Christ's Reign Lifts Loneliness

 

This photo is from Walk With Me Wednesdays -                  in partnership with WalkNS, the church offers a 2.5 km leisurely walk in the neighbourhood every Wednesday 11am-noon. 

Everyone is welcome. We leave from the Allan St. ramp.

This is one of the programs you can participate in to 

LIFT LONELINESS!

If I was queen, I would be a fairy God-mother kind of queen, so I could have a magic wand.

If I was queen with a magic wand, I would wave it over my kindom, and gift each person with time in my cozy den of heavenly bliss.

My cozy den of heavenly bliss is a room in the heart of a tree, with a round window to let in sunshine and can open to hear the birds. On cold days the window is closed tightly, and the best seat is a comfy reading chaise tucked in a book nook, ready for one to curl up directly in a sunbeam, wrapped in a homemade quilt, with a book in hand from the intricate bookshelves lining the walls. There are rich coloured rugs on the wood floor, and a smell of pine and warm apple cider with cinnamon and a hint of orange peel, fills the air. A hot mug of whatever warm beverage tickles your fancy is on the side table. You are alone and comfortable in this heavenly den of bliss.

If I was queen with a magic wand, I would wave my wand so that all could live in this tranquil place.  From the tree house, the resident can see the outside world, can have someone over for tea; can go out to church, participate in community events, lend a hand; go into the neighbourhood for groceries, write notes, make calls, text with friends – The tree house dweller is connected and at the same time content to be by themself.

 

We celebrate this final Sunday of the church year as the Reign of Christ. For the past few weeks our readings have been escalating in intensity to focus on Christ in all Christ’s glory, and Christ as the centre of the God’s kindom. These, end of the church year Sundays, highlight our eschatology. Eschatology is theology concerned with death, judgement, righteousness, end times, final destiny, beliefs of heaven and hell, and the coming of God’s kindom.

I saw a meme this week that said:

Inaccurate eschatology causes the church – causes us- to:

Wait for a King who already reigns. Wait for a Kingdom we’re already in.

Wait to become what we already are. Wait for an age that has already come.

Wait for victory that’s already been won. Wait to do what we should already be doing.

 

We have spent a year together walking through the life of Jesus. We have heard Jesus’ teaching, witnessed the miracles, wrestled with parables; we have died with Jesus and risen with Christ. Today our eschatology should be clear: Christ reigns. God’s kindom is here. We are followers of Jesus and workers in the kindom. Death is no more. Love reigns. We are about sharing and proclaiming this Christ, this kindom, now.

In our heart-of-hearts we believe this to be true, or in the very least hope that is true – it is increasingly difficult to face the world and see that Christ reigns, experience that God’s kindom is here, that death is no more, and that love reigns.

 

Weekly we receive calls and emails – desperate calls from people looking for a room to rent – people who are nurses, working two jobs, teachers who can not find a place to live. This is not how the kindom of God is to be. It is like we are living in the kindom when suddenly the bridesmaids’ lamps run out of fuel. The persistence of these calls wears on my heart; and I succumb to worrying about tomorrow: what shall I wear, what shall I eat, where will I live. The Gospel hits me hard this morning and sits uncomfortably – I am overwhelmed by the hungry, the naked, the sick, the unhoused, those who are alone.

 

This time of year, I start to consider what my focus will be for the coming year. I like to do this when kindom stories and the Reign of Christ immediately influence my thoughts. Last year much time was spent working together discerning where we go as a church on the property front, and this is well in hand and work that continues in good hands. I also spent time engaging with the neighbourhood through neighbourhood sparkle events- this was the appetizer for this coming year. My heart is being drawn to lifting loneliness - as our contribution to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, accompanying the lonely.

I heard a conversation this week on CBC Radio about loneliness. Loneliness is the largest silent crisis in our midst – 1 in 3 people are experiencing mental or emotional discomfort from being lonely. Loneliness is different from being alone. One can be alone and not be lonely. Loneliness though is coloured by a sense of disconnect between the person and community, being isolated, often mixed with feelings of depression. Loneliness stems from social needs not being met or an inability to get the social connection desired; such is often caused by major life change whether retirement, different employment, a move, an empty nest, sickness, death of someone close, divorce… Loneliness debilitates and has serious mental health and physical consequences.

 

All of the eschatological readings this morning, have something in common. Did you notice the images and language are community based? We hear an image of God searching out sheep like a shepherd; sheep are pastured together, travel together, the stray is brought back to be with the flock. Ephesians is a letter written to the church community in Ephesus. The letter gives thanks for the community and highlights love toward all saints and inheritance among the saints. Paul speaks of the church as Christ’s body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. The kindom parable from the Gospel speaks of the gathering of all nations, where sheep and goats get separated into two flocks. The readings are about groups, community, and relationship. Food, drink, clothing, shelter, connection – to lift loneliness. In God’s kindom, loneliness evaporates in community.

Feed and quench loneliness. Cloth loneliness. Visit loneliness. Heal loneliness. House loneliness. Accompany loneliness. As a community we can do this! My New Year’s resolution is to do this – lift loneliness. And I am going to do this with a little help from my friends.

 

I began by dreaming, if I was queen and had a magic wand …everyone would be given the gift to be in my cozy den of heavenly bliss. We are a community that can be a cozy den of heavenly bliss. Contributing a little time and being present once or twice a month in activities to lift loneliness we can change the visibility of God’s kindom, now – and fulfill Christ’s call to address the needs within us and around us.  

 

On this Reign of Christ Sunday, I boldly confess:

Christ reigns. God’s kindom is here. We are followers of Jesus and workers in the kindom. Death is no more. Love reigns. We are about sharing and proclaiming this Christ, this kindom, now.

I am excited to get started! Loneliness be gone! Alleluia!

How Do We Number Our Days?

 

 

How do we number our days?

These last few Sundays of the church year we hear story after story of end times. The Gospel of Matthew is on a roll: two people in a field- one taken, one left; bridesmaids with and without oil; management of talents. These end time parables fit Matthew’s character, where discussions centre around the Law and righteousness, with Jesus – as a teacher- being asked for his interpretation. Jesus’ interpretation fits into the discourse of the day, yet there is always something that stretches the listener, turns the argument upside down, and if one really pays attention there is shock and surprise. Of course we know that Jesus’ practice was to do this through parables.

 

For centuries the parables have been interpreted at a surface level, where the master – even if being less than kind or just in the tale- is God; and the other characters are judged by their actions or inactions. This is so human of us.

We get so tied up in judging the characters, and then judging others and ourselves, that we are distracted and do no step back to look at the whole picture. We miss the common thread: TIME- the shortness of our time, the eternity of time, the cyclical nature of God’s salvation at work through time recorded from Genesis on, and to the early church and now us the common thread -Christ will come again.

God’s salvation is at work, Christ will come again – the promise of the parables is that God will come again; return. God will surprise us at an unknown, unexpected time. In the meantime, hearers of the parables are to direct their attention to continually wrestling with what it means to live in faithfulness; reflective living where a person numbers their days. Accepting an end date allows us to live faithfully in the present.

 

I am reading a book called ‘the Worship Architect’ by Constance Cherry.  She begins by stressing that when we gather, we gather for Christ-centred worship: Christ is the foundation of worship and devotion. In fact, the service is bookended, to the focus: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all and go in peace and serve the Lord. Worship orients us in time, a faithfulness of time, where we mark time following the life of Christ. This weekly Sunday pilgrimage draws us to focus on putting Christ at the centre of numbering our days. When Christ is at the centre we mark our time living gospel.

 

I don’t get all caught up in the end time parables, in the judging, in the fear of being left behind or without oil, instead I have accepted that my days are numbered and because of this will focus the time I have to the eternity of time. The eternity of time – the cyclical work of God’s salvation from generation to generation- to freely live my time as eternity I do a couple of things: I come and participate in Christ-centric worship, I live the seasons of the church year – Jesus’ life, death, and life; and I tithe, giving 10% to Christ focused community.

When my life contains these ways of living, my entire life -decisions, relationships, actions/inactions – spring from Christ.  It means I live free – without guilt, shame, fear, judgement. I live in faithfulness. Christ has set me free.

How do you number your days?

Wiping of Tears Ceremony

 

Once upon a time I had a wooden box that held women’s handkerchiefs from days gone by. The handkerchiefs were small linen squares with intricate embroidery and tatted lace edges. They were not the sort of handkerchiefs one would use for blowing their nose, rather, they were a female’s companion to daub eyes in a teary moment. You have likely seen old films or read historical novels where women carried such handkerchiefs. Stories from that time often had chivalrous men who would pull out their handkerchief to pass to a woman in their presence who were crying. Reading and watching displays of handkerchief use, one might say that the use of handkerchiefs was civilized; I suggest it was tradition and a ritual that brought comfort, even healing.

 

A moment ago, we heard a reading from the book of Revelation, where after death, God is said to ‘wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This group of faithfully departed were a group of early Jesus’ followers who had suffered much because of their faith and the way they chose to live their life. During the days of the Roman Empire, persecution - crucifixion, imprisonment, exile, death at the hand of gladiators or wild animal in coliseums – was common for Christ followers. Christ-followers were a group that were often scapegoats, after-all Christianity was forbidden by Roman Law; they were identified as opposing the Empire, not worshipping the Emperor as god, choosing not to participate in cultural rituals but instead having weird rituals of their own. Much to the chagrin of the Empire, Christ-followers shared their resources, continued to gather for prayer, cared for the poor and forgotten, and empowered the lowly with hope.  The Book of Revelation has Christian martyrs honoured before God’s throne after death; death is written about as a reward after the perils and tribulations of earthly life. Before God, and in the glory of God, those living through turmoil and persecution can rest their hope in the life to come. And their present tears– every tear will be wiped away.

 

I would love for present tears -every tear to be wiped away. What I mean by that, is that I relish a time when circumstances that make me want to ‘ugly cry’ would cease – the circumstances and events that break my heart, disturb my spirit, and weigh heavy. There are many tears in our world, much is lost daily. We grieve: the death of loved ones, the loss of jobs, lack of stability… We grieve: the lack of peace, safe places for the displaced and homeless, failing systems, increasing temperatures, and sweeping change. The world and its people carry much grief, many tears. To hear the words, the promise, God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, speaks to a change from what currently is. I imagine a place where everyone’s needs are met, where all are welcome, where fear melts away, where there is joy in living, where relationships are whole… where tears of joy, tears from laughing-so-hard are the norm.

 

The Bible appears in many translations; one of the newest is the First Nations Version of the New Testament. Curators of this version have this unique and beautiful way of translating the text from Revelation:

…like a shepherd watches over his sheep. He will guide them to springs of life-giving water, and there the Great Spirit will perform the wiping of tears ceremony for each of them.  Rev. 7: 17b (FNV)

 

Is this not a beautiful thought, the Great Spirit will perform the wiping of tears ceremony for each of them?

In my last parish there was a woman who on most Sundays, at some point between the sermon and communion, would have tears that freely streamed down her cheeks. The tears came once she had settled, attuned to the sacred space, opened her heart. It was the space she felt closest to God, at peace, at one with a son she had lost many years before; it was a safe place to grieve, to rejoice, to let it all out. I always appreciated this woman’s faith shown by the way she lived life – and how Sunday tears were an expression of an undying love – she was not embarrassed to shed tears in front of others. She was not hindered by what others might think. The tears were part of her weekly offering, a giving of herself, from the depths of her being. They were a prayer of love and healing. In her coming to sacred space each week and shedding tears of undying love, the Great Spirit reached out for the wiping of tears ceremony, touching and healing her so that she could back into the world sharing love and hope for another week.

 

Earlier we heard the words, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The First Nations Version of the text reads: Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk a trail of tears, for he will wipe the tears from their eyes and comfort them. Mt. 5: 4 (FNV)

 

Blessing rests on the ones who walk a trail of tears –

This morning I am going to own this text! And invite you to walk a trail of tears too.

Washington Irving wrote:

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.

In this sacred space, where I feel safe, where I feel belonging, where I feel like I am being embraced, I am going to give myself permission to participate in the Great Spirit’s wiping of tears ceremony; meaning tears may very well stream down my face as I express my undying love – an undying love for those who have died, for those who are grieving, for those who sick, for those wrestling with mental illness, those living in tents, those fleeing war or separated from family, those in refuges camps, those whose futures are uncertain… for the multitude of people I carry in my heart…  for a hurting world, for all the things -people, systems, situations- that I can not fix. Today I cry from my heart undying love – tears that are prayers.

 

The box of handkerchiefs that I had, once belonged to grandmothers and great-grandmothers. One of my grandmothers had a ritual, where in intimate moments she would look me in the eye, and carefully stroke my face as she tucked the hair around my face behind my ears. She didn’t do it very often, but I remember how it felt. I sense the same feeling when I consider the Great Spirit and the wiping of tears ceremony. In that moment, all is well. All is quiet. All is pure love. All is healed. All is whole.

 

This morning I thank all of you for coming to honour your loved ones, for taking time from your busy lives to pause and remember; to open your hearts and shed a tear or two of undying love. My prayer -my tears of undying love- for you, are that you feel God’s presence and care for you, that you experience healing, and wholeness, that for this week the undying love you have felt will be lived through every moment of each day. This sacred space is here, today, tomorrow, and the next. This sacred space is offered to you with love, you are always welcome! As a community we welcome tears, tears that are our expression of undying love, a love that prays for the healing of the whole world.

 

May this be so . Amen.

Grace Is More!

 

NT Professor Richard Ascough from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON writes:

It is not clear whether Paul means that Christ’s death placates God’s wrath or whether his death removes the cause of the wrath from humanity. Here I would argue another option, but that is not where I am going in this sermon ...  Either way, Richard continues, Christ’s death is effective, but how the metaphor works remains a mystery, although clearly for Paul it is a gift – “grace” (verse 24)- that restores this relationship.

 

God’s grace is our focus this Reformation Sunday. For Lutherans, our heritage is an emphasis on grace. Since the 1500s we have heard and read Paul’s letters, particularly Romans, and interpreted the scripture and theologically reflected from a lens of the theology of the cross saturated in grace. Do we really get it?

God loved creation and humankind so much that God chose to die to show us to what length God will go to love us. There is nothing we do that earns this love – it is a free gift.

Do we really understand grace?

Think of a time when you felt most loved. Grace is more than that love.

Think of a person you care for deeply. Grace is more than this care.

Think of an intimate moment you have experienced. Grace is more than this.

Think of a time when you were welcomed, accepted, and belonged. Grace is more than this.

Think of a time when you were forgiven or when you forgave someone. Grace is more than this forgiveness.

Think of a time when you were filled with gratitude. That feeling you had, Grace is more.

Think of a time when you were awed by creation, a sunrise or a night sky. Grace is more.

Think of a time when you were astounded by the intricacy of nature or confounded by a mystery. Grace is more.

Think of a time when a relationship was reconciled or restored. Grace is more than this.

Think of a time when you were satisfied and full. Grace is more than this abundance.

Think of a time when you were healed, protected, comforted, at peace. Grace is more than these.

Think of a time when you were overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of others. Grace is more than this.

Grace is more than ALL of the love, intimacy, forgiveness, welcome, acceptance, belonging, forgiveness, gratitude, awe, mystery, reconciliation, restoration, satiation, fullness, abundance, healing, protection, comfort, peace, generosity, kindness – put together.  Grace is more!

 

Many years ago, I visited Wittenberg, Germany – the centre of the Reformation, with Luther’s home, the university, the church that received Luther’s 95 Thesis on its door… but of all places in that town with special significance, one that has always stood out for me was the working water fountain in the courtyard of Phillip Melancthon’s house. Phillip Melancthon was a compatriot of Luther, a theologian, an intellectual leader of the Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems.

The earth-toned fountain in his courtyard is not super fancy. One can sit on the edge and easily reach the spigot to fill a bucket or water bottle. The face of the backwall has a spigot from which water flows into the trough below. What is fascinating is that this fountain has continually worked since the time of Melancthon.

The fountain – or water outlet- is part of the Old Maiden Water Piping System that was constructed in Wittenberg by a group of distinguished local residents in 1556. Other than the mayor and the apothecary, the distinguished cast were printers, publishers, bookbinders, and an artist – all contributing to the spread of the Reformation. Using hollowed tree trunks as pipes and connected with iron joints, water was transported from a spring 5km outside of town into eight courtyard fountains in the town, one being that of Phillip Melancthon. Three years later the system grew to 22 outlets suppling water to 60 houses. The system is still in operation today with 30 outlets providing spring water to the town’s citizens.

So, what does this have to do with grace?

I started with a quote, part of which read: Christ’s death is effective, but how the metaphor works remains a mystery, although clearly for Paul it is a gift – “grace” (verse 24)- that restores this relationship.

In the 1500s clean water was effective but the how remained a mystery. For the citizens of Wittenberg their fresh water source reduced mortality from waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery; clean water boosted immune systems, improved food production in town gardens, aided sanitation and hygiene. The benefits of fresh water were abundant even though the water looked like any other water. The water piping system provided water sources in courtyards where they were accessible by the community, every citizen. The source of the water, the spring, continually pumped water of its own accord, a free gift to the town. What else I love about the water system is that it was the vision of seven men, who had the means and the will, to build a gift to benefit the whole town. This water system works in my mind like God’s grace.

The water outlet in Phillip’s garden can be passed today with little notice unless you are paying attention.  Grace is like this too, an abundance that is visible right before our eyes, yet so often we do not see it, or attune ourselves to it.

 

In the world of trauma therapy, counsellors work with clients to identify triggers. Triggers are a result of trauma experienced. After trauma the nervous system can become hyper-focused, constantly scanning for potential threats and danger; this is the brains way to keep one safe. Identifying triggers can help people work with controlling and changing actions and reactions. Recently, press has been given to the idea of glitter, dubbed the opposite of triggers. A glitter is defined as small moments that sparks joy or peace, which can help cue the nervous system to feel safe or calm. The idea is that being attentive and focusing on glitter moments will aid in the healing of the whole body. It’s a matter of attention. Grace moments – grace- is a matter of attention and intention. In world full of trauma, that personally experienced, secondary or tertiary trauma, from supporting those with trauma or trauma gathered from news or media, or crisis in the present--- it takes consistent practice to attune our hyper-focused nervous systems from triggers to glitter. Trauma to grace.

 

Returning to our earlier reflection on the small glitters of grace we experience- where grace is more, much more than all of these put together; let us focus on these moments of grace and finding strength in them, living from them, such that we bring God’s life-giving water to a thirsty world.

It Is Indeed Right, Our Duty, and Our Joy to Pay Taxes

 

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise through paying taxes.

Likewise…

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God.

 

Taxes. The gospels are full of stories about taxes, both temple and government tax, along with stories of tax collectors. Matthew, also known as Levi, was a tax collector when Jesus’ called him to be a disciple. There is the story of Zaccheus the tax collector who changes how he lives when he encounters Jesus. In Matthew 17 we hear that Jesus pays the temple tax. Many of the stories depict tax collectors as a group whom fellow Jews despise, demonizing them as traitors and being in-bed with Rome. And we have today’s story where Jesus is cornered and asked, Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?

 

I began with a phrase that we pray in the communion liturgy. It is indeed right, our duty and our joy that we should…  The prayer follows our giving of tithes and offerings and the offering prayer that blesses God for blessing us with these gifts: ourselves, our time, and our possessions. The prayers continue, asking that our hearts turn toward those who hunger in any way, that we might be for the world signs of God’s gracious presence, and that we might feed the world with God’s love. The repetition of offering prayers helps us remember why we are about the work and mission of the church. We are reminded that we are in relationship with God and that giving to the mission and to others is an action of being faithful. Over time we invest in God’s mission by giving of ourselves, our time, and our possessions – praying, praising, gathering, working. Some of our investment we see in returns, some waits collecting interest, and some is withdrawn and seemingly disappears. The offerings we give to God are in God’s hands.

 

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy that we should… It is right and our duty to pay taxes. I suspect that some of you may argue with ‘and our joy.’ Do you pay taxes? Or give taxes? Do you do so not solely from duty but with joy? Joy, in that one has the means to have something to be taxed. Joy, that taxes paid will benefit the common good.

Whether reflecting on prayer, taxes, taking a daily walk or what-have-you, humans often have difficulty connecting the benefits of such to the source of the benefits, and the benefits themselves. In taxes there is an abundance of mercy – mercy in the form of water, sewer, roads, schools, libraries, emergency services, health care, parks and trails – mercy and manna for everyone.

American historian Albert Bushnell Hart reflected that: Taxation is the price which civilized communities pay for the opportunity of remaining civilized. There is joy to be had in the giving of tax to the emperor.

 

With this in mind, we return to the Gospel to reflect on three things to be learned from Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and Herodians. Surprisingly -or not so surprising because this is a Jesus’ story, the take-aways are not just about taxes, but a way of life and being; what it means to be in relationship and covenant with God, and how that gets played out in relationships with others and creation.

Lesson 1. With a common goal enemies can work together.

There is no love loss between the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees are critical of Rome while the Herodians align themselves with the Roman Empire. Both, however, share a common purpose to squash this Jesus’ movement before it gets out of hand, because the Jesus’ movement has the potential to ruin their plans and seats of power.

 

Lesson 2. The answer is not yes or no.

In the world there is a pervasive mindset of all-or-nothing.  Dualism and polarities thrive. To hold a perspective of middle ground, or a fluidity between opposites, is uncomfortable for many. Jesus teaches the crowd that more than one truth can be true, Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

 

Lesson 3. Continue to wrestle with the question.

 As New Testament Professor Yung Suk Kim writes, “Jesus’ answer is evasive but penetrating.”

The question is to penetrate our hearts, minds, and beings. We are left wondering, left with the question because it is to be wrestled with. Is it lawful (joyful) to pay taxes? To wrestle with the question means that we continue to be engaged in the world, with all its politics, authorities, and systems of society; it means we participate in a critical interpretation of the world around us; continually applying the Gospel, living God’s mission, and working for the kindom.

 

Consider for a moment these three learnings – with a common goal enemies can work together, the answer is not yes or no, and continue to wrestle with the question- it struck me that the practicing of these three learnings has the potential to change perspectives and the relationship of people with each other, and have a result of an improved commonwealth. Enemies work together, there is more than one answer, and that continued engagement, reflection, and critique are critical to civilized society.

 

Paul and Silas write to the Thessalonians that they remember them before God in prayer. Paul has heard of the Thessalonian’s ministry and the giving of themselves, their time, and their possessions. It is described as: work produced by faith, labour prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. May our families, our friends, our neighbourhood hear and see that this community of Jesus’ followers – practice the teachings of this Gospel, joyfully contributing to the wider community, giving not paying taxes, and that our work is produced by faith, our labour prompted by love, and our endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that these gifts of joy, faith, love, and hope are only this when shared – given to all.

 

We Give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Saviour Jesus Christ, who on this day over came death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and with joy give all that we have, all that we are, for the healing of the whole world.

The Gospel Response to Peer Pressure

 

On Friday morning CBC Radio One had a conversation with Mayor Mike Savage. The conversation was about solutions to housing across levels of government. The Mayor commented that he has worked as a politician for a long time; stating that his leadership has been one of partnership not bipartisanship; willing to work with all levels of government, all parties, to the benefit of the municipality, rather than casting blame, setting a scape goat, playing for votes.

 

Over this past week, letters from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, along with organizations like Canada Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran World Federation who have partnerships in the region and work that has spanned decades --- all shared a desire for pause and for peace; not a taking of sides and an escalation of violence.

 

Leaders – around the world and of all sorts- are surrounded by fear-filled people. They themselves also harbour fear. Fear-filled people panic. They harbour anxiety that makes it hard to regulate emotions. The brain is prevented from functioning well; reading situations, identifying options, living from one’s values becomes increasingly difficult. Fear-filled people are reactive rather than thoughtful and creative. Fear-filled people make demands of their leaders, pushing them to immediately stand and fight that which threatens, and wanting quick solutions.

What is a leader to do?

 

In this week’s Working Preacher resource, Zina Jacque, Assistant to the Pastor at Historic Alfred St. Baptist Church, Alexandria, Virginia, suggests that readers of Exodus have been hard on Aaron, Moses’ brother, and that readers need to take another look at the scripture and apply the timely lessons found therein. She adamantly writes that the story is not a failure of leadership on Aaron’s part. Aaron is rather, a good and faithful leader, who succumbs to peer pressure.

 

Most of us at some point bow to peer pressure.  We find ourselves, as Zina Jacque says, “on the wrong side of right, absent the presence of mind to adhere to an ethical standard, and wordless in face of wickedness.”

 

Peer pressure – in this case the peer group is a very large group of people who have fled slavery in Egypt, to journey through a desert region to find a new place to settle. They have what they are carrying. They have little knowledge of the desert and have complained about the lack of food, the lack of water, the lack of direction. The people become impatient waiting in the desert – in limbo- for leader Moses to return; he has been gone a long time. Fear is insidious; it has been with the people from the moment they stepped into the desert, as they have had concern for their survival. Fear has been shared, grown, articulated in complaints, and now reactive, demanding, pushing, wanting quick solutions – they pressure Aaron --- do something!

 

 Peer pressure – Aaron as a leader would know that a mob under the influence of fear and acting as a reactive unit of peer pressure, is a daunting prospect for a leader. When not under such stress, he would know, that peer pressure fueled by a fear-filled people will have people take sides; they will judge and demonize those whose views are differ; the people will solidify there stand and not change sides or cross the line they have drawn in the sand; and the longer fear percolates, the more who succumb to the peer pressure, the risk of mayhem and violence increases exponentially.

What is a leader like Aaron to do? What are readers of this story of Exodus to do?

 

Aaron had options – options that were veiled as he succumbed to peer pressure and came up with a quick solution to craft a golden calf to appease the peoples’ complaint.

 

Zina Jacque claims that Aaron had options, three good ones, three options that are the take- away for us. Three options to put into practice when facing a world that is ridden with peer pressure, peer pressure that has turned the peoples of the world into a pressure cooker.

Aaron -if he had taken a moment of pause- to let his heart and head catch his emotions and impulses- in the pause, Aaron could have grasped the remedy for fear-filled peer pressure, and stood firm as a good and faithful leader. The immediate options at hand were to:

 

Rehearse God’s word. Review God’s miracles. Remember God’s promises.      X2

 

Aaron was the leader who spoke to the people for Moses. Aaron spoke a lot of words that God told to Moses to tell the people. There were lots of words that Aaron could have repeated to the people. There were lots of miracles that Aaron could review with the people: making it safely across the sea, followed by a pillar of cloud by day/a pillar of fire by night, manna, quail, water that poured from rocks. Then Aaron had the option to remember with the people God’s promises: a relational covenant, a people who will number as the stars, a land, a fresh start.

 

The Gospel reading today could be interpreted as an extrapolation of leaders succumbing to fear-filled peer pressure. A big shot only invites some chosen people (those deemed worthy and proper) to a party; a reactive impulse when no one shows has the host invite those judged to be less than, to rub it into the face of those who didn’t come. But those who come can’t come as they are they are pressured into wearing a garment handed to them or get thrown out. The story is spoken to a group of religious elites subscribing to covenant, yet the story points to the way the group is not living covenant, how judging, pressuring, conforming, changing values has become the model – and ending up on the wrong side of right, absent the presence of mind to adhere to an ethical standard, and wordless in face of wickedness.

What are leaders – what is the banquet host to do?

Rehearse God’s word. Review God’s miracles. Remember God’s promises.

 

When it comes to pastoring, the things I do, I often do for myself and invite others to come along; I figure that if I am struggling, others might just be struggling with something similar.

I think and feel that we, as a community, through Sunday worship, practice rehearsing God’s word, reviewing God’s miracles, and remembering God’s promises. What I struggle with the most in a world ridden with peer pressure is the PAUSE. 

… the pause… wherein my heart and head can catch emotion and impulse.

To be a leader in a troubled world, to be church – a people of God- that is a leader in the world, we are called to practice the pause--- and invite others to enter the pause too.

 

On Tuesdays I have set aside 30mins to publicly pray, considering PRAYER to be my pause – our pause as a community and a place to invite others to practice the PAUSE. It is an invitation to be spread to our family, friends, and neighbours – shared on social media, written in letters, asked over the phone, mentioned in conversation – ‘what would you like prayer for?’ Would you like to pray with us? Either at the time or later on in comments, in the book in the hall, or tell you so that you can add other’s prayers to our prayers…

To our PAUSE

Where our heart and head catch emotion and impulse and draw them back, grounding ourselves in the source of our being, to Christ at the centre, strengthening us to withstand the peer pressure of the world, and boldly proclaim to the pressure-cooker of the world options for wholeness; options that start with a long PAUSE

A pause -a prayer- long enough to replace fear with humility, peace, and grace.

 

May this be so. Amen.

The Ten Lepers and the Tithe of Thanksgiving

 

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Vs15

… was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? vs18

…Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well. Vs19

 

This morning I would like us to consider that the story of the 10 lepers is a story about TITHING. It is a story that Creator (God) wants us to hear and take to heart, so that we can live out this Gospel story in the world.

 

First let us remind ourselves what it is to tithe:

A tithe is: a one tenth portion of annual produce or earnings given as a contribution, generally to a religious organization and charity. To tithe is to give 10% of one’s income to God’s work.

Tithing is an ancient practice recorded in Ancient Near East writings, in Hebrew Scripture, and continuing today as a principle in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism.

 

Often when wrestling with the principle of tithing the conversation is about money. An important conversation and a principle we should continually wrestle with – but this morning, let us draw our attention to the offertory prayer we have said so many times together as a community. Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered in feeding the world with your love…

Tithing is not just about giving a portion of our incomes. Tithing is about giving of our selves, our time, and our possessions.

 

Returning to the story of the 10 lepers. We hear the Good News that Jesus had compassion on the lepers and the lepers were healed. One healed leper returns to the source of the healing -Jesus- to give thanks and praise. 1 of 10. It struck me that within the story there is a TITHE of thanksgiving, 10% of the group offers thanksgiving.

 

Hearing the story this way has me wonder: are we called to the be 10%? Is this how our lives can share the Good News? Is this what the celebration of thanksgiving is about?

Consider that the people of the world – all the people of the world- are represented by the group of 10 lepers. The people of the world, all of us, are leprous: sick, anxious, discombobulated; pot-marked by war, inflation, climate crisis; and at disease in body, mind, and spirit. Humanity – we- are worried, weary, and worn.

We may be feeling this way, and yet, we have come to gather with others to give thanks.

Maybe, just maybe, we (Christians gathered across the country) are 10% of the whole, a tithe of thanksgiving, offered to Creator God.

 

It is an interesting thought. What makes up a tithe in a world that is plagued with infirmity, instability, and injustice?

Tithes are often connected to charity work – sharing resources with those who are hungry, unclothed, and unhoused. Anybody can do this work. We have something else, and it is wrapped up in the tithing of our selves.

The answer to the question, “what makes up a tithe in a world that is plagued….in so many ways,” comes down to the essence of church and what makes Christian living different from simply being a good person. Our tithe grows from God, God’s grace, and faith community. It is rooted in a belief and experience that we receive and share a peace that the world can not give; in hope that sees resurrection in death; and a community where the weight of the world is a shared burden that is carried -let go of - in the weight being lifted to God in prayer.

 

Hearing the Gospel story of the 10 lepers with one who was the tithe of thanksgiving, excites me- not to get down on the nine who go about doing what Jesus told them to do, but getting excited that a tithe was enough, that it happened. I want to be that tithe – a tithe that keeps thanksgiving empowering healers like Jesus, resurrecting thanksgiving in what was infirm, and being Good News told generations down the road.

 

This story tells us of a sacred trust. For the health and healing of the world it takes a tithe of 10%. In this case a tithe of thanksgiving.

 

In the realm of kindom there is much to tithe. Grace. Compassion. Forgiveness. Love. Thanksgiving.

 

For those who like numbers – you have 24 hrs in a day, 2 ½ hrs would be a tithe of time and your self in that time; for a traditional work week of 40 hrs, 4 hrs would be a tithe of time and your self. In the period of a day, do you give a tithe of thanksgiving (grace, compassion, forgiveness); in a work week do you give a 4 hr tithe of thanksgiving, grace, compassion, forgiveness in the office, to your co-workers? In a week consider a thanksgiving tithe that could be part of your social media time.

 

Recent conversations I have had with parishioners have begun in commiserating about the state of the world, the troubled times in which we live, and difficult decisions about the future of the church. In the end conversations have come to conclusion in affirmations of the sacred trust that rests on us as a faith community. A sacred trust to be a tithe of thanksgiving! And from hearts filled with thanksgiving to boldly proclaim grace. To boldly proclaim hope. To boldly proclaim resurrection…to the glory of God.

 

Get up and go on your way, your faith has made you well.

Could it be that this sacred trust of tithing thanksgiving is faith enough to heal the world?

 

God – empower us to be a tithe – tithing thanksgiving, hope, resurrection, and grace:

To be about thanksgiving in a world where many walk in infirmity;

Hope in a world where many walk in insecurity;

 Resurrection in a world where many walk in injustice;

And grace, much grace, upon a world that is ill.   Amen.

Phronesis - Naming the Intangible Quality of Christ Community

 

The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, tells the 2^nd Chapter of Philippians this way:

Walking the Road Together – As you walk the road with the Chosen One, have you gained from him courage for the journey? Have you found comfort in his love? Do you share together in his Spirit? Has his tenderness and mercy captured your heart? If so, then have the same kind of thoughts. Love with one heart. Join together in one Spirit. And walk side by side on one path. This will make my heart leap for joy.

 

The Apostle Paul is writing to the Philippian community of faith. There is no doubt in the telling from the First Nations Version that the letter is to a group. Have the same kind of thoughts. Love with one heart. Join together in one Spirit. Walk side by side on one path. Or as we heard from the NRSV: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind; let the same mind be in you.

 

Those who are grammar oriented probably balked at the opening line printed on the bulletin:

What gratitudes are in OUR heart this am? It was written this way to describe a

 collective heart: my sense of gratitude is not mine alone, the items for which I am thankful are also items others are thankful for; we bear each others gratitude, our collective heart offers thanksgiving together. This collective heart of gratitude (encompassing individual gratitudes) is evidenced in the singing and swelling of hymns, voices weave and sound grows, and the joint expression turns the air to joy. Gratitude interconnected and inseparable.

 

In writing his letter, Paul uses the Greek word phronesis- which in English is often translated ‘be of one mind.’ Be of one mind- only kind of gets at the power of this word. Phronesis is not a word used in relation to an individual. Phronesis is a property or ability that is created within community -one mind- and is defined as ‘the wisdom of knowing what to do.’

This is a unique gift that faith communities have. When you look at the world where does one experience a place where with others phronesis is created – one mind, one heart? At school board meetings, town councils, legislative assemblies, the House of Parliament, NATO, the UN? – maybe not as much as we would hope.

Phronesis is used twice in Phil.2:2 and is the active verb in verse 5-11; which has been called the Christ Hymn, a poem that describes Christ – not as a sole individual- but with phronesis, with God, people, creation.

Let the same mind be in you as in Christ Jesus, who though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, as something to be grasped, but emptied himself…

 

Paul’s letter directs the community’s collective heart to the core of its being. The centre from where comes power and healing and wholeness; courage, comfort, love, tenderness, and mercy. When you come into the sanctuary, in fact in most Lutheran churches, the centre focus -front and centre you will see a cross. When altars were against the front wall, a large brass cross sat on a stepped stand or shelf on the altar. In remodels – like here- the cross was kept central in a new design, here the altar cross was affixed to a large wooden one. Our collective heart -gratitudes in our heart- begin in the phronesis of God/Jesus/Spirit. We are who we are as a faith community because we are embraced into and whelmed by the phronesis within God’s self, who works redemption and salvation in one mind –meaning continued through ‘one mind’ created and practiced in faith community; a community attuned to the cross and emptying themself.

 

What I appreciate most about this passage from Philippians is that it addresses the present struggle congregations have when they discuss what to do with their sanctuaries. Congregations talk about their sanctuaries and the feeling they get when being in the worship space. Consider for a moment the feeling you have when you step inside this space;

when you step inside a little country church, or a magnificent cathedral.

The air is different. The light or the smell is different. Sound changes.

Paul’s words to the Philippians identifies this intangible, unmeasurable substance of faith community. It is phronesis - (Ancient) wisdom created and gained over time –a group of people of ‘one mind’ working out saving paths together (for they are of one mind and heart with Christ) and together discern faithfulness and together know how to act especially when face with in complex and confusing situations. From generation to generation, this phronesis seeps into the walls, into the wood, into the air.  … into our hearts … one heart.

 

That’s what I feel in this space.

Sadly, I have experienced a church or two, where the sanctuary was cold – not because they had turned the heat down to save fuel costs- but cold as in empty of joy, void of love and compassion, disjointed and only going through the motions of worship. In these cases, the congregation was about the Pastor’s ego, or a singular person or two who used money or influence or bullied their way to attention. The phronesis within God’s self, the focus of the cross, and the working out of salvation through faithful community – being of one mind- was missing, lost along the way.

 

As our morning shifts from worship to discerning next directions for this congregation and this place of worship, let us return to the questions asked in the First Nations Version:

 

As you walk the road with the Chosen One, have you gained from him courage for the journey?...

 Have you found comfort in his love? … Do you share together in his Spirit? … Has his tenderness and mercy captured your heart?...

If so, No because this is so - then have the same kind of thoughts. Love with one heart. Join together in one Spirit. And walk side by side on one path. May this phronesis guide Our heart, Our conversation, Our gratitude.

 

And, this will make Our heart leap for joy.

And Our tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God!

It Is Time to Make a Faithful Decision

 

 

I invite you to look at the image.

You have 30 seconds to turn this into a picture. … What do you draw?

This task was given to a grade 2 class. Guess what most drew.  A clock.

Now the same task was given to the class again but this time the students were given 30 mins. to complete the picture. If you were given 30 mins – what would you draw?

The teacher received pictures of pigs, and cats, and pizza… with the gift of time the capacity for creativity grew.

 

The Exodus reading began with verse 2 of chapter 16. The first verse that was not included reads: The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

This verse is important. It is about time. A whole month has gone by since the people have crossed over the Sea. It means that the provisions they brought with them have run out. Now they will learn a couple of important lessons.

 

In the book I use to accompany the confirmation class learning the Bible, Daniel Erlander talks about the Hebrew people leaving Egypt and once crossing over the Reed Sea, they enter wilderness school. In the wilderness school there are three lessons that the people are to learn:

God gives manna for all. The lesson is that we own nothing. All is God’s. All is gift.

The second lesson is that hoarding stinks. There were those who took more than their daily manna, what they tried to keep rotted.

The third lesson is the gift of sabbath. This lesson teaches that extra time is a beautiful gift and it is a gift to be built into the way the people keep time.  Not only does Sabbath include worship, “Sabbath allows humans to experience full time the wonder of friendship – with God and others and all creation.”

What we learn by following the journey with the Hebrew people in wilderness school is that learning these lessons takes time; their story took 40 years. It takes time --- for what and who they will be to emerge.

 

Tomorrow a devotion about making decisions is going out to the email distribution list and will be posted on my blog. The devotion talks of six characteristics that mark faithful decision making. One of the characteristics is time.

 

Resurrection has been in this neighbourhood a long time, 108 years: faithfully marking Sabbath by worshipping together, receiving daily bread, and redistributing God’s manna and abundance. There is something interesting about this 108 year period of time. There was always daily bread – manna for all, both physical and spiritual, all the pieces that sustained a community of faith over tine. Twice in the journey and once again now, the congregation is discerning the manna accumulated and how best to configure and use it so as not to hoard, and to continue with passion a place to mark Sabbath with worship and give the gift of sabbath and rest to all.

Time in faith life runs in approximately 40 year cycles: coming up to 1955 the church hall is built, followed by a reimagining of the sanctuary space; in 1995 discussions of what to do with the church, the parsonage, partnering with campus ministry, using interns, reducing ministry, as money was tight and there were large capital expenses. Every 40 years faith community returns to wilderness school. It’s as if time were the gift that God is giving as daily bread. A time to reflect, to reevaluate, to remember what is important, to reimagine the proclamation of the gospel; to return relationship – of loving God, each other, and all creation.

As this journey in the wilderness comes towards the end of a 40 year cycle, we are nearing the Jordan river – where on the other side the people set up community to live out what they learned in the wilderness- this is what we are discerning now, preparing the place to worship and mark Sabbath, to receive daily bread, to redistribute God’s manna for the next 40 years.

 

Thankfully we are a community who has journeyed through articulating our values and beliefs. We know our gifts and the work of God that we do in the world. This tells us that it is time to make faithful decisions, we are at the cusp of coming out of the wilderness.

The people who left Egypt needed time to shed the layers of slavery and bondage under which they had lived. It meant being able to look back, not bellyaching for what they had and now miss, but actually, seeing, that where they came from was not the ‘good old days.’ It was slavery, it was persecution, it was genocide – the experience in the wilderness was the gift of time given to move the people from that disfunction and ungodly system to forming God community, God kindom, a community that would live by faith not by sight, in relationship with God, each other, and creation.

 

We have been practicing the lessons of wilderness school.

Receiving daily bread and sharing the bread, honouring the sabbath by providing the sacred space for worship -connecting people with God and God with us, and us with others, and all of us with creation and with God; and this whole conversation of what now? – is wrapped up in the lesson of hoarding stinks. Do we keep our resources to ourselves, living in a bondage to the past and keeping things the same, hoarding the manna that is left until it is all gone and we stand in the wilderness grumbling – or do we courageously realize it is time to leave the desert and get on with building a place for sabbath and sharing manna with all, that will carry humanity -in this place- for the next 40 years?

 

I think about the image I shared at the beginning. With 30 seconds many people draw a clock. With 30 mins creativity abounds and people imagine and draw all kinds of pictures. I see the circle as this faithful community, the two lines are the work we have done investigating and gathering information; the gift of time has opened up options, the lines are ready to move outside the circle and with decisiveness draw all over the page with God’s manna.

Thanks be to God. Amen.