Genesis 11: 1-9
Psalm 104
Acts 2: 1-21

God’s Great Reversal!

The year was 1967 and appropriately for Canada’s Centennial Year, the both teams battling it out on the ice in the best of 7 finals were both Canadian. The Stanley Cup would stay north of the 49th Parallel, no matter what! Game three on April 25 in the Gardens would go down in history as the most exciting hockey game ever! Or so I’m told; I have no personal opinion. Our TV was in our kitchen on the top of the fridge and I was long in bed for the night! On May 2 they were in the Gardens once again with the series tied 2 to 2. If the Leaf’s won they would take the Cup that night; if not there would be one more chance! As we know though, when the dust settled the Leafs were the victors.

What is said to have happened during the game was most amazing - If the excited voice of Foster Hewitt, rang out over the airwaves, “He shoots, he scores,” in English, it was also heard in Estonian, in Ukranian, in the various languages of India and China, Eritrea and, of course, various French dialects. Even though Canadians from sea to sea were not in the Gardens, it was if they were. They heard and they understood. It was some night, as they say!

The Leafs have not won the Cup since then. At this point it is still possible for the Cup to come north of the border. The Oilers, Canada’s hope, did not even exist in 1967!

Many people get excited about hockey; friendships are made and broken. Grown adults act like idiots and post game riots can cost millions in damage.

In the mists of time the people, ALL the people, were said to have spoken one language and lived in the same place, more or less. When there was no way to fish, they got bored one winter and invented a game played on ice with sticks and a frozen ball of animal dung. They called it “hockey”. They were quite proud of themselves and thought that their best players were close to “god like”. They built a huge arena with a perfect ice surface and hundreds of seats. Then one year, after the Furs beat the Skins in double overtime of game 7, the place exploded. Brother was against brother and sister against sister. After much mayhem and attempts at reconciliation, the wise ones in the community advised, “move away.” And so the “skins” moved to warmer climates while the “furs” stayed where they were. No more tournaments occurred and eventually the people forgot how to communicate across the great divide. Hockey was still played but somehow, as time went on, each had their own rules - one outlawed checking and one encouraged it, never called “off side” and praised high-sticking. It was a dangerous way to earn a living.

(Pause)

The early chapters of Genesis give us a few origin stories, or “how did things come to be this way” kind of stories. Many of them are similar to stories from other cultures in the general area. They seek to answer that perennial question, “how did human life begin?” and the second question, “if we all have a common ancesrtor, how come the people in that there country speak a language we cannot understand? It’s a little more complicated than that, but eventually these origin stories became a part of what we now call “scripture”.

In what is now called, “North America” different groups of people who had leaders who were deep thinkers and spiritually aware, developed their own stories of how things came to be and why there were differences. Like their middle eastern counterparts, they found meaning and purpose in these stories of Turtle Island and Creator. Our Judeo-Christian stories served as a back-drop to stories about the great heroes such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David and Jeremiah, a prophet, to name just a few. .

So, we are told, the people who were all speaking one language, moved east and settled on the plain of Shinar. They learned how to make bricks and were able to build towers that reached into the heavens. They patted themselves on the back and forgot they were only human and that no matter what technology they developed, they would still be only human.

Then something happened. Later they told one another that God had intervened and had confused their language and they had no choice but to move away with those they could still understand and build a smaller city with smaller structures. The wind had been taken out of their sails. The bricklayers union was disbanded and people loaded their belongings onto ox carts and went on their way. Such was the reality for many generations.

Several thousand years later, how long exactly, we don’t know, there arose a group of people who saw themselves as a “light to the nations”. They saw that they had a covenant with God and they summed it up in a phrase, “I will be your God and you will be “my people.” This people had not been all that successful in the world’s point pf view. Sometimes they were masters of their own destiny while at other times they were occupied by foreign powers or in trying to live in exile.

By and by an itinerant rabbi began to preach about stuff they had always known, but had forgotten was important. Love God, love your neighbour, love yourself. Give your neighbour food and clothing if you have extra. He was called Jesus and had 12 main followers and perhaps dozens of others who just hung around and supported their work. Many people hoped that he would be the one to lead their little nation back to greatness.

For various reasons this guy rubbed some very powerful people the wrong way and he was executed as a common criminal. Three days later his followers were all abuzz that he was alive again. They claimed that God has raised him from the dead. When he met with them he said that he would not be able to stay long but an Advocate, a Spirit, would come to be with them, to teach them, strengthen them and give them strength to endure difficulty and persecution. Then, just like that, he left again. This time - for good! Or, did he?

Today’s scripture tells the next chapter of that story. People were all gathered together for the festival of Pentecost - or the festival of first fruits. They celebrated the bounty of their land by giving thanks for the best of the first of their harvest. The people who believed in Jesus were gathered together and had a life-altering experience of the Holy Spirit - an experience so powerful that they felt they were on fire and just had to go outside and tell someone. So, outside they went and found the town square crowded, simply overrun, with people. They began to speak about God’s power and the people understood, as if they men speaking were speaking in all the languages that Jewish people spoke, no matter where they had come from - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans and Galileans like themselves and Cappadocians, people from Pontus and Asians, Phrygians and Pamphylians, Egyptians and Cyreneians, and Romans and the list goes on.

Today we might say that there were people from everywhere - all over Canada, even from the bays in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the English speakers of Quebec and French folks from Xenon Park SK and Sainte-Bonafice MB. They was an Innuk family from Tuk and a Cree family from Saskatoon.

The story of Pentecost is regarded as a miracle story, but I used to wonder if the miracle was in the SPEAKING or in the HEARING - in other words did the apostles speak in different languages, or did the people hear them, not in some common language, but in their own tongue, the language they learned from their parents, in the family home. Now, I think it was neither; it was in the understanding. The miracle was in getting the message across, in the communication.

Voices United and More Voices are our two standard hymn books in the United Church. In both of our books, but especially in More Voices there are a number of hymns in languages I had never heard tell of before I opened the book. When More Voices first came out, many people made a concerted effort to sing these hymns in their original languages. Two are in the Yoruba language, from West Africa.

I might have told you this story before, but here goes, anyway! Bruce Harding is a United Church musician who lives in New Westminster BC. Fair skinned and balding, the hair he has left used to be red. One day, a number of years ago, he called for a cab and on the way to the airport, asked the cab driver where he was from. “Nigeria”, came the answer. He was probably used to the question!

“What tribe,” asked Harding.

Surprised, perhaps, that a white Canadian would know or care that much about his homeland, he replied, “Yoruba.”

Then Harding began to sing, in the Yoruba language. The hymn might have been “Alelya Y’m Oluwa” or “Wa Wa Wa Emimimo.” Harding says that the man’s head turned almost completely around, surprised to hear his own language, raised in a song of praise, from the lips of this white guy. They spent the rest of the ride singing hymns. On that day the gospel was proclaimed and the great divide of language was crossed. The Spirit was at work.

Many years ago I read a comment that the story of Pentecost was a reversal of the story of the Tower of Babel. The light went on in my head and I exclaimed, “YES! I still see them as a kind of “set”.

It seems to me that deep communication and understanding is God’s will. Deep communication is about important stuff - deep soul stuff, stuff about mission, justice and purpose, not idle chit chat about the weather or potholes and politics. Though sometimes such discussions can be quite important! (I’m not talking about a ruined beach day or a lawn that grows too fast but about the farmers who are worried about the unexpected frost at the wrong end of seeding or harvest or not having enough rain when it is needed for the crop to mature.)

A number of years ago the General Council of the United Church made a commitment to becoming an inter-cultural church. I don’t notice the inter-cultural-ness of our church so much here in Nipawin but I certainly did at General Council in-person meetings. It is clear in the Zoom meetings which have made up this year’s General Council. We are not a white church anymore and the voices of others are being lifted up to speak of God’s deeds of power.

That’s as it should be. It seems that this mixing, this communication, this mutual understanding has been in the works since that Pentecost Sunday long ago - when the first disciples and their close freinds were trying to cope with their loss and figure out how they would be able to be in the ministry of following in Jesus way, without him there to guide and support them.

We too are promised that same presence, that same Spirit of power. We have this ministry and we need not be discouraged.

Amen.

Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
John 16: 12- 15

What is God Like? Seriously?

A few years ago, some friends and I went to a restaurant where my niece worked as a waitress. I asked for one of her tables but was told that she was not working that day. I had not checked her schedule ahead of time. My friends and I perused the menu and the waitress returned. Still unsure what I wanted, I asked, “What’s Katherine like?”

The waitress, obviously misunderstanding my question, looked a little puzzled and then replied, “oh, she’s nice.”

I replied, “I know that she’s nice, she’s my niece. What I wanted to know was what she likes to EAT, from your menu.”

“Oh, I don’t know, actually.” was the answer I received this time. Turns out that my niece did not often eat at that restaurant - I guess that she thought the food was not healthy enough to eat on a regular basis, despite her employee discount.

What is God like? One summer, while I was still in university, I was the director of a day camp and I asked each group of kids to draw a picture of God. Some did not take the task seriously at all, but those who did, mostly drew pictures of old men on thrones, or vague sketches of smoke and mystery. One pre-teen drew a picture that he described as a “God is a cool dude”image, who was, by the way, smoking a cigarette. Maybe this kid thought all “cool dudes” in Cape Breton smoked! Maybe he was just having fun with the question.

I guess it’s mostly preachers and Sunday school teachers who ask such questions, and truthfully, it’s not an easy question to answer. I don’t know about you, but when I was a child, I was required to memorize the answers to what seemed like a million questions; taken from a little booklet called the “Primary Catechism.” (Show book) It’s really small. (Over the last number of years the problem has not been carting it around with me, but remembering where I put it! ) Actually, there are only 116 questions and answers in this little book. By the way it was was written in 1897 and revised in 1931.

In my Sunday school we would get a star when we answered each question correctly, from memory. When we reached the end of the questions; we started all over again.

I’m not sure we really understood what it was that we were memorizing but “memory work” was still big in my church.

I later learned that the term Catechism was what my Roman Catholic friends called, Sunday school. Still later, I learned all sorts of other words related to “Catechism” which all refer in some way to Christian instruction. I suppose it comes from the belief that for some things you have to memorize, or learn, the right answer; and if you listen to those who “know”, you will have that answer!

Yet, I am the kind of person that does not take easily to being told what to do and how to think; certainly not with regard to something as hard to “pin down” as faith. We are meant to engage with it.

I will believe it when an astronomer tells me what the rings of Saturn are composed of. I will believe Chris Hadfield when he explains the impossibility of space travel, as envisioned on the Star Trek series, for example. I will also believe you when you tell me that June Bugs are high in protein, but that will NOT make me any more likely to eat them!

However, when we move to the question of describing God - as a way of trying to understand the reality of God, description and understanding is much harder. This process of describing God has been described as a blind person trying to describe an elephant.

Now, a blind person, with no previous experience of a cat, could put a cat on his lap and fairly quickly come up with an accurate description. A full grown cat might be approximately 10 pounds, and have soft fur and whiskers. It has pointy ears and sharp teeth. It can purr and meow. It has 4 legs and for no reason it can use the claws at the end of those legs to inflict painful wounds on a human being in the way!

But moving on to an elephant, I would first have to tell the girl who was blind NOT to try to put the elephant on her lap! I would help her walk around the elephant. If the first thing touched was the tail of the giant pachyderm, an elephant would seem to be like a rope. Then if that person moved and touched the tusk, the elephant would have to be like a spear, with a rope! Then the person might find and feel the trunk which can act like a nose, a hand, and even a shower nozzle, and then a leg, what description would ensue?

The reality and immensity of an “elephant” is such that one needs to “step back”, and open eyes and ears, in order to get a fuller picture; the kind you really can’t have when you get too close and can’t use the sense of sight, of course!

For almost as long as it has existed, the Christian church has described God as “trinity” - not THREE gods, but one God in three persons.

Following in the Hebrew tradition from which it arose, Christianity had to account for Jesus and how he so fully embodied the nature of God but was not another God. They had to account for that Advocate whose presence was promised by Jesus before his ascension. But they also knew this Spirit was not new, not something especially created for their own situation. This Spirit had been speaking to and through the prophets for generations!

The traditional language used for the trinity is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). It is not specifically nailed down in the Bible, but mainline churches believed its foundation is there. It is voiced in relational language - but some people choose other terms which remove the masculine connotations. Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, is probably one of the most common alternate sets - but that is language of “function” and is more limited than the Father, Son and Spirit language which is language of “being”. I told you a few weeks ago of my internship supervisor who said the “beatniks” used Laddio, Daddio, Spook. I heard of one family, who had an affection for the name John. In one household there were three generations with a person named John. Tongue in cheek they described them as “John the Father”, “John the Son” and the two year old was, “John the Holy Terror!” I have also heard the father, son and spirit of the trinity described as “two men and a bird”. Some people use feminine images while others find them offensive or unnecessary. We had great, and heated, discussions on this in theological school as we tried to figure it out for ourselves.

In 2006 the United Church adopted a new faith statement. Unlike “a new creed’ from the late 1960s, this statement is much longer and not intended to be used in public worship as a “single unified statement that covers it all”. This statement is called a “Song of Faith”. Of God it says this:

With the Church through the ages,
we speak of God as one and triune:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We also speak of God as
    Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer
    God, Christ, and Spirit
    Mother, Friend, and Comforter



    Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,
    and in other ways that speak faithfully of
the One on whom our hearts rely,
the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.	

As we know there are many denominations under the umbrella of “Christian” - and one of the things that unites many main-line Christians is our baptism. But it’s not enough just to toss water at a baby or an adult and say “you are baptized.” The particular words are important. A few years ago one of my parishioners got married to a Roman Catholic and she and her teenage son became members of that church. The local priest contacted me to ask if United Church baptism was “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” If it was, in the eyes of the Catholic Church it would be considered a valid baptism. Many long years of ecumenical dialogue had determined that this was a crucial part of baptism, one that enabled baptism in one denomination to be recognized by the other.

A careful reading of the Creation accounts in Genesis will tell us that God is not really acting alone at Creation. The reading from the book of Proverbs personifies this “other” as “lady Wisdom.” The Gospel of John speaks of “the Word” as being in the beginning with God and through whom creation came to be. Some of the people we call the “church fathers” linked Wisdom with the Christ, while others linked Wisdom with the Spirit.

Both Judaism and Christianity arose in cultures which had many gods who were in charge of things on earth. They dwelled on a mountain and had a definite hierarchy. Their was a god of the sea, of the harvest, of war, of light, of the hunt and, of course, of love. In some accounts these gods and goddesses acted like spoiled children and sibling rivalry was part of their story.

Judaism developed into a religion that eventually proclaimed the existence of one God but there were ways of understanding the nature and work of this God that required different metaphors.

(Sigh) Hands down, no question about it, without a word of a lie, this is my LEAST favourite Sunday to preach. When I was in theological school, entire books on the trinity, REALLY LARGE books were on our list of required readings. After having waded my way through them, I can’t say that I’m much the wiser.

Our newer faith statements are much more comfortable being able to state that God is mystery. They acknowledge that we are like the blind who try to describe an elephant. They can affirm some things while at the same time, acknowledging that God is beyond our understanding. Scientists can do many things to make our life easier and safer, Science has improved our quality of life immensely. Yet science has to be paired with wisdom and ethics and discernment and, above all, love. Just because we have the technology and knowledge to make something happen, does not mean we should.

Wisdom was with God at the beginning of the world, yet where is wisdom when weapons of mass destruction were created? Where is the wisdom of merrily polluting our planet when we know that we are at the tipping point of making this planet unfit for human life? Where is the wisdom of going to Mars if we can’t solve our problems here? Wisdom calls us to ask the questions of “should” as well as the question of can.

No matter what we can know about the universe, with telescopes and mathematical calculations, wisdom calls us to be in awe of the night sky.

No matter how much we have studied human reproduction, for example, wisdom calls us to be in awe of a human baby, or any animal’s offspring for that matter.

No matter how important we think we are as a human race, we are called to be in awe of the Divine, for as smart as we are, we are NOT God, we do not know everything. These days new discoveries are contradicting what we once thought were certainties and we have to go back to the drawing board. We should not stop searching and learning and asking, but let us be in awe because, really, we only see and touch and understand a small part of this elephant we call the holy.

Let us look, be in awe and rejoice!

Amen.

2 Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77
Luke 9: 51-62

Our Ministry Goes On!

One of the movies that made a BIG impression on me, early in my adult life, was “Chariots of Fire”. This film is about 2 runners in the 1924 Olympic Games. One was Harold Abrahams, a Jewish man fighting antisemitism and the other, a Scot, and a Christian missionary, by the name of Eric Liddell. The latter had trained for a much shorter race but while on his way to compete in Paris, discovered that the trials were to be held on Sunday and he refused to race because of his belief in Sunday as “the Lord’s Day”. I believe that a member of the Great Britain team, who had won silver in a previous Olympics, gave up his spot, and Liddell prepared to run in the much longer race.

I don’t know much about running but I do know that sprinters such as Usain Bolt run very differently than those who compete in much longer races. It would be impossible for someone like Bolt to keep up the pace for which he is famous, if, for example he were to attempt a marathon.

Nations often become very engaged in the Olympic Games, especially if they have a “gold medal contender” representing their country. In 1924 even the Prince of Wales weighed into the fray, trying to convince him to change his mind, and the ENTIRE nation was upset with him. Most thought that his stance was taking religion altogether too seriously!

They were upset with him, that is, until he won!

I mention this movie, this tale now 98 years old, not because it really has anything to do with today’s biblical text, telling us of Elijah’s being carried off to heaven and his passing on the “mantle of office” to the younger Elisha, but because the music at the end of the movie is associated with a poem by William Blake. The hymn was in our “old” red hymn book: the one we published in concert with the Anglican Church in the early 1970s. I think it is more well-known in the Anglican church; it’s beautiful, but not really singable!

 And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England’s mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England’s pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England’s green & pleasant Land. 

When this poem was originally published these words were printed below the text, “Would to God that all the Lord’s people were Prophets”.

There are many interpretations of this poem but I prefer the ones which see it as a way of using these words as Blake’s commentary on his day and age.

The Industrial Revolution was changing absolutely everything. Not only were people leaving the country for work in cities, but the rich controlled the “industry” and the poor suffered. The “dark Satanic mills” refer to the giant “industrial size” flour mills which drove the smaller mills out of business. They were also accused of “adulterating the flour” and using cheaper imports. Progress was causing suffering for many!

The hymn also refers to a legend that Jesus visited what is now England during his early years which the biblical story doesn’t breathe a word. No serious historian, or biblical scholar, believes that Jesus ever went to what is now England! Yet, I suppose it begs the question, “what would Jesus say if her were to walk through England’s pleasant pastures? Would Jesus agree that it was, as some claimed, “a green and pleasant land”?

“Building Jerusalem” was and is a metaphor for bringing about “heaven on earth”. It was an ideal place where justice reigned and evil and greed did not cause suffering. I have a book that was edited by a former professor of St. Andrew’s College that refers to Canada’s western provinces as “the new Jerusalem”. Many people moved here from eastern Europe with visions of freedom and liberation from oppression. Leaders such as Tommy Douglas and J.S. Woodsworth, who both began their careers as clergy, led life-long campaigns against social injustice.

That book’s editor, the Rev Dr Ben Smilie, was known for unusual “stunts,” in order to get his point across! An example: He once announced he was going to burn a dog in public as a protest of the Vietnam War. The crowds, composed of many animal rights activists arrived, horrified that this might actually happen! I think what he actually did was cook a “hot dog” - in public - but it was all in an attempt to draw attention to the deliberate napalm bombing of Vietnamese villages, filled with civilians. I think he said something like, “how can you be more concerned with one dog here in Saskatoon, than you are with thousands of humans in Vietnam”. It reminds me of the dialogue between the prophet Jonah and God over the fate of a shade tree!

Smilie’s stunt sounds like something like Elijah would have done. The text gives us several examples of his weird and wonderful ministry. That mantle of his, probably a shawl of some kind, seems to be the “focus” of Elijah’s God given power. This passage tells us that he used it to part the waters of the river Jordan so the pair could cross over on dry ground. At the end of today’s passage, that mantle, after falling to the ground, is picked up by Elijah, because he did follow until the very end, and the mantle works!

The metaphor of “passing the mantle” has been an image in our culture for generations - for many kinds of transitions - now you know where it comes from. `

When the United Church was formed in 1925, there were 12 sets of “a gavel and a cane” made, and one given to each conference. I know that the closing worship service of Maritime Conference always involved the official passing of these objects from the outgoing president to the incoming one. In later years, a stole of office was added to this list, enabling the President to carry, and wear, a symbol of his or her office wherever they went in the Conference. When the Conference was not meeting, the gavel and cane could be seen hanging on the wall in the Conference Office. They are probably in the Archives now! I know nothing of the set belonging to Saskatchewan Conference.

I’ve only been to one “in-person” meeting of the Lkiving Skies Regional Council and can’t remember if we have symbols for our “leaders”; but in 2019 the job was divided up and taken on by two people. It’s hard to take everything in, in one meeting, when almost everything has changed.

The current moderator, The Rt Rev Richard Bott, wears a stole as a symbol of his office and I assume will pass it to the person who will become Moderator in August. I can now tell you with certainty that name now:” the Rev Dr Carmen Landsdown.

Mayors of cities and towns have “chains of office” which all seem to have a more-or-less common pattern. I looked to see if Nipawin had one but could not find a picture of the Mayor wearing one!

In case you wanted to know, Souris PEI is so named because of a plague of mice during the Acadian era, c. 1750. “Souris” is the French word for “mouse”. The medallion on the chain of office for the Mayor of that town has a mouse on the back!

Elisha receives Elijah’s mantle, as the sign and symbol that he is now God’s prophet.

When I was growing up, the Red Cross organized swimming lessons for Island children; I don’t remember if they were for 10 days or just 5, but every kid had an opportunity. We were taken by bus to a designated pool for swimming lessons. We all carried our wet clothes back home in beach bags or grocery bags or whatever our parents could come up with. Some of the boys used to enjoy taking their damp towels and snapping them at one another or an unsuspecting girl. But, they found out that some girls were just as good at it!

As I thought about this passage I wondered what it says about role of a prophet. Is a prophet’s role to take a shawl and roll it up and smite rivers, (or sinners) with it, to get them to obey. Is a prophet like a slightly mad wizard, using hocus-pocus to enforce God’s will?

This mantle snapping of the prophet is not a game to hurt someone or to prove a special skill but it is a sigh of God’s power to effect change for the good.

As I look at the question of what biblical prophets like Elijah are reported to have done and the poem by William Blake, I wonder what Jesus would have said if he did indeed go to England, not in Roman times, but in Blake’s time, during the industrial revolution? Would the irony of the words, “Englnd’s green and pleasant land” be as painful to him as it seems to be to Blake? What would he have said about farmers forced off their land and unable to earn enough money to feed their children? What would he have said about all the money for the country’s wheat crop going to the wealthy and thus increasing their power exponentially? What would he say about Charles Dickens’ England, where Ebenezer Scrooge was only one of many just like him. The prophetic voice of Dickens’ Christmas Carol is quite strong mid- December, but may well have faded out by mid-June!

Pause But, here’s the real question for us. If Jesus were to visit Canada in 2022 what would he see and think? This is where it becomes somewhat harder. What if he walked down the streets of a big city at 3am to find people sleeping under a simple plastic sheet, in sub zero temperatures? I am told that there are tent cities in places as small as Nipawin, if we know where to look. What if he visited one of many First Nations communities where he would not dare ask for a drink of water, or wash his disciples feet, unless he knew it was boiled first. How many people would he talk to before he realized that the reality of missing and murdered aboriginal women was a epidemic, not just a few isolated instances. How many Residential School survivors would he have to talk to, in order to realize that their wounds were still gaping and the sufferers still crying for justice and for healing?

One of the characteristics of prophets, I think, is their ability to look at something and see what other’s miss.

One of the characteristics of prophets, I think, is their ability to look at something and see what other’s refuse to see.

One of the characteristics of prophets, I think, is their ability to look at something and see that it can be different.

Prophets are people who believe in the possibility of the seemingly impossible. They believe that settlers and first nations can find a way to live in this land with justice and equity. They believe that all children can have enough to eat. They believe that we can provide enough for all people to have a dignified life; with adequate food, shelter, clothing and meaningful work.

Prophets also believe that we can offer support and insight to those in other lands seeking the same kind of justice, the same kind of peace, the same kind of dignity that we enjoy or at least for which we strive.

Today we stand open mouthed, looking at Elijah disappear. We look at our feet and see the mantle, floating gently to the ground. Will we pick it up?

Amen.

2 Kings 5: 1-14
Psalm 30
Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20

What, NO “Hocus Pocus”?

I’ll admit it: I’m a Harry Potter fan. As his story begins, in the first book, I love how his true identity cannot be repressed, even by the concerted efforts of his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. I love that he can talk to snakes. I love the fact that the Dursleys cannot stop the offer of admission letters arriving from Hogwarts, the famous school for wizards. The scenes in the movie about the letters arriving are so well done! I especially love the spells! I believe they are all loosely based on Latin and sound so cool, especially with the character’s UK accents. The young Hogwarts students take out their wands, which have been carefully matched to each student, and say some fancy sounding thing such as levicorpus and the person at whom the spell it is aimed, is left in mid air, dangling by an ankle! Or the wizard waves her wand and says aguamenti, and his wand begins to squirt water, like a hose. Another phrase will cause blisters to appear all over someone’s body and a slightly altered spell will make them disappear! There is a spell to make lost objects appear (now that would be really helpful) The bubble-head charm gives the user a kind of diving helmet so they can swim under water. But, if you pronounce a word in a spell incorrectly, it may be another spell, an unwanted one! One of the reasons the young wizards go to school is that they have to perfect their skills in the use of these charms, spells and curses. There are lots of accidents that the professors, more adept in their use, have to reverse.

If you are interested, you can go online and find several sites where avid readers have studied and catalogued these things.

Despite all these charms though, there are real dangers and real deaths in the wizarding world; just as in real life, not everything can be fixed by wishing it were so or making an appropriate potion!

Do you recall that biblical story where some very well meaning people made a big mistake and caused the death of a lot of children! Of course you do! But we don’t usually focus on that part. It’s part of what we often call, “the Christmas Story”. We call them Magi, or “Wise Men” and they visited Jesus by following a star. We are told they studied the stars and believed that a new star had particular significance. In this instance they had determined that a recently appeared star signified a new king of the Jews.

While it might seem logical to look for a new king in a palace, it might have been more prudent if they had thought twice before knocking on the palace door. This was an era in which the Roman Empire was the actual ruler and the puppet kings were a fractious and paranoid bunch. Turns out these Magi were wrong and they had to resume their search after striking out at the Palace. Then, after having paid homage to the child Jesus, a dream told them to go home by a different route - but the damage had been done for the paranoid king had ordered a wholesale slaughter of baby boys.

Apparently they were not the first foreigners to make a mistake that caused no small amount of distress in the palace. We hear that story in today’s reading from 2nd Kings. The relations between Aram and Israel were, shall we say, less than friendly! Aram would raid Israel and carry off people to make them slaves. They captured a young girl who became a slave in the home of the commander of the army. The commander of the army was afflicted with a skin condition thought to be leprosy. The slave girl knew that the prophet back in Samaria could help so she told his wife who told her husband who went up the chain of command and talked to the king. The king knew that relations with Israel and Samaria were far from good so he sent many gifts to sweeten the deal. Basically, I think he was saying, “pretty, pretty please, heal my friend and here is some stuff to make you overlook the fact that we are actually enemies.” It was, a bribe!

The king almost had a coronary, and saw it as a pretext for more political repercussions; it was a diplomatic nightmare. I can imagine how he paced, “What do I do? WHAT do I do? WHAT do I DO?”

But as they say, news travels fast, and the prophet, the one who did have the power, sent word to the king. “Don’t worry, send the man to me.”

Naaman must have thought, “Finally, I am getting somewhere.” BUT when he arrived at the prophet’s house he was given no red carpet, no fanfare, no royal treatment. A servant came out and told him to go and wash in the Jordan. Now the Jordan was a second-rate river, according to Naaman. There were far better rivers back home. He was insulted at the lack of respect he was being shown. He wanted the prophet to fawn over him; he wanted a magic spell; he wanted the prophet to recognize his power. He wanted to feel special. He wanted to be in charge, even though he was clearly the one in great need.

As luck would have it, his servants made him see reason; how difficult a task was it, really? I suppose that if he had been asked to crawl on his hands and knees and circle the temple, he would have done that. If he had to stand on his head for a day, he would have done that too. He was an officer; fitness and brains his middle names. How could it be as simple as taking a bath?

Reluctantly, Naaman washed in the Jordan and his skin disease was cured and became as soft as a baby’s bum, as the expression goes.

Two things stand out for me in this passage. One is that this man of power expected hoopla; the cure was too simple. He almost let his arrogance get in the way of his healing. Second, it is the common and ordinary people such as the slave girl and the commander’s servants who are the ones who point people in the right direction.

Many people go to the doctor for antibiotics when they have a bad cold. As you all have been told, a the common cold is caused by a virus, not bacteria and antibiotics will not work. This makes some patients very unhappy. Years ago, I was talking to a family doctor - she was a patient herself, in hospital patient convalescing from an accident. She told me of a patient who insisted on a prescription for his cold so she finally gave him one which he happily carried to his pharmacy. The pharmacist telephoned her, laughing. “Dr. just how am I supposed to dispense this?”

She had written something like, “a tincture of time” on the script. She replied, “I suppose you could take a bottle of cough syrup and scratch off the label and put your own on it and charge him the customary dispensing fee. He insisted on a prescription”

The druggist, who had probably been telling customers for years that there are no drugs to cure a cold, and all they could do was to treat were symptoms, said, with a chuckle, “This one has to go on the fridge!”

When it comes to life’s perplexing problems, sometimes the solutions are simple, but at other times they involve work and change. Naaman’s problem is that he did not recognize the healing that came from the simple task he was being asked to perform. A large part of his healing was the journey from his home to see the prophet. He had to leave his comfort zone and try something different.

Ya’all probably know something about Dr Phill, the one with the TV show. I make no overall judgements about his show and his advice, but you have seen an episode in which someone is explaining their problem to him, and what they are doing about it, his wry question is, often, “and how’s that working for you?” Obviously not well! Otherwise they would not be airing their laundry on international TV.

When we know something is not working we have to change, and while the change may be difficult, it’s often not very complicated. Quit smoking. Stop eating so much fat. Eat more vegetables.

Sometimes we find ourselves in the shoes of the slave girl or the servants of Naaman. We can see the problem and its solution as clear as day, but we are afraid to speak to power. In the case of these folks they were people who had no power whatsoever; they were the lowest possible rung of the ladder. They were slaves and servants and their bosses were on the top rung. Yet they had the courage to say what needed to be said to bring about healing and wholeness. In the case of the slave girl, I can imagine that she could have hated her captors so much that she would not even think of helping them. It seems to me that she is one of many “ordinary” people in the biblical story that found themselves in the right place at the right time.

It is the voices of these folks who pointed the rich and powerful to the source of healing and hope.

When we look at the problems we may throw up our hands and think that they are too complex to fix and that anything we do would only be a drop in the bucket. But just look at how much water can be collected if all you have is a steady drip from a leaky tap. We can’t feed everyone, but we can feed one. We can’t solve the problem of poverty in the world, or even in Canada but we can try to do something locally. As citizens in a democracy we can write letters asking for an increase in social assistance, or better yet advocate for a Guaranteed Annual Income. We can give to our food-bank or this church’s relief fund.

I think that in the life of faith we often discount the importance of the simple things - the simple practices, the simple gestures, the simple acts of kindness. We discount our own power. We think that someone else is better equipped to serve - yet the work of these two people in the background of the passage from the Hebrew Scriptures makes all the difference in the world.

Changing sides for just a minute we are sometimes the ones in power and like Naaman we need to learn a lesson of humility, open our eyes and hearts, and truly see where the offer of grace and healing is originating. What are we being called to do differently - what unexpected source is offering us healing and new life.

So lets not allow either our humility or our arrogance to get in the way of our connecting with the words of grace and healing that can make true life come to all. Let us realize that it will require the crossing of borders and being open to grace in some of the most unexpected places.

Open Sesame. Let the Sprit be our guide.

Amen.

Amos 7: 7-17
Psalm 82
Luke 10: 25-37

“Gravity Does Not Lie”

There are lots of essential or useful tools employed in the building trades. A couple of years ago (before COVID) I was watching my nephew, a building contractor, as he used some kind of lift to manouevre the massive rafters into place on his brother’s house. For a house with a vaulted roof, I can’t imagine doing it the old fashioned way which was, I guess, to build them in place!

Some innovations in carpentry, like power nailers and electric saws, cordless drills and pre-engineered trusses and weight bearing beams have been game changers in the construction market.

In biblical times, the styles of houses were different as were construction methods. I don’t think anyone really knows how the pyramids were built taking into consideration their massive size and complex web of chambers inside. However, most residences were built with hand tools by artisans who learned their craft from their father, or perhaps, an uncle.

One of the things that was essential to the building trades was a plumb line. I’ve used a variation, a chalk line, when hanging wallpaper. The one thing builders have always known is that a weighted line will always hang straight. I suppose that nothing less than a strong magnetic field or a gale force wind could make it do otherwise!

The image is accessible and understandable. Amos is a prophet and by and large prophets arose in biblical times when the people needed to “listen up.” I have a friend who a high school teacher who would sometimes refer to “the slackers” in class. They were bright enough to get good marks but they had better things to do than complete assignments and study. The result was often very poor marks. Often their parents blamed the teacher! How does that expression go? “It’s a poor workman who blames his tools”.

If my memory serves me correctly in 1993 Pictou Industries delivered a ferry for the Caribou NS to Wood Islands PEI summer ferry service: the MV Confederation> It can carry 220 cars and 600 people. For various reasons, the new ferry needed a new dock and loading ramp. The construction of this dock was part of the project but it seems that the people building the dock were not using the same measuring tape as the ones building the ship and when it was delivered the necessary parts did not match up. Since you have drive your own car on and off this ferry, matching those things was essential. I’m sure a bunch of deckhands, engineers and politicians were left scratching their heads, looking at the ferry anchored some distance away, and wondering what went wrong, and more importantly, how to fix it. By the way, its easier to change the size of a dock than an 8 tonne ship 114 metres long!

When I lived in a manse in Northern Nova Scotia the manse committee began a multi-year project to replace the windows with modern, double hung, triple glazed window inserts. An employee from the hardware store measured the windows, but the carpenter complained loud and long that the measurements were not right; an error which caused him extra work!

The next year, there was a budget for more windows and the carpenter insisted on doing the measuring himself. They were measured and duly ordered. I was standing in the livingroom when he removed the old sashes and weights and pulleys and whatnot as he readied the opening for the new inserts. They were designed to fit in the hole, just like a jigsaw puzzle. No trim or window casings on the inside needed to be disturbed. It was a beautiful theory! However, all but one window was too big. He hoisted a window up to the opening but instead of placing it in the opening he set it on the floor and took out his tape measure. He muttered to himself and went outside and measured the rest of them. He wrote some stuff down and got in his truck and went home to get his “order book.” He came back very upset with a sharp chisel and another hammer and started making the casings bigger. Turns out it was his mistake! I think I moved before the window project was finished. I’ve heard it said that it’s a poor worker who blames his tools, and I suppose it is the same with a worker who blames someone else’s work. I’m not sure if it is a carpenter thing or not, but anyone who has done renovations has likely been treated to the new carpenter’s opinion of the craftsmanship that the last carpenter left behind.

In the book of Amos the people had become lazy and had stopped caring about living according to the law. They knew what they were called to do but in their prosperity they did not love their neighbour, took advantage of others, and only looked out for #1. It was not just an individual problem, it was the whole society.

The plumb line is a powerful image; a plumb line cannot lie. It cannot be made to indicate a crooked result. If you use the plumb line correctly the wall will be straight, the chimney will be straight as will the doors and windows AND so will your wallpaper (which I know they did not have in Amos’ day).

I often talk about the word of God as a mirror. Look in the scripture and find your own reflection. When you find yourself, what does the text say about you and to you?

I can also speak of the bible as a lens. When I started school it was discovered that I badly needed glasses. With my glasses I could see the world as it was and, more importantly, the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. I became accustomed to my glasses and assumed I would never be free of them. Over time the prescription kept getting stronger and stronger. I could not do anything without them! About the time I started to need bifocals I developed cataracts and after a wait and two surgeries which involved replacing the lens in my eye with an artificial one, I could see better than I ever had in my life. I was able to drive without glasses. But I can’t shop without reading glasses. I cant read a book without glasses.

The biblical story is like a corrective lens. We put it in front of our face and look through it to see things as we should see them. Jesus’ parables are like a new lens to me. In today’s parable, often called, “The Parable of the Good Samaritan,” Jesus speaks of the Samaritan as a neighbour.

Apparently there were some people who were always trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would be taken the wrong way and get him arrested. Or perhaps there were people who wanted this rabbi from Nazareth to pat them on the back and say, “well done.”

The text tells us that this was a question with a hidden motive. The best way to deal with such questions is to get the questioner to also give the answer. Jesus could not possibly be faulted if he agreed with what had been in the law since the time of Moses. But this lawyer would not let it go, Who is my neighbour?

We can all list our neighbours. They live on our street or on the street behind us. Some of us would even include everyone in Nipawin. But if we had to include everyone in our postal code that would involved people on acreages, and that would certainly be going way tooo far! Many people try to exclude people who have recently immigrated or the people who claim their ancestors have lived here for thousands of years! We can find ways to exclude people if we really want to.

One of the deep divides in Jesus’s day was the one between Jews and Samaritans. When Jesus answers the question, “who is my neighbour,” note that he really does not answer the question but tells a story; a story of someone being a neighbour. Assuming that the questioner was Jewish, Jesus story tells of neighbourliness coming from a most unexpected source.

The story is beautifully told. There are plenty of excuses that the listeners might have thought of to not help the man who had been beaten and robbed: he should not have even been on that hilly, isolated, dangerous road. It’s his own fault. The list goes on!

The people passing by were folks of status; touching someone who might be dead might mean that they could not have participated in worship. Maybe it was a trap and there were others lying in wait to ambush a would-be helper.

That is probably EXACTLY what the common folks expected of the elite upper crust - too hoity toity to get their hands dirty to help a fella!

But the identity of the next person who comes by changes everything. If this was a simple tale about the uncaring upper classes, the man who helped would have been a shepherd or a fisherman or a carpenter or EVEN a tax collector, but it was not - it was a hated SAMARITAN. This half-breed, this outcast comes by and he does not even seem to hesitate. He gets his hands dirty and uses his own money to ensure the wounded man is cared for.

When confronted with the question, “who was the neighbour” the lawyer has been backed into a corner and has to agree that the Samaritan acted like a neighbour.

This Samaritan, this man from a despised cultural group was the hero; his behaviour held up as something to emulate. He was better at following the law than the people of Israel themselves

About March 1 or so I downloaded a new and updated version of the tax preparation software I have used for many years. The first thing I read was “Changed for 2021" and it was mostly a list of how I could claim certain expenses as a tax deduction so that I would have a bigger refund - and it was all legal and above board. Lots of folks comb through the lists of deductions to get the hightest number of deductions. What is the least tax that I can get away with paying?

Sometimes we look at life in general in the same way. Does this new government rule (which will cost me time and money) apply to me, or is there a loophole? What if the speed limit only applied to other people and not us? No trespassing? Applies to other people. No entry? Applies to someone else. Who says I have to get a vaccination?

What if we stoped looking for loopholes, or reasons things that are hard or costly do not apply to us, and instead, looked for new ways to follow the call of God to new destinations?

As individuals we cannot do everything - but we can each do something. I believe that we often know what it is that we are called to - and if confronted by the gospel we know there is no good reason we should not be doing at least some of it.

We are called to love God - to love neighbour and love self. No excuses. No loopholes.

Amen.

Amos 8: 1-12
Psalm 52
Luke 10: 38-42

The Better Part?

The manse of one of the churches I served was located in the church hall’s parking lot. On occasion, I would look out my study window to see a pickup truck at the hall, and a couple of fellas loading chairs and tables onto the back of the truck. By and by, I would see the same truck and several people, returning the borrowed items. Someone had been having a family dinner and did not have the chairs and tables to pull it off so they borrowed them from the hall. I gather that some families even cleared out the garage to find the space to serve that number of people!

In the manse I have a kitchen table designed for 2, but it will seat 4 in a pinch. Collecting all my other table and chair like furniture I would be able to serve 6 more but after that I would also run out of dishes and cutlery and would have to borrow some of those from the church. I did that for the Sunday school BBQ a few years ago.

There are many stories in the Gospels about Jesus eating at the home of various people; sometimes even inviting himself. Remember Zacchaeus? Whether he was asked or invited himself, presumably that would be extra work for someone in that household. He was known to enjoy a good meal, served with a good wine. In today’s passage he seems to be praising Mary and mildly critical of Martha because of that very meal preparation; what gives?

The Gospels are peppered with stories of Jesus’ visits with Mary and Martha. It’s hard to separate the stories and sometimes, over all the Gospel stories, we cant be 100% certain they are all talking about the same household. There was clearly more than one Mary, after all.

On this day, in this Gospel account, Jesus is visiting Martha. Since the text says “they”, presumably Martha has invited Jesus and his disciples: 13 guests! She invited them. Mary is there. Lazarus is not even mentioned. Maybe Jesus was talking with him as well but since no one expected him to help in the kitchen, on this occasion, his presence seemed irrelevant to Luke, the Gospel writer! This is an unusual story for several reasons. It would have been highly unusual in Jesus’ day for a woman to be the head of a household, but this seems to be the case.

Many years ago I was asked to change an announcement for a Sunday school meeting. I had listed it as being at the home of a woman in the congregation. She asked me to change it to her husband’s name. I guess he had insisted that it was his” house. So there was no man to “pull rank” in the Martha household.

But, Martha was still doing the socially expected thing for a woman - preparing and serving a meal. Normally the men of the house would be lounging at the table and being waited on by the women. With guests present, the men would be showing hospitality in their way and the women, supporting their husbands role with food and drink.

It was Mary’s behaviour that was unusual. To sit at the feet of a teacher would be to take the posture and role of a student. Women were rarely, if ever, “students” of a rabbi. Men and women who were not relatives would not have had much association with one another; it was - completely inappropriate. Jesus did not seem to have much time for these conventions.

On the surface, the Gospel story is about the day Martha was busy “putting on the dog” and fussing over the details of the meal she was serving to Jesus and his disciples while Mary was just sitting and listening.

I know sisters. If I were Martha I would have spoken to Mary myself and not tried to get Jesus into the argument. Or, I would have made a statement like, “Master, excuse Mary, I need help in the kitchen if we are going to eat before bedtime”. I would have phrased it in such a way as to give Mary no option! As Luke tells -7- the story though, Jesus has an opportunity to teach.

Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, Martha, Mary is doing the better thing. You are being distracted by too much serving. We don’t need all this!”

I believe that there are very few Gospel stories that can be read apart from their context. We need to ask, “what just happened” and “what is going to happen next?” and “Who is he with?”

Luke has just told us that Jesus has finished commissioning 70 new disciples who returned with amazing success stories. Next Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Yet, on this day he seems to be praising listening to the word, over doing things such as rescuing the wounded or feeding hungry preachers.

It seems to me that as the story progresses Luke is asserting the importance of discernment. What is it that is important? I assume that Jesus and Mary were discussing theology; not the latest episode of “Survivor - Galilee” or last night’s news from Ottawa, Saskatoon and Washington! If we were to run across another man beaten and left to die in a ditch we would know what to do and how to be a neighbour, but life is not always simple.

There are 2 additional parts to that Great Commandment that did not receive much time in the story of the Good Samaritan. The lawyer had asked, -9- “Who is my neighbour” and the parable didn’t exactly answer that question but told a story of someone who “was a neighbour”.

Perhaps this story, of Mary and Martha, answers the question of love of God and self. Perhaps Mary was listening as a way of showing love for and devotion to God or perhaps Jesus wanted to tell Martha to slow down and love herself.

He probably would love to have been talking to both of them instead of hearing the frantic busy-ness coming from the kitchen and seeing Martha scurrying around, her face lined with stress.

I am a fan of the TV Show, “Call the Midwife.” It is the story of a group of midwives who live in and work out of “Nonatus House.” The Sisters who live at the house are Church of England sisters who are dedicated to midwifery in a poor district of the city of London. There are also an assortment of lay women who are also district nurses and midwives. As a religious community they gather at regular times each day for sung devotions and for a time called, “the great silence” during which the house is quiet. The non religious sisters are expected to honour this time and not be so loud as to disturb the ones who are in contemplation and study. Sometimes a Sister is out on a call, delivering a baby, but othwise they observe this routine. It is seen as providing a foundation for their vocation and their work.

Early in my ministry, it was a regular occurrence for me to visit an older couple and by and by the woman would excuse herself and I could hear the running of water and soft clinking of dishes in the kitchen. By and by I would be invited into the kitchen or a tray would appear with various kinds of sweets and the question, “would you like tea or coffee?” Sometimes this happened several times on a visiting day. It was what people expected of themselves when the minister came calling, and it was why she kept a good selection of dainties in the freezer; I would rather have talked with both of them for longer but it was one of the expectations of that generation when the minister came to call.

I think that Jesus always knew that his time in ministry was going to be short. There would never be enough time to talk with those who had the ears to listen, to those who would end up carrying on the message of God’s love after he was gone. He wanted more time; he wanted the disciples and other followers to “listen up” and pay attention.

This is the season to have a family “get-together,” perhaps in your back yard, or at the lake or a park. At this time they seem especially important because COVID regulations have kept us all apart for 2 long years. As we tried to stop the spread of this potentially deadly virus widespread lockdowns were seen as necessary but our family relationships suffered. To those holding such a get together my advice is: make it potluck, accept all the offers of help that you are given. Keep the menu as simple as possible. You should all be able to enjoy one another’s company instead of fussing over “much serving”. Assuming you have not gone hungry this last couple of years, isn’t that what you have been missing? Tell the family stories; pass on the wisdom of the ages. Enjoy the carefreeness of the children and cherish the older ones. And stay as safe as you can.

I think we spend too much time in church and in life trying moaning about the reasons we cant do something anymore: we can’t afford it, we don’t have the people and so on. We neglect the call to “think outside the box” as we say and figure out what we are being CALLED to do. Do we spend time with the scriptures and the known needs of the community to discern what it is that we can do.

How do we show love for God? What is our ministry? Oooops, did you just hear what I said, “OUR ministry?” Maybe we have forgotten that it is Christ’s ministry to which we are called. Since Jesus was not a 21st Century Canadian grain farmer, or even carpenter, turned preacher, how do we make those translations? What is the gospel call in Saskatchewan in 2022. Who is reaching our for our help? Or, in the light of the parable, who is doing a better job than we are at loving our neighbour?

We need the Martha people or the Martha actions, but first we need to discern what exactly is called for, in our time and place, and that takes time to discuss and reflect and pray and be challenged by others with differing opinions.

Amen!

Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81
Luke 14: 1, 7-14

“Rethinking our Code”

A number of years ago, I accompanied my mother to a banquet to honour donors to the local hospital foundation. Over about five years my parents had finally contributed enough to have their name on “the wall of honour;” my mother was especially committed to it after my dad’s death. As her “driver” she gave me her second ticket! The event which included a meal and a presentation of certificates of thanks. When I picked up the tickets, I forgot to ask for a seat nearer the front because my mom had trouble both seeing and hearing. Turns out the request would not likely have been granted because my parents had given the minimum amount to have their names placed on “the wall” and seating was arranged by the amount given. We all had the same meal, heard the same speech and received a similar certificate but it was clear who was the most important. We were in the very back! Of course, that is the kind of thing they were buying into; the seating plan gave no consideration to a donor’s means, just their gift!

In Charlottetown this spring there was a controversy when a well-off family offered a quarter of a million dollars in exchange for naming rights on a new rink and well-ness centre planned for the city. The problem was that the rink it would be renovated, expanded and largely replaced, already had a name - it was named in honour of someone who had dedicated his life to minor hockey in Charlottetown and who donated the land. As the controversy began to swirl I believe the would-be donors withdrew their offer altogether. I have heard that the government is planning to upgrade another facility and the one in question may be closed. I don’t know what was finally decided but PEI is hosting the Canada Games and facilities must be ready!!!

When I was on PEI I discovered that another family had just given enough money so that the 1000+ seat theatre at the Confederation Centre will bear their name till at least 2035. It’s not that far away though; perhaps I should start saving my pennies. I wonder how long would it take for a preacher to save 2M!? Think of it, “Anne of Green Gables now playing at the Johnston theatre”! I might be able to swing it in time for its 100th anniversary in 2065!

Universities, including the one from which I graduated, sport many buildings named in honour of big donors. Sometimes the gifts are less grand! I remember one classroom, in which I listened to many history lectures, was dubbed “the Lantic Room” after the sugar refiners who had provided the blackboard, the desks and a lifetime supply of chalk and light bulbs! Many hospital rooms are outfitted by ordinary families and recognized by a small plaque on the door or wall!

Church related causes are not immune from this kind of recognition. A few years ago I was talking to a colleague at an event at a church camp which had just built a modern, year round, activity and dining hall. I mentioned that I was dismayed that the camp had its own “wall of honour” (I did not think it was very church-like) and my colleague told me that he agreed with me but the majority of the Board felt it was the only way to get the kind of money they needed to revitalize the camp.

A few years ago I was part of a group which met in the members’ homes. It seemed that each of us tried to match or even exceed the efforts of the previous hostess. Sometimes there would be a pot-luck which was a great time and less work for the one hosting. However, one member seemed to always pick the cheapest contribution and she was the one who requested I bring a certain desert - which was certainly not cheap to make. It was not like she was in a lower economic bracket than the rest of us. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I noticed but I was not the only one who did! When we are part of a such a group we like things to be fair because we are all trying to share the load equally.

Another friend was “shut out” of a long time friend’s life when her husband got a new high-power job and all her energy went into supporting her husband’s new career. More than one of her former friends fell by the wayside as if they were too ordinary and had no connections to help her in her new and more elegant life!

In summary, the past few minutes are just a litany of the way the world often functions. We hang out with people of the same social or economic class. We shop in the same boutiques, eat in the same restaurants, drive the same kinds of cars and participate in the same kinds of leisure activities. When we entertain we invite people who can “pay us back” with a similar outlay in terms of cost and effort.

Today’s gospel passage is a mixture of common-sense advice about celebration dinners such as wedding banquets and thought provoking advice on your own guest list and entertainment habits. As I read and reread the passage I begin to wonder what it is really saying to the church community.

I believe that part of the key to interpreting this passage lies in the passage from Jeremiah. Time after time, not just while they were still in the desert, the people of Israel seemed to be always complaining, always wanting more, never satisfied. The prophetic message is almost always something like this: “don’t think that you have earned any of this; God has given you all that you have. Quit complaining that you feel you deserve more! Time and again the prophets remind them of the generosity of God and the necessity to adopt an attitude of gratitude not an attitude of superiority.

The importance of hospitality and welcoming and protecting the stranger and the traveller was of very high importance in their culture. They had been nomads and without friends and God brought them to a prospereous land so that they could welcome others, not rest on their laurels and selfishly guard “what was theirs”.

I remember a fund-raiser I attended which was a casserole dinner. I thought there would be lots of food because a previous church prided themselves in having lots and lots of food for their casserole suppers! Some dishes would be kept in the ekitchen and the dishes replenished as the first ones emptied! New people came over a peeriod of two hours and left FULL. NOPE. NOT THIS TIME. This group put out ALL the food at the beginning and the first man through the line had so much food on his plate that I am sure it would have been three meals for me. By the time I got to the food table there was one roll and a small piece of lasagna left. Everyone but me knew they had to arrive early! I went home and found something in the fridge to eat! I never bought another ticket for that yearly event!

As the early church began to expand, and people from different economic classes began to believe in the way of Jesus, it had to cope with the vast divide between the well off members of the faith community and those who lived “paycheque to paycheque” as we say, The great disparity between the well off and the poor was a cause of no small conflict as, I am told, the first ones to their community meals here ate their fill before the much poorer working classes arrived. In time their communal meal or Eucharist provided only symbolic amounts of food.

This all leads us to do some serious reflection on the ways in which we see God’s grace at work in our lives. If we see that we are entirely responsible for our own success, as grand, or as small, as that may be, we may well have less room in our hearts for those whose needs outstrip our generosity.

Generally speaking we thrown dinner parties for those who throw them for us. If they feed us prime rib we don’t reciprocate with Mr Noodlesor Kraft Dinner!

The rising cost of food, and other essentials, has many families scraping the bottom of their budgets to get enough to eat and for their growing families to wear.

As we head into fall and winter I worry once again about those who depend on our food bank and hope that our theology of abundance will win out over our fears of scarcity.

How do we view our lives and God’s grace. Do we have what we have because we deserve it, have earned it and share only with those who can pay us back in kind. Do we give only what we can spare after we have satisfied not only our needs but our wants as well?

Time and again, as I read the stories of those who have served our church overseas I marvel at the stories they tell of the generous hospitality that is offered to them by people who are very, very poor.

We will be getting back into our Matthew 25 program and gathering donations for the Food Bank and our own relief program as the seasons turn from summer to fall. Each of us has to decide how we are called to respond to God’s grace in our lives.

If we give only to those who are able to respond, our lives are very poor indeed (even if our bank account is considered healthy). Let us think once again of the children who can’t learn properly on an empty stomach and families whose month is much longer than their supply of money. Let us celebrate the grace that has been given to us in order to be generous with others - we have not been given what we hav e for ourselves alone.

Let us open our hearts and our hands to the needs of other because we have experienced the grace of a God who has been so generous with us. Let us change our code if it is “giving so that we will receive”. Let us change it to, “let us give because we have already received”.

Amen