Epiphany and the Season After - Year A -- 2020
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Epiphany Year A
Acts 10: 34-43
Psalm 29
Matthew 3: 13- 17
I was reading a story in which a young child was instructing her great-grandfather how to play a certain game. The child said, “You just sit here GreatGrampa and then you watch me do my cartwheels and then you clap and say, “wonderful”. Apparently, many people used to think that giving children too much praise or even too much affection was bad for them; in THEIR lives such an incident as I have described would not likely have happened. I am thankful that this is no longer a commonly held belief.
As far as our Sunday lectionary readings go, we have come a long way in the last few weeks. Most of us have probably put away the Christmas decorations days ago and, if you had a natural tree, it is ready to be composted or chipped or whatever they do with Christmas trees here! The community of Hantsport, NS, where I lived until May, saved all it’s Christmas trees for a Winter Carnival Bonfire at the local Community Centre, in late January. Last year an arsonist set the pile of trees on fire in mid January and they had to scrounge around for more for the bonfire night!
Baby Jesus, like all children are supposed to, is growing up fast, too fast! In Matthew’s story for today, he’s grown up. We think he’s about 30. He’s middle aged, based on their much shorter life expectancy. My, how time has flown. It seems like only a few weeks ago that he was wee!
WELL yes, it was only a few weeks! The Gospel of Matthew tells of Jesus’ birth in less than one verse. The strange visitors from a far away land have come and gone, leaving a great deal of death and destruction in their wake. The child and his parents escaped to Egypt and in due time returned and grew up in Nazareth - as Matthew tells us, “so that scripture will be fulfilled.”
Then today, along comes the wild and wooly John. His “thing” was preaching a message of “repentance for the remission of sins”. As I understand it, repentance in this context is not a state of “being sorry for one’s sins” but a resolve to go in a new direction. To “repent” is, in short, to “turn around”. Repentance involves change and action related to that change. It’s a very active verb! It’s not just something of the head or heart.
John was not dressed in fine robes like the majority of the religious elites and he did not have an office and an entourage of supporters who followed him around the city, but patterned himself after the prophets of old. These prophets had done some pretty odd things in order to get their message across.
John lived the life of an ascetic; eating wild honey and locusts and wore clothing made from camel’s hair. Yech! And Itchy!
Now John did not invent baptism; and the Christian church does not have a patent on it. Other faith groups also baptize. In John’s ministry, baptism signified repentance or turning in a new direction. Baptism implied change. To receive John’s baptism was to turn your back on the ways of the world and follow in the light of his teaching. The teaching was not exactly new; it was in line with the message of the prophets; the way of their tradition. It was the way before the religion became domesticated and became too cosy with the establishment and equated power and \wealth with faithfulness.
So here he is, baptizing people who want to turn and embrace this new direction and commit to this new expressioon of the hope of the ages AND along comes Jesus and asks for baptism. Ironically, Jesus IS the hope John was speaking of. Jesus was the one for whom they had been waiting!
John seems to know, or sense, who he REALLY is. No not his own third cousin twice removed John, as another Gospel tells us, but who he REALLY is - “the Messiah’.
John had the strong conviction that it would be totally inappropriate for him to baptize Jesus - he should be the one doing the baptizing. Most of us have been taught that Jesus was perfect and lived a life without sin - and would not have needed to repent of anything. John certainly understood this at a deep level.
But perhaps Jesus thought that John was missing the point. Jesus prevailed, insisting that it was a necessary action, in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” In this passage, righteousness is focussed more on relationships made whole, rather than “individual moral conduct.” It was not, then, about anyone being sinful or perfect and then changed somehow by the baptism, but about making a connection, with a new community of those who sought this new way. In this baptism Jesus aligned himself with the teachings of John and those who had gone before him. He was placing himself in a long line of teaching - handed down to bring the people closer to God’s call and vision for them and for all of creation. In his baptism Jesus affirms his humanity and his connection with the people who had also been baptized by John and with the hopes expressed in the revelation of the traditions as John outlined them.
Then the heavens opened and God sat back and with a wide and proud smile clapped and said “wonderful”. Well, not really! But the affirmation comes. This man about to start a very public, very difficult, and as we shall see, potentially life risking mission; Jesus needed to hear the affirmation that he was on the right track. That is certainly part of the message that comes down from above this day.
Today is a day for us to reflect on our own baptism and on our call to participate in Christian community. In Christian community we are in solidarity with those who have a similar vision and mission. And its not really about avoiding sin, but about creating something along the lines of what God intended for creation.
As we explore what the way of Jesus is, which is, by the way, a lifelong quest, we do need to look at what it is not! Or at least we need to look at what it is “more than”. If all we can ever do is compile a list of our good attributes; of our “lack of sin”, then we have not accomplished much!
For example, if all I can say for myself is that I have never broken any of the ten commandments, then I have probably not accomplished very much at all!
The question should be, “in what ways have I sought to follow the call of the gospel, especially in ways that were beyond the normal expectations - of going to church on Sunday and supporting missions? How is taking on a new identity so much more than marching to the beat of a different drummer!
The true gospel has always been “counter cultural”. We need to ask, “In what ways have I turned my back on the culture in which I live and sought to (figuratively speaking) eat bugs and honey and put on that itchy and uncomfortable tunic, instead of all the comforts of this culture.”
For too long we have equated being a good citizen with being a good Christian. We vote, we pay taxes, we support the economy by buying stuff. These are all seen as good things but how do we live in the world in a different way because we follow the way of Jesus - that is the question? As we look at today’s other passage, from the book of Acts we see other hints about the kind of life that is to be sought. It is not a life defined by being part of a particular social class, or family, or economic bracket, or ethnic heritage; in fact it is about working to break down these divisions created by human beings. We are shown that God does not see such differences.
One of you told me about a child who discovered a classmate shared his birth-date so he asked his mother to buy a set of clothes just like his friend wore - to they could be twins. The mom bought the clothes and the kids became “twins” even though one was white and the other black! They young boys had not noticed! That is the kind of community to which we are called.
This community is defined by one’s commitment. It is not defined by things one can do nothing about but the things one can. It is defined by one’s own commitment to the way of Jesus, the way of the prophets, the way of God.
A few weeks ago we baptized 9 children (in Nipawin). The parents made promises to raise their children in the way of Jesus and we made promises to help them. That’s a vital part of our congregational commitment as a baptized and baptizing church. We are community. We welcome children and their parents, despite their questions, their “busyness” - and we welcome them not only as the FUTURE of the church but as the present of the church.
Yesterday Elieen and I conducted a funeral for Thelma Kelsey and a number of small children were there, behaving as small children should - and they reminded us all of the ways in which love and the family legacy are passed from one generation to another. A child is valued at each age and stage, not just as a grown up! The elderly are valued for their what they represent and offer in the present, not just the past/
We are called to ask ourselves the questions that are asked of those coming for baptism. Just as the parents answer the questions pf faith and commitment on behalf of the child, so the rest of can see a baptism as an opportunity to recommit ourselves.
We all grow and change as time passes. We see things differently; our experience changes us and we must periodically reevaluate what this commitment means. We also change at a different rate and in a different way than others - and that is OK.
One of the important things in the Christian life is that we continue to open ourselves to the “other”. There is no call in these passages for cutting ourselves off from others due to various kinds of differences - but we are to seek the companionship and mutual support of those who are on a similar path.
Just as God spoke and chaos changed into creation, our God speaks a word of life to us through Jesus. It is not a “keeping up with the Jonses” and getting rich kind of message but a message of solidarity with others who wish to follow in the way of Jesus. Let us commit ourselves to the journey of faith signified by our baptism.
Amen.
Isaiah 49: 1-7
Psalm 40
John 1: 29-42
It’s the stuff of strange tv series and movies. You are out in a deserted area and a flying saucer swoops down and lands nearby. The creature that walks down the gangplank looks somewhat human and amazingly, speaks English.
“Take me to your leader,” orders the alien.
Well, where would WE take this creature? The Mayor or Reeve’s office, or to see Scott Moe, or Justin Trudeau, or Julie Payette or would we write down the GPS coordinates for Buckingham Palace and let her staff figure it all out when the spaceship landed on her front lawn! Then again, HRH does not need any more surprises this month!
But what if that same alien came here to our worship service on Sunday morning and asked what we were doing. What would we say?
That’s an easy one, isn’t it? “We worship God. We follow the way of Jesus of Nazareth”. Does that sound like a good answer?
But what if the being then asks, “Who is Jesus? Why do you follow him?” What makes him so special? What would we say?
We could think back to the many sermons we have heard or the confirmation classes we took, however many years ago that was, or whatever Bible stories we could recall as we attempt to give an answer. Jesus was born in a barn, walked on water, welcomed little children, healed the sick, gave some pretty thoughtful sermons, challenged the religious elites and the status quo, and died on a cross and three days later, rose from the dead. Because of him we can have abundant and eternal life. Does that sound like a good summary?
Who was Jesus? Each of the gospels were written to answer that question but each writer approaches the subject differently. This resulted in three slightly different accounts and one very different account.
I think this little song comes from Sesame Street, and it’s usually accompanied by pictures, “one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong.” The pictures may be of three dogs and one baseball glove! If we put all 4 gospels in the “picture”, John’s gospel would win the prize of “most different” hands down!!!! However, long ago, when church leaders were deciding what books belonged in what we call the New Testament, John’s gospel made the cut. Despite the differences it was still seen to contain truth and be seen as inspired. John’s gospel is the “most different” but the wise ones who put the lectionary together decided that what he had to say was worth listening to.
This is the season of Epiphany - a season most often associated with light; particularly, light in the midst of darkness. This is the darkest (AND COLDEST) season of the year in the northern hemisphere, BUT the light is returning. Bit by bit we will have more daylight, at one end of the day, or the other (I can never remember how it goes). If you don’t like the dark, this season gives us hope that the darkness will not win, either literally or figurativelly.
One of the unspoken messages of Epiphany is that if we want to know who Jesus is and what he came to do, Christmas in and of itself is not enough! We need to know more than the Christmas story. We need Epiphany which sheds much more light on the identity and purpose of that “babe of Bethlehem”. The Christmas story tells us that he was born as a human child (with some obvious differences) and in a particular time and place. Like many modern refugee families his birth and early life was fraught with danger, and his survival depended on the faithfulness and courage of his parents and strangers.
It is Epiphany thought that shows us who and what he becomes when he grows up. Epiphany shines a light on what that really means. Today, as he begins his ministry, the weird prophet, John, the Baptizer, who has been telling of his expected arrival, points him out to his own disciples.
Why is this particular story important for us? Well, first, as the story goes, Jesus needs someone who recognizes his true identity to point that out to others. As the word begins to spread, he then needs people he can lead and guide and teach.
From the very first the way of Jesus is not primarily a message that one reads about but one which is passed on by word of mouth and by one’s own personal experience. It is a message that begins in honest questioning and is furthered by personal invitation - “where are you staying” is answered by “come and see” and is fulfilled by getting to know the mission, the message and the preacher! They see and then they believe.
In John’s gospel the crucial first character in the “relay race of spreading the Gospel” is John the baptizer. Perhaps I should remind you that the John who wrote the Gospel that bears his name is not the same person as John the Baptizer. Having the same first name is pure coincidence.
One of the terms that has been used a lot in the recent past in church circles was “seekers”; or those who come to church looking for some insight and understanding of the Christian way but are new to Christian church and Christian worship. The idea of this is that the worship experience and faith instruction needs to be very much guided toward answering the questions of who Jesus is and what our worship life and community is all about. Some churches will have “seekers services”. For those of us who have been coming to church - this church or another one, all of our lives, sometimes we don’t even realize that some folks don’t even know where to begin.
They come because a friend invited them and said that something special or meaningful happened there.
They have been told that something special happens in the midst of those people,
or they had good food once a month!
Most of all, I believe, people who come to church looking for belonging, meaning and community, need to know they are welcome!
Whether we like it or not we are often the place where newcomers or true seekers come to find out what the Christian faith is about - and it stands or falls based on our sincerity, integrity and authenticity. We need to always be on our toes - always the best we can at what we believe ourselves called to do. When people “come to see” here in this congregation, what do they experience? When they see us the other 6 days of the week do they see the same people or something that looks like it doesn’t belong?
How do we welcome other kinds of newcomers? I recall a couple who immigrated to the Maritimes (sorry Wayne, I have to mention the Maritimes again !!!!) from a European country and their English was quite fine but not fluent at the speed most of us spoke. They had already been regular church goers and were comfortable with the general flow of a Protestant worship service. It tool a lot of attention on their part to follow the service but they had young and busy children. They required some amount of “attention” during the service and we did not have a nursery. So we found some “in service” child care so that they did not have to keep both eyes on their young children and could focus on the sermon and the rest of the service.
The other thing I remember about helping them to feel truly welcome was a request to write the Lord’s prayer out in English so they could read close to the speed we said it. I knew they said it as a family at home, every day, but in their native tongue. This family was able to “come and see” who we were and they became a regular and valued part of the congregation.
Another man told me that when he arrived in Canada for graduate studies he decided to go to church and picked a large, old, cathedral style building with a massive pipe organ and seating for over 1,000. BUT an usher who looked a little like an old fashioned funeral director told him to move when the “regular occupants” of his seat arrived to claim their spot. There were literally hundreds of empty seats nearby. It was not a welcoming experience. I don’t believe he went back but he was dedicated enough to go to another church; some may not have.
In this passage we see the initial group of “seekers” grow as the message about Jesus passes on and multiplies. One finds out and tells another! Each one is invited to see for themselves and make up their own minds. Then those two tell several more, and so on!
One of the things that is characteristic of the United Church is our embrace of diversity. Many churches have the words “all welcome” on the sign but when you look around the sanctuary on a regular Sunday it appears that most of the folks there are pretty much the same. The trick is to work to becoming as diverse as the surrounding community.
One of our characteristics is diversity of faith. Some criticize us for having low standards - or none at all, but I prefer to see it as a radical welcome of those who have sought and struggle for authentic faith. I don’t believe that we should park our intellect at the door when we come to church.
Each of us needs to ask the question, “Who is Jesus for me?” and then decide how we tell others. We need to also decide how we live out our faith.
There is a lot to be said for us to be be the “hands and feet of Christ”. We are the people who carry on his mission, of healing, loving, feeding, teaching, embodying.
Someone once said that evangelism was nothing more than one beggar telling another beggar where they have found bread - but we sometimes need to give them real bread, and cereal and pasta and soup and a warm welcome on a cold day,
In Epiphany we are invited to encounter and to proclaim that God is manifest in the human being, Jesus of Nazareth. We are called to proclaim in word and action that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Amen
I Corinthians 1: 10-18
Psalm 27
Matthew 4: 12-23
American Comedian Emo Philips tells this joke - I will warn you that he and his jokes are kind of “out there”. Philips has a very odd voice which, I think, is a big part of the comic effect.
The joke goes like this: “I was in San Francisco once walking along the Golden Gate Bridge and I saw this guy on the bridge about to jump.”
He said, “nobody loves me.”
I said, “God loves you, you silly ninny”
He said, “I do believe in God”.
I said, “are you a Christian or a Jew?”
He said, “Christian”
I said, “me too, are you a Protestant or a Catholic”?
He said, “Protestant.”
I said, “me too, what franchise?”
He says, “Baptist”.
I said, “me too, what kind, Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist.”
He said, “Northern Baptist”
I said, “me too. Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist”
“Me too. Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reform Baptist”?
“Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist” he said.
“Me too. Are you Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region”?
“Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region.”
“Me too. Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
I said, “Die heretic! And I pushed him off the bridge”.
Somewhere on the United Church website is a chart showing the various unions that took place in Canada prior to the “main” one which created our denomination in 1925. We sometimes forget that we have also accepted a number of individual congregations into the United Church since that and have also united with another denomination the Evangelical United Brethern. We are also in full communion with the United Church of Christ, USA! We profess to be a United and Uniting church! The sparse population and vast expanses of the Canadian prairie were one of the factors that drove the Union movement. In many towns and cities though, at least in Central Canada and the Maritimes, the number of churches stayed the same with nothing changing but the sign on the front of the building. In one place in which I lived a number of years ago the United Church ended up with 2 church buildings and 2 manses and the small group who wished to remain Presbyterian had to buy the building in which they used to worship from the United Church! The United Church kept all the minute books and marriage, baptism and funeral records, much to the chagrin of at least one older member of the Presbyterian Church who was still alive when I worked there. Well, more than half the congregation had gone into Union! By the 1990s though I gladly loaned them the books they wanted whenever they asked.
By contrast, the United Church congregation I call, “my home church” had to build a new building as the people who wished to remain Presbyterian got to keep their building and stay Presbyterian. My family did not arrive in the area until a few years later.
For a town the size of Nipawin, we seem to have more churches than I have ever seen anywhere else! I really don’t know what makes the Holiness Church different from the Alliance Church, or from the Apostolic Church. I do have a clearer idea of what makes the mainline churches, the Seventh Day Adventists and the Orthodox church different from one another!
Based on the passage from the Letter to the Corinthians, we COULD have a great time poking fun at the “other Churches” for all the fractions and splits that have happened over the years, but I don’t think the Bible is meant to be used in that way. I have said before, though maybe not from this pulpit, that the Bible is meant to be used as a mirror, not as a weapon. We should look into the text to find guidance for our lives, not ammunition for a fight or just to prove why “we” are right and “they” are wrong.
If we think division in a faith community is new, we simply have to read this passage to realize that’s not true and it never was. The disciples had their share of division while they were still with Jesus and the leaders of the early church were divided over some fairly fundamental issues, from the get go! Some of these disputes are the basis of several New Testament epistles.
When I wrote draft one of this sermon I included information about various disputes that happened when I served particular churches but the world is becoming smaller and with my sermons now on the internet, I can’t. I can’t really even talk about the congregation that was embroiled in controversy when the elders decided to purchase an organ to accompany the singing, at some time in the 19th century. I gather that such disputes were common. Prior to that, the church, in the Free Presbyterian tradition, had nothing but the human voice (and a brief note given on a pitch pipe) to guide their praise. I believe that the Free Church of Scotland, a denomination that exists in the Maritimes still sings unaccompanied! I feel we are very blessed (here) in Nipawin to have four talented musicians. (On my second internship, the Upsalqiuitch congregation sang unaccompanied! Let me tell you, it was painful!
Looking at the passage from the letter to the church in Corinth, what was this first century dispute about? The colour of the carpet? The replacement of pews? Or, new stained glass windows? The disposal of a now tattered memorial? A new hymn book? The order of service? NO! It seems that it was about divisions created by differing loyalties to different leaders within the church - the ones named Paul, Apollos, Cephas AND Christ. Cephas is another name for the Peter, also called Simon, who had been one of the original 12 disciples.
We aren’t really sure who the mysterious Chloe was but it seems clear that the controversy was disturbing to her - or at least to her household! (She may have been a wealthy Christian with a large household or a pagan woman who had many slaves and servants who were Christian but she herself was not!) The issue seems to be that “her people” saw that the cliques that had developed were distracting the people from the proclamation of Christ. One group may have been pitted against another and which group won the day became more important than the gospel itself.
Sometimes I will encounter someone who disagrees with something I have said and they cite the words of a former beloved minister to prove to me that I must be wrong! Hasn’t happened here yet though.
Word has gotten back to Paul and he is distressed. It seems that some people were siding with the church leader who had baptized them and Paul expresses his gratitude that he did not baptize many people. There are three church leaders cited and then Christ, himself. Paul argues that the people should be lining up behind Jesus and not another leader.
No doubt each group in Corinth is convinced that they are right and the others are wrong. But, according to Paul, being right is not enough. If there is no love then even being right can damage the gospel.
We live in a very divisive age and church people disagree with one another on a myriad of topics from worship style, to the role of scripture, to abortion, to sexual orientation to the frequency of communion, to the church budget.
This is NOT a plea against difference and variety among denominations or within a particular congregation, but a plea to keep in mind that we should have a unified focus. If we can longer be a community of faith because of our differences, then we have missed the point and something is seriously wrong!
If one’s goal is to the he biggest or most popular or seen as the “most right” then, says Paul, we have robbed the gospel of it’s power.
We must remember that the church came to birth in the context of the Roman Empire, which was all about power and domination and force. Crucifixion was a method of public execution whereby the “criminal” was shown to be “nothing” and “nobody”. By their very execution in pain and in public humiliation, the crucified were proven to be wrong, to be defeated, to be NOTHING. In the past the lynchings of people of colour in the USA or the treatment of some of our First Nations people had the same effect - to “name” as less than human - to dehumanize.
To proclaim “Christ Crucified” was to proclaim that the power of God could take even that extreme example of defeat and turn it into victory. To get mired in petty disputes which detracted from the central proclamation of the power of God to bring LIFE from weakness and defeat robbed the gospel of it’s power. The gospel was always counter cultural; it was a call to take a second look at what seemed like defeat and realize the Christ community operated according to a different standard.
I suppose the essence of the Christ following community is that, “being dominant or holding the dominant opinion is not a path to greatness, or should not be. We are a people who live in an inverted, topsy tervy world where greatness is found in defeat and our strength comes not from ourselves but from the God who can turn defeat into victory, sadness into joy and death into life.
Amen.
Micah 6: 1-8
Psalm 15
1 Corinthians 1: 18-31
Matthew 5: 1-12
One of the more interesting programs I listen to on CBC radio is “Under the Influence”. I believe it used to be called, “Age of Persuasion”. The topic is: advertising. Unfortunately I am usually on the move when it’s on and don’t get to hear the whole thing!
Sometimes we look at an ad on tv and wonder, “who, how and why did they think that would work to sell such and such a product?” Ads convey the “buy me” message in various ways - Usually, it’s “This product works the best”. Or with ABC laundry detergent it used to be, “This one works as well as any and it’s cheaper”. Or, “This one smells good”. I don’t go for that at all. I think all laundry detergent should be unscented! I say I wash my clothes because they smell, not to MAKE them smell. Or you know the commercial for the medicine, “This one tastes bad but - it works”. Or, “This one will delight your cat”. “This one will make your kids think you are the best mom ever!” Or, “This car will make you a babe magnet.” Or, “This SUV will make you wish winter lasted all year!” Dream on!!!!) Of course some of the assumptions in ads are subtle and unspoken. Many years ago my doctor told me that a certain soap, advertised as “pure,” should have really said, “pure lye” because it was very hard on the skin!
About 20 years ago there was an ad on TV, patterned after the “Hinterland, Who’s Who” series of ads but instead of this one being about the “Canada Goose”, the “Common Loon” or the “Beaver” it was about the “House Hippo”. At the end you realized it was really an ad about thinking for yourself about ads you see. To be clear: no tiny hippopotamuses have ever been discovered living in Canadian homes! (At least as far as we know) “If an ad seems too good to be true, it probably is!” “If an ad just does not seem right, do your research; there may well be something stretching of the truth or outright lies in it.”
When we go recruiting for volunteer positions in the church we have a tendency to downplay the amount of time and meetings involved and sometimes only spring it on the unsuspecting candidate when they have said, “yes” and committed, and after the first meeting we say, “oh, by the way there is also this, and this....!” Perhaps we fear that no one will commit unless the time involved is downplayed. What we actually do with this approach is to train people to say no because they “know” somehow, there is always more than they are first told!
But there are many things in life that are like that. I can think of the two big steps taken by many people - marriage and having children! Some relationships don’t survive the “surprises!” Becoming a person of faith is often like that too. We begin a journey of faith and then we may well discover that there is more to it than we thought; and I’m not talking about involvement in a committee in a faith community.
I’ve been talking for the last few weeks about the topsy turvy nature of the gospel and how it is counter-cultural and often counter-intuitive. The gospel presents a way of living that does not work the way the world seems to and turns common assumptions upside down and inside out. How else could we believe that it is in giving that we receive, in giving up that we find and in dying that we are born to abundant life.
The life of faith is complicated by the fact that the biblical record does sometimes present conflicting viewpoints and different faith communities have very different points of view, and we have to discern for ourselves what seems right and true to us.
In each of today’s passages we see (or hear) words that challenge the way things are normally thought of or done.
In the very early years of the church, being a Christ follower was actually illegal. Christians had to meet in secret and were in danger of bring imprisoned and put to death. All that changed with the conversion of the Emperor in the 4th century. Today we live in what some church people have long been calling, “Post Christian Times”. What they mean is that we are “post Christendom” - we can longer expect society or the state to promote or support our values. While we could argue that the Christianity of the past 17 or so centuries made a lot of compromises, at this time we have the opportunity to live authentic Christian lives if we are willing to “stand out” from the crowd and march to the beat of a different drummer.
As 21st Century people we look at the Beatitudes and we see and hear what can certainly be seen as a counter intuitive message. Our society feeds us this message: “Cursed are the poor because they have more illnesses, die young, and live in run down housing.” We know, “Cursed are those who live in search for justice because they will always be searching and suffering.” We know, “Cursed are those who forgive others because they will always be taken advantage of.”
We know that the Beatitudes are NOT the way the world works! Yet there they are, at the centre of Jesus’ teaching! We have on page after page, of the scriptures, a proclamation that asserts that this way of Jesus is the way to LIFE and happiness and true fulfilment.
Those of us who are willing to take the risk know it to be a message of power and life; we know it to literally be our salvation. It is our route to fulfilment and fullness of life.
The prophet Micah was working in a milieu where the other religions practised child sacrifice and the Jewish laws also outlined what sort of sacrifice atoned for which sin, and some people might have thought that if one bull calf sacrificed was good, it would be MUCH BETTER to sacrifice three lor four. If a gallon of olive oil was required why not give a whole 45 gallon drum of the stuff! Somehow in Micah’s day things became skewed and unbalanced and Micah wrote to remind them of something that was not really new, but they had forgotten and needed to hear : God does not want over the top shows of piety, but God wants the simple stuff, the stuff that’s actually harder, but matters more.
do justice -
love kindness -
walk humbly with God.
It is in our day to day lives that we are given both the need and the opportunity to do those small and large things that are just and kind.
I was talking to another professional a few months ago and he said, “I’ve discovered a long time ago that doing the right thing is always the best way to live”. We don’t have to worry about our slate of pluses and minuses - or what some refer to as “brownie points” or “stars in our crowns” - but simply live in justice, kindness and humility and you will find blessing. Don’t ask, “What’s in it for me?” but ask, “how can I be a blessing?” We might not end up being the richest but we will be blessed. People might think us naive or odd but we will be blessed. REALLY.
True humility means that we realize that we live by grace and that it is in all those counter intuitive truths of the Gospel that we can find life.
So as we enter the second month of another calendar year let us remind ourselves that we march to the beat of a different drummer and lets join the topsy turvy, counter intuitive parade of Jesus of Nazareth.
Amen.
Isaiah 58: 1-9a
Psalm 112
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Matthew 5: 13-20
Ever since human beings learned how to fly and then to use airplanes and zeppelins for warfare, cities had to learn how to protect themselves from night-time air raids. Planes would fly over a city under the cover of darkness and drop their bombs. It was thought that a city would be harder to find if there were no visible lights. One of the ways by which cities would try to protect themselves was by enforced blackouts - turning down or off street lamps, dimming lights on cars and by requiring blackout curtains on all residences and businesses. I’m told the authorities knew it really didn’t work that well but it created bonds and gave the people a common project.
On one tv program I watched, many years ago, which was set in wartime, the US president of the time said to one of his household staff, who was struggling to sew a seam in a set of heavy blackout curtains, “I don’t know why we bother with those curtains is this house - they don’t call this the WHITE HOUSE for nothing! The President felt it was useless to cover just the windows! Only a really tremendous tarp would hide that building and while they were at it, the capitol building would also need a similar treatment! Perhaps the current President would have better ideas!!!!
Of course, trying to hide a modern city at night is next to impossible. In the era of GPS, enemies have much more efficient ways of finding one another. In ancient times though, artificial light came from lamps and candles and even a small light would be very important.
These days, salt is cheap, relatively speaking, and plentiful. I am talking about that brick sized box of salt with the little pull out metal spout that most of us have in our kitchen cupboard or the bag of much more coarse salt some of you used last fall when you were pickling the bounty from your garden. I have never heard of a salt shortage nor a spike in salt prices. A few years ago the price of regular flour shot up but I don’t think salt was affected. You don’t need much for baked goods but you do need some!
However, regular salt is kind of boring! It is so boring that people will go out of their way to spend more money on other kinds, better kinds, or just prettier ones! Are you tired of iodized free running table salt?, try Himalayan Pink salt or sea salt or kosher salt or salt guaranteed to be organic and gluten free or smoked salt and then buy a nice acrylic grinder that you can adjust and you are all set! Boredom averted. My dad thought salt and pepper grinders took too much effort when he was hungry! He just wanted to eat!
Salt has other uses. In somewhat warmer climates than ours, road salt keeps the traffic moving and rusts cars much faster than happens here and Epsom salts are frequently used for their healing and soothing properties. In the era before freezers, salt was an important way to preserve meat and fish. I remember my mother curing meat the “old fashioned way” not because she had to, but because she wanted to keep up one of the things her mother taught her. And I guess my dad liked the end results too. We did have at least one large freezer in our dining room as far back as I can remember and periodically it was filled with the meat from an entire hog or steer or a dozen or more chickens.
Prior to freezers meat had to be salted, or put in canning jars! Or you lived in a city you just bought what you needed and the store worried about keeping it from spoiling.
In our day to day lives, salt is one of those things that is most useful in small quantities! You don’t need much but you sure notice if it is not there! My mom made oatmeal porridge from scratch about 6 days a week when I was growing up. Occasionally she would forget the salt and we would complain. She would then comment that we never said anything the other 300 or so days a year she did remember the salt!
Back when she was the moderator of the United Church, Lois Wilson once said to a gathering of which I was a part, “we are called to be the salt of the earth, not the whole stew”. Hmmm. My dad once told a story about the time his mother put a whole cup of salt, not in a stew, but in a cake, mistaking it for a cup of sugar. Just before she put the pan in the oven - she tasted the batter. Instead of putting it in the oven, it went to the pigs! Back then you could feed pigs almost anything and they would eat it!
In Jesus day salt was expensive. The term salary comes from the word for salt. If you have ever heard the expression about someone not being worth their salt - it comes from ancient times when people were paid in salt! I guess they traded it for things they needed or used it like we use money.
Dieticians tell us that we have too much salt in our diets - and it’s problematic component “sodium” is in practically everything!
One of the best known acts of protest that began the American Revolution is known as the “Boston Tea Party” - a protest against British control of things like the tea trade. Tea was such an important staple in the lives of the early colonists they reacted by dumpong tons of tea in the harbour.
A major factor in Indian desire for independence was the British control of salt. One of the movements in which Mohandas K Gandhi was involved was a march to the sea where they broke the law by symbolically making their own salt - saying they wanted to have control over their own country and lives.
In today’s gospel passage the key images are salt and light. One of the things that is important in biblical study is to pay attention to the verbs. Jesus did not say “you are like salt, you are like light,” but he said, “You ARE light; you ARE salt”.
So with all we know about salt and light and their characteristics what does this mean for us as individuals and as a community of faith?
For a few years Wood Lake Books in BC published a preachers magazine. Every week there was a commentary and some illustrations on the passages for the week. For a few years there was a minister who was also a cartoonist who would draw a “funny take” on one of the passages. Keep in mind that all light in Jesus day came from burning something - a wick in a lamp or candle - so for this passage the cartoonist imagined putting a wicker basket over a lamp - the warning about hiding your light under a basket then came with a warning about setting baskets on fire.
It seems to me that both light and salt are created or used at the expense of something; neither are “free”. What I mean is that they are like the seed we plant in the garden. We don’t get the seed back when we harvest the wheat or the lettuce or carrots. The candle burns down; the oil lamp consumes the oil; there is no other option. (We must not forget the modern options consume electricity or battery power.) In the creation of light something must be expended. In putting salt in your biscuits or the gravy for your roast beast, the salt cannot be recovered and put back in the salt shaker, it’s gone, but it has done its job.
There is meant to be a cost to discipleship; a cost to being a person of faith. Even if it is just a cost in our time - something we can never get back - being a person or community of faith has a price.
Being a person of faith is a precious venture a valuable and worthwhile way to spend our time - our lives. When we look at the activities of our lives or our community we need to ask if we have spent our true saltiness or if we have just spent that which is old and stale and useless?
I don’t know many teens whose bedrooms are not filled with posters. Many teens cover their walls with the pictures of the latest heartthrob! Or a poster from, “the best movie ever”. When I was in university some students displayed the flag they had to climb the pole to steal! I had lots of posters on my walls in university - and they tended to have sayings on them that were meaningful to me at the time.
A friend of mine had a poster which asked the question, “if being a Christian was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
The point of being Christian and shining our light or shaking out our salt is to make a difference in the lives or the world of those around us.
The chaplain of a prestigious American university received a call from an irate parent one day. Because of her involvement in the chapel program she had decided to join to join an international development agency after graduation and work with the poor instead of taking the prestigious job her father had lined up for her. The father clearly blamed the chaplain for ruining his plans for his daughter! The chaplain responded, “Wait, I know your daughter well, she was involved in her church all of her life, wasn’t she? Didn’t YOU have her baptized and take her to church and youth group and encourage her to be confirmed? That wasn’t me; you sent her to me that way.”
The man sputtered, “Well, Yes, we did do that but we didn’t want her to take it that seriously.” the essence of the story is attributed to Will Willamon then at Duke University
Of course people can make a Christian witness while engaged in other professions, but that is what this young woman chose to do for a time.
We are called to BE salt and light, to flavour life with gospel truth - that in Jesus there is abundant life and to point the way for others to the truths that we have found and make our lives whole.
Amen.
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
Psalm 119
Matthew 5: 21-37
Many years ago, when I was confirmed, I joined a class from another congregation on our pastoral charge as there were only a couple from our smaller congregation who wanted to, “join the church” as we used to say!
When it came to actually being confirmed, the minister decided to schedule our confirmation for a Sunday he was at another of the churches and a guest minister, I had never previously met, performed the service. I wasn’t particularly happy that the minister thought he had better things to do than confirm us, but that’s another story!
I do remember though, the guest’s children’s story for that day and my much younger sister also remembers the story and his name - and it was close to 42 YEARS ago! (I called her Friday morning just to ask her if she remembered!) I’m not sure what his point was supposed to be- but he took out a cookie and a spray can whose hand-made label said, “whipping cream”. He loaded the cookie with fluffy white stuff and offered it to the children present. NONE of them would take a bite. Then he took the label off of the can. It turns out that what he had put on the cookie was actually shaving cream! A big bite of cookie and a mouthful of shaving cream would have been a most unwelcome surprise; I’m not sure he would actually have let a child take a bite! I hope not! I can’t imagine how that would taste! You men?
The next time I encountered this minister he had retired and I was being covenanted in a new pastoral charge and presbytery. He had not remembered me but he did vaguely recall the confirmation!
I’m sure we have all had the experience of ordering something in a restaurant and when it came we found that it did not live up to our expectations! We may also have had the experience of being offered a choice, “fries or salad” and we may have had to choose between what we really wanted and what we thought we SHOULD eat! University students eating in a cafeteria, three meals a day, have to decide if the novelty of so many unhealthy choices will give way to a more balanced approach or not.
We in Canada have so many food choices to make each and every day: fries or mashed; small, medium, large, or super-size; organic or regular, and now, meat or beyond meat! And when we carry it home: a box, our own bag or one that costs 5 cents. If we live in town, we can choose to drive to the store or walk, or do without till next time we are going. A -35C wind-chill sometimes makes that decision for us!
In today’s passage from the book of Deuteronomy we have the final part of Moses’ farewell sermon. He knows he will not actually be accompanying them across the Jordan, into the land of promise, and he has one final thing to tell them - actually he has 26 chapters of “final advice, admonition and instruction.” (And you may have thought that I have long sermons) No doubt based on his experience of leading the people for their entire 40 year journey in the wilderness, he had final thoughts, continuing worries! He obviously knows them too well!
If we remember those wilderness stories we too know they were impatient, often VERY impatient. We remember that they often complained - about almost everything! They complained about a monotonous diet and then when they had meat they sickened themselves on it. He knew they often ignored what to him was obviously life giving and made “stupid” choices instead! He knew they did not really learn from their experience. So, I guess, these last words are offered to the people as a “one more time” effort to offer guidance and direction. Based on the principle of “end stress” he may have thought his “dying words” would finally “stick”.
The basic message is simply, “choose life!” Choose to follow God’s covenant and receive life; ignore it and be given death. In a way, it does not seem like much of a choice!
“But”, we might ask, “Why would they choose anything else? Who would choose, “death”? The fact is, the people had done it already, and we do, ALL THE TIME. Why would we chose death, you might ask?
As I was doing some background reading for this sermon, I read somewhere, “Death is a slow process of giving ourselves to what does not matter.” Brett Younger, Feasting on the Word commentary,
When I was first out on my own I made a list of things I had to “save up” for and I think I now have everything on that list. Some of it is the second or third replacement of that first thing, long since worn out! I say though that those “things”did not make me happier! I’m glad I have a nice “biggish” colour tv mounted on the wall BUT it does not make me happy. It’s the same with most of my purchases. They are great for awhile but then they are just “part of the furniture”.
The people to whom Moses was speaking seemed to lose perspective and pinned their happiness on things that were fleeting and not lasting or truly meaningful. Moses believed with his very being that following in the ways of God was the way to true happiness and fullness of life. Too often, in the preceding 40 years, the people wanted the easy fix, the short cut, and often choose other, seemingly more attractive ways. The history of the people would continue making poor choices and suffered the consequences.
When faced with stark choices between life and death (and really how more stark could the choice be) one of the temptations with people of faith is to become legalistic, especially when we encounter passages such as the one from the Gospel of Matthew for today. Choosing life becomes following a list of do’s and don’t’s without really taking the time to discern what Jesus meant when he spoke those words. To what was he challenging his hearers and to what does he challenge us?
Our modern ears tend to fix on the prohibition against divorce but the passage speaks of authentic worship, of lying and murder. It raises the bar on these “sins” and says it is really about anger, lust, and conflict.
The prohibition against divorce seems to stand out as a black and white rule with only one exception - infidelity. We could take it as it stands, with a “Jesus said so” attitude!
But, first, we need to do a little bit of research before we apply it to our lives in 2020 as if we lived in the same situation as Jesus’ hearers. That is when it becomes trickier! In that day the men held all the cards and I am told that the grounds for divorce on a man’s part were myriad but on the woman’s part, practically non-existent. What a divorce did to a woman was to leave her destitute since women had few or no employment options. Many commentators agree that this passage protects women against men who saw their wives as little more than property to be disposed of whenever they grew tired, bored or became more attracted to someone else.
Yet the passage from Matthew is also about reconciliation and integrity and raises all of our legalisms to a higher level, a level that eliminates “loopholes” and forces us to take the higher standard as the most important and serious things we do and are.
It is important to note that the liturgical act that could only be performed in integrity, if one was reconciled, is an act that most closely approximates our Eucharist or what we tend to call “Holy Communion”. Jesus counsels the people to reconcile those with whom they are in conflict before coming to the altar and making a sacrifice. They had to actually live up to the forgiveness they were seeking.
We live in a broken world and part of what reconciliation involves in this time and place involves building bridges between the various parts of our community. How can we be on good terms with the poor and hungry if we don’t make some effort to help them with their greatest need? On Friday (the folks in Nipawin) (we) opened (their) (our) doors and our chili-pots to anyone who wanted a hot meal, without regard to the ability to pay. We have at the front of our churches a number of boxes of cereal and other breakfast items for the children in our school system who come without the nutrition needed for learning. But I believe this is only a beginning; we need to ask what true reconciliation looks like in 21st Century Canada? It is related to how we care for the poor.
Most of us are people who enjoy a fair degree of privilege and we often make our voting choices or our voting demands with our own needs in mind. What will this party or that party give me and my friends. What if we also looked at the beeds of the broader community and voted for policies that promoted a better deal for others as well?
I don’t think there are any convicted murderers here but I doubt we are all innocent of anger - it’s one of those “raising the bar” kind of things in today’s gospel. What is it that leads to anger and what does our anger lead us to do and think about “the other”?
One of the marks of the United Church is the radical welcome we have extended to people in our communities - people who have to come to terms with the ways in which choosing “life” has put them on the outside of some church families.
We need to look at this and other passages for principles that do not fall into legalisms and raise the bar, as it were, to a higher level.
Relationships and people are not disposable We need to take our call to love others seriously and not let our indifference, anger or outright hatred get in the way.
An easier example of “raising the bar” might be the question of what constitutes stealing. I take a book or a piece of music that does not belong to me - that is stealing. We would agree. What if I photocopied it and then brought it back? Well, now I’m stealing from the person who wrote the original work and the publisher and not the one who owned that particular copy! You see, it gets tricky and raises the conversation to a higher level.
Too often when we “limit” our conversation to the ground level we devolve into legalism and we forget that there can easily be circumstances where other choices are the right ones.
When it comes to issues of sexual orientation and divorce we have to be careful not to apply first century science, to realities that are very complex. We are called to sit together in fellowship and seek understanding before we react with anger, or rejection or a holier than thou attitude.
We are often called to cross into new territory and to enter new lands. May we have the grace and the openness to choose life.
Amen.
Exodus 24: 12-18
Psalm 2 or 99
Matthew 17: 1-9
I was looking at a road map for an unfamiliar area one day and I asked someone who knew the area why the road was so convoluted and full of turns and twists. I asked, “Why didn’t they just build it in a straight line?” It was explained that they were “switchbacks”, designed so the cars could ascend or descent the mountain. I did not know the area was that “mountainous”. Up till that point the only “Switchback” I had ever heard of was a tv show for kids and young teens. I had come from PEI where mountainous terrain does not exist; we would just go straight over whatever hill was in our way - the highest of which is only 140 metres above sea level. On the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, by contrast, the highest point is 400 metres higher. The highest elevation on the so-called “North Mountain” which forms the northern border of the Annapolis Valley where I lived until last May is 235 metres. I think the roads over the mountains in Nova Scotia all have some sort of switchbacks! Perhaps that’s how Saskatchewan travellers get through the Cypress Hills! Anyone up for a road trip?
Road builders and hikers know that going over a mountain is easier of you slowly go around rather than straight up; that’s just how the human body (and the internal combustion engine) work. We don’t know what route Moses and his friends or Jesus and the disciples took to get up to the top of the mountains named in today’s passages but, they may have taken a more indirect route - than a “straight line”. I think we can safely say it was not a leisurely afternoon stroll though it did not likely involve ropes and ice picks and the kind of stuff folks use to climb up places like Mount Everest! We are told of the seemingly endless days of travelling and of waiting.
Since the beginning of civilization mountains were seen as mysterious and dangerous places. They were, “places where the gods lived;” someone seeking God would go up the mountain orm to a wilderness place to get get away from regular life and thus, “closer to God”
Some writers have called such locations, “thin places”; places where it seems easier to encounter “the holy.” Today’s passages are located in several special “thin” places.
Two of the things you will hear me talk about frequently are the Christian year and the lectionary and the journey of faith that is connected symbolically to this cycle of life and faith and scripture texts. One of the problems with these two is that they sometimes seem disjointed, when they “jump around” and don’t follow a completely logical path.
After the birth of Jesus we enter the season of Epiphany with the symbol of “light” helping to guide us into deciding who Jesus is. The season of Epiphany is coming to an end once again!
Today we receive definitive answers to the question of Jesus identity. The Gospel story seems to tell us that Jesus is the fulfilment of both the law and the prophets. We are told that Jesus is God’s beloved child.
We need to know this because next week we will enter the season of Lent, a journey of that leads to the cross. We will be asked, time and again in Lent, “Can we really follow this Jesus and be the kind of people he asks us to be?”
We Protestants don’t have a generations old experience of Lent in the same way our Roman Catholic friends and neighbours do, but since many United Church clergy began receiving a more ecumenical education we have been trained in these cycles. Coupled with this, the “mainline” Protestant and Roman Catholic churches began to grow and change in such a way as to move toward each other. It’s what has been called “ecumenical convergence”. Except for specifically United Church courses, I took all my classes from professors of various denominations! I think it’s a unique school in that way!
The Whole People of God Sunday School curriculum began to bring the liturgical year into the United Church’s education and worship life - it’s hard to believe that was around 30 years ago, at least in the Maritimes. I think it was actually introduced out here a few years earlier.
So here we are, on a mountaintop with Jesus and Moses and Elijah.
It is very significant that the two men who appeared with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. Their status in the Hebrew tradition was very high. Elijah was also unique in that he did not “die” but, according to the scriptures, was carried off in a whirlwind, accompanied by a chariot of fire. Moses, after 40 years of service to God as the leader of his people was shown the promised land but told he could not enter it. When he did not return from that trip into the wilderness his death was certain but the tradition simply stated that his grave was unknown. There was a strong belief in Jesus’ day that the return of these two long gone prophets, who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, was a sign that the Messiah was about to come and God was about to do something spectacular.
The Gospels tell us that this is a spectacular day! Here we are with Moses, Elijah AND Jesus: all three together. Here we are, listening to a heavenly voice proclaiming Jesus as God’s beloved.
So now that we know - we are left with a question - do we have the stamina for what comes next. Do we have the stamina for the season of Lent: the hard part of the Christian journey.
Just prior to this event in the gospels is Peter’s confusion and confession that Jesus is the Messiah. Now, Peter and the others must decide if they can put this insight into action when they find out it involves more than they ever imagined.
Initially he expresses a desire to stay there, in the holy moment and preserve it - that’s how many people take his offer to build tents or shelters for all three of them!
But he cant stay there! We can’t stay there. We must live in the real world; we must live out our faith in our school, our workplace, our homes, our volunteer organization, our day to day lives.
What conclusions do we draw as we prepare to enter the seasons of Lent. One unavoidable conclusion is that we cannot be truly Christian without realizing that discipleship has a cost. The Christian journey is not about what we can gain, but what we can give.
When we have struggled to the top of the mountain and have seen a clear vista before us - we must return to our lives and live where we do in the light of this insight.
I recall very vividly visiting a new mom in the hospital. When I went into her room she was sitting in bed with her new baby in her lap - just staring at the baby with this look of wonder and awe on her face. She was utterly captivated by her baby daughter. Yet, in a day or two she and her partner would be knee deep in round the clock care: feeding, diapering, caring for this totally helpless human they had brought into the world. Perhaps it is this initial bonding that gives a parent the strength for those rough early years and mostly with a smile and the belief their children are “growing too fast!” Maybe those of you who are parents can tell me.
Sometimes in life our struggles come from arriving at the place where we thought we wanted to be and discovering it was not what we thought it would be like. Part of our journey in life and faith involves coming to terms with that.
Sometimes we must take a circuitous route up and down and around our mountains of faith; only by such switchbacks will we make it.
Yesterday I heard news that threw me for a loop, left me gob-smacked, at a loss for words, angry, hurt and wondering if there are any truly good people in the world. I was left wondering of one of my spiritual heroes had ever said anything that I could still trust and believe. Since my late teenage years I have been captivated by the personality, personal grace and work of Canadian, Jean Vanier. Raised the son of privilege, Vanier gave up a potentially lucrative career to work and live with the developmentally handicapped. Starting with just two men whom he invited to share his home in a quiet village in France, the movement he founded spread to many countries. You may have heard of l’Arche. I believe there are two homes in Saskatoon. My former church in Nova Scotia bought most of our candles from the local community called “Homefires” in nearby Wolfville.
As I understand it, in these unique communities, “assistants” share their lives for a time with the developmentally disabled who live there. These assistants learn and grow as they realize their own brokenness and vulnerability.
Yesterday it was reported on just about every news service that I accessed that credible reports of sexual abuse against Mr Vanier by 6 women have been verified. We realize there may well be more. Apparently Vanier took advantage of their vulnerability when they came to him for spiritual counselling. Since he died last year it is impossible to hear his response to these disturbing reports. Based on his response to allegations about a priest who was his colleague and mentor, though, I greatly fear he would also be in deep denial about his own actions. I am very sad.
I am left to wonder if I should put his books through the shredder or if I should still look to the truths of his insights but see him a man with great insights who was deeply flawed. He is not the first “saint” who has come crashing down and I fear he will not be the last.
This struggle will be part of my lenten journey this year. One thing is certain: we need to have adequate policies to protect the most vulnerable and we need to foster an environment where truth can be told. We need to exercise due care and diligence so that abuse cannot happen on our watch!
Another thing is certain: as we enter Lent we are all called on a journey of admitting that we need to be in a constant process of looking to the centre of our faith; we cannot become complacent and assume we have arrived. We must listen to the heavenly words heard by the disciples on that long ago day. “This is my beloved child, listen to him”.
We need to take to heart what we have learned from him and allow it to change us from the inside out! We need to journey in faith each and every day, even though on some days we feel are going around in circles - we need to trust that we will get to the top of that mountain and on occasion have the spiritual insight we need for the rest of the journey.
Will you come with me this Lent?
Amen!