“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? Don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but God already knows all your needs. Seek the Realm of God above all else, and live righteously, and God will give you everything you need.”
************************************************************************
Here's a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note,
Don't worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double,
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy now.
*Don't worry, be happy.
Ain't got no place to lay your head, somebody came and took your bed,
Don't worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late, he may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy.
*(Look at me -- I'm happy.
Don't worry, be happy.
Here I give you my phone number. When you worry, call me, I make you happy.
Don't worry, be happy.)
Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style, ain't got no gal to make you smile
Don't worry, be happy.
'Cause when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down
Don't worry, be happy.
*Don't worry, don't worry, don't do it. Be happy.
Put a smile on your face. Don't bring everybody down.
Don't worry. It will soon pass, whatever it is.
Don't worry, be happy. I'm not worried, I'm happy...
In 1988, Bobby McFerrin recorded this hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy," which brought him widespread recognition across the world. The success of the song was so great that his whole life was changed. McFerrin is now recognised as one of the most accomplished “a cappella” singers in the world. The song was used in the 1988 U.S. presidential election as George H. W. Bush's official presidential campaign song, without McFerrin's permission or endorsement. Bobby McFerrin publicly protested that particular use of his song, and stated that he was going to vote against Bush; he completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire.
Unfortunately this song has been taken as a kind of “let everything go” mantra, which was never its intent. Bobby McFerrin is a highly trained and skilled musician, who wrote a piece intended to get people to think realistically about life. Look at the very first verse - “in every life we have some trouble, but if you worry you make it double.” or the last verse "When you worry your face will frown, then you bring everybody down."
When Norio and I were living in Viet Nam, we had pretty well decided that after the contract was up, he would find a teaching position overseas and do a Master’s degree at the same time. He was incredibly worried about how he would provide for the future - and I have to say that the Japanese are born worst-case-scenario people - as a culture - anyway. He sent out almost two hundred letters of application for teaching positions - and not one was a positive response. We went back to Japan with a reasonable savings, but nowhere to live. I was pregnant with our third child. We went to stay with his parents, and by the time we returned to Japan, his previous advisor had found him a job teaching South East Asian students to speak Japanese. Over our lifetime, we have begun to realise the truth of both the Scripture and McFerrin’s song: it doesn’t mean don’t plan and don’t think about things - it means there is only so much over which you have control, so learn when to let go. If you spend time agonising over things you can’t do anything about, you make everyone unhappy - or as the song says, you bring everyone down.
To put it another way - there’s a Zen Buddhist saying “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is a choice.” Jesus says “Don’t worry about things saying, What will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear.”
United Methodist minister, Rev. Frank Schaefer, comments “... despite the tremendous achievements of modern civilization we are more worried about our lives than ever before.” Yet think about advances in medical science, or all the security devices we have, and, he says “my personal favorite: checking account overdraft-protection.” Here in Canada, we have our universal health care. Compared to many places in the world, we are wealthy beyond imagining. Yet the late 20th century was called the "age of anxiety" because people in the Western hemisphere tend to worry about our lives and future more than ever before.
Perhaps that's why the song was such a hit. Perhaps Bobby McFerrin echoes Jesus - that the cure for our worries needs to come at a deeper level. Allow me to ask you a personal question. Did you at any time during the last year worry? Did you at some point feel that you may not make it? We all know that life can be a living hell on earth. There are marital problems, problems at the workplace, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, an illness, situations which seem impossible, tremendous struggles.
Jesus looks about and sees a couple of birds in a nearby tree. He says: Don’t worry. Nothing has ever been gained by worrying. Instead, he says "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Look at the beauty of the lilies - they don’t do a thing except grow and bloom, yet even Solomon, in his great temple and with all his riches, had nothing so beautiful."
This is a familiar argument of Jesus - if God provides for even the lesser things like flowers and birds, does God also have our needs in mind? Jesus adds to this three things: don’t worry about material things all the time; attend to the realm of God, working to bring it about in the here and now, God knows what is needed; finally, control of the future is an illusion - regardless of the most careful planning, each day brings something new.
In this Scripture, Jesus taps into human nature, specifically our desire for control and comfort - our desire to be able to have every duck right in its place in the row, to be able to know how the future will turn out, and make it turn out our way. We believe that we make choices out of rational thought, and then when things don’t work our way, we feel overwhelmed and frustrated. This leads to behaviours which are unhealthy and destructive - manipulation, greed, self-medication, and depression - to name a few.
Behind Jesus’ words of “don’t worry” is the question “When is enough, enough?” This is a critical question, because the TV, airwaves and churches are full of people - including clergy - who believe that God wants us all to be incredibly wealthy in terms of money. I think Jesus is saying God wants good for us - God knows what we need - but God also knows when enough is enough. Jesus is not saying there is a greater virtue in being poor , he is saying that there are other things more important than being rich.
On a day when we are settling in for another annual meeting, these are important words. And I put to you that McFerrin’s song reinforces that. The church as we know it today has only been around for a little more than 60 years or so. Up until the 1950's - just after WW II - churches did not have lots of money for large sanctuaries, or Christian Education facilities, or gymnasiums, or whatever. That was a one-time-only phenomenon, a flash in the pan in terms of the history of the Christian church. Yet we have come to think that we have to have everything, including huge numbers of people. And so we worry. How do we put more bums in pews, and more money in the plate? After awhile we forget that maybe - just maybe - God has something in mind for us.
That doesn’t mean don’t worry about building upkeep, or people in church. The big question is - are we more interested in the well-being of people around us, or do we just want them here to pay the bills? It means that as important as our building is, we have to ask what is the mission of this church, in this community? Why are we here, and what is it God wants us to do? We might not get answers - but we still have to ask the questions.
So - don’t worry, be happy - doesn’t mean sit back and wait. It means worry won't make anything better. It means do what you can, and trust that God knows what is needed. I cannot tell you how hard that is for congregations to do - to trust God, to accept that God’s ways are not our ways, and that sometimes the way isn’t clear to our human minds. Jesus tells us to trust, to take each day as it comes and do what we can to serve God. May it be so.
Sources:
1. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, song by Bobby McFerrin, 1988.
2. “Don't Worry--Be Happy!”, a sermon by Rev. Frank Schaefer
3. Essay by Rev Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In “Feasting on the Word”, Year A Volume 4. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Louisville, John Knox Press. 2010.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_McFerrin
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
"Choose Life!" Based on Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Matthew 5:21-37 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Deuteronomy
I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love God, to walk in obedience to God, and to keep the commandments; then you will live and increase, and God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love, listen, and hold fast to God. For God is your life, and will give you many years in the land promised to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
**************************************************************************
Matthew
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ (idiot) is answerable to the court. Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
*************************************************************************
Yesterday as I sat thinking about pulling the different parts of this sermon together, I was watching one of the Harry Potter movies, the “Half-Blood Prince”. At the end of the movie there is a scene where the headmaster of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Dumbledore, is killed. He willingly gives himself, in fact, in order to save a student from becoming a murderer. There above the school, in the sky, is the face of the Dark Lord, gloating over the death. One by one, students and teachers raise their wands, light coming from the tip of each, until the shadows of the Dark Lord are forced to retreat, and the light wins.
At the same time as I was watching this movie, another favourite, called “Whale Rider”, was on television. This is a New Zealand movie, about a Maori village where the old ways are dying, and the village leader cannot break out of traditional ways. The leader is busy training his sons to step in. He has a daughter, but he refuses to see that she might be called into that role. Until one day, she is able to ride a beached whale back into the ocean, and almost loses her life. Maori folklore says that the saviour of the people will be the one who rides the whale. This is a moving story of a village caught between two cultures and two ways of living - and a people dying - until a twelve-year-old girl shows them how to choose to live.
In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses is giving his final speech to the people of Israel. Shortly after he speaks these words, he will die. Moses will not see the land promised by God, but will die before they set foot over the border. He says to the people “ Today I have set before you blessings and curses, life and death. Choose life!
The Israelite people were on the boundary of the Promised Land. God had brought them from slavery in Egypt, led them through the wilderness, provided for them miraculously there, disciplined the unfaithful ones who wanted to return to Egypt, taught the people God’s will and God’s ways, repeated the ancient promise of the new land, and brought them to the boundary.
They are at the boundary. They are leaving the wilderness, and will enter a new land under their new leader, Joshua. They will be tempted by things they cannot anticipate. They are excited that their journey is at an end, but anxious about what it will really be like.
The people are at the boundary. Probably these words come into their final form long after the time of Moses. The people are at yet another boundary. They have been conquered by the Babylonians, their leading citizens taken, no land, no temple. Are they still God’s people? Will they ever go home? Can they trust God? They hear the message again, at this new boundary. The times have changed, but the message does not: “Choose life.”
Perhaps it’s fair to say that God’s people are always at some kind of a boundary and always need to make choices - for life or death.
God’s promises! Even when it seems you must wait and wait, trust that God is with you in your waiting. And even that is a blessing, my people! God is with you, and that is blessing enough. So choose God. Choose life!”
Today I decided to include the reading from Matthew, continuing the sermon on the mount. A colleague, Stew Clarke, suggested looking for Jesus’ sense of humour in this text. If you listen and look closely, and put this piece of writing into its context, you will find the humanness that we all are.
Picture Jesus, on this particular day sitting with the disciples as they begin to expound to one
another about the theology of ‘at least I am better than that guy’. We all do that, don’t we? Well, there they are sitting with their morning cuppa and bread. One nudges another as they see a man in the crowd moving in on a young woman. “Look,” he whispers loud enough to be heard by several, “those two will be grinding corn together before this night is over.” “What a fool she is
if she lets him in.” There are several not so lovely chuckles that ensue. “Doesn’t he already have a wife?” “Yes!” “He’s had several.” “Chucks them aside when they can’t seem to satisfy his appetites.” “Has several brats running about looking like starvelings.” “It is a pity.” “I bet Jesus will bring out the fire and brimstone this morning.”
So Jesus, listening in, decides to give a short lecture - a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth."You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder'; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' I say that if you are angry with a brother or
sister, you will be liable to judgment; if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "Idiot,” “Raka” you will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Can you hear the sound of breath being sucked in? Can you see reddening faces? Then he goes on to the subject of divorce. "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, (in the original Greek, prostitution) causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”
The women hear and understand that Jesus knows their plight. A woman can be stoned to death for such an offence, but a man would not even be held accountable in practice. A man, in Jesus’ time, could have several wives both individually or at the same time. A woman was a piece of property owned by her husband, with no rights. As Jesus speaks of removing a straying eye, the men hear that they need to divorce not wives, but the very straying of their eyes. Even among the disciples maybe there was one. Jesus looks and smiles, knowing that these men too are only human. And so it goes, on this morning. The brimstone bit is tied to both personal accountability and Jesus’ acknowledgement that even his closest followers are human, fallible, and imperfect. He uses the word “judgment” - but not the way we think of it. Usage has changed over time. In the Hebrew, a judge was someone who righted wrongs - not by physical or moral punishment, but by wisdom and love.
It seems to me that Jesus is echoing Moses, pointing out that every single day, choices of death or life are set before us. He isn’t saying that if you divorce, or murder, you’re going to be sent to hell and God will abandon you. He is saying it goes deeper than those things, to the wagging of tongues and making judgments of others instead of reflecting on ourselves. He is pointing out what it means to choose abundant life, and to celebrate that life. He says don’t swear an oath on the throne, or the earth, or your sainted mother, or anything else - he’s saying you have the choice set before you. You have the power to choose, yes or no - choose life.
What about today’s world? The world of relationships, of politics, of daily dilemmas. Why is the rate of divorce, abuse, child prostitution so high? Why are people elected to represent the best interests of their country, and then become dictators? How can we live well, and make choices for life, in the world of today?
There are so many examples which could be listed, but I will take one from today’s world. My colleague Paula Morse writes in her sermon “I look at Egypt and rejoice with them. This is their response to the teaching of Jesus. This predominantly Muslim country has heard the voice of Jesus and responded in a non-violent, spiritual way.” Joining with the minority Christian brothers and sisters, they have brought low the mighty, and begun the process of exalting the lowly. They have made a choice for life.”
The people following Moses were given the choice. Jesus points out to his followers that the law was meant to guide the people into choosing life. The people in the Harry Potter stories had set before them blessings and curses, death and life. Some chose the death of the soul, others chose clearly - without saying a word - life. The Maori people of in the story had a choice of death or life, and were able to see, finally - the choice for life.
We have to remember that God understands far more than we do, and that God wishes always abundant life for us. We have the choices. God will go to almost any lengths to help us make the right choice, but God will not choose for us and make us do something. God has given us brains, hearts, and wills. God has set before us this day, and every day, blessings and curses, death and life. We have to choose.
Sources:
1. “Thanks for Grace” a sermon by Rev. Paula Morse, Barefoot Pastor of Lovell and Deaver in the almost wilds of Wyoming
2. “Choose Life!” a sermon by Rev. Rick Thompson
I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love God, to walk in obedience to God, and to keep the commandments; then you will live and increase, and God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love, listen, and hold fast to God. For God is your life, and will give you many years in the land promised to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
**************************************************************************
Matthew
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ (idiot) is answerable to the court. Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
*************************************************************************
Yesterday as I sat thinking about pulling the different parts of this sermon together, I was watching one of the Harry Potter movies, the “Half-Blood Prince”. At the end of the movie there is a scene where the headmaster of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Dumbledore, is killed. He willingly gives himself, in fact, in order to save a student from becoming a murderer. There above the school, in the sky, is the face of the Dark Lord, gloating over the death. One by one, students and teachers raise their wands, light coming from the tip of each, until the shadows of the Dark Lord are forced to retreat, and the light wins.
At the same time as I was watching this movie, another favourite, called “Whale Rider”, was on television. This is a New Zealand movie, about a Maori village where the old ways are dying, and the village leader cannot break out of traditional ways. The leader is busy training his sons to step in. He has a daughter, but he refuses to see that she might be called into that role. Until one day, she is able to ride a beached whale back into the ocean, and almost loses her life. Maori folklore says that the saviour of the people will be the one who rides the whale. This is a moving story of a village caught between two cultures and two ways of living - and a people dying - until a twelve-year-old girl shows them how to choose to live.
In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses is giving his final speech to the people of Israel. Shortly after he speaks these words, he will die. Moses will not see the land promised by God, but will die before they set foot over the border. He says to the people “ Today I have set before you blessings and curses, life and death. Choose life!
The Israelite people were on the boundary of the Promised Land. God had brought them from slavery in Egypt, led them through the wilderness, provided for them miraculously there, disciplined the unfaithful ones who wanted to return to Egypt, taught the people God’s will and God’s ways, repeated the ancient promise of the new land, and brought them to the boundary.
They are at the boundary. They are leaving the wilderness, and will enter a new land under their new leader, Joshua. They will be tempted by things they cannot anticipate. They are excited that their journey is at an end, but anxious about what it will really be like.
The people are at the boundary. Probably these words come into their final form long after the time of Moses. The people are at yet another boundary. They have been conquered by the Babylonians, their leading citizens taken, no land, no temple. Are they still God’s people? Will they ever go home? Can they trust God? They hear the message again, at this new boundary. The times have changed, but the message does not: “Choose life.”
Perhaps it’s fair to say that God’s people are always at some kind of a boundary and always need to make choices - for life or death.
God’s promises! Even when it seems you must wait and wait, trust that God is with you in your waiting. And even that is a blessing, my people! God is with you, and that is blessing enough. So choose God. Choose life!”
Today I decided to include the reading from Matthew, continuing the sermon on the mount. A colleague, Stew Clarke, suggested looking for Jesus’ sense of humour in this text. If you listen and look closely, and put this piece of writing into its context, you will find the humanness that we all are.
Picture Jesus, on this particular day sitting with the disciples as they begin to expound to one
another about the theology of ‘at least I am better than that guy’. We all do that, don’t we? Well, there they are sitting with their morning cuppa and bread. One nudges another as they see a man in the crowd moving in on a young woman. “Look,” he whispers loud enough to be heard by several, “those two will be grinding corn together before this night is over.” “What a fool she is
if she lets him in.” There are several not so lovely chuckles that ensue. “Doesn’t he already have a wife?” “Yes!” “He’s had several.” “Chucks them aside when they can’t seem to satisfy his appetites.” “Has several brats running about looking like starvelings.” “It is a pity.” “I bet Jesus will bring out the fire and brimstone this morning.”
So Jesus, listening in, decides to give a short lecture - a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth."You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder'; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' I say that if you are angry with a brother or
sister, you will be liable to judgment; if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "Idiot,” “Raka” you will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Can you hear the sound of breath being sucked in? Can you see reddening faces? Then he goes on to the subject of divorce. "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, (in the original Greek, prostitution) causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”
The women hear and understand that Jesus knows their plight. A woman can be stoned to death for such an offence, but a man would not even be held accountable in practice. A man, in Jesus’ time, could have several wives both individually or at the same time. A woman was a piece of property owned by her husband, with no rights. As Jesus speaks of removing a straying eye, the men hear that they need to divorce not wives, but the very straying of their eyes. Even among the disciples maybe there was one. Jesus looks and smiles, knowing that these men too are only human. And so it goes, on this morning. The brimstone bit is tied to both personal accountability and Jesus’ acknowledgement that even his closest followers are human, fallible, and imperfect. He uses the word “judgment” - but not the way we think of it. Usage has changed over time. In the Hebrew, a judge was someone who righted wrongs - not by physical or moral punishment, but by wisdom and love.
It seems to me that Jesus is echoing Moses, pointing out that every single day, choices of death or life are set before us. He isn’t saying that if you divorce, or murder, you’re going to be sent to hell and God will abandon you. He is saying it goes deeper than those things, to the wagging of tongues and making judgments of others instead of reflecting on ourselves. He is pointing out what it means to choose abundant life, and to celebrate that life. He says don’t swear an oath on the throne, or the earth, or your sainted mother, or anything else - he’s saying you have the choice set before you. You have the power to choose, yes or no - choose life.
What about today’s world? The world of relationships, of politics, of daily dilemmas. Why is the rate of divorce, abuse, child prostitution so high? Why are people elected to represent the best interests of their country, and then become dictators? How can we live well, and make choices for life, in the world of today?
There are so many examples which could be listed, but I will take one from today’s world. My colleague Paula Morse writes in her sermon “I look at Egypt and rejoice with them. This is their response to the teaching of Jesus. This predominantly Muslim country has heard the voice of Jesus and responded in a non-violent, spiritual way.” Joining with the minority Christian brothers and sisters, they have brought low the mighty, and begun the process of exalting the lowly. They have made a choice for life.”
The people following Moses were given the choice. Jesus points out to his followers that the law was meant to guide the people into choosing life. The people in the Harry Potter stories had set before them blessings and curses, death and life. Some chose the death of the soul, others chose clearly - without saying a word - life. The Maori people of in the story had a choice of death or life, and were able to see, finally - the choice for life.
We have to remember that God understands far more than we do, and that God wishes always abundant life for us. We have the choices. God will go to almost any lengths to help us make the right choice, but God will not choose for us and make us do something. God has given us brains, hearts, and wills. God has set before us this day, and every day, blessings and curses, death and life. We have to choose.
Sources:
1. “Thanks for Grace” a sermon by Rev. Paula Morse, Barefoot Pastor of Lovell and Deaver in the almost wilds of Wyoming
2. “Choose Life!” a sermon by Rev. Rick Thompson
Saturday, February 5, 2011
“Salt for the World” based upon Matthew 5:13-20 February 6, 2011 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, Newfoundland
“You are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify God. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
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In the movie “Gandhi” there is a scene where a march to the sea is organised, to make salt. In 1930, in order to help free India from British control, Mahatma Gandhi proposed a non-violent march protesting the British Salt Tax. The Salt Tax essentially made it illegal to sell or produce salt, allowing a complete British monopoly. Since salt is necessary in everyone's daily diet, everyone in India was affected. The Salt Tax made it illegal for workers to freely collect their own salt from the coasts of India, making them buy salt they couldn't really afford. Before embarking on the 240-mile journey from Sabarmati to Dandi, Gandhi sent a letter to the Viceroy himself, forewarning their plans of civil disobedience:
“If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil.”
On April 5 a large crowd reached the coast. After prayers were offered, Gandhi spoke to the large crowd. He picked up a tiny lump of salt, and in doing so, broke the law. Others did the same, following his example of passive defiance, picking up salt everywhere along the coast. A month later, Gandhi was arrested and thrown into prison, already full with fellow protestors. The Salt March started a series of protests, closing many British shops and British mills. The scene depicted in the movie is the march to Dharshana, which resulted in horrible violence. The people did not defend themselves against the policemen, and many were killed. The world embraced the concept of non-violence, condemned British actions, and eventually enabled India to gain her freedom.
In Egypt, where we are seeing all kinds of demonstrations, Coptic Christians - a minority in that country - stood with the protesting Muslims. Pope Shenuda III, Egypt's top Coptic Christian, told demonstrators on Friday night to take into account "concessions" made by the government after more than a week of demonstrations at Tahrir square. "He told us we should not go to protests”, says a man named Ihab, "But we come to the demonstrations regardless because we want it to be recorded that Christians were here,".
What is salt? How many kinds of salt are there? Do they all taste the same. A quick Google brings up all kinds of information.
Different natural salts have different mineralities, giving each one a unique flavor. “Fleur de sel” is a natural sea salt harvested by hand; its flavour is unique, and it is often reputed to be the best salt for cooking. In traditional Korean cuisine, "bamboo salt" is prepared by roasting salt in a bamboo container plugged with mud at both ends. Completely raw sea salt is bitter because of magnesium and calcium compounds, and thus is rarely eaten. Rock salt, like the salt from Japan, has yet another flavour. In Hawaii, a particular salt from the iron-rich waters of the ocean - called "alaea" salt - is blessed by the Kahuna for use in religious ceremonies, as well as for cooking. It is a large crystal salt, reddish in colour, and gives a very particular flavour to meats.
In the story of Gandhi, salt became the symbol for injustice and oppression. Of all the evils of the British Raj, preventing people from making and using salt for themselves was a way of keeping them under the thumbs of the British, because they had to buy their own salt back from the British at exorbitant prices. If they were able to make and sell their own salt, control would be theirs.
Gandhi was not, strictly speaking, a Christian. Yet he was well-read in all the faiths, and was recorded as saying that he was a Hindu, and a Moslem, and a Christian, and a Jew. Yet he acted in a non-violent way, in the best tradition of all those faiths - and certainly in the best of what we believe exemplifies Christian values based on our understanding of who Jesus was.
Frank Schaeffer in his sermon “Zesty Christians” asks what makes a Christian salty? Perhaps that is exemplified by the actions of the Christians in Egypt. A Christian will speak for what is right and just, will not just stand idly by, but will speak out against those who oppress or discriminate others. This is isn’t easy to do, as we have seen. Some people have lost their lives. Jesus walked a fine line all the time, between teaching and living according to the values he believed were critical.
In this second section of the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus talks about salt being tasteless, and tells the apostles that they should be “salt and light”. What did he mean? Jesus had a wonderful way of taking ordinary things people would relate to right away - and salt was one of those things.
If you take salt and just leave it sitting outside, what happens? It absorbs moisture, gradually degenerates, becomes tasteless and useless for anything, and has to be tossed aside. So he is really saying, use it or lose it! We generally use that phrase to refer to muscles - and brains. If you don’t use it you lose it. So your saltiness, if you like, depends on how you use your faith muscles.
Well, what does all this mean and how does it affect ministry? In the current ministerial climate, pastoral ministry has leaned more and more to a ministry of affirming each other in almost everything, and never being confrontational at all. There is no question that affirmation is important for each of us, but ministry is also supposed to be - feel free to disagree with me - confrontational. There is a saying that good ministry should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. That was the message of Gandhi - he comforted and stood up for the afflicted...the “least of these” we hear Jesus talk about; but he afflicted the comfortable to the point where they had to face how their comfort was built on the backs of others.
Jesus was really good at comforting the afflicted; he was also really good at afflicting the comfortable. When he tells his disciples to be salt and light, he isn’t saying spice up the world a little and be upbeat cheery people, he’s saying “here’s your mission. To stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, to bring light to those who see nothing but darkness around them, and to give people hope for a future.” May it be so.
Sources:
1. Zesty Christians a sermon based on Matthew 5:13-20 by Rev. Frank Schaefer
2. http://thenagain.info/webchron/India/SaltMarch.html
3.newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110205-318683/Christians-join-Muslims-in-plea-for-change-in-Egypt
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt
5. Charles James Cook, in "Feasting on the Word", David L. Barrett and Barbara Brown Taylord, eds. Lousiville; Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 334.
**************************************************************************
In the movie “Gandhi” there is a scene where a march to the sea is organised, to make salt. In 1930, in order to help free India from British control, Mahatma Gandhi proposed a non-violent march protesting the British Salt Tax. The Salt Tax essentially made it illegal to sell or produce salt, allowing a complete British monopoly. Since salt is necessary in everyone's daily diet, everyone in India was affected. The Salt Tax made it illegal for workers to freely collect their own salt from the coasts of India, making them buy salt they couldn't really afford. Before embarking on the 240-mile journey from Sabarmati to Dandi, Gandhi sent a letter to the Viceroy himself, forewarning their plans of civil disobedience:
“If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil.”
On April 5 a large crowd reached the coast. After prayers were offered, Gandhi spoke to the large crowd. He picked up a tiny lump of salt, and in doing so, broke the law. Others did the same, following his example of passive defiance, picking up salt everywhere along the coast. A month later, Gandhi was arrested and thrown into prison, already full with fellow protestors. The Salt March started a series of protests, closing many British shops and British mills. The scene depicted in the movie is the march to Dharshana, which resulted in horrible violence. The people did not defend themselves against the policemen, and many were killed. The world embraced the concept of non-violence, condemned British actions, and eventually enabled India to gain her freedom.
In Egypt, where we are seeing all kinds of demonstrations, Coptic Christians - a minority in that country - stood with the protesting Muslims. Pope Shenuda III, Egypt's top Coptic Christian, told demonstrators on Friday night to take into account "concessions" made by the government after more than a week of demonstrations at Tahrir square. "He told us we should not go to protests”, says a man named Ihab, "But we come to the demonstrations regardless because we want it to be recorded that Christians were here,".
What is salt? How many kinds of salt are there? Do they all taste the same. A quick Google brings up all kinds of information.
Different natural salts have different mineralities, giving each one a unique flavor. “Fleur de sel” is a natural sea salt harvested by hand; its flavour is unique, and it is often reputed to be the best salt for cooking. In traditional Korean cuisine, "bamboo salt" is prepared by roasting salt in a bamboo container plugged with mud at both ends. Completely raw sea salt is bitter because of magnesium and calcium compounds, and thus is rarely eaten. Rock salt, like the salt from Japan, has yet another flavour. In Hawaii, a particular salt from the iron-rich waters of the ocean - called "alaea" salt - is blessed by the Kahuna for use in religious ceremonies, as well as for cooking. It is a large crystal salt, reddish in colour, and gives a very particular flavour to meats.
In the story of Gandhi, salt became the symbol for injustice and oppression. Of all the evils of the British Raj, preventing people from making and using salt for themselves was a way of keeping them under the thumbs of the British, because they had to buy their own salt back from the British at exorbitant prices. If they were able to make and sell their own salt, control would be theirs.
Gandhi was not, strictly speaking, a Christian. Yet he was well-read in all the faiths, and was recorded as saying that he was a Hindu, and a Moslem, and a Christian, and a Jew. Yet he acted in a non-violent way, in the best tradition of all those faiths - and certainly in the best of what we believe exemplifies Christian values based on our understanding of who Jesus was.
Frank Schaeffer in his sermon “Zesty Christians” asks what makes a Christian salty? Perhaps that is exemplified by the actions of the Christians in Egypt. A Christian will speak for what is right and just, will not just stand idly by, but will speak out against those who oppress or discriminate others. This is isn’t easy to do, as we have seen. Some people have lost their lives. Jesus walked a fine line all the time, between teaching and living according to the values he believed were critical.
In this second section of the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus talks about salt being tasteless, and tells the apostles that they should be “salt and light”. What did he mean? Jesus had a wonderful way of taking ordinary things people would relate to right away - and salt was one of those things.
If you take salt and just leave it sitting outside, what happens? It absorbs moisture, gradually degenerates, becomes tasteless and useless for anything, and has to be tossed aside. So he is really saying, use it or lose it! We generally use that phrase to refer to muscles - and brains. If you don’t use it you lose it. So your saltiness, if you like, depends on how you use your faith muscles.
Well, what does all this mean and how does it affect ministry? In the current ministerial climate, pastoral ministry has leaned more and more to a ministry of affirming each other in almost everything, and never being confrontational at all. There is no question that affirmation is important for each of us, but ministry is also supposed to be - feel free to disagree with me - confrontational. There is a saying that good ministry should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. That was the message of Gandhi - he comforted and stood up for the afflicted...the “least of these” we hear Jesus talk about; but he afflicted the comfortable to the point where they had to face how their comfort was built on the backs of others.
Jesus was really good at comforting the afflicted; he was also really good at afflicting the comfortable. When he tells his disciples to be salt and light, he isn’t saying spice up the world a little and be upbeat cheery people, he’s saying “here’s your mission. To stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, to bring light to those who see nothing but darkness around them, and to give people hope for a future.” May it be so.
Sources:
1. Zesty Christians a sermon based on Matthew 5:13-20 by Rev. Frank Schaefer
2. http://thenagain.info/webchron/India/SaltMarch.html
3.newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110205-318683/Christians-join-Muslims-in-plea-for-change-in-Egypt
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt
5. Charles James Cook, in "Feasting on the Word", David L. Barrett and Barbara Brown Taylord, eds. Lousiville; Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 334.
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