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
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