many other Onesimos’ were there labouring in the harvest? And since that time, new crops have grown, there are a few more generations of planting, and seeding; lots of people in the crowds.

 

The image of the harvest and labourers, makes me think of Canada’s agriculture industry. Every year we hear of farmers who turn under edible produce and crops because they do not have the labourers to harvest it. Even with migrant workers there are not enough hands helping. There are a multitude of reasons for this, but, when people are hungry and food bank use has significantly increased, can we really afford to let food rot in the field? If crowds, the people, are the produce in this image, how many get plowed under or left in their circumstances to rot?

 

There is an idea played out in the Christian churches and in ministry models, where missionaries, deacons, and pastors have a ‘special’ call and vocation; a call and vocation not shared by congregation members. It leads to communities sponsoring missionaries in far off places and hiring a pastor in  the local congregation to do ministry for them, rather than with them.

Today’s reading begins with a preamble (the end part of Matthew 9) to highlight the purpose of calling the disciples and the purpose of Jesus’ teaching, healing, and proclamation of the good news. It is spoken to the Matthean community, one that biblical interpreters have suggested, was not engaged in mission. Labourers were few. Jesus calls the disciples and those following, to a vocation to proclaim the good news (that the kindom of heaven has come near). Cure the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse the lepers. Cast out demons.

 

I was ordained 25 years ago today. My call is specifically to administer Word and Sacrament. My vocation is as a pastor, but, the details of vocation are the promises made in baptism. I live baptism through being a pastor. I could live baptism in any number of careers or jobs – that is what vocation is; taking faith and applying it in daily living. As I reflect on this ordination anniversary, I look back at the fields I have walked through, the crowds I have interacted with, and my relationships with disciples. Through the years teaching, healing, and proclaiming the kindom, -through these hands- has been focused on the labourers; people like you. I feel called through Word and Sacrament to nourish and sustain you, so that you can go into harvest and labour on --- proclaiming the good news, curing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons. This is the task carved out for me, to focus on the labourers.

Over the years, I have had people outside the church ask me about career trajectory. Is it small parish, to ever bigger parishes, until one is a Bishop? Is that the goal? Pastoring, isn’t really like that, promotion is not part of the equation, not the goal. You are ordained pastor and serve as pastor, and remain pastor, unless for some reason you decide to be unrostered. Pastoring is like being on a pilgrimage, it is a journey without a set of marks to achieve. It is leadership that is about faithfully living one’s baptismal vows, and germinating wholeness in the people of God so that they flourish in labouring to bring the kindom of heaven near.  

 

Pastoring has been a pilgrimage and continues to be that for me. I continue to learn along the way, enter new relationships and end others, be surprised by the Spirit’s movement, and so often walk with the faithful in unmapped territory.

Pilgrimage – did you know that in the Middle Ages it was not uncommon for a court to send a guilty person on a pilgrimage to Rome to get a certificate of pilgrimage – the certificate was to guarantee that the guilty had travelled the distance? The idea for the traveller was penance, time to think about their actions, and through reflection and walking, have time for a change of heart to take place. For the community, the time of separation between victim and perpetrator, was a cooling-off period, and a chance for a posture of compassion to settle in. When the person returned from their pilgrimage, forgiven and renewed, they reintegrated into the fabric and life of the town.

For the people of the Middle Ages, they saw the healing power of pilgrimage.

 

Cure the sick. Raise the dead. Cast out demons. Proclaim the good news -heaven has come near.

How many of us would say this is our calling and vocation? Probably not many – yet, most of us would classify ourselves as Jesus’ disciples. Jesus’ disciples were summoned and given the authority to facilitate these tasks in the harvest.

If asked, I would say that in 25 years of ministry no one has been cured, no one raised from the dead, and no demons cast out, by these hands. But, as I reflect on pastoring as pilgrimage, as walking with others, stepping into relationship and travelling easy open sidewalks or bushwacking overgrown trails – there has been healing, raising from the dead, and demons cast out.  And yes, proclamation of the good news – that comes near.

Along my pastoring pilgrimage I have:

walked through rituals of life and death, to places of healing where there is peace and space to grieve or celebrate or both; had conversations that wander through feelings of shame and guilt, to come to a clearing where forgiveness and mercy are possible; tramped through swamps of addiction until demons are cast off and safe refuge is found; hiked treacherous trails guiding others to new beginning and rebirth.

And these are not paths exclusive to me – I know you too venture into territory that has you curing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons.

 

And for those who aren’t so sure of curing the sick, raising the dead, or casting out demons--- take a walk, sit on a bench where people walk, and while there talk to others, smile, pray, encourage, be friendly, offer peace, a moment of compassion. A little walk, the sunshine and fresh-air, and a moment of connection -the Holy present through you - is enough to start or continue a process of healing, casting out, raising up, and most certainly of proclaiming good news.

 

Pilgrimage – walking in relationship with your neighbourhood and living faithfully your baptismal vows are one answer to the prayer of Matthew 9:38, ask the Lord of the harvest to sent out labourers into the harvest.

 

And the Lord does – the Lord sends you.

I Desire Mercy

 

I invite you to settle in this morning. As a gathered community I invite us to slow down, to step aside from the circumstances in our own lives, and to join our hearts and minds as we breathe together in a centring prayer.

Breathing in, we pray: I desire mercy; breathing out, we pray: not sacrifice

 

Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” – Mt. 9:13

This is a quotation that Jesus knew from the scroll of the prophet Hosea. -Hos. 6:6

Matthew’s Gospel has these words on Jesus’ lips once again as few chapters later in the story – “but if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” and then goes on with his discourse with the religious leaders and their disciples. This is a regular exchange where interpretation of the Law, scripture, is in the mouths of teachers who openly discuss its meaning and application. It was not unusual for Jesus, or other teachers, to quote scripture in their argument; this though is the only Gospel to quote Hosea.

 

For those who are writers, you will know that one doesn’t quote another person or passage from written material, unless it adds to and contributes to what one is writing. Quotes are chosen carefully and with thought. When writing sermons, I take from the text, lines that I will use by repeating, drawing the listener’s attention too, reinterpreting, and applying. I choose the scripture line based on the theme I feel called to preach about, sometimes it is a quote that interests me – perhaps one I struggle with or wonder about. Today’s, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, must be important because Jesus chose this quote and uses it again later. Is this Jesus’ favourite passage? Is this Jesus’ understanding of the Law and the purpose of religion wrapped up in five words? Is this Jesus’ mission statement?

 

The Gospel of Matthew would suggest that it is. Jesus’ actions go about demonstrating this scripture. In a few short verses, Jesus eats with those who are marginalized and unfavoured, Jesus interprets the Law for the Pharisees describing mercy, Jesus exercises mercy by following the leader whose daughter has died, Jesus pauses to employ mercy for the hemorrhaging woman. Mercy is Jesus’ mantra, purpose, and posture.

 

Sacrifice was easier to live. -- To focus one’s energy on rules and regulations to build a sense of stability, control, and power; when in essence there was none. ‘If we do this, believe this, act like this’- all will be well; I will be okay. At the time of Jesus, Jerusalem and the Judean provinces, were living under the rule of the Roman Empire. The people of the territory were not under their own agency. Many made choices, like Matthew the tax collector, to take jobs with the foreign power to survive, and yet, by their own people be considered traitors.  It was a time of great tension. The people of the land, various religious groups, were divided amongst themselves:  they argued about the Law, its interpretation, and which Laws and traditions would govern the people of Israel. To focus on sacrifice -practicing the Law by sacrificing to every ‘dot’ and ‘tittle’ - sacrificed the purpose of the Law in the first place, to love God and love neighbour; to work in the creation of God’s kindom on earth. With a practice of sacrifice -the human focus was one of following the minutia of rules, and in the process lose a heart for mercy.

The Gospel of Matthew was written after the 1^st Jewish Revolt against the Romans and the Roman destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem; the Temple where animal sacrifice and donation was made. In this time of uncertainty – where there is no longer a Temple - there emerges rabbinic Judaism as a decisive voice and a way to be in the world. This Gospel’s words are written in the milieu of moving from Temple life to a reinterpretation of God’s covenant in a changing world.

 

When I was in university, a friend and I would occasionally housesit for a woman who had two dogs. It was great as we could get out of residence life for a weekend and have a whole house to ourselves. There were two bedrooms in the house, one with a regular bed and the other with a waterbed. I ended up in the room with the waterbed… what this meant was the dogs slept on the waterbed and I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. The first time we stayed, it took all of two minutes for me to determine that the bed was a no-go. Waterbeds never stop moving. They are never still; it was like lying down after drinking too much.

When I think of the turmoil, despair, and dizzying problems in the world at the time of Jesus, at the time of Matthew writing the Gospel, in the world now --- it is as if we are all standing in a waterbed where one ill-taken step or move could pop the whole thing- draining hope and life away.

In the book, Camino Close to Home, Rob Fennell writes, “we have three selves: spiritual, mental, and physical. Symbolically, all three sleep together in one big waterbed. When one moves, the others are affected!”

The dogs, of the woman we housesat for, liked the waterbed – in fact they would purposefully move on the bed, sometimes playing with each other or making gentle movements so the bed would loll them to sleep.

The bed for me represented sacrifice – sacrifice of a goodnight sleep, along with an attitude of distain, judgement of who would have a bed like this, jealousy of the dogs, annoyance that my friend did not take this room, and this room meant sleeping with dogs --- not my comfortable place.

Too many, walk through life affected by holding complexes of sacrifice. This affects everyone around them! The posture of the dogs towards the waterbed and thus their experience was completely different then mine -- freeing.

 

I understand the thought- actually I feel it- that we are each a waterbed where our physical, spiritual, and mental selves are continually pushing, pulling, playing, lolling the other parts. All the parts of me are connected and rarely do I experience a static moment where all three are still and balanced.

This morning I hear Jesus’ words applying to imbalance. If even one of my parts – physical, spiritual, or mental- can focus or grasp even momentarily a posture of mercy, rather than a practice of sacrifice, this will affect my whole being. An ounce of mercy will be a ripple, and touch points and people far beyond myself.

Jesus is saying, ‘walk away from the practice of sacrifice to a posture of mercy.’

 

I desire mercy, not sacrifice is a posture. It is a way of being, formed through attitude, interpretation, language, emphasis. I desire mercy is being faithful to Jesus’ call on us to follow, which moves us away from religion and practice seeped in sacrifice, to a posture of remaining in the mantra and living I desired mercy no matter what the chaos and pressures around the community are.

As a gathered community, having left what we were doing to follow Jesus,’ we sit in this posture: I desire mercy.

We place our open hands in front of us, in a receiving gesture. We anticipate the Holy Spirit moving among us, as we pray a word prayer – we simply seek – Mercy… mercy… mercy;

We breathe in God’s mercy… 

as we are filled, we embody God’s mercy…

we breathe out God’s mercy…

Overflowing with mercy, we go into the world to let mercy loose.

 

Jesus repeats, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Amen,

Creation Story when the World Is On Fire

 

This sermon was prepared using NRSV text from Genesis 1, interspersed with a reflection/ prayer in response to NS wildfires of Spring 2023.

 

The Hebrew scripture reading for this morning is the beginning of Genesis – a creation story. The story is retold as it appears in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, interrupted by reflection and prayer from a world on fire.

 

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

 

NOT from nothing- God creates order from watery chaos; from the deep;

Where there are tides and currents, rogue waves, a churning power beyond control;

God, create order from fiery chaos; from walls of flame and smoldering ash.

Wind from God that moved over the waters;

            can it be – please – that you, this wind that moves, carry water- much needed water?

God, watery deep and fiery expanse scare us, displace us, unsettle us;

The deep, the expanse has us cry, ‘enough already!'

Water. Fire. Inhospitable, uninhabitable –

And yet, creation stories the world over – repeat, reassure, remind, that within (from chaos) there is life. Luscious, vibrant, and verdant. We long for this night and day.

 

This account of creation is a confession of faith of the sovereignty of God – the vastness of the cosmos and beyond, that which we do not understand and over that which we do not control.

I suppose that is how hope is too. It is not controlled, and we do not understand. Hope springs forth, from a place of quiet brooding, in the deep where it is waiting to be carried on the wind; to be inhaled by plant and animal, by humans, to mix in with the ashes of life – where it gathers its power in hearts, minds, and spirits. And when hope manifests it is like the freshness of rain in a smoke-filled sky. It is God saying, “Let there be.”

Then God said, “Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

 

The goodness of creation. ‘and it was good’ ‘and it was good’ and ‘it was very good’;

It was good – in the midst of fire – kindness was birthed; compassion, generosity, gratitude were accelerated;

Dwellings, rooms, and beds became available, forged in the depths of fire -it took the sheer devastation of fire to melt hearts and grow hospitality, a hospitality not extended to the displaced in the already unprecedented housing crisis. Fire opened doors.

God, why does it take fear first? Emotional turmoil, devastation beyond understanding –before humans create space, create home, create commonwealth.  

God, we hear the creation story where creation is accomplished by you separating, ordering, and naming. Out of the ashes create in us a will to create home- for every plant, animal, and human- a sacred place that is habitable and hospitable.

 And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning; every day.

 

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

 

God named the dome Sky; Sky with a capital S. A name like yours or mine, given to a living breathing created entity. Sky- God created with purpose. It is where winds blow and the Spirit plays. Sky renews, recreates, water from one form to another.  Sky is illumined by sunshine. Sky is the bearer of messages and warnings: red Sky at night is a sailor’s delight; green Sky precedes Tornado; and the ominous cloud of wildfire smoke is danger. Sky holds smog and is increasingly filled with alien particles. And yet, despite human interference disturbing Sky, Sky to the glory of God is the vessel – the backdrop- for the brilliant dance of the aurora borealis. So good, so very good.

 

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together God called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

 

This story of creation is liturgical; it is a dance.  It is in the repetition of the phrases, poetry to tell the story, to be told and passed on from generation to generation. Liturgy literally means ‘work of the people’ – creation, by the end of this story when dominion is given to humans and God rests, creation is our work. Creation story told in a liturgical form is to center us with the sacredness of creation, of creating. The sacredness of all.

 

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let there be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth. And it was so. God made the two great lights --- the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night --- and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

 

On the fourth day, we enter the dance of creation. One could say God’s creative dance where each piece is interwoven into relationship with that which proceeds it. We hear the relationship in the symmetry of the story. The heavenly lights on day 4 take us back to light, the night and day of day 1;

On the fifth day the creatures that fly and swim are placed in God created habitat, which returns us to the separating of waters on day 2;

On the sixth day the creation of land dwellers, animals, and humans, connects back to day three’s corresponding creation of land and edible plants.

 

And God said, “let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

 

God, bless the birds, the bees, the swarms of living creatures – rabbits, mice, weasels, deer, worms, foxes and so many more. They too have lost their habitats, their homes – their nests and eggs, their dens and cubs; their spaces to creep, and soil to burrow in. We speak words of blessing, ‘Peace be with all creatures.’ God breath over the waters; breath over the fire scarred Earth and continue creation, provide home – sacred dwelling.

 

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

With a word Mother Earth brings forth life!

 

Oh, glorious life – I hear the cacophony of sound – like Vivaldi’s violin concerto ‘Spring.”

I see all the colours of the rainbow. I smell that pleasant smell – petrichor- the smell of the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. I am filled with that waiting anticipation of Earth inexhaustibly blooming.

 

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

God, you took a grand risk. Dominion in the hands of humankind, no financial advisor or board of directors would have sanctioned such an action. You have such hope and faith in creatures that cause so much destruction – creatures that can be blamed for the world being on fire. Yet, there you are moving over the face of the waters – in humanity’s tears, in the depth of their being.

You told the prophet Isaiah who told us,

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. – Is.43: 2

Our experience – this mini-apocalypse of fire -let it refine us, our hearts, our capacity for hospitality, our passion for creating habitable and relational place – so that dominion is not acting with power, but, understood as living the sacred.

 

So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God, God created them; male and female God created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with see in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Creation liturgy has the refrain: ‘and God saw that it was good.” For every day the individual elements are good. Just -good. But on that last day, when all is complete and all is together - the whole is VERY good. Relationship, connectivity, reliance on the elements of the day before, dependence, the web of life --- together as a whole--- is VERY good.

 

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation.

Sabbath -a day to step aside, rest, gather – in this story it is not commanded; rather God just rests and blesses the day.

Stepping aside -to rest, breathe, cry, lament, pray, meditate – whatever we need to do to find comfort and healing, we are blessed this morning because we have gathered, not relying on our own strength, not pretending to be in control of our feelings, just coming to be together – to create a new head and heart space by walking and praying through liturgy.

We remember that God – Creator of the universe- risked everything, including life itself- out of love for a humanity that is good, but broken. Liturgy is a continual living of life, death, and life – enacted in baptism, shared in communion. Baptism – yes water is creation story in the church – and the beginning for many of us.

This time Creation story begins not in water but in fire. 

Fire –

It stimulates growth, maintains ecological systems; creates mosaic patches in the landscape that allows a greater number of species to exist and thrive;

fire in its consuming expanse- obliterated what was- and in the same breath holds an endless myriad of creative possibility.

 

And with this sacred thought and creative task at hand, we gather to write a new Creation story:

In this beginning God created the heavens and Earth. Earth was a world on fire; a hopeless void were brokenness covered the face of the deep, while a life-filled wind from God swept over the scarred Earth and over the face of the waters.

And God said: ‘Let there Be.’ 

… and there was… 

and it was good. 

After many days… 

it was VERY good.