Matthew 24:42-44
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day God will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you least expect him. “
Romans 13:11-14
And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
**************************************************************************
“You will be haunted,” said the Ghost “by Three Spirits.”
Scrooge’s countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost’s had done.
“Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?” he demanded in a faltering voice.
“It is.”
“Then, I think I’d rather not,” said Scrooge.
“Without their visits”, said the Ghost, “you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls one.”
“Couldn’t I take them all at once, and have it over, Jacob?” hinted Scrooge.
“Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third, upon the the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more; and see that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us.”
When it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head, as before. Scrooge knew this, by the smart sound its teeth made, when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. He ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude, with its chain wound over and about its arm. The apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open.
It beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. When they were within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Scrooge stopped.
Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. The spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night.
Scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. He looked out.
The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.
Whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. But they and their spirit voices faded together; and the night became as it had been when he walked home.
Scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the Ghost had entered. It was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. He tried to say ``Humbug!'' but stopped at the first syllable. And being, from the emotion he had undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the Invisible World, or the dull conversation of the Ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose; went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant.
**************************************************************************
A couple of years ago, in Japan I accompanied my husband to a lecture at Dokkyo University. I sat in the very back row, and observed several students slip in, slide down in the seats till they were almost sitting on their necks, and proceed to go to sleep. A couple of them realised I was the guest professor’s wife, and attempted to pay attention. It was almost comical watching as students tried to look involved and sleep at the same time. At the end of the class, all but one woke up in time to leave. I managed to gently nudge the one remaining snorer, who leapt to his feet and dashed out. They all missed an excellent lecture on language learning, and of course, never stopped to think they would have to answer a question on the final exam. Oops.
Wake-up calls. An interesting phrase. Hotels give wake-up calls, so we don’t miss important transportation or appointments. We talk about being “given a wake-up call” when something happens to grab our attention.
Paul writes to the church in Rome, giving them a wake-up call. He says to them “The night is far gone, and the day is dawning. So let us put on the armour of light.”
Even in the gospel lesson, Jesus warns his followers to "keep awake"- they wanted a precise time when he would return. "About that day and hour no one knows," Jesus says, "except God.”
Do we know what time it is? Sure - the first thing we do if the sermon goes on too long, or the service passes 12 noon, is look at our watches, and start thinking about all the other things we need to be getting at. Time is this thing that is sliced into twenty-four equal pieces and repeated endlessly every moment of our lives. We have wristwatches and alarm clocks. In this country alone we buy at least a hundred thousand of them each day. We have calendars, Daytimers, electronic timekeepers, every possible way of measuring time you can imagine.
What time is it? Do you want that in microseconds, or nanoseconds- billionths of a second. Now, when races are run at the Olympics, we judge the winners in terms of bits of seconds. We know precisely what time it is.
All of this time that we know so well is chronos time. Chronos time is wristwatch and alarm clock time. Chronos is the time in which we live most of our lives. Chronos times are these buckets of time that we pack with feverish activity in our Daytimers© and time management systems. The kind of time that we feel guilty when we're not doing something. It's the time we try to slow down, yet fall hopelessly behind.
Seconds of aging, of terrorism, of the rattling of sabres north and south of imaginary borders, of children starving, of torture and executions of children and women in whatever country.
Paul and Jesus are not talking about this kind of time. Nor was Dickens when he wrote the story of Scrooge. All three were talking about something called “kairos” time - those moments when God breaks through our Daytimer-driven and organised lives, often to give us a wake-up call.
Scrooge did not recognise that moment. He had spent all his life pushing everything away - and concentrating on amassing physical wealth in physical time, and convincing himself that was sufficient. He didn’t know what else to do and he was, frankly, frightened. He fell exhausted into bed and hoped it would all be nothing more than a crumb of cheese or a bit of underdone potato causing him gastric distress.
It wasn’t. Scrooge was entering that world of Kairos time - being time. He didn’t know that God was reaching for him. Kairos time is time never wasted. When we take moments to reflect on our lives and on the coming of Jesus, we move beyond the normal restrictions of time to God's time. Scrooge's error, and often ours, is that we think spending time in reflection is time wasted.
Earlier in the conversation between Scrooge and Marley, Scrooge seeks to ingratiate himself with the ghost by saying “You were always a good man of business, Jacob.” and Marley wails in agony “Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business!” - and as Scrooge goes to the window he sees many spirits, in agony because they wish to assist in human affairs, to make life better for those who suffer, but it’s too late and they no longer have the capability.
Paul says that we are kairos people, people who walk according to God's schedule, but that some of us have fallen asleep. He throws up the image of light versus darkness, our worst and best locked in combat. “Wake up”, he says, “don't abuse your life or the lives of others. Take the time you are given to make the lives of others better.”
This Advent season allows us to look at time differently. Advent means that even while we tell the story again, and wait for a re-birth, we work to bring about the realm of God now. There is no time to waste.
Sources:
1. “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Stave One - Marley’s Ghost
c. 1962 by Scholastic Book Services, New York, NY.
2. “What Time is It?” A sermon by Rev. Thomas Hall
Friday, November 26, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Of Cabbages and Kings???? Reign of Christ (Christ the King) November 21, 2010 Based upon Luke 23:33-43 Humber United Church, Corner Brook
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, they crucified Jesus there, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And the soldiers divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what we deserve for the deeds we committed. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
******************************************************************
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings–
and why the sea is boiling hot,
and whether pigs have wings."
In the story of Alice in Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll provides a wonderful little poem about a walrus, who goes out for a walk with some very cheery little oysters. In the end, the power of the walrus supersedes the lives of the little oysters, and they are no more. The power of the largest wins, and the most naive and gullible seem to lose.
This week, there was a news story about a huge statue of Christ the King - literally - which has been raised in the village of Swiebodzin, Poland. It is a gigantic statue of Jesus that Poles claim is the world's largest, and is the dream of a local priest which has been fulfilled. The white statue stands almost 170 feet, including the base and the crown on the head.
Not surprisingly, this huge statue has divided the Poles, and underlined the deep cultural divide between a strongly Catholic population in some areas, and an increasingly confident secular society. Many perceive the statue as tacky. The statue was built with donations from all over the world. The priest of the town claims he was called by Jesus to build this statue, a statue complete with a golden crown of an earthly King, not a crown of thorns.
I have to confess I have some struggles with this Sunday, particularly when it is in the context of a King, and we begin dressing it up in the symbols of earthly power and politics.
Christ the King Sunday is such a new observation in the church, that it has barely begun even to cut its teeth. In fact, it is only 85 years since the entire Christian church began to observe Christ the King Sunday. Pope Pius XI universally instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical “Quas Primas”. 1925 was a time of the rise of great secularism, and great wealth. It came prior to the stock market crash and the First World War. Many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting not only Christ's authority, but beginning to question the authority of the Church. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in by these earthly leaders. Pius hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were that nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state; that leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ; that the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.
On the whole, I don’t think it was a bad idea. It was moved from its original date at the end of October, to the end of the liturgical year, with the idea that ending the church year with a time of reflection and repentance would make a good bridge to Advent.
But I have a problem with the whole “King” bit altogether. I can handle “Reign of Christ”, because that speaks to me of the realm of God, to which Jesus referred. And in fact, the Jewish Scriptures are, at best, ambivalent about the usefulness of a king. Is it a good idea to search for a king at all? Deuteronomy 17 sets out an ideal king:
“The king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself, or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them...... he must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere God and follow carefully all the words of this law; and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
Does such a king exist? Would such a king ever exist? And what about turning Jesus into this kind of king? One who stands above all the people, wearing a golden crown?
Today, the same distrust of authority exists. Individualism has been embraced to the extreme that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Jesus as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Many balk at the idea of literal, human kings and queens, believing them to be oppressive. Some reject the titles of "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. I will confess, that I often wince at the language of "lord", because the people who use that language use it to set themselves and their faith above all others.
Let’s listen to the words of Jesus: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the servant of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:42-45).
When asked by Pilate, "Are you the King of the Jews?"... Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).
Thus, Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he identified his role as one of humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death.
Rev. Ginny McDaniel writes “Today’s text about Jesus offering forgiveness as his final act is resonating with me like never before. If the church needs a single message, a sound byte, if you will, for this impatient, multitasking generation, it's this: It's ALL about mercy. We don't need taller statues to proclaim our message. We don't need bigger buildings and fancier gadgetry. Mercy is what the world needs, now as never before, now as it always has.” Mercy, compassion,, loving-kindness.
We talk often about judgment of the nations, without knowing that the translation of the word “judge” from Hebrew means “the one who makes right”. Jesus’ teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. So I will use the phrase “Christ the King” today, because it celebrates a man willing to die for humanity, and whose "loving-kindness" is a cornerstone of faith. This king gives true freedom, and in his life and death radically redefined the concept of king, as one who walks *with* others, who serves, and who loves beyond himself.
And so, although this day in the church year is new, it is indeed a fitting place to stop and reflect on the meaning of a king, and to turn our faces to the road to Bethlehem, where the new kind of King will be born.
Sources:
1. "The Walrus and the Carpenter", in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
2. Swiebodzin - by VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Sat Nov 6, 6:13 pm ET
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_King
4. http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html
5. “The Greatest Gift of All”, a sermon by the Rev. Ginny McDaniel
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
******************************************************************
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings–
and why the sea is boiling hot,
and whether pigs have wings."
In the story of Alice in Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll provides a wonderful little poem about a walrus, who goes out for a walk with some very cheery little oysters. In the end, the power of the walrus supersedes the lives of the little oysters, and they are no more. The power of the largest wins, and the most naive and gullible seem to lose.
This week, there was a news story about a huge statue of Christ the King - literally - which has been raised in the village of Swiebodzin, Poland. It is a gigantic statue of Jesus that Poles claim is the world's largest, and is the dream of a local priest which has been fulfilled. The white statue stands almost 170 feet, including the base and the crown on the head.
Not surprisingly, this huge statue has divided the Poles, and underlined the deep cultural divide between a strongly Catholic population in some areas, and an increasingly confident secular society. Many perceive the statue as tacky. The statue was built with donations from all over the world. The priest of the town claims he was called by Jesus to build this statue, a statue complete with a golden crown of an earthly King, not a crown of thorns.
I have to confess I have some struggles with this Sunday, particularly when it is in the context of a King, and we begin dressing it up in the symbols of earthly power and politics.
Christ the King Sunday is such a new observation in the church, that it has barely begun even to cut its teeth. In fact, it is only 85 years since the entire Christian church began to observe Christ the King Sunday. Pope Pius XI universally instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical “Quas Primas”. 1925 was a time of the rise of great secularism, and great wealth. It came prior to the stock market crash and the First World War. Many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting not only Christ's authority, but beginning to question the authority of the Church. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in by these earthly leaders. Pius hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were that nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state; that leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ; that the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.
On the whole, I don’t think it was a bad idea. It was moved from its original date at the end of October, to the end of the liturgical year, with the idea that ending the church year with a time of reflection and repentance would make a good bridge to Advent.
But I have a problem with the whole “King” bit altogether. I can handle “Reign of Christ”, because that speaks to me of the realm of God, to which Jesus referred. And in fact, the Jewish Scriptures are, at best, ambivalent about the usefulness of a king. Is it a good idea to search for a king at all? Deuteronomy 17 sets out an ideal king:
“The king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself, or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them...... he must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere God and follow carefully all the words of this law; and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
Does such a king exist? Would such a king ever exist? And what about turning Jesus into this kind of king? One who stands above all the people, wearing a golden crown?
Today, the same distrust of authority exists. Individualism has been embraced to the extreme that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Jesus as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Many balk at the idea of literal, human kings and queens, believing them to be oppressive. Some reject the titles of "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. I will confess, that I often wince at the language of "lord", because the people who use that language use it to set themselves and their faith above all others.
Let’s listen to the words of Jesus: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the servant of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:42-45).
When asked by Pilate, "Are you the King of the Jews?"... Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).
Thus, Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he identified his role as one of humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death.
Rev. Ginny McDaniel writes “Today’s text about Jesus offering forgiveness as his final act is resonating with me like never before. If the church needs a single message, a sound byte, if you will, for this impatient, multitasking generation, it's this: It's ALL about mercy. We don't need taller statues to proclaim our message. We don't need bigger buildings and fancier gadgetry. Mercy is what the world needs, now as never before, now as it always has.” Mercy, compassion,, loving-kindness.
We talk often about judgment of the nations, without knowing that the translation of the word “judge” from Hebrew means “the one who makes right”. Jesus’ teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. So I will use the phrase “Christ the King” today, because it celebrates a man willing to die for humanity, and whose "loving-kindness" is a cornerstone of faith. This king gives true freedom, and in his life and death radically redefined the concept of king, as one who walks *with* others, who serves, and who loves beyond himself.
And so, although this day in the church year is new, it is indeed a fitting place to stop and reflect on the meaning of a king, and to turn our faces to the road to Bethlehem, where the new kind of King will be born.
Sources:
1. "The Walrus and the Carpenter", in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
2. Swiebodzin - by VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Sat Nov 6, 6:13 pm ET
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_King
4. http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html
5. “The Greatest Gift of All”, a sermon by the Rev. Ginny McDaniel
Saturday, November 13, 2010
"Back to the Future" A sermon based upon Isaiah 65:17-25, and Revelation 21:1-4. Humber United Church, Corner Brook, Newfoundland November 14, 2010
In the movie “Back to the Future”, Marty McFly is accidentally sent back to 1955, where he meets his future mother and fath as teens. If he cannot ensure that they get married and have children, his own future will not exist. Not only do we get some insight into life back in 1955 for a young person, we get a kind of theological movie about how things happen. That unless some certain things *do* happen, other things *won’t* happen.
It’s been an interesting journey, saying “yes” to this future at Corner Brook. I had no doubts whatsoever that this was meant to happen. If I had said no, the future would have been significantly different. What has been interesting is the reaction of my friends. My ministry friends, most of them, said “Way to go, Fran!” Some said “when other people are trying NOT to get settled in Newfoundland, you decide to go there.” Of my close friends, only one said “You’re doing this the right way. At a time when most of us are slowing down, you’re picking up speed and doing something different.” The others said “Why is Fran doing this??”
Today we hear two pieces of scripture. I like to call them “book ends” to God’s future. Isaiah has a vision of a new creation. God says “See, I am about to do a new thing!”. The vision describes what the new creation will be like. There will be no illness, no sadness; small children will grow up to be old and wise, instead of dying young.
Then in Revelation, we see the vision of John where the future has happened - the new creation, the realm of God has come. John takes his readers back to the future in God’s world. The realm of God, right in the mucky and horrendous world of the here and now, happens.
What is interesting is that neither scripture says HOW it will happen.
Rev. Thomas Hall is one of my favourite crafters of sermons. He talks about how we get stuck in the here and now - “preoccupied by grotesque shapes of terrorism, the runaway costs of living, unchecked crime in our neighborhoods, or pollution on a global scale.” and he says that we too often see only the mud of life. But, he says, the vocabulary of faith opens our vision to see purpose beyond chaos, joy beyond sorrow, life beyond death, and God beyond all the muck.
A friend of mine, Rev. Fred Ulrich, is both an ordained certified Methodist preacher, and an ordained Buddhist priest; because of his dual training, he has the ability to take stories out of either tradition, and make them relevant. He told a story about the lotus plant. The lotus is one of the most beautiful flowers, rising from under the water, pushing the flower head above the surface, and opening into something completely spectacular. What we don’t see, says Fred, is the muck down at the bottom of the pond. Lotus seeds cannot grow without the muck and the mud. Without a filthy and mucky bottom layer, the lotus would not be at all.
Human beings, and creation, are like the lotus. I think we need the muck and the fear, to make us look harder at the future. Without those things, perhaps faith would not exist at all. When we see death, we reflect on what life is; when we see illness we reflect on what health is - either physical or spiritual; when we see war, we begin to think about the true meaning of peace. When we look at all of those things we begin to think about the future which God describes to Isaiah and to John, and we begin to work to get to that future.
Faith allows us to claim with the prophet Isaiah that God is at work creating new heavens and a new earth. Our vision sees grace flying up and up from the mud.
God’s vision continues to build a new heaven and earth, not just through Jesus. That’s too easy to say it’s all happening through Jesus. God is also creating this new heaven and earth through each of us, if we are attentive. Jesus set the example, but we who claim to be disciples have to make the decision to follow, even if that means taking a risk and trying out something totally new.
God’s vision does not suggest that we unplug ourselves and walk away from the mud. Rather the opposite—we work in our world and in the relationships of our daily lives as if the Realm of God is at hand, and is already shaping that new heaven and earth. Our hands, our words, our efforts and energy, our financial investments to further God’s purpose for the world become in God’s creative hands, the tools God uses to create new things in the world.
The letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is a kind of exhortation. He writes to the church in Thessalonika that they should not “weary of doing what is right”.
But our sustaining vision frees our faith to look beyond the Now and beyond those things that run opposite to God’s great vision of health, healing, wholeness, peace, love, and restoration in this world. So we look back to Isaiah, and back to Revelation, in order to create that future which God lays out. What we as Christians are trying to do in our faith journey together is going back to the future of God’s vision for all of creation.
And in that quest, we take risk. We set out on a journey to a new place. We don’t know what will happen on the road. We don’t know what will happen at any of the stops on the way. But we enter into the journey together, to work together in the creation of that future. This is our upward call- to shape the future, to shape a beautiful flower, from the very mud in which our feet are planted. May it be so.
Sources:
1. “Grace Flying Up”, a sermon based on Isaiah 65:1-7 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. General Council lecture, Camrose, Alberta 1998, Rev. Fred Ulrich.
It’s been an interesting journey, saying “yes” to this future at Corner Brook. I had no doubts whatsoever that this was meant to happen. If I had said no, the future would have been significantly different. What has been interesting is the reaction of my friends. My ministry friends, most of them, said “Way to go, Fran!” Some said “when other people are trying NOT to get settled in Newfoundland, you decide to go there.” Of my close friends, only one said “You’re doing this the right way. At a time when most of us are slowing down, you’re picking up speed and doing something different.” The others said “Why is Fran doing this??”
Today we hear two pieces of scripture. I like to call them “book ends” to God’s future. Isaiah has a vision of a new creation. God says “See, I am about to do a new thing!”. The vision describes what the new creation will be like. There will be no illness, no sadness; small children will grow up to be old and wise, instead of dying young.
Then in Revelation, we see the vision of John where the future has happened - the new creation, the realm of God has come. John takes his readers back to the future in God’s world. The realm of God, right in the mucky and horrendous world of the here and now, happens.
What is interesting is that neither scripture says HOW it will happen.
Rev. Thomas Hall is one of my favourite crafters of sermons. He talks about how we get stuck in the here and now - “preoccupied by grotesque shapes of terrorism, the runaway costs of living, unchecked crime in our neighborhoods, or pollution on a global scale.” and he says that we too often see only the mud of life. But, he says, the vocabulary of faith opens our vision to see purpose beyond chaos, joy beyond sorrow, life beyond death, and God beyond all the muck.
A friend of mine, Rev. Fred Ulrich, is both an ordained certified Methodist preacher, and an ordained Buddhist priest; because of his dual training, he has the ability to take stories out of either tradition, and make them relevant. He told a story about the lotus plant. The lotus is one of the most beautiful flowers, rising from under the water, pushing the flower head above the surface, and opening into something completely spectacular. What we don’t see, says Fred, is the muck down at the bottom of the pond. Lotus seeds cannot grow without the muck and the mud. Without a filthy and mucky bottom layer, the lotus would not be at all.
Human beings, and creation, are like the lotus. I think we need the muck and the fear, to make us look harder at the future. Without those things, perhaps faith would not exist at all. When we see death, we reflect on what life is; when we see illness we reflect on what health is - either physical or spiritual; when we see war, we begin to think about the true meaning of peace. When we look at all of those things we begin to think about the future which God describes to Isaiah and to John, and we begin to work to get to that future.
Faith allows us to claim with the prophet Isaiah that God is at work creating new heavens and a new earth. Our vision sees grace flying up and up from the mud.
God’s vision continues to build a new heaven and earth, not just through Jesus. That’s too easy to say it’s all happening through Jesus. God is also creating this new heaven and earth through each of us, if we are attentive. Jesus set the example, but we who claim to be disciples have to make the decision to follow, even if that means taking a risk and trying out something totally new.
God’s vision does not suggest that we unplug ourselves and walk away from the mud. Rather the opposite—we work in our world and in the relationships of our daily lives as if the Realm of God is at hand, and is already shaping that new heaven and earth. Our hands, our words, our efforts and energy, our financial investments to further God’s purpose for the world become in God’s creative hands, the tools God uses to create new things in the world.
The letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is a kind of exhortation. He writes to the church in Thessalonika that they should not “weary of doing what is right”.
But our sustaining vision frees our faith to look beyond the Now and beyond those things that run opposite to God’s great vision of health, healing, wholeness, peace, love, and restoration in this world. So we look back to Isaiah, and back to Revelation, in order to create that future which God lays out. What we as Christians are trying to do in our faith journey together is going back to the future of God’s vision for all of creation.
And in that quest, we take risk. We set out on a journey to a new place. We don’t know what will happen on the road. We don’t know what will happen at any of the stops on the way. But we enter into the journey together, to work together in the creation of that future. This is our upward call- to shape the future, to shape a beautiful flower, from the very mud in which our feet are planted. May it be so.
Sources:
1. “Grace Flying Up”, a sermon based on Isaiah 65:1-7 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. General Council lecture, Camrose, Alberta 1998, Rev. Fred Ulrich.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Starting a new chapter.
Currently sitting in a hotel in North Sydney, Cape Breton. It was a long drive here, stopping in Trois-Rivieres, Fredericton, and finally North Sydney. High winds have made ferry travel to Newfoundland difficult, with the result that all departures are considerably delayed. My 10:30 p.m. ferry today is now leaving at (hopefully) 06:00 on the morning of November 12, with a line-up call of 03:00. The hotel fortunately allowed me to book for an extra day. This, of course, is normal for those who live in Newfoundland. Everything depends on the weather, in a way we in most of the rest of the country don't quite understand. Those who live on Vancouver Island will understand it. There are only two ways on and off the islands: by air, or if you need to drive, by ferry. But the wind across the Cabot Strait can be incredible, and if the ferries stop, everything is held.
As of November 14, 2010, sermons will be posted here. Eventually there will be a church website with a link. I hope you find something here which feeds you in some way. Welcome to Humber.
As of November 14, 2010, sermons will be posted here. Eventually there will be a church website with a link. I hope you find something here which feeds you in some way. Welcome to Humber.
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