Genesis 9: 8-17
Psalm 25
Mark 1: 9-15

There’s Something Wrong With This Picture!

Rainbows are everywhere! We like them so much we create them when we can. Naturally occurring rainbows are just sunlight being separated into its full spectrum as it passes through water droplets in the air. You can get much the same effect with crystals. Over the years, I have had several and when the light is just right I get rainbows dancing across the room. When I was in university there was a lovely little gift store in Sackville NB called “Over The Rainbow.” I spent a ton of money there! Who can forget Kermit the Frog singing “Rainbow Connection, or Judy Garland, in the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, singing, “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” It’s probably the single most common motif in an infant’s bedroom. We all know that there’s supposed to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Rainbows make us feel happy and hopeful.

The United Church has incorporated the rainbow into its Mission and Service logo as a way of saying that the Fund helps us to live out our corporate Christian response. The Most Rev Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town talks about God’s “rainbow people”. They are obviously, people of all colours, creeds and nationalities - and even those who are usually called “white”! The rainbow has also been adopted by the organizations that wish to include all sexualities in the list of God’s good creation! These last two uses of rainbows make some people uneasy!

pause

I read somewhere that there aren’t as many natural rainbows as there used to be; at least in places where there is a lot of air pollution!

There are a lot of situations where people aren’t inclined to think of “rainbows” these days! I don’t care what anyone says; there are two things that should never appear in the same sentence: they are the words “school” and “shooting!” On Wednesday of last week, for the EIGHTEENTH time in 6 weeks, in the USA, police were called to a school because of gun violence. On Wednesday, 17 people died at a High School in Florida in one of the worst school shootings in modern history. The words of a police chief from New York are sobering, for Americans, I am sure: “School shootings are the new normal.” Now, even in Canada, in addition to the required “fire drills,” students practice what to do in a lock-down situation, such as would happen if a shooter was in or near the school. Of course, this most recent shooting was not in Canada, but we are not immune from such events! We will all probably remember the shooting in Taber, Alberta and the one at École Polytechnique in Montreal which left 14 young and promising female engineering students dead.

There are many other things that should not go together but are: “guns” and “worship” yet people have been targeted while at church; “hunger” and “Canadian children” should not be in the same sentence but even in Hantsport, the number of boxes packed by our local food bank is increasing. I read that Nova Scotian has the highest poverty rate in Canada. I read that the child poverty rate in one Nova Scotia “First Nations” communities is around 75%. Other things that should not be in the same sentence are “family” and “violence;” and “workplaces” and “sexual harassment”. The phrase, “Climate Change” has become a a part of our vocabulary in recent years and it refers to a myriad of unwelcome and destructive changes in how the planet itself operates which has been caused by human activity, particularly greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.

You get the picture: I probably did not need to tell you that the world is not as it should be! There are lots and lots of things that show, if we needed any examples, that the human community is fractured and hurting; in fact human activity has caused the planet itself to be in crisis.

The two question for us on this first Sunday morning of the season of Lent are: Where is the good news today? What is our response to that good news?

We are all familiar with the story of “Noah’s Ark.” I probably don’t need to say that we don’t have to accept it as “an historical account,” to find profound truth and meaning in it. The last and most important part, of the story was read this morning. The story ends with God putting a rainbow in the sky as a sign of God’s benevolence toward creation. We all learned in Sunday School that the rainbow means that God will not destroy the world again, BUT notice that it’s not primarily a message to and for human beings; it’s not there for us! If we read the story more carefully we discover that the rainbow is, essentially, God’s “note to self:” “I won’t do that again!” It is as if something happened to God in the destruction of the flood; something happened, as scholar, Walter Brueggemann, puts it, “within the heart of God” and God put the bow there as a personal reminder to “not destroy” the earth. God’s nature is creator, not destroyer!

While scientists can explain why the rainbow has the shape it does; the story has no interest in that kind of “why”. A bow, with it’s arrows, is an instrument of waging war. God has hung up the bow of destruction and has vowed to never take it up again. It’s a striking image - the bow of destruction is now at rest and will not be used again!

Biblical scholars will point out that this promise is one sided, there are no conditions attached. It is God’s unconditional and unequivocal promise to all of creation.

We are also told that this story was written down during the “exile” when the people of Israel were living as captives in a foreign land. Their land, and their beautiful city, Jerusalem, were just a fond and painful memory the “old folks” told to the “children”. They knew that their beautiful temple was in ruins and they were in deep despair. Because location was so very important to their life of faith they needed a reminder that they God had not forgotten or abandoned them. They needed to know, among other things, that God was not back in Israel, wandering among the ruins, but was present with them.

This story reminded the people of Israel that they were not alone and despite what they had done to cause the situation in which they found themselves, God was still there and willed for them AND for all of creation, life, health and true fulfilment.

All these generations and cultural shifts later, how then are we to respond? Can we do whatever we want and take God’s rainbow promise for granted? Can we ignore social problems and expect God to look after things? Is Christianity about more than individual salvation and personal morality? It should not surprise you for me to say, “Of course it is about more than that”.

Among the more liberal denominations, including the United Church, a lot has happened in the last 25 years or so in terms of the connections people of faith, and people of no faith, are making between the personal and corporate and the global.

It is clear to me that while the rainbow covenant does NOT DEPEND on us; we have a role to play. As a people of faith we cannot leave it all to God AND act contrary to God’s purposes.

The biblical story has affirmed from the very beginning that God’s intentions for creation, for ALL of creation, are good. If we had the will, we could put an end to, or greatly reduce, many of the things I mentioned in the first of the sermon: violence, poverty, and inequality.

It seems that human beings have a common tendency to, over time, begin to worship what we have made and ignore the natural ways of creation itself and the rest of humanity. We over graze, over cultivate and over fish the land and sea without often realizing the delicate balance that exists on this spinning blue planet.

We look at what we call “progress” and we feel we deserve all the things we have and we reason that those that don’t have them must be doing something wrong. We need to set that way of looking at things aide and look at it from a perspective of the whole earth, and the whole of humanity.

God’s rainbow promise is a call to a more inclusive outlook and to a life of action that supports the promise made to all humans, plants and animals.

Amen!

Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22
Mark 8: 31-38

The Impossible Quest?

In the Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote sings this song when asked about his quest:

To dream the impossible dream
	To fight the unbeatable foe
	To bear with unbearable sorrow
	To run where the brave dare not go. 

After reading today’s gospel passage it may seem as if Jesus is on an impossible journey; that he asks his followers to walk an impossible path. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Follow me.

As with many passages from the gospels it is important to know what the previous passage was about but this is one of those occasions where the lectionary lists the passages out of the sequence in which they are set. In the previous passage, (which won’t be read until September), Jesus takes a kind of “poll” of the disciples, with the questions starting with the general but becoming more and more personal. First, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” and then he asks, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Peter gives the “correct” answer, “You are the Messiah”.

But just what did the word, “Messiah” mean to Peter and his contemporaries? Long before the Christian church took over this term and tailored it’s definition to speak of the work of Jesus, the Jewish people had been hoping for “The Messiah” for generations. This long awaited, almost mythic figure, would come and save the people. In Jesus day the “messiah” was to come and be a military leader; he would overthrow their cruel Roman oppressors, reinstitute the throne of David, and their nation would be free, powerful and glorious once again. However, the people had been hoping for so long that most had all but given up.

And now here was Jesus! There was just something so compelling about his person, his teaching and the way he touched people’s deepest longings.

Could he be the one?

He must be!

He has to be!

And Peter and his friends were in the inner circle. How their hopes must have soared! Perhaps the disciples were of the opinion that following Jesus was a way “to win friends and influence people”, at least for the inner circle. They were his “first followers. Surely they would get the best seats, the most important jobs, the fame, glory and wealth in this new David-like kingdom. That’s how things work, isn’t it?

Of course, Jesus knew what the people wanted from a “Messiah” but he had other ideas. He needed time to change that “definition”. Jesus was very quick to tell the disciples that this was not what his ministry was going to be about. This is not what he meant by the Realm of God, or the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven, or other phrases often used. I think that a large part of what is happening in today’s passage is Jesus beginning to re-defe the term “Messiah”.

It is also important to remember what the term “carry your cross” meant to the people of that time. Crucifixion, or execution by being nailed to a cross, was a public, torturous, humiliating and very painful method of showing everyone that “Rome meant business”. People being executed in this manner were required to carry their cross, or part of it, presumably from the prison, to the place of execution. To “carry one’s cross” was the very last act of a person who had been condemned to die.

So they are assuming his “plan” will result in victory. Jesus knows that he will probably cause enough powerful people to be so uncomfortable that they will demand his death. When Jesus sees that the disciples want no part of this “life giving,” and Peter voices his protest on their behalf, Jesus turns and rebukes Peter in front of them, calling him Satan. The Satan is the one who opposes God’s plan. The Satan presents the way that looks good but which is actually not what God wishes. Satan’s way is soul destroying. On Jesus lips, it was a harsh rebuke.

He tells him to “get behind him”. I think that he was not telling him to “go away” but to continue to “follow. ” He wanted Peter and the others to spend more time with him; to allow him time to show them that his way was the way to find life.

In any situation it’s hard to get your head around a paradox; how can one thing be two things at once, particularly two opposite things? What Jesus is saying to them, and to us is, “follow me some more and I’ll show you what I mean”. Perhaps Jesus was sure that when Peter and the others followed they would see the Holy in the midst of Jesus’ life and sacrifice. He would understand with his mind and heart how Jesus’ way was different.

When asked important questions, it’s not enough to quote popular opinion. Making faith commitments is not just about what we “believe” as if faith and belief were an intellectual exercise. One needs to speak up. One needs to make a commitment to a way of life.

This is not first century Palestine. We are not living in a dictatorship. Canada does not have the death penalty. Yet, there are plenty of ways in which our faith based commitments could be costly for us. Perhaps these days the costs involve friendships, finances and opportunities.

They say that English is an evolving and changing language. One of the newest words in the Oxford English Dictionary is “hashtag”. A hashtag is a a word or phrase with no spaces between the words, preceded by # (the number sign, or pound key). Hashtags enable people to follow, or track, posts on social media that are related to any topic or movement. I could create the hashtag #CerealSchoolhouse and then ask people to inform the world that they had done so by using that hashtag. I could find all social media posts related to it. Don’t ask me more than that! I didn’t grow up on this stuff like some people who use it daily.

Sometimes the ideas or movements to which they point “go viral,” which is to say that they “spread far and wide in a very short time.”

In the past six moths or so the #metoo tag has pointed to a movement of people who are fed up with sexual harassment in the workplace. The newest one, of which I am aware, was started by high school students in response to the latest mass shooting at a high school in Florida: #neveragain.

In terms of the “cost” of participating in activities related to this movement, I read that a Florida school board has warned students that “skipping school” to demonstrate for this cause will be punished by suspensions, just like any other instance of skipping school. Given that lives are literally at stake, some students might well consider it worth the cost! They will have to decide!

Sometimes a movement has a deeply personal and private origin but it touches a cord with thousands. One such movement was started a teenager creating a “bucket list.” Of course, a bucket list is a list that contains “all the things I want to do before I die”. For example, a friend who is a retired English teacher wanted to go skydiving. She took a couple of lessons and went skydiving. She checked off one item on that list!

We would all agree that no teenager should have to even think about a “bucket list” but Becca Schofield, a Riverview NB teen with brain cancer, had to consider it. Her list included fun things any teen would plan but it also included “promoting acts of kindness”. Of course, we’ve all been hearing about “random acts of kindness” or even “guerilla goodness” for some time now, but somehow, the fact that this was a dying wish of a TEENAGER who was thinking of others, struck a cord with people. The wish was simple: that people would do something nice and post it on social media with the hash tag #BeccaToldMeTo. Even though she was losing her life she wanted to reach out and make the world a better place.

She also wrote, “Please try to think less of how my life will be cut short and more of how wicked awesome my time left will be.” Perhaps a large part of that awesomeness was the knowledge that people were making the lives of other better, because of her wish, even if it was just in a small way. Many of the acts that were reported did not have a huge price tag in terms of money or even effort but often those are the things with the most impact. As we know, Becca’s funeral was this past week.

Yet, I have difficulty with the concept of posting such things on social media, as a common practice. Occasionally I post a picture of the meal I am about to eat, or a place I am visiting, sometimes to make my sister jealous, but it’s all in fun.

I think a lot of fundraising plays to people’s desire for recognition when it’s not the best reason to give. Donor walls may work but do they survive the test of, “deny self”.

Some people think of illnesses such as cancer or a difficult life situation as a “cross,” in and of itself, but that’s not really what it means. The cross, in terms of the gospel story, is something one CHOOSES to carry. I think that Becca’s example shows that one can take a tragedy such as a terminal diagnosis and turn it into a cross by deliberately making it a reason for outreach and self-giving. Her last months were an example of giving one’s life to a greater cause. Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope was another such example of turning tragedy into blessing for others.

I think of the underground railway where people risked to hide escaped slaves on the way to freedom in Canada. I think of those who hid Jews from the Nazis during WWII.

Thankfully, most of us are not in positions like that but the lenten journey calls us to look at our lives in terms of how we are “missing the mark” and how we can give of self, in sacrificial ways, as a response to the call of Jesus. The current world situation and refugee crisis is one example. There are many reasons not to contribute money or resources to the plight of people in other countries, but as people who follow Jesus, can WE say no? Is the cost not worth it?

It’s easy for us to look at the cross as a sign or symbol of victory, because we are on this side of Easter; it was not so for the disciples. They were risking with Jesus that they were on the side of God way of life in all abundance, for ALL people.

So it takes a risk to even decide what to risk. We have to take the leap and decide that it is worth it - we have to take up our cross and follow on the way to Jerusalem. We are called to take that impossible quest and trust in the one who calls us.

Amen.

Exodus 20: 1-17
Psalm 19
John 2: 13-22

The House of God!

I well remember the Christmas Eve service! I was serving a pastoral charge in northeastern New Brunswick and St. Andrew’s was the largest building. I don’t recall if “Albert” the donkey brought Mary in or not, during the “live nativity” that year (some years he did) but, a live lamb had been placed at the front before the beginning of the service. It was very quiet. You almost didn’t know it was there, in its little wooden “crate.” Then a second lamb came in with the shepherds at the appropriate time. It was all so sweet with the children dressed in bathrobes and sandals; one of them carrying the sweet, small, wooly, little lamb! Awe, wonder and expectation filled the church. THEN, as soon as one lamb saw the other they started to bleat back and forth to each other. Soon, ALL you could hear for the rest of the service was the bleating of the two lambs and the laughter of the congregation in response!

Note to self: On Christmas eve, one sweet, cuddly baby lamb is fine but two are too many!

Perhaps you can begin to imagine what Jesus encountered on that long ago day in Jerusalem! Of course, it was not the fist time he had been there at that time of the year. Of course, what he encountered that day was noting new! Of course, the temple was not anything like our average church, with doors closing the structure off to the elements and the outside, BUT imagine many more of those noisy lambs, combined with doves cooing, calves bawling and donkeys braying. Of course, there would be the usual noises of a city made busier by the festival and the noises of humans trying to talk above the din.

We are also know that this was taking place in the “court of the gentiles”, (something like a patio) which was actually the only place where non-Jews could “worship”.

This is one of those gospel stories that is presented in two very different ways depending on which gospel story you are reading. In Matthew, Mark and Luke this event occurs near the end of his ministry and is seen as one of the “last straws” in the case the authorities had built against this troublemaker. Clearly, it is one of the reasons for his crucifixion. He had challenged the commerce of the temple system. It was one too many challenges against the status quo. He had gone too far!

However, in John’s gospel, the version read today, the event takes place near the beginning of his ministry and it’s purpose is to teach about his identity and the purpose of his ministry. It introduced his teaching about his death and resurrection. It uses the temple’s destruction as a metaphor for Jesus’ death and its rebuilding as a metaphor for the resurrection.

The temple in Jerusalem was a massive structure that had taken over forty-six years to build. The religious leaders, especially, were very proud of it. It was the heart of their worship life and the centre of their pilgrimage festivals. They laughed at Jesus when they thought he was talking about the temple of stone and wood and rebuilding it in THREE DAYS. What a hoot! What can you build in three days!

A few years later though, there was no laughing. The temple which had appeared to be indestructible was, in fact, destroyed by the Romans. This destruction happened between the time of Jesus ministry and when the gospels were written down. It was never rebuilt. I believe the so-called “wailing wall” in Jerusalem is all that is still left of that great building.

Even though the actual destruction of the temple happened “after” the stories told in the gospels, it is one of the lenses through which the gospel authors viewed the past. They simply could not ignore it.

That being said, let’s look the story itself. Jesus goes to the temple and has a look around. When he looked around at what was going on, what was wrong with whata he was seeing?

The Jerusalem temple was providing a service to the worshipping public. The ten commandments which were read earlier in the service were the foundation of what eventually became a complex set of rules and regulations. Some of them governed the animal sacrifices and financial contributions that were a required part of the religious life of the people.

Since one could not live without breaking some rule or other, you offered a sacrifice, usually an animal which had to be perfect and without blemish, to atone for your sins. If you were coming a distance it was not practical to bring your own sheep or goat or dove for the required sacrifice. Imagine transporting a lamb or goat for many kilometres and then discovering it had become lame or had a blemish and was not longer eligible as a sacrifice. But you really didn’t have to go to all that trouble; you could buy it there! And as a bonus it was guaranteed to meet all the requirements.

In addition, Roman coins, legal tender for the regular family budget, could not, for various reasons, be used in the temple for the offering. As a service it could be exchanged, right there at the temple approved exchange kiosk!

It was understandable. After all, when you move from the personal and family to the social and corporate, things become more complicated than you would first think. The sheer volume of people requiring these services made the whole enterprise very chaotic and noisy.

As a modern example, just ask those who work in the kitchen at a church supper. Planning a church supper for the public is not like feeding a crowd at your house; there are food safety rules that must be followed which take more planning and more space than can be found in the average kitchen.

In addition to providing this “valuable service” to the travelling pilgrims, I gather that the vendors earned a very handsome profit. Just think of the price of food at a professional hockey or ball game. You don’t have to buy rink food; you can always eat before the game! But, think now that purchasing it at the inflated prices was practically required. Jesus knew that the people buying these temple lambs were being fleeced!

Marcus Borg, the biblical scholar and popular author has written extensively about Jesus’ ministry. He has written that in this, and other incidents, what Jesus was doing was opposing the “domination system” by which the powerful elites and their friends were profiting by being able to jury-rig the system to their advantage. Jesus was advocating for the regular folks who just wanted to fulfil their religious obligations in a fair manner.

I think that the other thing that was wrong was that this was taking place in the temple itself. It was not a quiet oasis of prayer with people speaking in hushed voices so that those participating in a liturgy inside could hear and be heard. The outer court, which had been transformed into a marketplace, was also the one place where non-Jews were supposed to be able to gather to pray in a busy and noisy city.

So as we continue our journey of Lent what does this passage say to those of us who live in the 21st century.

Sometimes things are just so out of whack that “someone has to do something.” The young people who “have had enough” in the wake of the recent school shooting in Florida may be able to finally see the tide turned, guns more strictly regulated in the USA, and schools become places of safety once again. Hopefully, it can be done without more people being hurt.

Sometimes we get so bogged down in details and rules that we forget the intention of the rules. Sometimes good ideas grow and become bad practices. Sometimes, we can’t see the forest for the trees. Jesus seems to have been able to keep his perspective. He wanted to show that he thought something wery wrong was going on here.

Of course he would have been raised on the book of Psalms. He knew that the whole of creation was part of God’s proclamation. Even though he could not possibly have had our scientific knowledge he could look at the stars above his head at night, and see God’s glory. He could look at all the wonders around him and see God’s glory. He knew, I am sure, as scholars are rediscovering, that the law itself and God’s teaching in creation were connected. He knew that the ten commandments were not arbitrary laws but are a way of proclaiming the goodness of creation.

He would have been raised on the ten commandments, read earlier. He would have participated in the temple worship for his entire life. Throughout his ministry, Jesus tried to broaden their perspective through his new insights AND calling them back to the core of their tradition.

Other stories from his ministry tell us that he was able to interpret them in the light of their purpose rather than the strict letter of the individual laws. I think Jesus would have said that if is possible to follow the “commandments” but still be far from living a life as God intended. Faithfulness is not only about avoiding sin, it is about living toward God’s intention for goodness of creation.

When we look around us what do we see that is disturbing?

If the heavens are telling the glory of God, as the Psalmist tells us, then what is all the garbage on our roadsides telling us? What is the pollution we are creating tell us? What does it say when we hear that scientists have found NO baby “Right wales” swimming with their mammas this year? Last year there were a number of fatal encounters between whales and ships.

Much of the World Day of Prayer on Friday, written by the women of Suriname, centred on the ways in which humans need to help heal creation. We look around us, at times and in certain places and we see much less of God’s glory than we should.

Do we see lives that are too concerned with things that don’t really matter instead of living out our call to love God, self and neighbour. Do we see people who are concerned only for #1 instead of sharing what one has with others?

When we look at a justice system that seems to be stacked against minorities and aboriginal peoples do we not want to proclaim the good news of Jesus which was for all people?

Perhaps Lent is a time to live with the questions; better answers may be found.

Amen.

Ephesians 2: 1-10
Psalm 107
John 3: 14-21

Magic or True Salvation?

Since the Town of Hantsport was dissolved and became a part of the District of the Municipality of West Hants, those of us who live in Hantsport have been seeing small and not so small changes. (If you don’t live in the former town, this does not really affect your life!) In a few weeks our garbage system will change! At least the County has recently adopted green carts for compost. Another change came, for this church building, with the arrival of the municipality’s fire inspector! We are a public building and as such have special rules we must follow. We have had to install new electrical outlets as we had to eliminate most extension cords. We are not going to be allowed to store anything under the stairs. You may have noticed the signs telling us how many people can be in each room. That’s just a few of the things on our “list” of changes.

Oh, there is a new sign on the wall behind you, just to the right of door. I must admit that when I first saw one of this style in a new building, I really didn’t know where, or why, the little green person was running? To the washroom perhaps? Turns out that I was wrong. It’s exit sign! Instead of the word “EXIT” (or in French, “SORTIE”) the green person symbol is supposed to be universal and international. It certainly wasn’t clear to me! However, in the event of a fire, or other reason for immediate evacuation, please WALK to the exit, DO NOT RUN.

Preventing fires requires attention to detail and learning from the experiences of others. When I wanted to get visiting privileges at more than one hospital I had to watch a very graphic film called, “Hospital on Fire.” We’ve all heard stories of tragic fires that would have been much less tragic if only certain “rules” had been followed and certain things, such as working smoke detectors, had been in place! We often learn by the mistakes and misfortunes of others. The Stewards and Trustees will be discussing the proposed changes for the next few meetings, I am sure!

I bring this up because the Gospel passage read earlier contains that one verse that, to some people, sums up the entire Gospel: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.’

I bring it up because the passages for today speak of “salvation” and it seems to me that when at least some people think of “salvation” they think of it in terms that are similar to “fire prevention”. Salvation is sometimes seen ONLY as “going to heaven instead of hell” when we die! To put it simply, “if we are saved we get the pearly gates, the streets paved with gold, a crown full of stars, and a spot at Jesus’ feet. If we are not, we get the eternal lake of fire and separation from God.” In this way of looking at the life of faith, believing in Jesus is like magical fire prevention; it somehow it makes all the difference! Yet, I have always felt, “there has to be more. What about life in the here and now?”

When I was growing up and asked my mother or grandmother, what a certain word meant, or how it was spelled, I was often told to “look it up in the dictionary”. I used to argue that I could not find a word in a dictionary of I did not know how to spell it, but my mother argued that I probably could make a good start and find it anyway. Mom was usually right!

As I began working on this sermon I wondered, “how does the dictionary define salvation?” I began online, as I was home and my “go to” dictionaries were all on the bookshelf in my office, downstairs. Despite all my reliance on the internet, I still have one foot in the world of printed books! Later I consulted those.

The first definition provided by “google” was something like, “salvation is deliverance from sin and its consequences thought by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.”

Some people see the consequences of sin as eternal punishment in a lake of fire and separation from God. They see salvation as “going to heaven when we die and sitting at Jesus’ feet with all our friends and family we have lost.”

In some theological circles, “this life”, this “earthly existence” is seen only as a way to get to our “true home” which is in heaven.

People who are living with sadness, oppression, or whatever trials may come to them, are supposed to “suck it up” and find comfort in the hope of heaven where they will receive their eternal reward. I suspect that it only a few branches of Christianity, but remember my comment a few weeks ago, of Christians who are “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good”. I think it was that kind of mind-set that Karl Marx called, the opiate of the people”.

As I see it far as I am concerned, the biblical view, on the whole, sees this creation, this life, this world, as good, as a gift and as its own source of blessing. If our experience, or the experience of others, is different, then it is our calling to work to restore the blessing that God intended for all of creation.

In the very early years of the church, the return of Jesus, to bring about a new heaven and a new earth was thought to be just around the corner. When it did not happen, and successive generations of the faithful had to figure out how to live and work and raise families, they had to reassess just about everything they thought Jesus was talking about.

It is clear that even in the time it took to write what we call, “the New Testament” that their views on these matters were changing and evolving; they had to change!

When they looked at the teachings of Jesus they saw a concern for the real and physical lives of people. They saw the importance of prayer and a relationship with God but they also saw Jesus life as a life “lived as social commentary”, as it were. He lived the life he taught. He lived a life concerened with both “this life and the next”. It seems obvious to me that Jesus was concerned with feeding bodies as well as souls. Jesus was concerned with bringing people back into the community from which they had been excluded. In the earliest church communities the care of widows and orphans was very important. In a society where only men had jobs, and those jobs barely allowed one to “make ends meet”, the church supported the widows and orphans in thier midst. There are a number of women of independent means, who supported the movement from its earliest days. There is evidence that the whole community pooled their resources so that “waste and want” did not live side by side.

Jesus was, and remained, a faithful Jew his whole life. He was steeped in the traditions of the prophets and the law; the two could not be separated in his mind. This life was to be source of blessing for all people.

The prophets were concerned with the way in which their nation lived out their call to be God’s chosen. God chose them, not for privilege, but for mission. They were to show the other nations the ways of justice and mercy.

When I think of salvation, of a life of right relationship with God I think of a life which both shows and lives God’s love. When I know, deep in my soul, that I am loved, despite my faults, I am freed to love myself and to love others.

I do not live a Christian life to EARN God’s love, constantly worrying about messing up, but I am freed, in God’s grace to be the best follower I can be.

One of the things I learned about biblical interpretation was to pay attendtion to the context rather than picking out a single verse. This verse is part of a larger passage in which Jesus meets a leader of the synagogue who comes to him under the cover of darkness.

In the early church, and the church under persecution, there were a lot of secret meetings. To be Christian was very dangerous, but the movement grew and persisted, because, I believe, it gave them purpose in their lives. They found it life giving. It wasn’t about a magic formula they had to believe but a whole life they truly lived, from the inside out.

In John’s Gospel Jesus talks about justice, compassion, mercy, love, and equality. The Christian life is about living in grace, and in the midst of that grace doing what we can to promote God’s vision for creation. I think that if we truly tired to live that way, avoiding sin, for which some people seem veruy concerned, will take care of itself.

Let us praise God and live lives which show God’s care for the whole world - each and every day and in to everyone we meet.

Amen.

Jeremiah 31: 31-34
Psalm 51
Lent 5 John 12: 20-33

Don’t Plant Small Potatoes

Many years ago, a minister, who was between churches had the opportunity to preach at a small country church. He took his young son with him. As they entered the church they saw a “donation box” on a table in the entry-way. The minister took a $2 bill from his wallet (this was a loooong time before we changed over to twonies!) and put it in the box. After the service was over the church treasurer went over to him and said, “Reverend, it’s our custom to pay the supply preacher with the donations in the box in the entry. He handed him the entire contents of the box which amounted to $2.” The child saw what took place. thought for a moment, and then said, “Dad. If you had put more into it, you would have gotten more out of it”.

There was once a farmer who thought he knew better than all the rest of his fellow farmers. He enjoyed eating his largest and best potatoes and put the small ones aside to use as seed in the spring. In a few years his entire potato crop was about the size of golf balls. He had ignored one of the primary rules of agriculture which was “don’t plant small potatoes”. Though it might seem like a waste, you save the best for seed, not for eating; it is how to have the best crop the next year!

It is similar to breeding animals. You use the best animals as breeding stock. But, unlike breeding animals, when you grow a crop, you have to sacrifice the actual seed that is planted. You don’t get those seeds back! Yet, without risking the seed, of course, you harvest nothing.

The gospel story for today is set at the Passover Festival. As far as I know it was a what might be called a “pilgrimage festival” where Jewish people from all over the world went to Jerusalem to celebrate with their people. Like Pentecost, there would have been people there from just about everywhere (as they defined “everywhere,” of course). As we are told, in attendance at this celebration were people, simply referred to as “some Greeks.” They sought out one of the disciples and asked to “see Jesus.” Perhaps they wanted to discuss or debate theology. We assume their request was one of genuine “seekers.” I don’t they wanted to “show him up” like some Pharisees apparently tried to do. I doubt they wanted his autograph!

I find it interesting that when they approach Phillip, Phillip does not go to Jesus on his own, but instead, goes to see Andrew first. Then with “safety in numbers” they both go to see Jesus.

The answer Jesus gives is perplexing. He does not say “yes”, but he does not really say “no” either. Instead, Jesus tells them they see him wherever they see the kind of sacrifice similar to the dying of a grain of wheat necessary to produce a crop. Of course, on one level this means that his time is short and he does not have time to talk to the Greeks. On another level he speaks of the way in which anyone, at any time, in any generation, can see and know Jesus. Soon, no one will have the luxury of a personal, in the flesh, meeting.

Of course he was not really talking about growing wheat! In the context of Holy Week, it is a metaphor for the death of Jesus on the cross, and for his subsequent rising to new life. In the broader context it is a metaphor for our own journey in life; and points to a life of dying to self so that the purposes of the gospel might be fulfilled.

We don’t even have the option of seeing Jesus in the way the Greeks did; the message for us is that we see Jesus when we see acts of self-giving and we embody Jesus in our lives, when we live lives of dying to self and rising to new life, by the power of God.

I think this way of living is one of the examples of the “new covenant” about which the prophet Jeremiah wrote. It’s the kind of thing it’s hard to give examples for. It’s the kind of thing that people of faith just “know”. From deep within us we know what response and way of life is appropriate to the situation.

Do you remember the TV show from the 1970s staring Paul Soles as the law-breaker extraordinaire. “This is the Law” was a game show in which Soles was depicted as breaking some very obscure law and the panel had to guess why the police officer came along and arrested him. It was never murder, or robbery, or terrorism but something obscure that was still on the books somewhere in Canada and for which, I suspect, no one had been arrested in years!

By contrast the “new covenant,” referred to in the passage read today from Jeremiah, is a set of laws, or way of being in the world, that has become second nature, as if it was engraved upon the heart.

I talked to a older mom a number of years ago and she was stating her opposition to five year olds starting school. At that point Kindergarten was not mandatory in that province. (I wonder what she would have thought about the four year old start age now in effect in some areas). Her opposition to sending such a young child into the world was that five years wasn’t enough time to make one’s mark on one’s child.

Her thought was that if she had six years to put her mark on her child, the child would be able to know who he or she was without being tempted to go in other directions. Six years was enough time to make a mark on her child’s heart.

Of course two or more children, raised in the same house, eating the same food, living by the same rules, being taught the same ways and values, can turn out very differently and twins separated at birth and raised in completely different environments can be very similar.

I met a woman with beautiful tattoos not that long ago; they were of her children and these images were important to her. Tattoos often show the world something important about the wearer of the tattoo. But of course Jeremiah is not talking about actually tattooing hearts; that’s not yet possible, but we know what it means! It’s obvious that this is a metaphor!

How does one get a heart tattoo?

Some would say that “conversion” is necessary to achieve this state while others would say that it is a process of the “slow bending of the will to that of a stronger force, in this case, God’s” that is needed.

The relationship between dying to self and suffering in the journey of Lent can become skewed and even abusive. I don’t believe that we are called to endure suffering that is imposed by another for reasons of power or manipulation as in the case of domestic violence or political oppression. That is really the topic for another sermon though. Being a servant is different than being a doormat.

The journey of placing our faith in Jesus is like the journey of a seed; it involves a total commitment - it involves allowing the Spirit to change us from the inside out and to know that great things will come, in time, to those who live in this way.

I had a friend in high school for whom English was an acquired language. In grade 10 she had to look up almost every word in her small dictionary; by grade 12 I believe English had become a part of her. Sometimes immigrants even lose their mother tongue when they have been immersed in their acquired language for long enough.

So the journey of faith helps us to integrate into our souls those things of the Spirit, those things of God that should become part and parcel of our commitment. Its not about following lists of obscure, or even plain to see laws, but allowing the Spirit to change us so much that it is as if the ways of God are tattooed in our hearts, the centre of our very being.

So, Lent can be a time to remind us that as Jesus gave everything, so we too are called to give only our best and to make a complete commitment to our journey with Jesus.

Let’s not plant any small potatoes; and expect a crop multiplied by grace and love.

Amen.

Mark 11: 1-11
Psalm

This Is Us!

Have you been captivated by the show, “This Is Us”. I have! For those of you who don’t know it, this bitter-sweet show about the lives of the members of the Pearson family, starts in the present and the plot moves forward from Season 1 episode 1 and into the past from that point through flashbacks. The basic story is this: Rebecca and Jack, a white couple from Pittsburgh are expecting triplets, but sadly, one of their biological children is stillborn. An African American baby, born the same day, is is simply dropped off at a local fire-station. The little boy’s mom has died of a drug overdose and the father can’t cope. The Pearsons take this baby into their home and into their hearts.

Each of the Pearson children have their own issues and these issues drive the story forward. Early on in the series, we realize that the father of this large family died when his children were teens but it is not until many episodes have passed that we finally find out how. During the flashbacks, there is this sense of uneasiness or tension every time something potentially risky takes place and we wonder ,”is this the day he dies?”

There are lots of hints, but most are wild goose chases! However, we FINALLY find out how the fire started, and our speculations were mostly wrong. When Jack survives the fire we again scratch our heads in disbelief. When he does die of complications related to smoke inhalation we finally know! A major loose end in this tragic family tale is tied up! The story keeps moving forward and we see more flashbacks, of other instances and events in their lives.

What will happen in the next season? Only the writers know. Maybe it’s not even been written yet? ((If you want to get on the “This is us” bandwagon, I think you can get it on Netflix (at least in Canada) . ))

For many years now churches have been encouraged to see this day as both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday ( passion is from the Latin word for suffering). The reasoning is this: the Sunday only crowd will see Jesus ride into Jerusalem in triumph, humble triumph albeit, and then see him rise from death on Easter Sunday, but the “Sunday only” folks miss all of the events in-between. That’s the theory, at least. You folks who come for all services will hear the stories twice, but those who won’t be here on Thursday and Friday will hear them once!

It’s a long and detailed story. It’s a hard story to hear. It’s a lot to digest. Reading it takes up a great deal of the service; it is hard to do any reflecting on the story.

This year I decided that I would use the sermon to tell the story.

I read a chronological synopsis of that TV show, “This is Us” on the internet the other day and was surprised, in a way, to find out how many paragraphs it took to tell the story in the sequence in which it happened and the small plot twists I had forgotten or had not noticed.

Just as “This Is Us” begins in the here and now we begin with ourselves; this is our story. No, it’s not yours or mine, in a personal sense, it’s a 2,000 year old story after all. It’s the church’s collective story; it’s part of the Christian story, a very important part.

Our lives are a mixture of triumphs and tragedies; leaders who turn from heroes to disappointments, hopes built up and dashed; friends that stay, friends that flee, and friends who turn out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.

We realize that we can also be those false friends or the true ones and sometimes we are not the ones we thought we were.

Mark wasn’t writing just a story from long ago he was writing the story of every successive generation of those who sought to follow in the way of Jesus.

So let’s go back to the beginning; the beginning of what we now call, “Holy Week.” Holy begins in anxious, yet hope-filled celebration and ends in a burial. It’s quite a roller-coaster ride.

We begin where the scripture reader began. A sort of informal parade took place. It wasn’t exactly impromptu though. You heard the story as Marlene read it. What we did not hear but other residents of Jerusalem would know, was that entering by another of Jerusalem’s gates was a large contingent of Roman soldiers with all the chariots and horses and weapons and other equipment, in numbers that made them so fearsome to the people whose lives they held in an iron grip. They were there to keep the peace during the Passover; th kind of trouble!

The contrast between the two parades was meant to be noticed by the people. It seems to me that Jesus is making a statement about his realm, his kingdom. His power wasn’t about domination and exploitation of others. His power came from changed hearts.

Earlier in 2018 we heard about another school shooting, this time in Florida at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. I heard the other day about students continuing their protests against the gun culture in which they have grown up. I heard that they want teachers to be trained to use pens, not guns!

Then I hear the leaders who talk about arming teachers, training them to use guns to defend their students, about increasing security and requiring “see through” backpacks. For all students. I wonder which people would be cheering which parade on the first Psalm Sunday!

After the parade Jesus takes some time to do some teaching; in parables, as usual. A story is always better. The teachings deeply touch a people who had almost given up the hope of a better, more just life. The teachings show that Jesus knows where and how they live, from day to day, close to the earth, knowing despair’s bitterness, yet not completely forgetting the sweet taste of hope.

Meanwhile the cauldron of trouble has reached “simmer” and the plot thickens. Jesus is with his disciples and a woman comes in and dumps expensive perfume on feet and rubs it in with her hair. Jesus was touched (literally) but some protest that it was a waste of money. Jesus defends her and Judas leaves to sell his Lord and his soul to the authorities.

In the midst of personal tragedy a teen from New Brunswick starts a movement on Facebook that goes viral and people are kind, in small and large ways because #beccatoldmeto. Some scoff and say that such things don’t make any real difference. The real test is: will people keep it up!

At Jesus’ request, the disciples prepare for the Passover which they eat together. Even Judas is there. He too is welcome. Jesus predicts their denial and even treason, but Peter protests, swearing his loyalty. In the end Peter does deny Jesus and as soon as he does he knows he has turned against one of the best people to have ever set foot in Israel.

Down through the ages, anyone and everyone who knows the heartbreak of betrayal; or of realizing that one has actually betrayed a friend in a time of need, to save face, or avoid guilt by association, weeps bitter, salty tears.

After the meal, Jesus and some disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is fond of praying but even though he wakes them several times they SLEEP while he earnestly prays.

Judas shows up again, and this time the armed guards who are there, ready for his signal. Someone gets his ear cut off in retaliation and things get a little messy.

Jesus is tried before Pilate and in a bizarre tradition a common criminal is released instead of Jesus. Incidentally, the name “Barabbas” might just be the first century equivalent of John Doe because his name literally means, “son of the father”; every man is a son of a father.

It seems that mob mentality is easy to stir up. You’ve heard about those hockey and soccer riots. Most of those folks would never break a window or steal a pack of gum, but when they get too much to drink and everyone else is doing it, it’s so easy to add your effort to the three, then to the dozen, then to the fifty.

Crucify him.

Even though it’s hateful and short sighted and self serving and not truly what you think, if you really thought about it, you click “like” and then “share” all that stuff on Facebook. Some days I would like to see Facebook add a “this is very wrong” icon.

They put a purple robe and a crown made of thorns on Jesus, mock him, and when convicted his punishment is to be immediate.

No appeal will be possible.

For some reason Simon from Cyrene is conscripted to carry Jesus cross. Condemned criminals had to carry the means of execution up to Golgotha! No last meal. No dying wish. No hope of a last minute phone call commuting the sentence to life in prison.

I think of all the stories of the wrongfully executed or wrongfully imprisoned because of their race or because someone wanted to clear the case to make themselves look good and placate the people. It’s not just Nelson Mandela and the years he spent in the prison on Robben Island, it’s the hundreds and even thousands whose stories make the news and then fade from memory.

Jesus is nailed to the cross, his clothes are divided amongst the soldiers. We are told he was crucified between 2 criminals. I guess Mark knew nothing of the conversation told of in other gospels - in Mark both of the criminals also mocked Jesus.

We don’t know their names. None of the Gospel writers tell us! That was the whole point of crucifixion. Theirs was a culture of honour or shame. Crucifixion shamed the criminal AND the family. Once shamed the community stopped speaking their names. Crucifixion terrified the populace. To die like that in shame was to erase your name and your memory from your community.

A group of women who had been followers of Jesus watch from a distance. Since the Sabbath is approaching and it would not be appropriate to have dead bodies hanging on crosses, a secret disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, is given permission to take the body once his death has been verified and he is buried in a new tomb cut into a rocky hillside.

The women who had been with Jesus for his entire ministry, now watch from the distance, and it is noted that they have seen everything.

Then, it being the Sabbath, everyone goes home. The disciples go into hiding for fear that the authorities will want to do some more mopping up. Two or three more deaths will really show that Jesus group! But really, it’s over. The Romans can close the books on another rabble rouser and his groupies. His name will not be spoken of again. No one wants to be heard remembering with any kind of respect someone who was killed by crucifixion. Yep. This Jesus guy would never be heard from again. He was dead and gone. Finished. Caput. Dead as a doornail.

How could they know?

But, Jesus spoke a truth that could not be quashed and of a hope that could not be extinguished. He relied on and exuded a power that could not be overcome by the power of Rome

silence

This IS us.

Is our hope so easily extinguished? Is our truth so easily silenced?

Only time will tell.

Exodus 12: 1-14
Psalm 116
John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

A New Commandment

I believe I’ve told you before about the minister from Cape Breton whose interview “question” for many years at “Ordination Interviews” in Maritime Conference was, “Speak to me of love.” It was a curious way to ask a question, but in reality, few things are more important.

What is love? How to we love others? How does it relate to the life of faith and our work in the church. In Canada we talk about it and sing about it, constantly.

I asked my friend Google the other day how many songs and stories there were in the world about ‘love’. Apparently this is not a new question; Google has a lot of other friends! One person gave a ridiculously low asnd very specific number and then said it was a stupid question and deserved a stupid answer! Another of Google’s friends answered, “they all are, in a way.”

There are songs about obvious reciprocated love or un-reciprocated love. The “she loves me, she loves me not divide”. There are the heartbroken songs about love lost or destroyed. There are songs of friendship, loyalty, patriotism and valour. We use the word love to refer to the feelings one has for a child, a parent, a sibling or other relative, a romantic partner, a comrade in arms, a pet, a sports team, a restaurant or a new dress. Some might think that they are all the same.

Some of us know “Sonnet 43" by the well-known 19th century poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, not from it’s actual, rather boring title, but its first lines;

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.  
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach”.   

Here, in church on Maundy Thursday, we are not talking about flavours of ice cream or what we would do to get concert tickets for our favourite group, but we are here to talk about Jesus words at this last meal he ate with his disciples.

Today’s passage from the Nhebrew Scriptures provides the foundational story for the Passover Celebration observed by Jewish people on a yearly basis. During their liberation from slavery in Egypt, it was the blood of the Passover lamb that kept their households safe from the angels of death which swept through the land of Egypt. It is one of the most important stories in their religious tradition and it was and still is observed every year.

Jesus and his disciples would have celebrated the Passover every year of their lives although it is hard, for a number of reasons, to determine what that actually looked like, back in their time. The documents we have are all from a much later period of history.

Today the Passover, or “seder”, is a “special family meal” but in Jesus day, when the temple still existed, the rituals of the temple had a greater part in the celebration. Some scholars think that the “last supper” Jesus ate with his disciples was an actual “Passover” meal, while others say it was “close, but not the right day.”

In the end it does not matter much for us.

I would like to take a brief look at one aspect of the Passover observance: the foot-washing. While foot-washing was not really a part of the celebration, per se, it was an essential duty of a host to make the guests and family members comfortable. There was no method of transportation for most people other than walking (or by donkey). It was hot and dusty. Footwashing was part of a “proper welcome.” When people come to our homes for a mea, particularly of they have come a distance, we assume they should be offered an opportunity to “freshen up”! Your neighbours have come a kilometer or less - we assume they are “pre-freshened” when they arrive!

However a host who was the head of the family, did not do these tasks himself, it was the task of a servant. If you watch tv shows set in the time of servants and butlers and maids you see guests arriving at a home and just hading their coat and hat to someone who was expected to be there to take it. The ordered drinks for everyone, but the staff looked after the details.

Foot washing was a task for the lowliest servant - it was not all that pleasant a job.

So here we have Jesus, the leader of the twelve, acting as a lowly servant. His command to “love one another” should be taken in this context of servant leadership. This love for one another was to be a sign of true discipleship. People would know the followers of Jesus by their love for one another.

I’ve sometimes heard the phrase, “my how they love one another” used of a particular church, with rolled eyes, in jest and derision. It seems that of all publically known squabbles amongst members of an organization, church fights are the worst of all! The Lion’s Club may go at it tooth and claw (pun intended) but it seems that it’s just not right for the church!

We are called to do the hard work that is sometimes necessary to keep our communities places of love; where we wish fullness of life for everyone, not just those with whom we agree.

We are also called to be people of love with regard to the people we encounter, or whose needs we know. We are all neighbours. We are called to be people of love, not when it makes us look good, not when we feel like it, not when it suits us, but when the need is there and can be addressed.

I’ve prepared a slide show to guide our reflection. I could have chosen different slides but each of them spoke to me in some way and I hope they speak to your spirit.

We end when I offer the peace and ask you to offer it to one another.