Thus Says the Lord, interrupted by a Garbage Truck

Gathered into one, in an alcove of a shady backyard, a group of people worship. The sun shimmers through the trees, lighting on faces, as the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. Birds add their cheeps to the voices singing hymns. A gentle breeze cools, as a prayer is offered.  The reading from Ezekiel is read as listeners relax in lawn chairs, ending, thus says the Lord. As the Bible is passed and 2 Corinthians is heard, there arose such a racket… the reading comes to a stop with a raise of the hand and a loud voice, “Wait. Stop.  We can’t hear you!” The group patiently waits as a rumbling garbage truck moves through the neigbouring property.

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a garbage truck.

This occurred on Thursday in the backyard of the parsonage. Lutheran clergy met for worship, mutual support, learning, and fellowship. After the hearing, or lack of hearing, the Word, the group entered into holy conversation based on the readings. The interruption of the garbage truck was a hot topic.

Was the interruption simply that, an interruption?  Was the interruption a forced pause so we could hear God in the noise, or in the silence that followed? Was the interruption to draw our attention beyond our boundaries?  Was the interruption a thus says the Lord or an inconvenient annoyance?

Thus says the Lord. Jesus finds himself in his hometown on the sabbath.  As was the custom he went to the synagogue. As Jesus was teaching, a garbage truck rumbled through, in the queries of his neighbours:

Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.

Interrupted.  A prophetic Word, the chance for a miracle and profound healings, all rendered impossible as the peoples’ garbage outweighed and pushed away a power that is beyond human capability. Jesus blatantly points out, that his neighbours are missing it: Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house. And he could do no deed of power there. I wonder what the power of God was about to do in that place and time, what might have emerged, until it was interrupted with human garbage?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupting the market place was Paul speaking of a grand vision of paradise, a third heaven, an experience he can not share with his listeners. The crowd comes to a standstill, to listen and dissect this peculiar speech; unlike the arrogance seen in other missionaries.  Paul has just built a case of opposition with the cynics of his time and set the stage for a boasting contest.  

Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul, loudly, rumbles through the crowd in a garbage truck.  They come to a full stop!

What was this?  Whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Paul boasts in his coming undone which is an unfathomable idea.  The Greek word for weakness, includes a root word that means “cohesion, a holding together.” It means to be strong and self-contained even as the outside world is falling apart.

Paul turns conventional reason completely upside down, as the Word of the Lord is wont to do.

Paul boasts in coming undone: a thorn was given me in the flesh. And he continues by emphasizing that God’s grace is sufficient, for power is made perfect in weakness. Because of this Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

And herein is the second part of the reversal: Paul is coming undone, and in this undoing, the world around him can be put back together.  This cohesion in the world comes about through the power of Christ being freed in the world, and it comes at a loss of self-containment, sacrificing of the single-personhood, risking to open oneself to what may or may not be; relinquishing control of self.

The commentary that presented some of this argument, continued by pondering that this reversal is most visible in human actions and feelings involved in the realms of relationship.

Weakness – the places we come undone—might be witnessed: in the spoiling of a child, falling head-over-heals in love, a desire for a return to a lost intimacy, using biting words with those closest to us; weakness might be grudges remaining hard in our hearts, the slowness of forgiveness, showing compassion, suffering with another/for another; worrying over the health and welfare of others, getting caught up in another’s emotional drama.  Perhaps there is weakness in the fear of losing a relationship or tears as loved ones die.  ‘Weakness” is the place where our hearts melt, dissolving into the world beyond our self-contained unit.

Living in relationship, being human, is full of interruptions --- a rumbling garbage truck. Being human includes weakness and brokenness. The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

One can grow up in a family and feel loved; supported by a church community, connected to God in prayer, encouraged by neighbours, and have amazing friendships.  One can fall in love, get married, and grow in intimacy through the years.  ---convinced that all this is the fullness of love. This was me. This was my understanding of love.

That is until children came into our home. All of a sudden what I thought was love – notice I said thought—changed to a deeper heart experience.  And it was during the troubled times, the times I felt like I was drowning, the moments of high emotion, the being-beside-myself…that I didn’t just understand love, I experienced (eventually) a visceral understanding of unconditional love.  There was strength to be found in falling apart, in my weakness, power (not my own) emerged.  Power made perfect in loving.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience of strength and power, emerging from working at being in relationship?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a rumbling garbage truck.

The theme for this year’s Synod Assembly, and the focus theme for the next biennium, is: Liberated by God’s grace, to be neighbour. At times throughout the event, meeting time was ‘interrupted’ with sessions exploring being neighbour.  The sessions were relational and had participants examine their relationship with neighbour. We confronted bias, prejudice, reconciliation-reconciliaction, and privilege.

In doing so there was an exploration of human weakness and the brokenness of human relations.

Assembly delegates were invited into an interfaith dialogue, acknowledged ancestral territory, prayed and sang in various tongues, experienced an exercise in discovering privilege, heard from Chinese, Indian, and Guyanese colleagues -their struggles, their growing communities. We were witness to stories of congregations working on relationships – on being neighbour; relationship often starting because regular operating procedure was interrupted by a garbage truck.  Thus says the Lord.

You may have heard of ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

This law says that people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, anger, and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, people need a place to dump it! ---bias, prejudice, unneighbourliness Sometimes they'll dump it on others.

The law describes what actions to take when encountering ‘the garbage truck:’ don’t take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. Do not let garbage trucks take over the world.

This brings us back to the reading from Ezekiel. Ezekiel is warned that interrupting the lives of the people, being outward focused, will not make him any friends, in fact it could bring all sorts of calamities.  The people are stubborn, self-absorbed, living as self-contained units.  Ezekiel, as Paul, throws this up in the air, as God’s Word is wont to do.  The people are referred to not as individuals but as “a people.”

The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

Thus says the Lord: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. --- have people stand

Mortal, I am sending you in your weakness to the people, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me, into a world of broken relationships; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, to throw out the garbage,to be neighbour, to love,  and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." Whether they hear or refuse to hear this is not your concern, mend the broken, heal relationship, and they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Anglican Ordination May 2018 - Cathedral of All Saint's Halifax

Back in the day, tonight we would be gathering to draw straws.  That’s right we would have a drawing of straws to determine who would make up the 12^th position as a disciple- soon to be Apostle.  The pool to be chosen from are witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, have been followers a long time; they know the stories, can recount the tales, can bear witness to healings, have memorized Jesus’ sayings, have walked with Jesus and experienced being in his presence. The person drawing the shortest straw would take their place as one of the 12.

For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to …

To one of you.

To those of you who are here tonight to be ordained, or installed …are you sure you wish to transition into these rolls?  To be chosen, to draw the short straw?

Of the 12 Apostles:

Andrew and Peter were crucified; Philip was impaled on iron hooks and hung upside down; Thomas faced death by spears; Matthew was beheaded; Bartholomew was flayed and burned alive; James faced death by sword; Thaddeus and James the Just were clubbed to death; Simon the Zealot-  killed at the hand of the governor of Syria; and Matthais was stoned.  (not that kind of stoned).  The only disciple not to die a martyr’s death was John, but, he faced no picnic – as he was thrown into boiling oil and then exiled to an island.

To those of you who are here tonight to be ordained, collated, or installed …are you sure you wish to transition into these rolls?  To be a witness of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection: in Word, service, sacrament, in the undertaking of the office to be given to you?

Despite the short-lives being lived by the followers of Jesus (it was not just the 12 Apostles who were killed and became martyrs), the followers of Jesus quickly grew in number, on some occasions by the thousands.  It was not long before ministry spread beyond the hands and mouths of the Apostles.  12 was simply not enough. There was organizing to be done for service ministries, a chain of leadership to provide a definitive voice, and farther corners of the earth to go and share the Good News.

Ordinands, soon to be Archdeacons and Canons, are you not relieved that tonight we will not be drawing straws?  Can you imagine 12 Apostles, -just 12-, leading the Diocese of NS and PEI? Thanks be to God, the church has grown into a fuller expression than the Gospel remaining in the hands of 12.  The Gospel is in your hands, and words, and deeds; the Gospel is also in the hands, and words, and deeds of all who have gathered here tonight.  In those, as the appointed Psalm describes, who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt;… they shall never be moved.

This is quite a day- St. Matthais Day – to enter into new ministry. It is sobering to be reminded of early martyrs and the commitment required to be witnesses to the ends of the earth, for faith to not be moved, even to their own hurt.  Sobering --- within the last 20 years Christian colleagues, …described in a google search as six-courageous modern-day martyrs -  Clement Shahbaz Bhatti, Sr. Leonella Sgorbati, Annalena Tornelli, Fathers Andrea Santoro, Jacques Hamel, and Ragheed Ganni, ---- were shot or had their throats slit, because they would not convert, they continued to preach the Gospel, to act in mercy, and would not denounce faith in Jesus. These are 6 of 1000s who have been killed for following Jesus. Will this be expected of you?  Of any of us?   

Perhaps this evening you expected the proclaimed word to be one that was more celebratory, warm and fuzzy… after all this night recognises the efforts of many, lots of theological education, years of ministry, the discernment of calls, lifetimes of being on a journey, and seeking-finding. Yes, it is a day to celebrate; but, the focus is the promises being made, the commitment of your hearts, the acceptance of the responsibility you will carry amongst God’s people.

Now, lest this be the last time a Lutheran is asked to preach for such an occasion, let me momentarily shift gears and share with you a story…that at least for now does not end in martyrdom.

Open upon a time there was a little girl who loved life.  She grew up in a quaint little town, went to a charming village church, and spent a lot of time exploring God’s creation.  The pastor of the village church was a big man, with a big heart. He always had time to stop and talk.  One morning, returning with her mother from the post office, they met the pastor.  He was out in front of the parsonage where the street was lined with big old oak trees.

It was fall and the trees were covered in beautiful foliage.  The little girl though thought the trees looked sad; seeing that the trees were losing their leaves and dying.  The pastor knelt down and explained to the girl how seasons change; and how what dies in autumn, looks dead in winter, will rise again to new life in the spring.  It was time to wait and see what God would do come spring.

That day the pastor gave the little girl a few small acorns, telling her how the oak trees had grown from acorns, just like these. The acorns were to remind the girl that God will work; for now, wait.

The acorns went on a shelf in the girl’s bedroom.  Every so often they would catch her eye, and she remembered the conversation with the pastor and his promise of a surprise come spring.

In the spring, once again coming back from the post office, the pastor and girl met.  Not only had the oak trees sprouted leaves, the pastor lifted the girl on his shoulders so that she could have a bird’s eye view of a nest full of blue robin’s eggs. The little girl was thrilled and full of a sense of awe.  The Creator had done an amazing thing.

This is the story is the story I share on my first Sunday in a new parish. 

I tell the story because for me it encapsulates ministry and what it is to be a faithful follower who bears fruit. The story is told as a metaphor for the relationship I wish to nurture in the congregation.  It is about growing together and bearing fruit – it is starting as a seed.  It is becoming branches of the vine, a flourishing forest.

I do not know if I would be here today, if it were not for those who witnessed to me of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus; witnesses like Pastor Skinner.

For forty years I have kept the acorns, they remind me of my commitment to the ministry to which I am called.  They remind me that once upon a time, a pastor took the time to get excited and show me something new.  He marvelled at God’s work in the world. He recognized me by kneeling to face me – eye to eye; in this, and in the serious conversation of what happens to trees, he taught me about life and death and resurrection. Pastor Skinner took the time to share with me the mystery of God. Through wonder and love.

Two acorns sit on my bookshelf, in plain view, witnessing to the Gospel story I have to share; reminding me to nurture life, to share the gospel, to grow, and most importantly to love.

The story did not end in martyrdom…but it might have.

The story did not end in martyrdom…but it could have.

The story did not end in martyrdom…but it does.

Being a follower of Jesus, being grafted into the Vine; bearing fruit – bearing responsibility; takes its toll.  We all know Christians, clerics, wardens, perhaps even ourselves, for whom following Jesus has taken a toll. How many suffer --- cynicism, hardening of the heart, nervous breakdowns, anxiety, loss of faith, defamation of character, verbal attacks, bullying, shunning... all for bearing witness, showing mercy, and loving? It doesn’t happen all at once, martyrdom.  It is a little piece of the person at a time that is killed.  This is Canada.

If we were to go to other places in the world, what we do as followers, like sitting here tonight together in a sacred place offering praise, setting aside leaders, this act might/could/would have us killed.

And here we sit. None of us have left.

I doubt very much that we would leave, even if our lives were under a more eminent fear of death at the hands of those who would wish us to deny the God whom we have chosen to serve.

I believe this to be true because there are a myriad of stories – your stories- that are similar to my experience of Jesus through the hands of Pastor Skinner.  Pastor Skinner was a witness to these things – I experienced resurrection, grace, unconditional love. You have too, from those who bear fruit – giving of themselves, martyrdom a piece at a time.  The experience of Jesus has impressed our hearts to great extent; we have been filled to overflowing with a magnitude of awe and wonder, and ultimate mercy ---we remain followers of Jesus, willingly, defiantly, feet planted firmly – even to our own hurt.

I had a church history professor who once said, that the church is being the church when it is being persecuted. At other times we are just playing with the responsibilities we have been given. 

Tonight, our celebrations are rooted in the Vine, the heart of the matter. Where we, all of us are committing to bear fruit by being the presence of God to people- all people- through the ministries to which we have been called. Having experienced Jesus from faithful witnesses, we not only tell of the experience, we bounteously minister in word, deed, sacrament, and given responsibility ----to the ends of the earth and beyond.

All of you tonight, and especially to soon-to-be Deacons Jackie, Lorraine, Michael;

And soon-to be Archdeacons Sue and Paul; Canons Keirsten, Reg, Neale, Lynn; Jesus says to you:

You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit –fruit that will last.

----To the ends of the earth

Thanks be to God.  Amen.