Busy- idleness or Busy with Community mindedness and Relationship building?

Sermon Pent. 26 C

 

In 2010 a mine collapsed in Santiago, Chile, trapping 33 miners below ground for more than two months. They held up in a small refuge area with about 2k of tunnel available, where 3, 14cm holes were drilled to drop down a few basic supplies until they could be rescued safely.  It was crowded, dark, damp, and humid; and the longer they stayed trapped the more infection spread.

People studied the miners’ stories when they came back topside.  It was found the 33 men had organized themselves into a community.  Every man had tasks to do each day; no one was left to be idle.  Despite the situation they were thriving: moral was good, comradery even better, for the most part peoples’ needs were being met with supplies available, there was a sharing of rations (tuna and water); they were a community of brothers who had each others’ backs.

That is until down one of the 14cm holes, people topside thought to send down a TV so the men could watch the world cup of soccer.  Once the TV went down community disintegrated.

The letter to the Thessalonians says, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: anyone unwilling to work should not eat.  For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

Often, when this passage is talked about, the conversation quickly goes to Canada’s welfare system: people getting paid to not work, to sit on their couches...and so on.  I am sure you have heard and been a part of this conversation before; rife with stereotypes, derogatory judgment, and fueled with lots of emotion.

The letter to the Thessalonians is speaking to a community of Jesus followers, who are attempting to live in community as was described in the book of Acts: 

Chapter 2:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³ Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All who believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds^[a] to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home^[b] and ate their food with glad and generous^[c] hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

And similarly in Chapter 4:

³² Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. ³³ With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. ³⁵ They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

It sounds too good to be true, but, for the most part the communities of early Christians worked. There were some problems and Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians to not weary in doing what is right; to keep trying by ironing out some of the difficulties.

I think that today we apply passages like this one to our concepts of work, generally paid work.  In these communities there was a lot to be done, not all of it, in fact a large portion of it that was unpaid in a monetary sense. There were gardens to hoe, clothing to be washed, the sick to be tended to, food to be cooked, soup lines to be opened, gifts to be taken to the treasury to support widows in Jerusalem, prisoners to be visited, prayers to be said, teaching to done, children to be watched, fish to be caught, roofs and houses to be maintained... and so on.

These people because of their experience of the Gospel, wanted to live together in a different way from the world around them.  Their hearts and souls were changed, craving relationship, compassion, community –ideals not found in the society around them. They found when they lived in community, as stated in Acts, no one had need, they lived with thanksgiving, praying and worshiping together they saw amazing wonders and signs; they experienced hope amidst chaos.

Applying this scripture to our lives may take a reversed view of being idle.

Many of you will have seen signs in roundabout driveways, in front of hospital and school doors, that read “idle no more”, or “idle free zone.”  The idle no more campaign grew from the environmental movement and asks drivers to turn off their vehicles (if they will be sitting for more than 6 sec) rather than sit and idle the engine; the idea is to lessen exhaust fumes, thus, reducing pollution.  Idling no more means turning off the engine.  It means waiting patiently, not itching to keep going, and be gone in the fastest amount of time. It means not being lazy to turn the engine off and then back on.

How many of you would consider yourself busy?  As Christmas approaches do you perceive life getting busier still? Days are full: with work –both the responsibilities and the added pressure we put on ourselves of stuff needing to be done, volunteering, daily tasks, grocery shopping, caring for children or the elderly, ferrying people from here to there and back again, emails, social networking; television shows, tuning in for the news...

Perhaps it is time that we idle no more and turn of the engine.

Breathing freely, take a moment to wait, to be patient, to ponder.

Before turning the engine back on, consider your busy-ness.  How much of the time are you running around like a chicken with its head cut off?  Not knowing if you are coming or going?  Are you taking time to do the things that give you life; that you enjoy?  Can you let go of things, work projects, pressure, stuff you think needs to be done but is not your responsibility?  And the true test as to whether your busy-ness is really a clever way to disguise idleness – is the focus of the busy-ness community minded and geared to relationship building?  If not, it is time to seriously take to heart Paul’s words and for us to re-visit the early Christian community in Acts.

Because of the Gospel we are given a choice to live a different way.  Luke’s gospel is quite clear in telling us that it will not be easy: it could mean prison or death, being betrayed by friends or family, or being hated.

It would mean having to live outside of our natural human instincts; instincts rife with stereotypes, derogatory judgments, and fueled with lots of emotion. It would be a conscious choice to live as a follower, to live into the dream of a new heaven and a new earth, where former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.

If we were trapped in a mine, I would like to believe that we would organize into a community, where everyone had daily tasks, where no one was idle; a place where needs were met with the resources available, that rations were shared, that moral was high, storytelling superb, prayer daily, and that hearts would be full of thanksgiving; a place where busy-idleness ceased, no TV, no cell phones –only face to face, hand to hand relationship.

If we can picture that this is how we would act if stuck in a mine...why not live into that picture of community now?

This week follow your heart.  Prioritize your days by first doing those things that bring you life and joy. Pray and be thankful.  Refrain from activity that hinders and harms relationship.  Focus on work that builds community.  Take courage and have hope amidst the chaos that yes there is another way.

All Saint's sermon 2013

All Saints C-2013

It is quite a dream that Daniel has; one we might even call a nightmare.

Gusting winds from all directions, churning seas, great beasts – monsters; kings are rising, bringing with them war, turbulence, and chaos.  People are troubled in spirit and terrified.  The book of Daniel is written in such a time, the 2^nd Century BCE when Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes is severely persecuting the Jews because they are a minority ethnically and religiously.  It is almost the eve of the Maccabean revolt where the brothers Macabee band brethren together to zealously fight against the assimilation policies of foreign rulers and the priestly class.  War is brewing. Persecution is around every corner. Chaos is imminent.  Fear is consuming.

Daniel is what we call apocalyptic literature.  It draws on the past experiences of the people when in exile, using images and characters from those times to capture a picture of the present, facing the present time by using symbols and metaphors known to the hearers, with the purpose of the book being to create hope and encouragement in the hearts and minds of a people facing chaos.  The promise in the end is salvation under God’s sovereignty.

When I was preparing the list of names for this morning’s service, I was struck by the fact that I knew most of these people.  I knew their stories, their faith, their fears, their joys, their sorrows, their acceptance of death, their hopes and dreams.  These faithful represent two generations of people, all affected by living in troubled times, in a chaotic world.  These loved ones faced an array of chaos: some born in the aftermath of WWI, large families living through the Great Depression, poor and hungry, going to work early in life, experiencing loss of siblings and parents before their time. There was WWII with experiences of living in war, fleeing for one’s life, being a displaced person. There was rationing, starting over, sickness, depression, looking after dying spouses, living in institutions; things not turning out the way life had been planned.  

As I thought about our loved ones, I connected their lives to the picture painted in Daniel.

Living life is messy.  There are powers outside of our control that have a great affect on our lives; affects that change our ability to address our needs, and can abruptly change our hopes and dreams.

Two Fridays in a row I have found myself at Neptune Theatre experiencing the play “Red.”  The play has two characters: the artist Mark Rothko and his art student employee.  Rothko was an abstract expressionist.  His canvasses were floating squares overlaid one upon another, in shades of the same colour; in this case, red. One enters the mind of the artist: his philosophy of art and life, his wrestling with inner demons and being relevant, and his relationship to the living work he created. I was struck by his monologues and how they fit with my thesis work around the theology of art.

Abstract expressionism - canvasses of solid colour, experiments in minimalism, fuzzy edged blocks moving from one into another- the point was to feel painting, and think painting until there was tragedy in every stroke.  That was when the painting was done.  When there was tragedy pulsating in every stroke the painting captured the chaos and ugliness of the world.

The book of Daniel did the same thing for his time, written in an age where the ear had priority, the words written painted the chaos and ugliness of the world at that time.

We don’t have to like abstract expressionism.  We are not being asked to like the words from the Book of Daniel, in fact it is better if we don’t.  The paintings, the images, the words, are meant to cause discernment. They are to throw us into feeling and thinking beyond our current moment of understanding and being.

They are meant to shake us, such that we face the chaos –the art names the chaos – drawing on images from the past and propelling us, agitating us, into moving away towards hope and dreams; possibilities of growing beauty, from the beauty seen in the ugliness of red floating squares on a canvass.

It is the Lutheran understanding of the theology of the cross, where Jesus’ death, the crucifix, the suffering, dying, the vulnerable Jesus, dares to enter into the pain of humanity. ...and die ...drawing on the stories of the past and propelling movement forward, with promises for tomorrow.  The chaos of the cross is ugliness at its most beautiful; ugliness is redeemed -in the state that it is in it is beautiful.

In Rothko’s Reds, or in Daniel’s beasts, the chaotic is presented...blah there it is.  Now what are you going to do with it?

You can walk away, glimpse but not really look, keep on living seeing red and put off to the side the sense of black, of chaos eating up the red, a sense of living life holding on for dear life, almost at the end of your rope, being chased to the end.  Or you can stop and look, really look, the more you look the more the pictures move, the more the words penetrate, eventually faith is born as the ugly is made beautiful; and grace showers through.

The people that we are remembering today, those who have gone on before, faced ugliness and found beauty therein.  When the church talks of the communion of saints and the great cloud of witnesses we recall this facing ugliness and finding beauty... as it was exemplified in people’s lives as faithfulness, righteousness, salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and grace; and in the end having a spirit of love, even loving people and things that seemed unlovable.

Near the end of the play, in the furry of talking about the world outside his studio, in a powerful movement, Rothko reaches out his hands almost in desperation, or perhaps exasperation, with a hand on the chest and one on the forehead of his student employee, says, commenting to being out there: make something beautiful. 

Is that not the message of the Book of Daniel?  Face the chaos, live the persecution; make something beautiful? Is that not the message of the cross?  Face the suffering, the dying, pain, vulnerability; make something beautiful?  Is that not the hope and blessing of All the Saints gone before? Live through the chaos; faithful; make something beautiful?

We have come here today and paused to hear, to see, to observe...to feel and think...the greatest fear many of us face death, not being in control, chaos on a global stage.  Facing it here we have the chance to take the ugliness, the moment of the Jesus’ death, and experience the beautiful –redemption.  In the twinkling of these candles, the swishing of the grain, the eating of bread and wine, in the language of prayer- ugly is deemed beautiful, such that we can go into the world to make something beautiful.

Go in the hopes and dreams of those from the past, for they are the hopes and dreams we are to live, as we create hope and dreams beyond the present chaos for those who follow us.

This picture is a number of years old.  Note the happy kitty in my lap.  The last week has not been so happy and lovey-dovey.  Felix, the tabby, has fleas.  Ridiculous as he is an inside cat.  This is the second time this has happened in as many years. 

This morning I was struck by a biblical thought about perseverance. I have run a marathon and although following a schedule of runs and the length of each run, I would not have termed my training persistent.  Tackling fleas on the other hand...
...if I could only pray as often as I have taken to flea combing the cat.  It has been a week of perseverance that will continue into next week.  Perhaps I should take to praying while I am combing?

Creating cats to be cute, fuzzy, adorable has gone along way in helping persistent behaviour.  It will however, be a few more days before I will snuggle with Felix.  Until then I will remain the chief flea catcher in this house -and potentially a more persistent pray-er.

The Guy in the Tiley Hat

It was early.  A group of strangers gathered at the airport to catch a flight to Toronto.  Sipping Coffees and eating breakfast sandwiches, wishing to be awake, an extraordinary thing happened;  the sun began to rise.  As red stripes painted the sky, those waiting looked, and went back to reading or almost sleeping.  People kept turning their heads to peek, catching glipses but not wanting to show others they were interested.  And then... an older gentlemen in a striped button-down and a Tiley hat stood in the aisle, postitioned and repositioned himself, and took a couple of pictures.  He was cute.  His actions also spurred others to look more closely and upon the aisle being cleared, four or five others stood to digitally capture the view.
The man in the Tiley hat was grace for those waiting at the airline gate.  He was not afraid of what people would think.  He entered into the landscape and saw the beautiful, the Ultimate.  He captured that moment and by his actions encouraged those around him to look and be awed.
Thank-you Mr. Tiley hat man for reminding us not to be so underwhelmed as we live and move through the necessities of our day.

Like Ahab.

Sweaters for Syrian refugees

Sweaters for Syrian refugees

Dear Readers,

There are times when I am reminded that life in Canada is privileged.  Wars, bombings, and atrocities I have difficulty wrapping my head around are in the news every day.
Today I was blessed to receive an email from Canada Lutheran World Relief, asking for the gift of sweaters. Giving a sweater to a Syian refugee is something I can do, to move towards illustrating my love for a people and their distress.  I wish I could hug everyone of them and offer words of comfort -although words would fall far short of aleviating the crisis.  For now, I hope that my sweater will keep a sister warm in a far off land.  The sweater is my hug.
Please consider sending a hug of your own.  The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Halifax is collecting new and slightly worn sweaters, to send through HomeHardware to CLWR.  You are invited to drop off your hug for forwarding.  If you do not live in Halifax, NS, contact a Lutheran Church in your area.

*click on "Sweaters for Syrian refugees" at the top of this post and it will take you directly to the CLWR news brief/request.

Hugs and Son-shine,
Kimber 

Wedding Excitement

In a week and a few days my BFF is getting married.  I am honoured to have been asked to play a variety of rolls.  It feels like I am full friend and in some ways parent too.
Next week I have taken vacation so I can offer my services:  writing out place setting tags, putting together Jelly Belly gift bags, cleaning the house as it will be hotel for some and the sight of the rehearsal dinner.  Then it is off for a girls martini night, nails to be done, hair...  Then I get to change from bridesmaid to officiant, and back to bridesmaid. 
I am pretty excited.  I love to plan stuff and execute events! 
It also feels like a trial run for potentially three family weddings down the road for my own children.  The beauty of this one, I am the older friend, looked up to for opinions and help...and not the parent.  This means that my opinions are really wanted and many ideas are wholly embraced.

I pray that if or when the time comes for my kids to plan weddings, that I have the grace to step back and not be hurt if my opinion is asked for but not really wanted.  I also pray that they have a good friend who will fill the roll I am for my BFF.

Hebrew 12: 18-29 as told by a story teller

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a mix-matched group of people.  The people were from all over the known world and they found themselves living in a foreign land, welcomed by the rulers of the land, to live and to prosper; to share in the bounty of the land.  At first the relationship was good, with the people owning farms, selling produce, setting up communities, and working even in the ruler’s courts as high officials. One day everything changed. 

The ruling family died out, and the next family was not so generous.  Resources were tight and the foreigners had amassed into great numbers.  They were sent to work on big building projects, to make the ruler’s look great and mighty to the whole world.  The people entered servitude and as the years went on, had fewer and fewer privileges, and finally were all considered slaves.

The people, a million or so, finally had enough... so under the leadership of a gutsy 40-something they left; marched right out of their towns, across the river, and into the desert.

Now the desert was the place of demons and gods.  To the people facing demons or gods sounded better than the task-masters they were barely able to live under.  The people after days of journey arrive at a mountain, and everyone knew that gods lived on the mountains.

And this mountain had a god; for the mountain shook; it was covered in smoke, cloud, and wind.  There was fire and lightening.  There were trumpet blasts from the darkness –not from the people but somewhere from the courts of the god.  Then there was a voice.   ...

Until this point the people were brave, daring to encounter God..... but the voice, the power, God; was more than they bargained for.  So they decided to turn away, run away...just like they had from their task-masters; but the only place to run was the desert.  Everyone knows the desert is full of demons.

The mountain became a scary place, in fact it became forbidden ground where even animals who may wandered in that direction would be killed.  The people were terrified. They were willing to take their chances in the desert, where demons dwell.

Once upon a time, in land far far away, in a time closer to our own, there was a mix-matched group of people. The people were from all over the known world and they found themselves living in a land of their own, but ruled by foreigners.  For a time the rulers and the people more or less got along; everyone went about their everyday activities: growing and tending, buying and selling, living and dying.

One day everything changed.

The head of the foreign rulers changed and so did the heart of the ruling court.  The people of the land were showing too much hope.

You see they had come to the big holy city on the mountain, that is in the middle of the desert; a different mountain than their ancestors, but a mountain, the home of God.  For centuries this was the place of the Temple – the seat of God.  The people had decided to allow for a place, setting God in a shrine so the mountain became safe to dwell on.  God was put in a box; but God was present.  The people talked to God and worshiped via priests who would go in and out before God when it was their turn.  This suited everyone’s sensibilities; for a time.

But there was a longing amongst the people; particularly those who were slaves, or poor; the widows and orphans; the sick and lame; women and children forgotten by society. The poor began to seek and follow teachers.  Into the desert they would wander, to face demons and fight them off, to encounter God for themselves. The poor found God waiting; left by past generations out of fear –now the poor were ready to embrace God and God’s power.

The poor were filled with hope.  They encountered God.  They were being encouraged with miracles: healings, being fed, welcomed, and taught.  

For decades, the people were hope-filled, speaking of God as if God had been encountered and lived among them...the people were excitable and began standing up demanding rights; and expressing notions of self-governance.  The rulers wanted to put an end to such crazy notions –since such notions could lead to revolt and civil war.    So the Temple, on the holy mountain, came down. God’s seat of safety disappeared...

But low and behold, God was no longer in the box.

God had moved, as the poor encountered the man who came out of the desert, a fire burned inside them, as they were touched, healed, fed, and welcomed the fire burned brighter. When the man from the desert, came to the big holy city on the mountain, he came to die for the people...and when he did God’s fire burned brighter.  A few days after the death on the mountain, the man rose from the dead, and God’s fire burned brighter still. The flame was fueled and spread through the desert, to neighbouring communities...Good News, that death had been conquered, that the people were saved, that hope and abundance was for everyone, that there was a new way to live, that encountering God was for everyone, anywhere, anytime –if hearts and minds and communities set fear aside and dared to be open to power and mystery.

Once upon a time, in lands far far away, and in lands right here at home; in the past and in the present, there was and is a group of mixed-matched people.  The people were from all over the known world.  Some were foreigners; others were not; rulers came and rulers went.  The people lived on two different mountains –both surrounded by the desert where demons tend to dwell.

Well people only lived on one of the mountains; people ran in fear from the other.

The difference in people was how they had decided to approach God, or how they would let God approach them.  The uninhabited mountain was interpreted to be uninhabitable because God might show up and God was scary –far more scary than running away and living with the demons in the desert.  The inhabited mountain was filled with people who dared to be open to encountering God, despite any fears, and lived anticipating miracles and mystery.

The moral of the story of the mountains –the explanation for the reading from the book of Hebrews -  is that in the end, when humans decide not to run on their own into a desert  of demons –whether distractions, thoughts of grandeur, or filling oneself with the fascinations of the time; when humans decide to face their fears and dare to open themselves to a holy encounter, God will be present to set hearts and wills on fire.

When hearts and wills are set on fire; when miracles become real and expected –then the fire is fanned and flames of Good News spread to all people, everywhere, and deserts become places where fear is banished:  there is passion for justice, the orphan and widow are cared for, the hunger are fed, and a vineyard is planted.

And the hope is that the best is yet to come. ”Yet once more”, on another mountain, in another place, years down the road, in a place where death is no more, where tears are wiped away, where the sun cannot strike us by day nor the moon by night; when we have passed from here into the mystery that comes next, when we are fully embraced in encounter with God –whelmed by the holy – that holy mountain will not be shaken; we as a people will have come full circle, welcomed back into the arms of the energy of the universe, God, the holy, the beginning and the end, and the  beginning.

Thanks be to God.