My sorrow cannot be healed; I am sick at heart. Listen! Throughout the land I hear my people crying out, “Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is Zion's king no longer there?”
My heart has been crushed because my people are crushed; I mourn; I am completely dismayed.
Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?
I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.
********************************************************************
Fifteen years ago on September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people on board. Nova Scotians near the coast felt their homes tremble as the McDonnell Douglas passenger plane smashed into the water a few kilometres off the shore of Peggy’s Cove. The flight took off from JFK airport bound for Geneva, but a little less than an hour into the flight the crew noticed smoke and issued the international urgency signal "pan pan pan." They were cleared to proceed to the airport in Halifax but crashed in the relatively shallow water off Peggy’s Cove.
Though only four Canadians were killed on the flight, the crash of Swissair 111 had an enduring impact on Canada. Local fishermen led the search for survivors, residents welcomed the victims' families into their; the names of the dead are etched in stone monuments at a seaside memorial.
This week, the plan to refloat the cruise ship Costa Concordia was finally put into effect. For the residents of the tiny island of Giglio, it was a flashback to January 2012, and a return of grief and lament. The relatives of the two passengers whose bodies were never recovered were hoping it would provide some relief and healing.
Elio Vincenzi, the widower of Maria Grazia Trecarichi, said his wife was on the cruise celebrating her 50th birthday. Her 17-year-old daughter was one of the 4,000 people who survived the shipwreck; she was on the island this week to watch the crews at work.
There are voices still crying, fifteen yeas after the crash of Swissair, for those lost - for the promise of life, now lost. There are voices crying two years later, for those lost - and a re-opening of wounds.
Voices cry out in lament for those lost as a bus and train collide, as a train hauling crude oil derails, and lives are snuffed out in a moment. People in Colorado mourning the loss of loved ones in unprecedented flooding; families of the three killed in the latest shootings in Chicago; those who died in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, those now beginning to succumb to radiation poisoning in Fukushima.
There are voices crying in the reading from Jeremiah, the voices of the people crying out "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is Zion’s King no longer there?" Voices of people crying out in lament. But it is also God’s lament - the God who was angry, now weeping as the people cry out.
There are voices weeping when one of our family dies - our parents, children, grandchildren - grandparents, aunts and uncles. Each elder is a marker in our lives, as one by one they pass and we become the elders.
We are often told we need to do something when we lament, or mourn - keep a stiff upper lip, get back to normal, move on. How many times have we heard that - how long it’s been since whatever tragedy happened, time to move on. When we grieve or hurt we often hear that we must pull ourselves up, put that grief away, don't let the tears show, don't let the pain come up at unexpected times. If it does - pull yourself together and put on a brave face. Or if someone else is grieving, we try to fix it- to make them happy, or stop the source of their grief. Why do we do that? Healthy lament is a part of healthy mourning and grief; the problem comes when years later we cannot pull ourselves out of the grief.
We hear all these in the words from Jeremiah. The people in Jeremiah are the Israelites who were invaded by Assyria and the Babylonians - whose temple is torn down and who are taken into captivity. And in those words we hear also the cries of people throughout thousand of years- cries from personal to the community to the global. Where is God in this? Why hasn't God done something? We hear the lament, the grief of Jeremiah, as he looks around and sees his people suffering - and in his words we hear God.
When people ask why God has done such a thing, I am always torn between recognising their grief, and trying to tell them God is also crying out. God has also lost all joy; God's heart is sick.
The voice of God - asks the rhetorical question- “Is there not a balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?”
The answer would have been obvious to Jeremiah's audience. Yes, there is healing in Gilead; it was a center which produced healing balm and had many physicians practicing. It was a health center of its time, and to ask that question would be similar to asking if there are no bandages to be had at Western Health. The obvious answer would be yes.
Nancy Hausman travels all the way from Illinois every year. She comes to pay her respects to her son Thomas, who was just 33 years old when he died. His remains, along with those of many others who were aboard Swissair 111, are buried at a monument near Peggy’s Cove.
"If you have to lose a member of your family away from home, they couldn't have found a better place than here on St. Margaret’s Bay. The people, the care and the love they give for all of these strangers that they have never met in life; our lives are all entwined together now."
In a way St. Margaret’s Bay is Gilead - and the balm which heals and soothes is there - in the care the people show for loved ones of people they never knew, and never would know. It’s just the simply living out of that care which provides healing for those who grieve.
The reading from Jeremiah last week, went like this:
"For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.
I looked on the earth, and it was waste and void; to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and they were quaking, and all the hills moved. I looked, and there was no one at all; all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert, all its cities laid in ruins before God’s fierce anger.
For God says: “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet it will not be the end of the world. .
Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken; I will not relent nor will I turn back.”
Yet today, the cries of the people reach God’s ears, and God hurts with them. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures displays strong human characteristics - flaming angry one day, and then filled with remorse and lamenting with the people.
The bottom line is that God has not abandoned the people. God relents at the cries of the ones who have been killed. God mourns with those who mourn, weeps with those who weep - and God can and will heal those people who cry. God can and will heal the hearts and spirits that are broken .
We cannot fix the effects of such tragedies and griefs on our own. We will not pull ourselves up by our bootstraps or get back to normal and put the pain behind. This was true before the Swissair crash, the deaths from terrorism in New York, deaths from flooding, or on a cruise ship, shootings in the Navy Dockyard, or in Chicago. It will be true long after these events become merely a history lesson to future generations. It is an illusion that we are safe by our own power, that we can make things right through human might and intelligence. It was and is an illusion that we can control what happens, or that God controls such things - or that God causes such tragedies to happen.
Yes, there is healing in Gilead; God answers our cries, with tears and with love. What we are called to do is to ask God for healing - through prayers of petitions and even thanksgiving. We have hope in the healing power of God, and as we encounter others who need healing, from the pain of a world wandering away from God's intentions can bring, even the pain from self-inflicted wounds, we can point to that balm, that healing we have already been given and have accepted,. We can offer healing in Jesus through words of comfort, empathy and hope; through tears and hugs, casseroles and rides, through cries against all acts of injustice.
The events and feelings from tragic events and personal loss will eventually fade; it is for us to ensure that we trust that God does not fade. Even as we hear God speaking of weeping for “my poor people who have been killed”, we hear in those words God’s care and love, which never changes. There is indeed healing in Gilead, which makes the wounded whole. May it be so.
Sources
1. God is Crying Out Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Pastor Deb in Bangor, Maine.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
“Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World” A sermon based on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 September 15, 2013 Humber United Church
At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem, will be told in plain words:
“The northern hordes are sweeping in from the desert steppes — A wind that’s up to no good, a gale-force wind. I ordered this wind. I’m pronouncing my hurricane judgment on my people.”
“What fools my people are! They have no idea who I am. A company of half-wits, dopes and donkeys all! Experts at evil but klutzes at good.”
I looked at the earth— it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness. looked at the skies, and not a star to be seen. I looked at the mountains— they were trembling like aspen leaves, And all the hills rocking back and forth in the wind. I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight, and not a bird to be seen in the skies. I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up. All the towns were ghost towns. And all this because of God, because of the blazing anger of God.
Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:
“The whole country will be laid waste— still it won’t be the end of the world. The earth will mourn and the skies lament because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back. I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”
***************************************************************************
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel used to tell the story that when God, the Holy One, gets up in the morning, God gathers the angels of heaven around and asks this simple question: “Where does my creation need mending today?” Rabbi Heschel would continue, “Theology consists of worrying about what God worries about when God gets up in the morning.”
Theologian Paul Tillich began his sermon on Jeremiah with these words: “It is hard to speak after the prophets have spoken as they have in these pronouncements. Every word is like the stroke of a hammer.” For Jeremiah describes a firestorm which destroys everything in its path.
In the reaction following September 11, 2001, a War on Terror was declared, which included Afghanistan, and Iraq. Statistics show that within six months of 9/11, more than half of the population of the US believed Saddam Hussein and Iraq were responsible. Yet in fact, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with that event at all. Just under 3000 people from over 60 countries died. Documented deaths in Iraq now range between 600,000 and one million, since the war began in 2003. Terror has been used to attack terror. Lands have been reduced to desolation, and destabilised to the point where they may never recover. It is now almost 30 years since the end of the war in Viet Nam, yet that land has still not recovered.
We can point to the incredible firestorms raging through the western United States, some started by careless people. Some of the fires are result of the actions of human beings interfering in nature, some are spontaneous or caused by lightning. Did you know that forest fires and grass fires create their own winds, and as they do the winds continue to feed the fires? Ever heard of a “crown fire”? Sparks can be blown by those winds from the crown of one tree to another, and then the fire burns *down* the tree. Often the fires, the sparks, linger underground for years, only to flare up at a future time.
You may remember the photo of the child Phan Thi Kim Phuc, in Viet Nam, running down the road naked, screaming in pain, her back and legs burned by napalm. Napalm is a mixture of a thickening/gelling agent napthalic acid, and petroleum or a similar fuel. At first it was used as an incendiary device against buildings, but later used mainly as an anti-personnel weapon that sticks to skin and causes severe burns when on fire. It literally creates a firestorm when deployed, and completely destroys the area where it is dropped. It was developed in 1943 at Harvard University; its first recorded use was in the European theatre of war; it was used extensively in incendiary attacks on Japanese cities. In 1980, the United Nations declared that the use of napalm on civilians constituted a war crime.
I can almost hear the words of God through Jeremiah’s mouth. “My people do not know me, they are senseless children, they are skilled in doing evil, they don’t know how to do good. The earth will mourn and the heavens will grown dark.”
Even when we want to turn away, Jeremiah makes us look again. Four times we hear him repeat the refrain, “I looked”:
I looked on the earth, it was waste and void . . .
I looked on the mountains, they were quaking . . .
I looked, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, the fruitful land was a desert. . .
It’s as if God’s plan of creation has been reversed. The earth is empty and void. The mountains are bare and there are no birds in the air. But what have we learned? Have we learned anything? For a time, in this past week, and the war drums beating around Syria, I began to wonder. Yet it seems Russia and the US have come to a “framework” for an agreement. Do we dare to hope?
Rev. Ron McCreary in Florida commented “Prophets have the gift to be able to "see through"...if there had been a State Department or Pentagon analyst on the ground with Jeremiah the analyst would have seen the same thing Jeremiah reported. How can Jerusalem and Judea be so blind? How can they not have seen the buildup of Babylonian strength and come to the obvious conclusion? Often we see what we expect to see, and cannot comprehend what we do not expect even when it is right in front of us.”
Jeremiah’s words echo - the land shall be desolate and the earth shall mourn. I don’t think we should ever forget the desolation and the mourning - those are part of learning. But if we repeat the same patterns, we are doomed over and over again. Hatred, bigotry, media manipulation breed more hatred and bigotry, and more violence.
I asked a friend in New York to reflect on the days following September 11. Here are her thoughts:
“I was overseas on Sept 11, 2001, but I live about a 10 minute walk from the World Trade Center. When I saw the live footage on television, I said to myself, "what an awful movie!" It took me several minutes to realize that this was the news, and yes, this was happening in my hometown.
While we could never go back to before 9/11, little signs of New York as we remember it began cropping up. The newspaper guy outside the corner deli reappeared one morning. New palm trees were carted into the famed Winter Garden, promptly greeted with New York-style graffiti on the particle boards holding the place together welcoming them back. Ads featuring New York celebrities appeared on TV telling tourists that it was ok to come visit.
And thus we plodded on. Streets reopened and new buildings popped up. Defiant barriers were erected around 'high alert' sites, such as the Stock Exchange and the train stations. A major effort to revitalize the downtown resulted in a rebirth of the area. There is now a Tiffany's on Wall Street. Around the corner is Hermes, and Whole Foods is just a couple of blocks north of Ground Zero on the West Side Highway. During the blackout of 2003, the city again came together with most people remembering how it was that awful day.
I've got mixed feelings, as do most New Yorkers. Sad doesn't seem to convey them completely enough. It's more of a combination of a loss of innocence and resolve to move forwards while not forgetting. As trite as it sounds, though, I think the least we can all do is to count our blessings and to appreciate the most basic things in life. Even the toughest and strongest of us can be made vulnerable.”
Last week was the Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Days of Awe, repentance, leading to a New Year. Yesterday, September 14, the High Holy Days culminated in Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement. Related to that atonement - a word which literally means the state of being “at one”, is the concept of “tikkun olam”, which literally means "world repair." Today it is used to refer to the pursuit of social action and social justice, but its roots originate in the teachings of the 16th century mystic Isaac Luria. Luria believed that in order to make room for the world to be created, God needed to contract, to “hold back” in order that something else could grow. God then created special vessels to contain the Divine light which would be used to create the world. God's light was so vast that some of the vessels shattered, scattering broken pieces all over creation, and instead of returning to God, some of that light attached itself to the pieces - and that all that is bad in the world is the broken pieces in which sparks of light are trapped. ‘Repairing the world’ is to gather the lost light. That is the purpose of the commandments - whenever we obey a commandment we separate what is holy from what is profane and release the light within. Every day, we have opportunities to collect broken pieces and release their light. “Tikkun olam " responds to a profound sense of deep rupture in the universe, and calls us to mend the universe, mend the world."
The United Church of Canada has demonstrated a commitment to overcome fragmentation within the wider church. Whereas traditional ecumenical activity has been church centred, placing emphasis on the churches as they relate to one another, broader ecumenism is world-centred, placing emphasis on churches relating to the world beyond themselves, to persons involved in other religious traditions, ideologies, and secular agencies. In this understanding of “whole world ecumenism,” the churches are called to make common cause with individuals and institutions of good will who are committed to compassion, peace and justice in the world.
For life to survive, grow and flourish in “the wilderness of the world” - amid the exploding bombs, the fragile atmosphere, the burning rains, the polluted waters, the many illnesses, and the myriad expressions of violence—all people of compassion and wisdom need to work together in the common task of caring for one another and the whole of God’s creation.
The report, Mending the World, has laid bare the strong conviction among church members that God loves this world, this tiny blue piece of Creation; that God works for its mending, and calls us to do the same. It calls us to partnership with God in the repair of shattered Creation.
We - each of us - can do something. Each of us individually has a power which, together, makes us strong enough to change the world. The destruction and firestorms, and winds to strong will be no more. Our external world, and our relationships with each other here and now, will be repaired. Our faith is supposed to BE a world-changing faith - the call of the Gospel is to mend Creation, to mend the world.
Colin Winter was a visionary Anglican bishop, expelled from Namibia for his opposition to apartheid. This is his prayer:
“Lord, remind me when I need to know,
You did not ask me to defend your Church, but to lay down my life for people.”
Sources:
1. Rev. Ron McCreary, Gray Memorial United Methodist Church, Tallahassee, Florida.
2. Open letter - Tallahassee Interfaith Clergy
3. Firestorm based on Jeremiah 4:11-12,22-28 by Rev. Randy L Quinn
4. http://templeisaiah.com/what-tikkun-olam
5. Mending the World 1998, 36th General Council, The United Church of Canada
“The northern hordes are sweeping in from the desert steppes — A wind that’s up to no good, a gale-force wind. I ordered this wind. I’m pronouncing my hurricane judgment on my people.”
“What fools my people are! They have no idea who I am. A company of half-wits, dopes and donkeys all! Experts at evil but klutzes at good.”
I looked at the earth— it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness. looked at the skies, and not a star to be seen. I looked at the mountains— they were trembling like aspen leaves, And all the hills rocking back and forth in the wind. I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight, and not a bird to be seen in the skies. I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up. All the towns were ghost towns. And all this because of God, because of the blazing anger of God.
Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:
“The whole country will be laid waste— still it won’t be the end of the world. The earth will mourn and the skies lament because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back. I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”
***************************************************************************
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel used to tell the story that when God, the Holy One, gets up in the morning, God gathers the angels of heaven around and asks this simple question: “Where does my creation need mending today?” Rabbi Heschel would continue, “Theology consists of worrying about what God worries about when God gets up in the morning.”
Theologian Paul Tillich began his sermon on Jeremiah with these words: “It is hard to speak after the prophets have spoken as they have in these pronouncements. Every word is like the stroke of a hammer.” For Jeremiah describes a firestorm which destroys everything in its path.
In the reaction following September 11, 2001, a War on Terror was declared, which included Afghanistan, and Iraq. Statistics show that within six months of 9/11, more than half of the population of the US believed Saddam Hussein and Iraq were responsible. Yet in fact, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with that event at all. Just under 3000 people from over 60 countries died. Documented deaths in Iraq now range between 600,000 and one million, since the war began in 2003. Terror has been used to attack terror. Lands have been reduced to desolation, and destabilised to the point where they may never recover. It is now almost 30 years since the end of the war in Viet Nam, yet that land has still not recovered.
We can point to the incredible firestorms raging through the western United States, some started by careless people. Some of the fires are result of the actions of human beings interfering in nature, some are spontaneous or caused by lightning. Did you know that forest fires and grass fires create their own winds, and as they do the winds continue to feed the fires? Ever heard of a “crown fire”? Sparks can be blown by those winds from the crown of one tree to another, and then the fire burns *down* the tree. Often the fires, the sparks, linger underground for years, only to flare up at a future time.
You may remember the photo of the child Phan Thi Kim Phuc, in Viet Nam, running down the road naked, screaming in pain, her back and legs burned by napalm. Napalm is a mixture of a thickening/gelling agent napthalic acid, and petroleum or a similar fuel. At first it was used as an incendiary device against buildings, but later used mainly as an anti-personnel weapon that sticks to skin and causes severe burns when on fire. It literally creates a firestorm when deployed, and completely destroys the area where it is dropped. It was developed in 1943 at Harvard University; its first recorded use was in the European theatre of war; it was used extensively in incendiary attacks on Japanese cities. In 1980, the United Nations declared that the use of napalm on civilians constituted a war crime.
I can almost hear the words of God through Jeremiah’s mouth. “My people do not know me, they are senseless children, they are skilled in doing evil, they don’t know how to do good. The earth will mourn and the heavens will grown dark.”
Even when we want to turn away, Jeremiah makes us look again. Four times we hear him repeat the refrain, “I looked”:
I looked on the earth, it was waste and void . . .
I looked on the mountains, they were quaking . . .
I looked, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, the fruitful land was a desert. . .
It’s as if God’s plan of creation has been reversed. The earth is empty and void. The mountains are bare and there are no birds in the air. But what have we learned? Have we learned anything? For a time, in this past week, and the war drums beating around Syria, I began to wonder. Yet it seems Russia and the US have come to a “framework” for an agreement. Do we dare to hope?
Rev. Ron McCreary in Florida commented “Prophets have the gift to be able to "see through"...if there had been a State Department or Pentagon analyst on the ground with Jeremiah the analyst would have seen the same thing Jeremiah reported. How can Jerusalem and Judea be so blind? How can they not have seen the buildup of Babylonian strength and come to the obvious conclusion? Often we see what we expect to see, and cannot comprehend what we do not expect even when it is right in front of us.”
Jeremiah’s words echo - the land shall be desolate and the earth shall mourn. I don’t think we should ever forget the desolation and the mourning - those are part of learning. But if we repeat the same patterns, we are doomed over and over again. Hatred, bigotry, media manipulation breed more hatred and bigotry, and more violence.
I asked a friend in New York to reflect on the days following September 11. Here are her thoughts:
“I was overseas on Sept 11, 2001, but I live about a 10 minute walk from the World Trade Center. When I saw the live footage on television, I said to myself, "what an awful movie!" It took me several minutes to realize that this was the news, and yes, this was happening in my hometown.
While we could never go back to before 9/11, little signs of New York as we remember it began cropping up. The newspaper guy outside the corner deli reappeared one morning. New palm trees were carted into the famed Winter Garden, promptly greeted with New York-style graffiti on the particle boards holding the place together welcoming them back. Ads featuring New York celebrities appeared on TV telling tourists that it was ok to come visit.
And thus we plodded on. Streets reopened and new buildings popped up. Defiant barriers were erected around 'high alert' sites, such as the Stock Exchange and the train stations. A major effort to revitalize the downtown resulted in a rebirth of the area. There is now a Tiffany's on Wall Street. Around the corner is Hermes, and Whole Foods is just a couple of blocks north of Ground Zero on the West Side Highway. During the blackout of 2003, the city again came together with most people remembering how it was that awful day.
I've got mixed feelings, as do most New Yorkers. Sad doesn't seem to convey them completely enough. It's more of a combination of a loss of innocence and resolve to move forwards while not forgetting. As trite as it sounds, though, I think the least we can all do is to count our blessings and to appreciate the most basic things in life. Even the toughest and strongest of us can be made vulnerable.”
Last week was the Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Days of Awe, repentance, leading to a New Year. Yesterday, September 14, the High Holy Days culminated in Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement. Related to that atonement - a word which literally means the state of being “at one”, is the concept of “tikkun olam”, which literally means "world repair." Today it is used to refer to the pursuit of social action and social justice, but its roots originate in the teachings of the 16th century mystic Isaac Luria. Luria believed that in order to make room for the world to be created, God needed to contract, to “hold back” in order that something else could grow. God then created special vessels to contain the Divine light which would be used to create the world. God's light was so vast that some of the vessels shattered, scattering broken pieces all over creation, and instead of returning to God, some of that light attached itself to the pieces - and that all that is bad in the world is the broken pieces in which sparks of light are trapped. ‘Repairing the world’ is to gather the lost light. That is the purpose of the commandments - whenever we obey a commandment we separate what is holy from what is profane and release the light within. Every day, we have opportunities to collect broken pieces and release their light. “Tikkun olam " responds to a profound sense of deep rupture in the universe, and calls us to mend the universe, mend the world."
The United Church of Canada has demonstrated a commitment to overcome fragmentation within the wider church. Whereas traditional ecumenical activity has been church centred, placing emphasis on the churches as they relate to one another, broader ecumenism is world-centred, placing emphasis on churches relating to the world beyond themselves, to persons involved in other religious traditions, ideologies, and secular agencies. In this understanding of “whole world ecumenism,” the churches are called to make common cause with individuals and institutions of good will who are committed to compassion, peace and justice in the world.
For life to survive, grow and flourish in “the wilderness of the world” - amid the exploding bombs, the fragile atmosphere, the burning rains, the polluted waters, the many illnesses, and the myriad expressions of violence—all people of compassion and wisdom need to work together in the common task of caring for one another and the whole of God’s creation.
The report, Mending the World, has laid bare the strong conviction among church members that God loves this world, this tiny blue piece of Creation; that God works for its mending, and calls us to do the same. It calls us to partnership with God in the repair of shattered Creation.
We - each of us - can do something. Each of us individually has a power which, together, makes us strong enough to change the world. The destruction and firestorms, and winds to strong will be no more. Our external world, and our relationships with each other here and now, will be repaired. Our faith is supposed to BE a world-changing faith - the call of the Gospel is to mend Creation, to mend the world.
Colin Winter was a visionary Anglican bishop, expelled from Namibia for his opposition to apartheid. This is his prayer:
“Lord, remind me when I need to know,
You did not ask me to defend your Church, but to lay down my life for people.”
Sources:
1. Rev. Ron McCreary, Gray Memorial United Methodist Church, Tallahassee, Florida.
2. Open letter - Tallahassee Interfaith Clergy
3. Firestorm based on Jeremiah 4:11-12,22-28 by Rev. Randy L Quinn
4. http://templeisaiah.com/what-tikkun-olam
5. Mending the World 1998, 36th General Council, The United Church of Canada
Saturday, September 7, 2013
“L’Shana Tovah - New Beginnings” a sermon based on Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18. September 8, 2013, Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL.
God, you have examined me and you know me. You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. I praise you and live in awe of you; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
*************************************************************************
There was an old ranger, tough and mean. One day, one of his cowboys was caught stealing. “Hang him” said the ranger, “It will teach him a lesson.” Time went by, and eventually the old rancher died. He found himself standing before God - and the many things he had done in his life came back to him. He trembled in his boots. “Forgive him”, said God “It will teach him a lesson.
This past week, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated Rosh Hashana - the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Or I should say the most important of the “new years” celebrated in Judaism. Rosh Hashana is the only celebration of two High Holy Days together. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are announced in the Synagogue and Temple with the blowing of a ram’s horn, or Shofar.
...so rather than a dry lecture about Rosh Hashana - which means a good and sweet New Year - let’s look at the lyrics to a song - called “Dip Your Apple”.
“A new year rising, a new beginning, lift your head up,
turn yourself ‘round, the world is spinning.
Feel the magic of a new day, open your heart to a fresh start, send your fears away.
You’ve made mistakes- you feel it. You’ve got what it takes – believe it.
Any wrong can be made right, just forgive, you need not fight.
Shana tova u’metuka – it’s Rosh Hashanah.
Shana tova, u’metuka - dip your apple in the honey, on Rosh Hashana
So many new hopes waiting to find you;
open your eyes, the dreams you prize are all around you.
The smiles are hiding, no use in guessing,
make up your mind, go out and find that simple blessing.
This is your time – you feel it. How sweet it is – believe it.
Any wrong can be made right, just forgive you need not fight.
Shana tova u’metuka – its Rosh Hashana.
Aneinu – shana tova. Shana tova, u’metuka -
Dip your apple in the honey on Rosh Hashana.
Shana tova, u’metuka. Hear the sounds of jubilation – its Rosh Hashana
Yehi Ratzon shenihiyeh, rosh-lo zanav
(May it be your will that we will be like the head and not the tail)
Filling life for those around us with joy and love.
Aveinu malkeinu chaneinu veanaeinu
(Our Father, Our King, have mercy on us and answer us)
Hear our prayer, Oh Lord, inscribe us in the book of life.
Give us life, Lord, and sustain us,
Oh deliver us to salvation. It is New Year, on Rosh Hashana.
Make your loved ones smile, it’s Rosh Hashana.
Open your hearts to one another, its Rosh Hashana.
**************************************************************************
But the New Year is longer than just two days. It begins with Rosh Hashanah, and ends with Yom Kippur - the highest of the High Holy Days - also known as the Day of Atonement.
According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jewish person examines his or herself, tries to amend his or her behavior, and seeks forgiveness for wrongs done, against God and against other human beings. The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
We remember when Peter asks Jesus how many times it is necessary to forgive. Is there a limit to how often one forgives? The rabbis in the temples taught that you could only forgive three times. The Hebrew Scripture today tells us that God knows everything about us, right from the beginning, and forgives. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur teach that God wants us to examine ourselves - to turn ourselves around, to repent and right the wrongs. Jesus said much the same - and Jesus said that it call comes down to loving your neighbour as much or more as you love yourself. Jesus says forgive seventy times seven - does he literally means seventy times seven, or 490 times? Colossal math? Let’s not forget that seven is a sacred number - seven days of the week, seven colours in the rainbow, seven branches in a menorah, seven gifts of the Spirit, seven sins, seven branches in a Menorah.
No, Jesus doesn’t literally mean 490 times, so throw away the calculator - this is celestial math, not human math. We can’t work on the theory that God will forgive us, but we don’t have to forgive other people. - that’s the core of Rosh Hashanah, - the days of self examination and repentance; the Days of Awe which end in the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. This is serious business - ten days of reflection, self-examination, and atonement for wrongs done.
The great author W.H. Auden said that Christianity is a way, not a state of being. Faith is not something you just have - it’s something you have to work at, continually. You can’t just ‘be’ a Christian. I believe this is what Jesus was trying to get across. Unfortunately I also think for most of us who claim Christianity, - and possibly even for our Jewish friends - it’s a mind-boggling idea, and not one which we can comprehend easily. What does it mean to forgive? Do we forgive because it’s the “right” thing to do? Does forgiveness mean becoming a doormat, or being weak? How many people refuse to speak to others in families, or friends or colleagues - because of hurts long ago perpetrated - hurts sometimes real, but often imagined as well? In both our traditions, forgiveness is something we have to work at.
To be a Christian means baptism into a way of life which includes forgiveness. To be a disciple means to act as we believe Jesus would act - and that means constantly working at new beginnings. We may be dragging emotional baggage which prevents us from moving forward. If something becomes an obstacle to following Jesus, then it holds us back in our spiritual development. The question is, are we followers of Jesus, of the God who knows us intimately from the inside out? Can we take the time to examine ourselves and our actions - to come to the table with honey, apples, raisin cakes - for the beginning of a sweet New Year in which we can lift our heads up, turn ourselves around Because with Christ it is all or nothing, no half and half discipleship will do.
In this Creation Time, and this time of new beginnings - we have to start with ourselves and who we are, in God’s creation. Nothing can improve, nothing can change without a change of heart from within - we are followers of Jesus - who delivered a strong and clear message about how people were to live and treat each other - and it finds its roots in the Psalm, that God has searched us and known us even before we were born - a God who is with us in all times, ready to forgive. We are called to live that out, and by our actions as followers, if we live that out the changes for peace and the restoring of creation will also come. But it starts with each of us as an individual. May it be so.
Sources:
1. “With Christ it is All or Nothing”. A sermon based on Deut. 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33, by Pastor Philip Van Dam, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
2. “To Forgive”, a sermon based on Exodus 14:19-31, Matthew 18:21-25, by Rev. Fran Ota
*************************************************************************
There was an old ranger, tough and mean. One day, one of his cowboys was caught stealing. “Hang him” said the ranger, “It will teach him a lesson.” Time went by, and eventually the old rancher died. He found himself standing before God - and the many things he had done in his life came back to him. He trembled in his boots. “Forgive him”, said God “It will teach him a lesson.
This past week, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated Rosh Hashana - the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Or I should say the most important of the “new years” celebrated in Judaism. Rosh Hashana is the only celebration of two High Holy Days together. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are announced in the Synagogue and Temple with the blowing of a ram’s horn, or Shofar.
...so rather than a dry lecture about Rosh Hashana - which means a good and sweet New Year - let’s look at the lyrics to a song - called “Dip Your Apple”.
“A new year rising, a new beginning, lift your head up,
turn yourself ‘round, the world is spinning.
Feel the magic of a new day, open your heart to a fresh start, send your fears away.
You’ve made mistakes- you feel it. You’ve got what it takes – believe it.
Any wrong can be made right, just forgive, you need not fight.
Shana tova u’metuka – it’s Rosh Hashanah.
Shana tova, u’metuka - dip your apple in the honey, on Rosh Hashana
So many new hopes waiting to find you;
open your eyes, the dreams you prize are all around you.
The smiles are hiding, no use in guessing,
make up your mind, go out and find that simple blessing.
This is your time – you feel it. How sweet it is – believe it.
Any wrong can be made right, just forgive you need not fight.
Shana tova u’metuka – its Rosh Hashana.
Aneinu – shana tova. Shana tova, u’metuka -
Dip your apple in the honey on Rosh Hashana.
Shana tova, u’metuka. Hear the sounds of jubilation – its Rosh Hashana
Yehi Ratzon shenihiyeh, rosh-lo zanav
(May it be your will that we will be like the head and not the tail)
Filling life for those around us with joy and love.
Aveinu malkeinu chaneinu veanaeinu
(Our Father, Our King, have mercy on us and answer us)
Hear our prayer, Oh Lord, inscribe us in the book of life.
Give us life, Lord, and sustain us,
Oh deliver us to salvation. It is New Year, on Rosh Hashana.
Make your loved ones smile, it’s Rosh Hashana.
Open your hearts to one another, its Rosh Hashana.
**************************************************************************
But the New Year is longer than just two days. It begins with Rosh Hashanah, and ends with Yom Kippur - the highest of the High Holy Days - also known as the Day of Atonement.
According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jewish person examines his or herself, tries to amend his or her behavior, and seeks forgiveness for wrongs done, against God and against other human beings. The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God.
We remember when Peter asks Jesus how many times it is necessary to forgive. Is there a limit to how often one forgives? The rabbis in the temples taught that you could only forgive three times. The Hebrew Scripture today tells us that God knows everything about us, right from the beginning, and forgives. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur teach that God wants us to examine ourselves - to turn ourselves around, to repent and right the wrongs. Jesus said much the same - and Jesus said that it call comes down to loving your neighbour as much or more as you love yourself. Jesus says forgive seventy times seven - does he literally means seventy times seven, or 490 times? Colossal math? Let’s not forget that seven is a sacred number - seven days of the week, seven colours in the rainbow, seven branches in a menorah, seven gifts of the Spirit, seven sins, seven branches in a Menorah.
No, Jesus doesn’t literally mean 490 times, so throw away the calculator - this is celestial math, not human math. We can’t work on the theory that God will forgive us, but we don’t have to forgive other people. - that’s the core of Rosh Hashanah, - the days of self examination and repentance; the Days of Awe which end in the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. This is serious business - ten days of reflection, self-examination, and atonement for wrongs done.
The great author W.H. Auden said that Christianity is a way, not a state of being. Faith is not something you just have - it’s something you have to work at, continually. You can’t just ‘be’ a Christian. I believe this is what Jesus was trying to get across. Unfortunately I also think for most of us who claim Christianity, - and possibly even for our Jewish friends - it’s a mind-boggling idea, and not one which we can comprehend easily. What does it mean to forgive? Do we forgive because it’s the “right” thing to do? Does forgiveness mean becoming a doormat, or being weak? How many people refuse to speak to others in families, or friends or colleagues - because of hurts long ago perpetrated - hurts sometimes real, but often imagined as well? In both our traditions, forgiveness is something we have to work at.
To be a Christian means baptism into a way of life which includes forgiveness. To be a disciple means to act as we believe Jesus would act - and that means constantly working at new beginnings. We may be dragging emotional baggage which prevents us from moving forward. If something becomes an obstacle to following Jesus, then it holds us back in our spiritual development. The question is, are we followers of Jesus, of the God who knows us intimately from the inside out? Can we take the time to examine ourselves and our actions - to come to the table with honey, apples, raisin cakes - for the beginning of a sweet New Year in which we can lift our heads up, turn ourselves around Because with Christ it is all or nothing, no half and half discipleship will do.
In this Creation Time, and this time of new beginnings - we have to start with ourselves and who we are, in God’s creation. Nothing can improve, nothing can change without a change of heart from within - we are followers of Jesus - who delivered a strong and clear message about how people were to live and treat each other - and it finds its roots in the Psalm, that God has searched us and known us even before we were born - a God who is with us in all times, ready to forgive. We are called to live that out, and by our actions as followers, if we live that out the changes for peace and the restoring of creation will also come. But it starts with each of us as an individual. May it be so.
Sources:
1. “With Christ it is All or Nothing”. A sermon based on Deut. 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33, by Pastor Philip Van Dam, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
2. “To Forgive”, a sermon based on Exodus 14:19-31, Matthew 18:21-25, by Rev. Fran Ota
Saturday, August 17, 2013
“Warnings and Encouragements” Luke 12:49-56 Humber United Church August 18, 2013
“I have come to set fire to the earth! And how I wish it were already blazing! I have an immersion to undergo - how pressured I feel till it’s over! Do you think that I have come to bring peace in the Land? Not peace, I tell you, but division! For from now on, a household of five will be divided, three against two, two against three.
Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother- in-law.”
Then to the crowds Yeshua said, “When you see a cloud-bank rising in the west, at once you say that a rainstorm is coming; and when the wind is from the south, you say there will be a heat wave, and there is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky - how is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? Complete Jewish Bible)
************************************************************************
Wow! Did Jesus really say these words? Did he actually say: "Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” I have to say when I read through this passage, my immediate response was “I don’t want to try preaching this!” It really doesn’t fit with the picture we have of Jesus, or his mission, does it? We have it in our heads that this man was always about non-violent resistance, peace, care. What on earth is this?
This is the real drawback to picking short texts out of longer pieces - we get a little tiny piece, that really doesn’t make sense unless it’s put into the whole of the context.
Luke’s twelfth chapter might be called “Warnings and Encouragements”. Like the “Blessings and Woes” of the beatitudes, it’s a traditional way of teaching.
So we have to look at the twelfth chapter. Jesus starts his teaching by a few words of warning against the Pharisees. Then he tells the story about the Rich Fool, and follows that with the famous "Don’t worry" speech. Then he follows that with the story of the watchful servants who keep the lamps burning, waiting for the master to return. Jesus follows this with elaboration on what it means to be good stewards. Then we have today's lectionary passage where Jesus insists that he came to bring division, not peace, but he ends the discourse by specifically providingan encouragement to interpret the signs of the times. He says they can tell what the weather will be by looking at the sky, or the direction of the wind, and asks “Why can’t you open your eyes to what's going on around you - the injustice and hypocrisy.”
In Verse 41, Peter asks "Lord, are you telling this parable only to us, or to everyone?" Although Jesus never really answers the question, Luke infers that Jesus was indeed addressing the first part to the disciples, but addressing the second part of his discourse with the words: "He also said to the crowds..."
Look at the first part - this probably rang very true to the disciples - who were asked to leave everything behind and make a decision that would put them at odds with their families, and the religious and government authorities. It would put them into the "rebel camp."
This message about Jesus bringing division became true for the disciples in other ways; most all of them became martyrs for their faith. The world was not quite ready for Christianity until the conversion of Constantine and the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD.
One of my student colleagues when I was studying for the DMin degree, was a Jewish man who had converted to Christianity, and then was ordained an Anglican priest. His parents, who were fairly conservative Jews, had a funeral for him - essentially he was dead to the family. Yet Warren’s parents somehow came around, when his sister married a Scottish Presbyterian. I remember him describing the pain the family and how he was shunned for a long time. I did the wedding, because he felt doing it himself would refresh the pain.
Think about those ministers of the Gospel who have exercised and do exercise radical discipleship. Those who stood with Martin Luther King, for the ordination of women, for the ordination of gays, those who standing for equal rights for all. Injustice and maltreatment of people is still rampant all around us - in the work place, in schools, shopping centres; look at the Olympics in Russia - but people are speaking out; there is a growing movement to take the Olympics out of Sochi, and move them to Vancouver. A couple of weeks ago I spoke about the Danes and the Norwegians resisting Hitler; the church leaders who resisted and fought against apartheid. Think also of those people like Gandhi - who are not Christian, and who yet stand for the kind of peace and equality of Jesus. Isn’t that
German pastor/theologian Martin Niemoeller who survived Dachau and Sachsenhausen, is accredited with this poem.
First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.
Jesus’ message is in fact, not about dividing families so much as letting the people around us know that the kind of peace we advocate is peace for all, not peace at the expense of others. Jesus tells us today to become radical disciples. Let us no longer just listen and observe, but rather interpret the signs of the times and act, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Sources:
1. Peace-But Not At Any Price! a sermon based on Luke 12:49-56 by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Saturday, August 10, 2013
God Hates Our Worship????? a sermon based on Isaiah 1:10-20 Humber United Church August 11, 2013
Isaiah 1:10-20 (based on "The Message")
“Listen to me, you leaders schooled as if in Sodom!!! Receive God’s revelation, you people schooled as if in Gomorrah!!
“Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” God asks. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that - all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
“Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your covert evil doings, so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
“Come. Sit down, and let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message, says Isaiah: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re crimson red, they’ll be like wool. If you’ll willingly follow, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. God says so.
************************************************************
Woooo. Ouchie! Get the sense that God is just a tad ticked off? Hotter than Death Valley in the middle of July? Who can read these words, without getting reduced to ashes? God is the Sovereign Mad Hatter who shoots at us with firebrands of finger-pointing and indictments. And sitting squarely in the bull’s eye of God’s displeasure, it seems, is our most treasured sacred cow, the one which garners more comments and complaints from congregations than just about anything else. And here is God, attacking the time-honored practice of worship altogether.
You can almost see the smoke and flames, hear the thunder. All of the promises and the covenant have been disregarded. Yet when the people come to worship they offer sacrifice of animals, incense, and as God says - insincere prayer. God says “who asked you to do this? I didn’t!” God says that the worship practices of this people are a travesty - charades, smoke and mirrors, talk of religion and faith even while the sins and evil continue.
What is it about worship that’s got God’s dander up? What makes God’s nostrils flare so? Note, that it isn’t the ‘order’ of worship. If that were all, we could just tinker and make a few editorial changes in the bulletin. God isn’t particularly upset by the content - the call to worship and prayers of the people are fine. I don’t think God even gets too upset about the chaos of Passing of the Peace. Nor do I think God is really worried about whether our responses are Taize, or verses from old hymns.
What has God incensed is that worship lasted only an hour on the Sabbath; there were people consulting their portable sundials and signaling the priest from the rear, if worship went overtime. People didn’t want to spend any more time than they had to in the temple - there were other things to do. Worship was fine, but don’t take any more time than necessary to get through the rituals. Fire up the altar, light the incense, pray hard - and get it all into an hour.
God’s original intent was that worship would be a 24/7 expression of faith. For too many Israelites in Isaiah’s day, worship was an intentional, carefully enacted-performance. The rest of the week they went back to live the way they wanted with no reference to God, and certainly no interference from God.
Hypocrisy is the sin here - singing one thing and doing another. Offering prayers but never being part of an answer to prayer. Preaching against the enemy on Sunday, and making lucrative deals with the enemy on Monday. God says to these worshipers, "cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
The great Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard, says that worship minus direct impact on our neighborhoods = silly geese. Here’s a paraphrase of his story. There was a barnyard full of a gaggle of geese. Each Sunday they gathered to hear wonderful words about creation, God’s plan, and extol the glorious destiny of geese. "We were meant to become air-borne on the winds and to soar in the heavens," the leader of the flock would tell them. At the mere mention of heaven the ganders would cackle and the rest would curtsey. After the meeting they would waddle home. But that’s as far as they ever got. They grew fat and plump and at Christmas they became Christmas dinner - that’s as far as they ever got. Behind the story of tubular necks and webbed feet, Kierkegaard saw weak worship that had its “performance” of religion once a week, but failed to impact the neighborhoods in practical ways.
There is a television drama called “Hitler: The Rise of Evil”. One of Hitler’s arguments in the early years was that people were indifferent, didn’t care about their country. He was able to play on emotions and fan the flames of racism and hatred, yet few in Germany stood up to him. The church was conspicuously absent in opposing him, with the sole exception of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Indifference, and fear, prevented those who might have stopped him.
Since we are hearing Kierkegaard, let’s take a look at Denmark during the war. Denmark had an uneasy kind of agreement with Hitler, and yet was able to refuse to allow his excesses. By far the greatest success in Danish policy toward Germany was the protection of the Jewish minority. Throughout the years of its hold on power, the government consistently refused to accept German demands regarding the Jews. They would not enact special laws concerning Jews, and their civil rights remained equal with those of the rest of the population. German authorities became increasingly exasperated with this position but concluded that any attempt to remove or mistreat Jews would be "politically unacceptable."
Of particular note was the Norwegian resistance to Hitler following Hitler’s ultimatum. King Haakon reported the ultimatum to his cabinet, mindful that although he could not make the decision himself, he could use his moral authority to influence it. He told the Cabinet:
“ I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear. For my part I cannot accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.”
Nor, he said, could he appoint any government headed by the man namedQuisling because he knew neither the people nor the government had confidence in him. However, if the Cabinet felt otherwise, he himself would abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the Government's decision.
Nils Hjelmtveit, Minister of Church and Education, later wrote: "This made a great impression on us all. More clearly than ever before we could see the man behind the words; the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task, a line from which he could not deviate. We had through the five years [in government] learned to respect and appreciate our king and now, through his words, he came to us as a great man, just and forceful; a leader in these fatal times to our country".
Inspired, the Government unanimously advised the King not to appoint any government headed by Quisling, and telephoned its refusal to Bräuer. That night the government's refusal was also broadcast to the Norwegian people. The government announced that they would resist the German attack as long as possible, and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause.
Here’s another story - from the American Civil Rights movement:
"I walked down the sidewalk on my way to seminary and I could see the blood still on the bushes where one kid got shot. So I went to church that Sunday needing to, hoping to, hear a word from God. I needed to hear the gospel help me to make sense of the bloodshed and hatred. Instead, I sat through the entire liturgy of the worship and not one word was said about the tragedy that had rocked Chicago during the past week. It was as if nothing had happened; as if God had nothing to say about the tragic week I had lived through."
Today, in North America, we are seeing a rise of precisely the kind of thing these stories describes. More and more political leaders are pushing back the rights of women, and legislating that if a woman miscarries without a doctor present, she has to turn herself in to the police. People are arrested for peaceful demonstrations which involve singing and handing out flowers. We are seeing a rise in a police culture that shoots first - or tasers first as the case may be - and has no skill in dealing with mentally ill, confused, or just lost people. Republican leaders have stated they would rather ruin the whole of America than allow medical care for everyone. In Canada we have leaders who are concerned only with big corporations and big profits. Ordinary people don’t count any more, and any contrary opinion is seen as “terrorist”. Is it really so far from now, to a return to oppressive and repressive regimes which do not tolerate contrary opinions, who have government “hate” lists? And yet they present themselves a religious Bible-believing people who follow the example of Jesus.
And Jesus comes into the temple in Jerusalem, all those hundreds of years later, and sees that nothing has changed since Isaiah’s words? Jesus throwing animals out, turning over tables, money on the ground, claiming that worship has become an excuse to take advantage of people. It’s not accidental, this story about Jesus. There is a clear parallel.
Yet God does not write this ancient worshiping community off as a hopeless case. God does not splutter like an exploding volcano ready to burn a sinning world away in wrath. Nor does God sit dispassionate and aloof, no longer caring about the people who perform "worship charades" on Sunday. God says “Come on, then, let’s argue this out.” and God holds out hope. "If you become dead serious," God says, "then I’ll transform you just like colors can be transformed from red to white or white to black."
God says stop doing wrong, learn to do right, defend the oppressed. Worship is meant to strengthen and prepare us so that who and what we are has a positive impact in our neighbourhoods. It means that when someone speaks hatred against Moslems, we are willing to speak back. It means when someone is treated poorly because of their colour, faith, economic status, we speak back. True worship doesn’t begin when we walk *in* the door of the church, and it doesn’t end when we walk *out*. True worship *begins* when we walk out the door, and come into contact with the world, with all of its failings. True worship has no end, and isn’t confined to a time or a place. Particularly in these times, when phobias and fear of those who believe differently provokes legislated, and unlegislated injustices, we who are Christians must exercise our worship in a way which counteracts those injustices, and holds them up to the light. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Telling the Truth about Worship a sermon based on Isaiah 1:1; 10-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Denmark
“Listen to me, you leaders schooled as if in Sodom!!! Receive God’s revelation, you people schooled as if in Gomorrah!!
“Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” God asks. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that - all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
“Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your covert evil doings, so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
“Come. Sit down, and let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message, says Isaiah: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re crimson red, they’ll be like wool. If you’ll willingly follow, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. God says so.
************************************************************
Woooo. Ouchie! Get the sense that God is just a tad ticked off? Hotter than Death Valley in the middle of July? Who can read these words, without getting reduced to ashes? God is the Sovereign Mad Hatter who shoots at us with firebrands of finger-pointing and indictments. And sitting squarely in the bull’s eye of God’s displeasure, it seems, is our most treasured sacred cow, the one which garners more comments and complaints from congregations than just about anything else. And here is God, attacking the time-honored practice of worship altogether.
You can almost see the smoke and flames, hear the thunder. All of the promises and the covenant have been disregarded. Yet when the people come to worship they offer sacrifice of animals, incense, and as God says - insincere prayer. God says “who asked you to do this? I didn’t!” God says that the worship practices of this people are a travesty - charades, smoke and mirrors, talk of religion and faith even while the sins and evil continue.
What is it about worship that’s got God’s dander up? What makes God’s nostrils flare so? Note, that it isn’t the ‘order’ of worship. If that were all, we could just tinker and make a few editorial changes in the bulletin. God isn’t particularly upset by the content - the call to worship and prayers of the people are fine. I don’t think God even gets too upset about the chaos of Passing of the Peace. Nor do I think God is really worried about whether our responses are Taize, or verses from old hymns.
What has God incensed is that worship lasted only an hour on the Sabbath; there were people consulting their portable sundials and signaling the priest from the rear, if worship went overtime. People didn’t want to spend any more time than they had to in the temple - there were other things to do. Worship was fine, but don’t take any more time than necessary to get through the rituals. Fire up the altar, light the incense, pray hard - and get it all into an hour.
God’s original intent was that worship would be a 24/7 expression of faith. For too many Israelites in Isaiah’s day, worship was an intentional, carefully enacted-performance. The rest of the week they went back to live the way they wanted with no reference to God, and certainly no interference from God.
Hypocrisy is the sin here - singing one thing and doing another. Offering prayers but never being part of an answer to prayer. Preaching against the enemy on Sunday, and making lucrative deals with the enemy on Monday. God says to these worshipers, "cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
The great Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard, says that worship minus direct impact on our neighborhoods = silly geese. Here’s a paraphrase of his story. There was a barnyard full of a gaggle of geese. Each Sunday they gathered to hear wonderful words about creation, God’s plan, and extol the glorious destiny of geese. "We were meant to become air-borne on the winds and to soar in the heavens," the leader of the flock would tell them. At the mere mention of heaven the ganders would cackle and the rest would curtsey. After the meeting they would waddle home. But that’s as far as they ever got. They grew fat and plump and at Christmas they became Christmas dinner - that’s as far as they ever got. Behind the story of tubular necks and webbed feet, Kierkegaard saw weak worship that had its “performance” of religion once a week, but failed to impact the neighborhoods in practical ways.
There is a television drama called “Hitler: The Rise of Evil”. One of Hitler’s arguments in the early years was that people were indifferent, didn’t care about their country. He was able to play on emotions and fan the flames of racism and hatred, yet few in Germany stood up to him. The church was conspicuously absent in opposing him, with the sole exception of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Indifference, and fear, prevented those who might have stopped him.
Since we are hearing Kierkegaard, let’s take a look at Denmark during the war. Denmark had an uneasy kind of agreement with Hitler, and yet was able to refuse to allow his excesses. By far the greatest success in Danish policy toward Germany was the protection of the Jewish minority. Throughout the years of its hold on power, the government consistently refused to accept German demands regarding the Jews. They would not enact special laws concerning Jews, and their civil rights remained equal with those of the rest of the population. German authorities became increasingly exasperated with this position but concluded that any attempt to remove or mistreat Jews would be "politically unacceptable."
Of particular note was the Norwegian resistance to Hitler following Hitler’s ultimatum. King Haakon reported the ultimatum to his cabinet, mindful that although he could not make the decision himself, he could use his moral authority to influence it. He told the Cabinet:
“ I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear. For my part I cannot accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.”
Nor, he said, could he appoint any government headed by the man namedQuisling because he knew neither the people nor the government had confidence in him. However, if the Cabinet felt otherwise, he himself would abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the Government's decision.
Nils Hjelmtveit, Minister of Church and Education, later wrote: "This made a great impression on us all. More clearly than ever before we could see the man behind the words; the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task, a line from which he could not deviate. We had through the five years [in government] learned to respect and appreciate our king and now, through his words, he came to us as a great man, just and forceful; a leader in these fatal times to our country".
Inspired, the Government unanimously advised the King not to appoint any government headed by Quisling, and telephoned its refusal to Bräuer. That night the government's refusal was also broadcast to the Norwegian people. The government announced that they would resist the German attack as long as possible, and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause.
Here’s another story - from the American Civil Rights movement:
"I walked down the sidewalk on my way to seminary and I could see the blood still on the bushes where one kid got shot. So I went to church that Sunday needing to, hoping to, hear a word from God. I needed to hear the gospel help me to make sense of the bloodshed and hatred. Instead, I sat through the entire liturgy of the worship and not one word was said about the tragedy that had rocked Chicago during the past week. It was as if nothing had happened; as if God had nothing to say about the tragic week I had lived through."
Today, in North America, we are seeing a rise of precisely the kind of thing these stories describes. More and more political leaders are pushing back the rights of women, and legislating that if a woman miscarries without a doctor present, she has to turn herself in to the police. People are arrested for peaceful demonstrations which involve singing and handing out flowers. We are seeing a rise in a police culture that shoots first - or tasers first as the case may be - and has no skill in dealing with mentally ill, confused, or just lost people. Republican leaders have stated they would rather ruin the whole of America than allow medical care for everyone. In Canada we have leaders who are concerned only with big corporations and big profits. Ordinary people don’t count any more, and any contrary opinion is seen as “terrorist”. Is it really so far from now, to a return to oppressive and repressive regimes which do not tolerate contrary opinions, who have government “hate” lists? And yet they present themselves a religious Bible-believing people who follow the example of Jesus.
And Jesus comes into the temple in Jerusalem, all those hundreds of years later, and sees that nothing has changed since Isaiah’s words? Jesus throwing animals out, turning over tables, money on the ground, claiming that worship has become an excuse to take advantage of people. It’s not accidental, this story about Jesus. There is a clear parallel.
Yet God does not write this ancient worshiping community off as a hopeless case. God does not splutter like an exploding volcano ready to burn a sinning world away in wrath. Nor does God sit dispassionate and aloof, no longer caring about the people who perform "worship charades" on Sunday. God says “Come on, then, let’s argue this out.” and God holds out hope. "If you become dead serious," God says, "then I’ll transform you just like colors can be transformed from red to white or white to black."
God says stop doing wrong, learn to do right, defend the oppressed. Worship is meant to strengthen and prepare us so that who and what we are has a positive impact in our neighbourhoods. It means that when someone speaks hatred against Moslems, we are willing to speak back. It means when someone is treated poorly because of their colour, faith, economic status, we speak back. True worship doesn’t begin when we walk *in* the door of the church, and it doesn’t end when we walk *out*. True worship *begins* when we walk out the door, and come into contact with the world, with all of its failings. True worship has no end, and isn’t confined to a time or a place. Particularly in these times, when phobias and fear of those who believe differently provokes legislated, and unlegislated injustices, we who are Christians must exercise our worship in a way which counteracts those injustices, and holds them up to the light. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Telling the Truth about Worship a sermon based on Isaiah 1:1; 10-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Denmark
Saturday, August 3, 2013
“Living in the Present” a sermon based on Luke 12:12-23 Humber United Church August 4, 2013
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Jesus said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” He said to the crowd, “Take care! Be alert to all kinds of greed; one’s life is not abundant possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land produced abundantly. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods. I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. The things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store treasure for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
*****************************************************************
This past week, I was invited to a friend’s house for an afternoon by the pool. It’s a beautiful setting, garden and trees all around, sheltered so the neighbours can’t really see; the trees go right down the back to the bay. There’s a couple of chipmunks living under one of the trees, and they zip up and down, and don’t seem too afraid. The pool is a warm 85 degrees - and it’s a slice of heaven to sit out there with a nice glass of something in hand, soak up sunshine and just be.
On first read, it feels a bit like today’s Gospel addresses life and leisure. Yet a closer look seems to be sifting what’s important and what’s extraneous. Time is short. Jesus isn’t exactly specific, but still clear-headed enough about what will happen in Jerusalem. So with his own death before him, Jesus preaches his often-heard "No Fear" sermon one last time.
"Stand up to authorities, don’t cower!" he says, "they can kill your body-but that’s all they can do; you're much more than a body. Remember, it’s God who holds your entire life - body, soul, and spirit. How much are a couple of parakeets? Pocket change, right? God doesn't overlook a single one. God pays even greater attention to you, down to the last hair on your head. Stand strong for me among people you meet, and when they drag you into police interrogations, I'll give you the right words to say. "No Fear!"
As he begins to move into his second point, a listener breaks up the meeting with an off the wall remark: "Hey, Jesus, would you please tell my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." So much for the sermon, we might think. The interruption is embarrassing. The guy’s one concern has even shut out Jesus' words. Jesus snaps back: "Mister, who do you think I am? Some judge that God has personally assigned to you? Take care, my friend, about greed; there's more to life than getting things. "
Jesus, being Jesus, tells a story about a landowner who has a bumper crop. If there is a problem its a good one, right? Jesus says that this man demolishes his existing buildings to make room for the surplus So now he needs an adequate facility to expand the business. So far, we're exactly in line with this fellow, right? We rebuild our churches, or add air conditioning or something, 've torn our barns down in order to build bigger ones. Jesus allows us to hear this guy as he talks to himself; a sort of brain to wallet to soul meeting.
Wait a minute - just live off the interest? Kick back and do whatever we want whenever we want? “Fool” says God. "Tonight your very soul will be required of you, and then who'll get your stuff, because you certainly won't."
Is this a story about greed? Or is it a story about priorities, about figuring out what we really need and what we don’t. Remember the Lord’s Prayer says “Give us the bread we need for today.” Yet here’s a wealthy man who builds even bigger to store up amassed goods. Could he maybe not do something else with the extra food ?
Talking about amassing goods. Through part of July I’ve been packing up for Toronto. A lot of what came here was amassed goods - stuff which we picked up over the years, stuff we had when the kids lived at home - and as I looked at it - a lot of it was stuff we don’t need back there. Lots went out to the Salvation Army and other places - and yet, there’s still a lot. I looked at things I bought here, and decided they don’t all need to go. What do we really need? Who knows what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year? And what will happen to all the stuff?
When I returned to Japan in February, together Norio and I spent a good four days just cleaning up things. There were things that had not been used in many years, but were still there anyway. Nine bags of very old used clothes went out; there are still six bags of good used clothes which will go to Fukushima, for families who lost everything in the tsunami. I wondered, though - what was mother thinking, holding on to all that? And I know the answer - life through the war was a struggle, and they barely had enough to eat, let alone enough to wear. Both Norio’s mother and father went to work in post-war Japan in order to survive. So the amassing of things was also a symbol of having lived through hard times. We don’t have that kind of reason - not really.
Christians believe we go on to another life after death; the early Jews believed in reincarnation, which gradually was suppressed and became resurrection; Buddhists and other faiths believe in reincarnation - the soul has a choice to come back here and work to enlighten other beings, or, to go on to the next life. Yet all we have in this fragile human form is the present.
I read a statement years ago which went “I believe in life after death, but I believe I should live my life as if there isn’t one.” The philosopher who wrote this was making a point - it’s the belief in life after death which allows us to behave badly, confident that God forgives everything in the end so it really doesn’t matter what we do here. We can be greedy, amass piles of possessions, treat people poorly - and get away with it if we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. That, he said, was the reason he preferred to live his life as if there were NO life after death. To him it meant that this life, here and now, is our only shot at making something good of our life and the world we live in.
And in this Gospel Jesus reminds us that life is not given meaning by the things we have or where we live or what car we drive, but in our relationship with God and with each other. The psalm reminds us that only God can give us what we truly need, that God's love is certain.
I don’t know about you, but I really like the new Pope Francis in Rome. I want to read some of the news release from Reuters press, when the Pope was a “no show” at a concert.
“A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honour has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.
Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending. The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realising that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.
The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.
Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments. He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace. The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince".”
Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of Archbishop Oscar Romero, both of them steeped in theology of the people and liberation theology. I think he’s making strong points with his lifestyle. Maybe he is saying that if we live our life here as if this is all there is, we have to get it right on the first try, there is a larger onus on us than if we can get away with relaxing because in the end God forgives us and we have a new life when we leave here.
Jesus isn’t saying don’t have any fun, don’t take moments to eat, and drink and enjoy the company of good friends! That's what summers and families are about. Jesus had fun, laughing and dancing, attending parties - he wasn’t dead serious all the time. But he *is* saying life is about a whole lot more than just that. Jesus is saying we *don’t* know when the end will come, so rather than behaving as if we can relax and store up for the future, we really do need to live into the now in a way that will make us better people, and make the world a better place for everyone to live. May it be so.
Sources:
1. How Much Is Enough? a homily based on Luke 12:13-21 by Rev. Thomas N. Hall
2. Reuters June 24, 2013 Vatican City
*****************************************************************
This past week, I was invited to a friend’s house for an afternoon by the pool. It’s a beautiful setting, garden and trees all around, sheltered so the neighbours can’t really see; the trees go right down the back to the bay. There’s a couple of chipmunks living under one of the trees, and they zip up and down, and don’t seem too afraid. The pool is a warm 85 degrees - and it’s a slice of heaven to sit out there with a nice glass of something in hand, soak up sunshine and just be.
On first read, it feels a bit like today’s Gospel addresses life and leisure. Yet a closer look seems to be sifting what’s important and what’s extraneous. Time is short. Jesus isn’t exactly specific, but still clear-headed enough about what will happen in Jerusalem. So with his own death before him, Jesus preaches his often-heard "No Fear" sermon one last time.
"Stand up to authorities, don’t cower!" he says, "they can kill your body-but that’s all they can do; you're much more than a body. Remember, it’s God who holds your entire life - body, soul, and spirit. How much are a couple of parakeets? Pocket change, right? God doesn't overlook a single one. God pays even greater attention to you, down to the last hair on your head. Stand strong for me among people you meet, and when they drag you into police interrogations, I'll give you the right words to say. "No Fear!"
As he begins to move into his second point, a listener breaks up the meeting with an off the wall remark: "Hey, Jesus, would you please tell my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." So much for the sermon, we might think. The interruption is embarrassing. The guy’s one concern has even shut out Jesus' words. Jesus snaps back: "Mister, who do you think I am? Some judge that God has personally assigned to you? Take care, my friend, about greed; there's more to life than getting things. "
Jesus, being Jesus, tells a story about a landowner who has a bumper crop. If there is a problem its a good one, right? Jesus says that this man demolishes his existing buildings to make room for the surplus So now he needs an adequate facility to expand the business. So far, we're exactly in line with this fellow, right? We rebuild our churches, or add air conditioning or something, 've torn our barns down in order to build bigger ones. Jesus allows us to hear this guy as he talks to himself; a sort of brain to wallet to soul meeting.
Wait a minute - just live off the interest? Kick back and do whatever we want whenever we want? “Fool” says God. "Tonight your very soul will be required of you, and then who'll get your stuff, because you certainly won't."
Is this a story about greed? Or is it a story about priorities, about figuring out what we really need and what we don’t. Remember the Lord’s Prayer says “Give us the bread we need for today.” Yet here’s a wealthy man who builds even bigger to store up amassed goods. Could he maybe not do something else with the extra food ?
Talking about amassing goods. Through part of July I’ve been packing up for Toronto. A lot of what came here was amassed goods - stuff which we picked up over the years, stuff we had when the kids lived at home - and as I looked at it - a lot of it was stuff we don’t need back there. Lots went out to the Salvation Army and other places - and yet, there’s still a lot. I looked at things I bought here, and decided they don’t all need to go. What do we really need? Who knows what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year? And what will happen to all the stuff?
When I returned to Japan in February, together Norio and I spent a good four days just cleaning up things. There were things that had not been used in many years, but were still there anyway. Nine bags of very old used clothes went out; there are still six bags of good used clothes which will go to Fukushima, for families who lost everything in the tsunami. I wondered, though - what was mother thinking, holding on to all that? And I know the answer - life through the war was a struggle, and they barely had enough to eat, let alone enough to wear. Both Norio’s mother and father went to work in post-war Japan in order to survive. So the amassing of things was also a symbol of having lived through hard times. We don’t have that kind of reason - not really.
Christians believe we go on to another life after death; the early Jews believed in reincarnation, which gradually was suppressed and became resurrection; Buddhists and other faiths believe in reincarnation - the soul has a choice to come back here and work to enlighten other beings, or, to go on to the next life. Yet all we have in this fragile human form is the present.
I read a statement years ago which went “I believe in life after death, but I believe I should live my life as if there isn’t one.” The philosopher who wrote this was making a point - it’s the belief in life after death which allows us to behave badly, confident that God forgives everything in the end so it really doesn’t matter what we do here. We can be greedy, amass piles of possessions, treat people poorly - and get away with it if we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. That, he said, was the reason he preferred to live his life as if there were NO life after death. To him it meant that this life, here and now, is our only shot at making something good of our life and the world we live in.
And in this Gospel Jesus reminds us that life is not given meaning by the things we have or where we live or what car we drive, but in our relationship with God and with each other. The psalm reminds us that only God can give us what we truly need, that God's love is certain.
I don’t know about you, but I really like the new Pope Francis in Rome. I want to read some of the news release from Reuters press, when the Pope was a “no show” at a concert.
“A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honour has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.
Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending. The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realising that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.
The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.
Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments. He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace. The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince".”
Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of Archbishop Oscar Romero, both of them steeped in theology of the people and liberation theology. I think he’s making strong points with his lifestyle. Maybe he is saying that if we live our life here as if this is all there is, we have to get it right on the first try, there is a larger onus on us than if we can get away with relaxing because in the end God forgives us and we have a new life when we leave here.
Jesus isn’t saying don’t have any fun, don’t take moments to eat, and drink and enjoy the company of good friends! That's what summers and families are about. Jesus had fun, laughing and dancing, attending parties - he wasn’t dead serious all the time. But he *is* saying life is about a whole lot more than just that. Jesus is saying we *don’t* know when the end will come, so rather than behaving as if we can relax and store up for the future, we really do need to live into the now in a way that will make us better people, and make the world a better place for everyone to live. May it be so.
Sources:
1. How Much Is Enough? a homily based on Luke 12:13-21 by Rev. Thomas N. Hall
2. Reuters June 24, 2013 Vatican City
Saturday, July 27, 2013
"A Marriage Made in Heaven" a monologue based on Hosea 1:2-10 July 28, 2013 Humber United Church
When God first spoke through Hosea, Hosea’s instructions were, “Go, take for yourself a wife of unfaithfulness, and have children of unfaithfulness, for the land commits great unfaithfulness by prostituting itself to other Gods, and forsaking the one God.” So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she gave birth to a baby boy..
God said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. Then God said, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.”
When Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and had a son. Then God said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.”
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
*****************************************************************************
You should have seen the babies! Just so beautiful, each one of them. Black curly hair, dark raisin eyes, dimpled cheeks, a sparkle in their eyes, and light in their laughter. Each baby had a different laugh. We had three children. Each time I carried the baby well...and easy births, all three. The mid-wives used to say I was just made for having babies, that it was too bad I only had three, that with the number of babies around dying, we could have had a family as big as Abraham's"
My name? I am Gomer. My name means “complete”, or “enough”. I have no idea what my father was thinking when he named me, maybe he figured I was enough. Apparently I cried a lot. Let me tell you I was pretty upset with the names Hosea chose for our children. What was *he* thinking? Jezreel for our first born son, Lo-ruhamah for our only daughter, and Lo-ammi for our lastborn son.
The names won’t mean anything to you, but they mean a lot to my people, the Israelite people. It’s a mystery to me what was going on in Hosea’s head; he got this religion thing, and kept on telling me that God had even told him who to marry. Well, the others couldn't believe it that day when Hosea walked into the temple of Baal, took one look at me, and said "That's her!" "That's the one!" At first it was misunderstood; everyone just thought the woman he wanted was me, as if he were a petitioner to Baal, and I was to fulfill my role as a cultic prostitute. Then he said he wanted to marry me!
“Yeah, right” I thought, “A donation to the temple in exchange for my services, and then he won’t be around again.” So I started to prepare the incense, and prepare my body for the work of Baal. But Hosea said he meant it, that I would belong to him...be his woman...have his children, that I didn’t have to work as a cult priestess in the temple of Baal any more. I could have a regular tent for sleeping, cook over my own fire in my own place, and I would belong to his people.
Now I'll tell you what the names meant. Jezreel, the first one; his name is *really* about sowing seed, in the ordinary sense of planting seed in the field..... but not in those days. In fact it was a really big threat. It has to do with how the Omrites got overcome in the valley of Jezreel, and how God meant that to be a message for the people of Israel. You should have seen how mean the kids were to Jezreel. He came home many a time beaten up because of his name.
Then the second one, our daughter. I begged for a nice plain name like Sarah, but he insisted. This one was called Lo-ruhamah. In our language it means "Unloved". I just didn't get it. How could we raise a daughter named “Unloved”? But Hosea explained that God meant to love the people of Israel no longer. The people of Judah would be favoured, but not our people. Why? I asked, what have they done?
Hosea replied that they had spent too much time going after other idols......they couldn't take a commitment to God through thick and thin. So Hosea named our daughter "No more love".
Then the third child came - another boy. Would you believe it? This name topped it all off. His name is Lo-ammi. It meant our people were gone, out of the sight of God. Cut off. Finished. In my language his name meant "You are not my people, and I am not your God".
But without God, we were a people in darkness. Hosea told me that it was all about his people and how they'd been unfaithful to God, how they'd take wool and flax, bread and water, and even raisin cakes, down to the idols. How they forgot who is the Creator of the Universe when it comes to our daily bread. How they danced and pranced before the idols and gave their silver and gold...just as if Baal and the other idols were God.
Well, people started to talk, and it got bad. They talked about my children, now orphans they called them, that they were no better off than the children of Israel, since they'd gone running after idols and forgetting their faith. My children were OK but the talk was awful. I left Hosea, taking the children with me; I couldn’t take the laughing and the jeering any more, but Hosea came after me again.
In our culture, there’s a punishment for leaving a husband, even if it’s going back into the temple to work; a woman could be put out in the desert with no cover, no food or water, just left to die. I had made it to the city again. That's where he found me. I was trying to make some money to look after the children - and he came looking for me again. He put out more money than I had seen at one time; fifteen silver shekels...and a bushel and a half of barley. That's the price of freeing one slave. I was bought back. It was like he was courting me all over again. There was tender talk, fresh dates and figs to eat, flowers and gifts. There was no talk of the past. He treated me as if I was going to be his new wife, and start all over again. I wasn't sure at first. Was this just more of the same? Was I going to be treated just like another example? Yes, and No, said Hosea.."You'd better explain" I said.
So he did explain. The tender love he was giving me was just like the tender love that God has for God's people....just so long as they don't go off worshiping idols. In some ways, because of my former work in the temple, and leaving Hosea to go back there - I was sort of symbolic of the people of Israel who were unfaithful to the covenant. That’s what he said it was, the covenant God made with the people. The tender love he had for me was something he just enjoyed doing. He wanted me back as his own faithful wife. Well...he kept on loving me, and this time I stayed. I settled in to the family and started learning about his people. His people became my people.
Jezreel kept his name, but the land became good again, so Jezreel’s name was about the goodness that God sows in our hearts even when we stray. Lo-ruhamah..the one called "unloved"...became known as "the loved one". She's a beautiful girl....just about to have a child of her own. As for Lo-ammi..."no people of mine"...his is the best! "You are my people" says God. And Lo-ammi says "You are my God". And all comes right for us; but we have to watch the people, says my Hosea. They do like to go off on their own ways so easily. It’s easier to run away from God than uphold our part of the covenant.
Some day, I told Hosea, some day there's going to be a great teacher in Israel - someone who embodies that covenant so well. Someone so great, that he'll teach them of the great tender love of our God. But he may have to die to prove it.
God said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. Then God said, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.”
When Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and had a son. Then God said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.”
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
*****************************************************************************
You should have seen the babies! Just so beautiful, each one of them. Black curly hair, dark raisin eyes, dimpled cheeks, a sparkle in their eyes, and light in their laughter. Each baby had a different laugh. We had three children. Each time I carried the baby well...and easy births, all three. The mid-wives used to say I was just made for having babies, that it was too bad I only had three, that with the number of babies around dying, we could have had a family as big as Abraham's"
My name? I am Gomer. My name means “complete”, or “enough”. I have no idea what my father was thinking when he named me, maybe he figured I was enough. Apparently I cried a lot. Let me tell you I was pretty upset with the names Hosea chose for our children. What was *he* thinking? Jezreel for our first born son, Lo-ruhamah for our only daughter, and Lo-ammi for our lastborn son.
The names won’t mean anything to you, but they mean a lot to my people, the Israelite people. It’s a mystery to me what was going on in Hosea’s head; he got this religion thing, and kept on telling me that God had even told him who to marry. Well, the others couldn't believe it that day when Hosea walked into the temple of Baal, took one look at me, and said "That's her!" "That's the one!" At first it was misunderstood; everyone just thought the woman he wanted was me, as if he were a petitioner to Baal, and I was to fulfill my role as a cultic prostitute. Then he said he wanted to marry me!
“Yeah, right” I thought, “A donation to the temple in exchange for my services, and then he won’t be around again.” So I started to prepare the incense, and prepare my body for the work of Baal. But Hosea said he meant it, that I would belong to him...be his woman...have his children, that I didn’t have to work as a cult priestess in the temple of Baal any more. I could have a regular tent for sleeping, cook over my own fire in my own place, and I would belong to his people.
Now I'll tell you what the names meant. Jezreel, the first one; his name is *really* about sowing seed, in the ordinary sense of planting seed in the field..... but not in those days. In fact it was a really big threat. It has to do with how the Omrites got overcome in the valley of Jezreel, and how God meant that to be a message for the people of Israel. You should have seen how mean the kids were to Jezreel. He came home many a time beaten up because of his name.
Then the second one, our daughter. I begged for a nice plain name like Sarah, but he insisted. This one was called Lo-ruhamah. In our language it means "Unloved". I just didn't get it. How could we raise a daughter named “Unloved”? But Hosea explained that God meant to love the people of Israel no longer. The people of Judah would be favoured, but not our people. Why? I asked, what have they done?
Hosea replied that they had spent too much time going after other idols......they couldn't take a commitment to God through thick and thin. So Hosea named our daughter "No more love".
Then the third child came - another boy. Would you believe it? This name topped it all off. His name is Lo-ammi. It meant our people were gone, out of the sight of God. Cut off. Finished. In my language his name meant "You are not my people, and I am not your God".
But without God, we were a people in darkness. Hosea told me that it was all about his people and how they'd been unfaithful to God, how they'd take wool and flax, bread and water, and even raisin cakes, down to the idols. How they forgot who is the Creator of the Universe when it comes to our daily bread. How they danced and pranced before the idols and gave their silver and gold...just as if Baal and the other idols were God.
Well, people started to talk, and it got bad. They talked about my children, now orphans they called them, that they were no better off than the children of Israel, since they'd gone running after idols and forgetting their faith. My children were OK but the talk was awful. I left Hosea, taking the children with me; I couldn’t take the laughing and the jeering any more, but Hosea came after me again.
In our culture, there’s a punishment for leaving a husband, even if it’s going back into the temple to work; a woman could be put out in the desert with no cover, no food or water, just left to die. I had made it to the city again. That's where he found me. I was trying to make some money to look after the children - and he came looking for me again. He put out more money than I had seen at one time; fifteen silver shekels...and a bushel and a half of barley. That's the price of freeing one slave. I was bought back. It was like he was courting me all over again. There was tender talk, fresh dates and figs to eat, flowers and gifts. There was no talk of the past. He treated me as if I was going to be his new wife, and start all over again. I wasn't sure at first. Was this just more of the same? Was I going to be treated just like another example? Yes, and No, said Hosea.."You'd better explain" I said.
So he did explain. The tender love he was giving me was just like the tender love that God has for God's people....just so long as they don't go off worshiping idols. In some ways, because of my former work in the temple, and leaving Hosea to go back there - I was sort of symbolic of the people of Israel who were unfaithful to the covenant. That’s what he said it was, the covenant God made with the people. The tender love he had for me was something he just enjoyed doing. He wanted me back as his own faithful wife. Well...he kept on loving me, and this time I stayed. I settled in to the family and started learning about his people. His people became my people.
Jezreel kept his name, but the land became good again, so Jezreel’s name was about the goodness that God sows in our hearts even when we stray. Lo-ruhamah..the one called "unloved"...became known as "the loved one". She's a beautiful girl....just about to have a child of her own. As for Lo-ammi..."no people of mine"...his is the best! "You are my people" says God. And Lo-ammi says "You are my God". And all comes right for us; but we have to watch the people, says my Hosea. They do like to go off on their own ways so easily. It’s easier to run away from God than uphold our part of the covenant.
Some day, I told Hosea, some day there's going to be a great teacher in Israel - someone who embodies that covenant so well. Someone so great, that he'll teach them of the great tender love of our God. But he may have to die to prove it.
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