Grace

There is a hymn that I love called, “My Jesus I love Thee.”. Its found in the old “Song of the Gospel” hymn book. I heard for the first time in a little church in Aspen Cove. Every verse tells of something wonderful Jesus has done and the last line of every verse concludes with the words, “If ever I loved thee my Jesus tis now.”  Being a follower of Jesus is both joy and challenge. There are times when it is hard to be a follower of Jesus, there are times when it is a joy and there are times when it see that the calling to love and serve others is something beyond my capabilities.

But then you come to the first of the miracles or “signs” in John’s gospel and doubts someone wash away. Water becomes wine. I admit that I love any story that turns water into wine. And we are not talking in this story about the cheap stuff – but good wine. This is a “sign” of blessing is a reminder that our starting place as followers of Jesus is God’s abiding abundance and grace. The wedding at Canna is the first of the “signs” or miracles in John’s gospel. It follows hot on the heals of baptism and Jesus calling the disciples with the invitation “come and see.” Next scene a wedding. Not quite like the weddings of today which are a day long affair. A wedding in Jesus’ day lasted a week and was a community celebration. Jesus was there with his whole family, disciples and community. 

Over the course of the celebrations, the hosts ran out of wine. Now this may not sound like a big problem. Today we’d probably think nothing of it. If the wine runs out, we pop up to the store and buy another bottle. Not a big deal. But it was major social faux pas in Jesus’ day. Mostly it was a big deal because of what the wine represented. Wine was a sign of God’s abundance and to run out of wine was like saying that God’s love had dried up.

 Upon hearing the news, Jesus’ mother turns to him, with an expectant look in her eyes. I think it’s the look only a mother can give and says, “They have run out of wine.” Can’t you just hear Jesus saying back to her as he rolls his eyes, “Oh Mother, why are you worried about that. Besides which, this not my time, it is not the hour.” But she pays no attention to him. Son of God or not, she knows best. Not only does she know him best, she knows its his time. She is the one whose watched him learn and grow. So Jesus mother takes matters into her own hands. She turns to the servants and says, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”  

I’m guessing that Jesus reluctantly tells the servants to fill six huge containers – each holding 20 to 30 gallons of water and to take them to the wine steward. The wine steward tastes the wine and is amazed. He calls the bridegroom and compliments him for saving the best wine for the last days of the celebration. This is the first of what John calls the signs of Jesus and other gospels call miracle stories.  These signs that point us to God and the nature of God’s grace. 

Sometime it helps to put things in context. Today can be mass produced and shipped easily from one place to another. Not so in Jesus day. In today’s measurements “A standard bottle of wine is 750 milliliters (ml), meaning a case of 12 bottles contains 9 liters, or 2.378 gallons. At 150 gallons per ton, a ton of grapes becomes 150/2.378 gallons per case, or a little more than 63 cases of wine. With 12 bottles per case, we have 756 bottles in total.” (www.workingpreacher.org) For Jesus to change the ordinary gift of water into extraordinary wine was amazing. That is just like God’s abundant grace. It is unexpected. It is good wine when you are expecting the cheap stuff.

In the words of the psalmist, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” (Psalm 36: 7 – 9) Grace upon grace. It is like the words we heard last week form Isaiah I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. … Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:1 – 2, 4)

God’s infinite grace is hard to understand sometimes because all too often we operate in the scarcity mode. One of my theology professors said that the good news is so good that it is hard to believe. And it is so true. Living in faith, living with God’s grace daily doesn’t mean that life is perfect or that there is a magic that cures all our troubles. Barbra Brown Taylor in her book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, writes, “I call it full solar spirituality since it focuses on staying in the light of God around the clock, both absorbing and reflecting the sunny side of faith.” (Learning to Walk in the Dark page 15) Faith that only endures when life is good, doesn’t stand up when life tragedies come to our door step. And invited or not, we know to well that sorrows and tragedies come our way. 

Here is the thing about God’s grace – it walks with us in times of faith and times of doubt. Grace is the comfort that comes after a night of pain. Grace is knowing that even the worst of mistakes are forgiven. Grace is being loved just as we are. Grace is the hope that rises from despair. It reminds me of the scene in the third book in the Anne of Green Gables books – Anne of the Island. Anne has just found out that her life long nemesis is dying. It is in that moment that she realizes that she loves him. She spends a long night hoping, praying for good news. In the morning she goes for a walk and finds out that Gilbert will make it. “The trills and trickles of song from the birds in the big tree above her seemed in perfect accord with her mood. A sentence from a very old, very true, very wonderful Book came to her lips, “Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.”” (Anne of the Island, page 651)

God’s grace never runs out or is in short supply. It is like 756 bottles of the best wine when you least expect it. It is the surprising hope that comes in spite of evidence that would have us give up. The wedding at Cana is an invitation into come and see God’s abundant grace. The last line of our reading from this morning says, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11) It is the same invitation we receive today. Come and see -- grace upon grace. God’s abundance. How can we not make our song each day an offering of praise? “I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death. And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; If ever I loved thee, my Jesus it is now.” Amen. 

Because You Are Precious in my Sight

I have read the passage from Isaiah many times. It comes up in the lectionary every three years. And yet this week it was like I was reading the words for the first time. Tears welled up in my eyes and I was overwhelmed by the beauty and the promise of it. It was like God was speaking directly to me reminding me that I, Miriam, am precious and honoured and loved. And somehow down through the ages these words have spoken to hearts reminding all of us that we are precious in God’s sight – beloved children of God.  

This particular passage of scripture from Isaiah was written during the Babylonian captivity. After the destruction of the temple, after the people of Israel had been dragged from their homeland to some strange land where they were not really welcomed. Isaiah 49 describes the people of God as, “deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers” (Isaiah 49:7) It was a time when they wondered how to worship God in a strange land. And this is God’s word to them, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. … Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:1 – 2, 4) 

In the time since those words were written, many things have changed, but one things remains firm. God says to each one of us, “you are precious in my sight, and honoured and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:4) It’s not always easy to take these words to heart. After all it is much easier to believe the worst about ourselves. But God says no to that. God says, “I have called you by name, you are mine.” When we say ugly, or dumb or screw up or idiot or worthless or shameful, God says, “precious, honoured, loved, mine.” 

Talk about good news. The kind of news that changes hearts and lives. Callie Plunket-Brewton tells this story. “A month or so ago, I met a man who has two names. His given name is Jeremy. He’s been called “Twitch” for years. Twitch, he told me when we met, was the name he went by when he was in and out of jail before he got clean. I said that I would call him Jeremy, thinking he wouldn’t want to be called a name associated with his pretty harsh past. He then said the most extraordinary thing. He said he wanted people to keep calling him Twitch so that it would be clear to the people who had known him before that he was a transformed man. He was afraid that if he started to go by Jeremy people might not realize that he was the same Twitch who’d been in jail with them, used with them. He comes around pretty regularly to the homeless ministry where I sometimes serve and hangs out with our homeless guests. Many of them know him. He wants them to recognize him and to take heart that God can transform their lives, too.” (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2747) 

There are so many things that come with terms and conditions – but God’s love is not one of those things. It is gift. It is grace. It is promise. It is new life. One of the ways we recognize that grace is through baptism  which is a visible reminder of the invisible grace.  Baptism is so important that each of the Gospels begins Jesus’ ministry with his baptism in the Jordan River. Matthew and Luke both tell stories of Jesus birth, John’s begins with poetry, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God.” Mark skips all that stuff and goes right to the heart of the matter – baptism. In all found Gospels, the waters of baptism are barely dry when Jesus begins his teaching and healing ministry.  

In Luke’s gospel, John the Baptist is preaching up a storm in the wilderness. He is preparing the way for Jesus. He says “‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” (Luke 3:16) What happens next is a powerful reminder that Baptism is God’s work alone. John the Baptist was arrested by Herod and in jail and does not baptize Jesus. It is the work of God through the Holy Spirit. 

Luke describes it this way, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21 – 22) With that promise ringing in his ears Jesus sets out on his ministry of healing and teaching.

Baptism is the daily reminder that "You are my child, with you I am well pleased."  This is not just a message for Jesus it is for us today. God said this to us the day we were baptized and every day since then. A lifetime of ups and downs cannot erase that promise, that gift of grace. Whether you remember your baptism or not it doesn’t matter.  The grace that comes with baptism has no expiry date. With the sign of the cross, we are chosen, claimed forever as God’s beloved children. 

That is the good news. On those bad days, those days when we are tempted to believe the worst about ourselves, we can remember the words that Gods speaks to us all, “You are my child with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)  “I have called you by name, you are mine.  Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you.” (Isaiah 43: 1, 4) Everyday God whispers those powerful words in our ears. How can we not share them with others? Precious, honoured, loved, mine. Say them to yourself everyday – tell them to others. So everyone knows deep in their hearts that God’s love is for all. Precious. Honoured. Loved. Mine. Precious. Honoured. Loved. Mine. Amen. 

Home by Another Way

Ever since the new star went up on Signal Hill – the one that shines so brightly across our city I’ve been thinking about the Magi – the wise men. The ones who saw an ancient star. The ones who were so wise that the people thought they were magic. The ones who knew the meaning of every star in the sky and couldn’t believe it when they saw a new one at its rising. The ones who wondered what all this could mean. Should they follow it? Should they see where it was leading them? Perhaps they wondered what people would think about embarking on this journey to an unknown destination. 

And yet they went. Their wondering led them to walking and a journey like no other. Their story – taking a chance on that unknown path reminds me of Mary and Joseph.  When they said yes to God’s promise about their child they had no idea what it would mean for them – and yet they too left behind all that was familiar to follow in God’s way. They left their home in Nazareth to travel a strange city to be registered and then fearing for their lives they journeyed to Egypt. The sign at St. Mark’s Church before Christmas said it well, “Christmas: A story about a Middle East Family Seeking Refuge.” It reminds me of the Syrian refugees who arrived this week and indeed of all the refugees who come to Canada leaving behind all that is familiar to travel to a foreign land hoping for a new life. Like the Magi the set out not knowing what the future would hold but they go anyway – following that star that shines so brightly or following a dream or seeking hope.

It is a story that we can understand as a congregation. Our church family made the bold choice to follow an unknown path – to follow that star, that hope, that dream. No church in the city has done what you’ve done. It’s a decision that means uncertainty and traveling new directions – like worshipping here. It means living with a bit of uncertainty and lots of questions and as with anything new fears. As we head down this new road, no doubt there will be other firsts and new things along the way. 

So today we begin our journey. We are as a church family worshipping in a different place. And it is not familiar. It is not our church home. But as it says in the song “Home” by Phillip Phillips “Hold on to me as we go. As we roll down this unfamiliar road, and although this wave is stringing us along. Just know you’re not alone. Cause I’m going to make this place your home.” This is our church home for the next few months.  And we are not alone. We have one another, the hospitality of our friends here at St. John’s Seventh-day Adventist Church and a God who is always with us helping us down this unfamiliar road. 

In the story of the Magi who travelled their own unfamiliar road we find a story of faith and blessings. Listen to what it says in Matthew, “When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. “(Matthew 2:10 – 12)

There is the joy of arrival. There is the gift of finding what you’d been searching for and meeting the holy child. There is the moment they offered prayers and blessings. But like any journey, it leaves a mark on your lives and the Magi go home differently. Jan Richardson describes the story this way in her poem called, “The Blessing of the Magi”

There is no reversing
this road.
The path that bore you here
goes in one direction only,
every step drawing you
down a way
by which you will not
return.

You thought arrival
was everything,
that your entire journey
ended with kneeling
in the place
you had spent all
to find.

When you laid down
your gift,
release came with such ease,
your treasure tumbling
from your hands
in awe and
benediction.

Now the knowledge
of your leaving
comes like a stone laid
over your heart,
the familiar path closed
and not even the solace
of a star
to guide your way.

You will set out in fear
you will set out in dream

but you will set out

by that other road
that lies in shadow
and in dark.

We cannot show you
the route that will
take you home;
that way is yours
and will be found
in the walking.

But we tell you
you will wonder
at how the light you thought
you had left behind
goes with you,
spilling from
your empty hands,
shimmering beneath
your homeward feet,
illuminating the road
with every step
you take.

As we embark on this journey into the unknown as a church family, there will be times of uncertainty and fear and there will be blessings all along the way. As we move into this new and uncertain time, we are reminded of that light the glows from the stable that brings hope and lights our path. God is with us as we go guiding us, supporting us and by faith we know that we are no alone. The light that guided the Magi so long ago on their journey guides us today. By God’s grace, with God’s help this unfamiliar road will be a blessing for our church family and for others as we build for the future. And so like so many before us we travel in faith and in hope. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Living God, Living Church

This is one of those gospel stories we’ve probably heard dozens of times before. Jesus goes into the district of Caesarea Phillipi with the disciples. Now this isn’t any old city. It is a Roman city and they are surrounded by the god’s of the Roman Empire. In this of all places, Jesus says to the disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13)

And they come up with a bunch of possible answers. “Some say John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus turns to all of them and says, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mathew 16:14) Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God.” Talk about a bold proclamation! Especially in a place where they are surrounded by stone carvings of the Roman god’s. Jesus turns to Peter and says, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18)

Amazing isn’t? We sit here worshipping together and in some strange way it starts with Jesus saying, “You are Peter and on this Rock I will build my church.” Now I don’t think Jesus had in mind churches like we know today. He probably imagined people worshiping this living God in the synagogues. Still, here we sit gathered in Jesus’ name because Peter and others had the nerve to proclaim boldly to anyone who would listen that “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” More than two thousand years later that church with all its successes and all its failures still clings to the promise of a living God. 

But churches, not just United Churches, are faced with hard times. Some of it is bad PR on our part. People think that churches are judgement, unfriendly and unwelcoming. Some of it is the changing place of church in society. Sunday mornings are no longer reserved for church attendance. It is hard for those of us who remember full pews and Sunday schools bursting at the seams to know that we are faced with budgets that are stretched to the limit and buildings that are beautiful but bigger than we need or can afford. And it makes me wonder what is next for this church – the church of Jesus, the messiah, son of the living God. 

Recently Scott attended some church meetings by the Edge Network which is trying to help congregations who are wrestling with some of these hard questions.  He brought home the gift of a new word – well two words linked together in a new way. Discontinuous change. “Discontinuous change” happens when we struggle to understand why the ways we have functioned in the past no longer produce the same results.  

And isn’t that where we are in the church? The things that worked once no longer produce the same results. The things we’ve always done seem to fall flat. The world has changed and that leaves who sit in the pews on Sunday mornings trying to figure out what to do. We wonder if the church even has a place in this new world. And if we do, what is it? Hard questions with no easy answers or instant fixes. 

Sarah Cunningham’s book Portable Faith writes about finding new ways of being church. She begins with a story of a middle aged woman behind the desk at the local bond office who says to her, “There’s at least a dozen churches within a four block radius of here and that doesn’t change anything. … The city is the same as it’s always been. Same problems, same hardships, same cycles. Churches hold weekly services for anyone who wants to come, but I don’t think there’s any reason to believe they impact people beyond their own buildings.” (Portable Faith, pg. 1) 

Cunningham continues by writing, “…despite growing up as a pastor’s kid and logging hundreds – maybe thousands – of hours in church pews. I knew in the sinking, what-is-true part of my gut that “coming” was not the verb that Jesus had used in his parting shot to the disciples. “Come join us” was decidedly different invitation than “go into all the world.” And “inviting ones” was almost the polar opposite identity as “sent ones,” the term attached to those first believing apostles who bore the message of Jesus.”  (Portable Faith page 3) 

Peter was a sent one. He started life doing what his father before him did – fishing. Then he met Jesus and everything changed. He quite literally left everything to follow Jesus. He went to places he’d never been and he even got a new name, “Peter.” Rock. After Jesus’ resurrection, he didn’t stay in his hometown. He went and spread the word about Jesus wherever he could because he knew that Jesus was the son of the living God and that is what made all the difference. 

Now it is our turn today to pick up from Peter and all the faithful who’ve gone before us left off. It is our turn to share the good news of Jesus, Messiah, son of the living God. And we can. We’ve just gotten out of practice. We all grew up hearing that religion and politics aren’t something you talk about in polite company. Here’s the problem, if we don’t talk about why we come to church, if we don’t talk about what God has done for us, if we don’t talk about why we are followers of Jesus, how will anyone know about the living God whose love changes everything?

And here something else we’ve forgotten, people want to know. If you go to the Spirituality section in the bookstore it is full of books for people searching for answers to the meaning and purpose of life. Why not share ours? There are several longitudinal studies that link attendance at religious services with lower rates of depression. So going to church is good for you. We have something so special in the church and we need to share it with others. 

We don’t have the luxury of being polite or holding back. There was a time when I was outside the walls of churches that I would actively work at not telling people that I was a United Church minister. I would dread the question, “And what do you do?” And then watch the people who clam up or worse apologizing for swearing in front of me – like I’d never heard the words or said them. But no more. We have a message of the living God to share and if we don’t tell our stories then no one will know about it.

So here it goes. I love the church. I love that Jesus loves me as we sing in church, “Yes, Jesus loves, Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me the bible tells me so.” I love the stories in the bible call me to see things in every new ways. I know when it seems like my life is crumbling around me God is holding me. I love that I can feel the Holy Spirit pushing, nudging, inspiring me to try something different. Church is one of the few places I truly felt comfortable. I think it saved my life when I was a teenager because it was the only place I felt loved for me. On Sunday morning I could walk in through the doors of Edgewood United Church and I could breathe again. I knew that in school I didn’t belong – not with the cool kids and sometimes not even with the people who were my friends. But church was home. My wonderful Sunday School teacher Mary made it a place to explore and think about faith but most importantly to belong. 

Perhaps, if we can find a way to start sharing those stories of grace and forgiveness, those stories of love and acceptance, of our God whose love gives life, we can find every new ways to be the body of Christ for this time and this place. It is our turn to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” and boldly declare, “You are the Messiah, son of the living God.” And then, we like Peter, like all who’ve gone before us, become the rock upon which the church is built. Amen. 

To listen, please visit http://www.cochranestreetuc.com/?Content=Worship/Archived_Worship_Services 

 

 

Links to articles about church attendance and depression: 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=6775006

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081023120228.htm

http://o.canada.com/news/national/church-depression

Opening our Hearts

The bible is full of wonderful stories, but this is one of my favourites. Just imagine what was going in this woman’s life that she had the nerve to do what she did in a time when men and women didn’t associate much and men had the final say. When asking didn’t work she demanded something of Jesus. Nadia Bolz-Webber (@sarcasticluther) tweeted this morning, “Personally, I like a text where Jesus commends the faith of a sass-mouthed woman.” Whether she’s sass-mouthed or persistent, what happened that day changed everything. 

For some it this is a hard text because Jesus is downright rude. There is none of that compassion that we are used to seeing. The grace in this text doesn’t come from him that for sure. 

Imagine what it was like that day. Jesus and the disciples decided to go to the region Tyre and Sidon which is the traditionally the land of the gentiles – those who are not the people of Israel – descendants of Abraham. Not long after arriving, a woman approaches Jesus and the disciples. She starts saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” (Matthew 15:22) But no one paid attention. Jesus kept walking and the disciples behind him. She was after all a Canaanite woman, a gentile – there was no need to listen to her. Again “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” (Matthew 15:22) Still nothing. 

But she will not be ignored. Her daughter’s life is one the line. She knows about Jesus and what he can do. Again she says, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” (Matthew 15:22)  Finally the disciples are tired of this nagging and say to Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” We might as well just say it like it is. Jesus is rude. He is guilty of racism. His mission is not for her kind and he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  And he keeps going. 

This is why I love this story. She will not be ignored or put off or told to go home without first getting what she came for. She puts herself in Jesus path and kneels at before him saying, “Lord help me.” (Matthew 15:25) And still Jesus does nothing. Can you believe it? Our Jesus who heals. Our Jesus who is compassionate. Our Jesus who loves us back to life refuses to help this woman whose daughter is being tormented by demons. And then he compares her to dog. He says, her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (Matthew 15:26) 

Most people would have walked away. First ignored, then dismissed and then insulted. But not this woman. She says “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” (Matthew 15:27) And finally Jesus see her – not where she is from – but her. A mother crying, begging for her daughter’s life to be restored. Jesus says, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” (Matthew 15:28) And in that moment her daughter is healed. 

And in that moment that Jesus is changed. Jesus us healed. On the surface this an ordinary healing story except that it does not follow the normal pattern of healing stories. Truly the person healed in this text is Jesus. He has a new understanding of his calling. Barbara Brown Taylor writes , “through the Canaanite woman’s faith [Jesus] learns that God’s purpose for him is bigger than he had imagined and there is enough of him to go around [...]Faith works like a lever on him opening his arms wider and wider until there is room for the whole world in them, until he allows them to be nailed open on the cross.” (Seeds of Heaven. p. 63)

The woman in our story was praised for her faith. But it is not only her faith that was amazing but her persistence and intelligence. We owe her thanks because she opens Jesus’ heart to a new way of living and being in the world.

Through her faith is that Jesus is changed. This happens all the time. People come into our lives and leave a mark on us. They change our hearts and set our lives on a new course. It happened with Jesus and can happen with us. It happened to me. When I was at school in Toronto, if I had a lot of work to do for the following week, I would go to the 8am service at the Anglican Church on the corner. It meant that I got to go to church and had more time to finish my assignments. It was a quiet service and usually there were no more than 10 people there. I loved the peace of this service. One Sunday, just before the sermon began I heard the doors of the church bang open and close.  And into the peace and quiet of this service walked a homeless man. He said loudly, “Sorry I’m late.” He sat down in the pew and the smell of someone whose life was spent outdoors filled street filled the sanctuary. And I confess that I resented his presence in that service. He disturbed the peace of my morning. 

My heart was closed. I couldn’t see that just as I needed a place to pray and worship – so did he. The sermon came and went. The ushers were taking up the offering and were just about to pass the man by, when he began searching through his pockets. Gradually he pulled out every coin he had and put it in the offering plate and then apologized for how little it was. 

In that moment I knew that I was wrong to be resentful. I was closed minded and judgmental. In short I looked on his appearance and did not my brother in Christ all I saw was a street person. I needed to be disrupted and have the peace of the morning disturbed. I had grown so used to seeing people living on the street that I lost my compassion. He taught me, reminded me that we are children of God. He who showed me the importance generosity and the importance of giving back to God. 

Just as the Canaanite woman helped Jesus see the world in a new way, he helped me. And that is our calling as a people of faith. To be disturbed and disrupted so that we can see something new. It is in learning from one another that we see the face of God and in respecting the diversity of those in our midst that we truly become the body of Christ in the world. God calls us to reach out beyond ourselves and those who are like us to learn about generosity, faith, hope and love from all those who have a story to tell. You never know when your actions might change someone’s heart or when yours will be changed. In expanding our world view we are taking steps that will bring healing and wholeness to our communities, countries and world. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

 

We are going to close by blessing one another. Turn to page 349 in your hymn books. As we say, pray these words look at those around you and bless them as the bless you. 

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet

walk with you on the road.

May the Christ who serves with wounded hands

stretch out your hands to serve.

May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart

open your hearts to love.

May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,

and may everyone you meet

see the face of Christ in you. Amen. 

Wrestling with God and Humans

I get back from a lovely vacation and what is the first text for the day? Jacob wrestling with God. That's both the gift and challenge of the lectionary and perhaps God's sense of humour at work. The passage of scripture is at once a challenge and beautiful. The text asks us to consider: "What does it mean for Jacob and for for us to wrestle with God?" I’ve been reading Barbra Brown Taylors new book Learning to Walk in the Dark where she says some of the most significant moments happen as we wrestle in the dark with God.

Jacob knows it only too well. Twice in his life he encounters God and leaves with promise and blessing. Jacob is the grandson of Abraham and Sarah, one of Isaac and Rebecca’s two sons. Jacob is the second son only by minutes. His older brother Esau was born first and Jacob came behind him quickly griping his older brother’s heal. It seems from the before the day that Esau and Jacob were born they were competing with one another. And it was Jacob the younger always striving for what was his older brother’s. The bad family dynamics don’t end there it says in Genesis 25 “When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunger, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man living in the tents. Isaac loved Esau because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:27)

The ground work for this family feud was planted in fertile soil. Jacob’s grasping after Esau didn’t end with his heal. First Jacob tricks his brother into giving him his birthright and then he tricks his father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Jacob had taken everything from his brother and Esau was so angry he plans to kill his brother. The first time Jacob encounters God is as he flees and goes to live with his mother’s brother Laban who is a trickster to match Jacob. 

Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Later God would come to Abraham’s Grandson Jacob in the middle of the night, after he fled from the family he betrayed in the worst kind of way. When Jacob could not run any longer, he lay down in the middle of nowhere and fell asleep, dreaming one of those dreams that arrives more like a vision. He saw a ladder with its feet set on the earth and its top reaching toward heaven, with bright angels of God climbing up and down  on it. That was when God said more or less the same thing to Jacob that he said to his grandfather Abraham. “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Barbra Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark page 92 – 93)

That is the first time God comes to Jacob. The second is in our passage for today, after Jacob falls madly in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel. After he works seven long years to Marry Rachel and ends up marring Leah. After he works another seven long years for Rachel. After Jacob is tired of being tricked and cheated by Laban. After he finally realizes that the only place for him to go is home – back to the family he betrayed. 

So he makes a plan. Jacob sends Esau presents with this message, “I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favour in your sight.” (Genesis 32:5) Then return message is this, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” (Genesis 32:7)

And you can imagine what Jacob is thinking. He is coming for me. So he sends more gifts and indeed his whole family over to meet Esau. He stays behind by himself for the night.

Now Jacob must face all his fears and shortcomings. All night he wrestles with a man. “When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. (Genesis 32:25) 

But Jacob is tenacious. He will not let go until he gets a blessing. So the figure asks, “what is your name? And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.”  (Genesis 32:27 – 28) Jacob walks away with a new name but he now walks with a limp.

And isn’t that what we are about as a people of faith? We struggle to understand God and how God calls us to live. We struggle with both faith and doubt. We struggle to live daily as God’s people. And on those nights we come face to face with our fears and shortcomings we like Jacob wrestle with God. And like Jacob, the most important thing we can do is never to let go of God. That means hanging on in spite of doubt and in spite of hard times to God’ promise. 

The breath taking beauty of Jacob’s story is not that Jacob was perfect he wasn’t. What amazes me every time is that God chooses him even though he betrays his family, even though he is a liar and a cheat. God chooses Jacob not for anything he is yet to be but just as he is. Then God blesses him and gives him a new name. And if God will do that for Jacob, then God will do that for you and for you. And that my friends is God’s abiding, amazing, transforming grace. Amen. 

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Bloom Where You Planted

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. This is not a book for the Bible for the faint hearted. In part because Jeremiah asks us to look at our lives and our world with care. Not necessarily for the good stuff but the injustices that pit one human being against another and for the times that challenge us to see things in a new way. 

Yet every now and then there is a passage from Jeremiah that did not involve heart wrenching tears. Don’t get too excited – Jeremiah’s version of good news does not call for a party. God’s chosen people are still being held captive in Babylon by the Babylonians – there is nothing new on that front. The Israelites are are living in a strange land far from their beloved home in Jerusalem. The temple in Jerusalem still lies in ruins. What is new, are the false prophets who stand on every street corner predicting a swift end to their captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah looks on and shakes his head and says to the people “don’t believe a word of it. God has something else in mind and it does not involve a joyful reunion in Jerusalem in two years time.”  Jeremiah says, “It’s going to take time. Bloom where you are planted.”  

Listen again to Jeremiah’s words. “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4 – 7)

What Jeremiah is asking is hard. It means finding a way to bloom in rocky ground. It means looking ahead instead of remembering what has been. Jeremiah makes no promises for a quick return to Jerusalem. Rather he asks the people of Israel to build a new life in Babylon and to pray for the wellbeing of the city where they are captives. In working for the health of this new city, the people of Israel will find their own health. Jeremiah asks God’s people to find a way to give thanks for this new place and to make the most of life in a new land and make the best of a difficult situation because they are going to be in Babylon for a long time. So, says Jeremiah, “Get married. Have children and pray for the welfare of the city where you are living even it means praying for enemies. Bloom where you are planted.” 

This is something I think many people from this province are well able to do. I won’t pretend to be an expert on the history of this place but in the time I’ve lived here I heard stories about people learned how to make do and to survive in difficult circumstances. I was settled on Newtown Lumsden Pastoral Charge in Bonavista North. While Newtown is a beautiful place you would not call the soil fertile and there is only one direction of warm wind. The winters, well it is fair to say I’d never seen anything like it. It is wild when the wind and the snow come. 

I once asked my neighbour, who grew up on a Pinchard’s Island which is a short boat ride from Newtown, how she and her family managed to survive winters on the island. I imagined she’d tell me the winters were terrible. I imagined she’d tell me it was cold because there was no electricity. I imagined she’d tell me there it was a daily struggle. Without hesitation she said, “It was the best time in my life. We all lived as one.” Talk about blooming where you are planted. 

In spite of a land that may seem inhospitable, people found places where vegetables would grow, they would eat what they could fish or hunt and harvested the berries in their season. Somehow, out of land that may seem to a new comer like me as harsh, generations people carved out a living out of the land. They not only made a living, but they gave thanks for what they had.  

It is a good message for us in the church today. We may not face the challenges of living that the people in Jeremiah’s day or the early settlers to this province did. All the same it is a challenging time to be in the church. Everywhere we turn people are saying that the church is dying. Changes in the society mean that church no longer has the place it once did. We know all too well in this congregation that pews are not as full as they once were, what one hard winter can do to an oil bill and how hard it is for us raise the money need to continue worshiping here. 

And yet, and yet Jeremiah’s message to us not one of despair. God calls us to bloom where we are planted. God’s word of hope to us is ever the same and so is the message of the prophet. Bloom where you are planted. Find ways to seek the welfare of the people and place where we find yourselves.  That is our calling today. To go into the community and find ways to help those who need help. To find ever new ways to share the good news of God’s deep and abiding love. To be a community of faith. 

Jeremiah says, “For surely you know that plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) We are promised a future filled with hope. So let us go into the world with praise on lips to be God’s people at work in the world. Amen.