For The Story Stool Time (when the children are invited forward), I shared the story of John 6:1-12, where Jesus feeds the multitude of people using only five small loaves of bread and two small morsels of fish offered by a young boy.
I shared an interpretation of the story that posits the miracle in the action of feeding so many people with so little food. The interpretation speaks of the little boy touching the hearts of all those present through his act of generosity. As a result the people all reach into their own packs and purses and pockets and take out thier own lunches and share them with one another. The miracle comes from the transformation of a selfish heart that suddenly is able to share without concern with others ... It's a powerful story about the abundance of the Kingdom of God and how sometimes all we need to do is share ...
The Sermon:
Jesus used stories quite effectively … He knew how to spin a tale, and bring his audience from where they were, to where he wanted them to be … The story of the Good Samaritan is just such a story.
In the context of his journey from Galilea to Jerusalem, Jesus is preparing himself for what lies ahead. Theologians have argued whether or not he knew that he was going to die – but at the very least he knew that his life was about to under go a radical alteration. He was pushing the envelope, he was challenging the status quo, he was upsetting the proverbial apple cart. At the very least, Jesus would have known that he was going to have a very, very rocky road. The trial was inevitable, torture and suffering was pretty much a given …
So, he was preparing himself, and preparing his followers. He wanted them to be ready. Not only to watch him suffer – but to be prepared for the moment in time when they themselves would suffer too …
As a result, Jesus spent a great deal of his time and energy speaking of the Kingdom of God and what it is like. The story of the Good Samaritan is an example of Jesus teaching us about the radical nature of the Kingdom of God …
A young man asks Jesus a simple question – “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Not your run of the mill question, but to one involved in what you would loosely describe as the institution of the Church, it is what undergirds the whole understanding of the institution and our reason for involvement therein … If we’re not getting rewarded in this life time, we better be rewarded in the next life time …
The young man has a vested interest in knowing whether he would be burning in hell, or savouring the rewards of heaven … What must I do he asks the rabbi?
Be a good neighbour … comes the easy answer. But who is my neighbour he asks further?
So Jesus, answers the question with a story … a familiar story, that in its familiarity has lost some of its impact. We know the story too well. We’ve heard it too many times. We know what is about to happen, and so we tend to miss the obvious impact this story had …
Let’s take a moment to retell it … A young immigrant who has just arrived in Brandon was on his way to work at the Maple Leaf Plant. He didn’t speak English well, he had just arrived from Latin America in the last week. He was trying to set up a new life for himself and his young family. In his pocket was all his id, his passport, his work permit and all the money he and his family had until his next pay day. He was walking along the Richmond near Trinity United and Bethel Assembly thinking about work when suddenly a couple of hoods jumped him and pounded him into the pavement. They robbed him of his id and his papers, his money, his cell phone, wallet and as a final insult they took his shoes and his coat, leaving him battered and bloodied on the side of the road – unconscious, bleeding, and utterly alone …
In a moment two cars passed by the young man lying unconscious on the road. In the first car was a minister from one of the local churches. He was intent on getting to the church to prepare for the board meeting that was happening that night. The Congregation was getting ready to address the issues that are arising from the dramatic increase of immigrants in Brandon and the many challenges they faced. He and the church wanted to do something about it, so they were getting ready to offer English as a second language classes, set up support groups and get ready to just be present and help in whatever way these new communities needed … He glanced that the young man and thought to himself – “he must be sleeping it off … why does he have to do it on the lawn of my church?” He slowed slightly, but continued on shaking his head with disgust.
In the next car was the chair of the Community Group that was formed in response to the sudden and dramatic influx of immigrants to the community. Like the Board of the Church, they saw the needs and they pulled together a number of community people to help out. Today they were sitting down with some officials from various levels of Government to begin accessing funding and resources to put this vision into a reality. The meeting today would be tense and high-powered, and his mind was focused on getting the biggest bang for the buck for his community. As he drove by the young man on the side of the road, he glanced over and thought – “really? Couldn’t he stagger his way home last night?” As he continued to drive by, intent on getting to his meeting on time, and getting money to help the poor immigrants to his community.
The young man lay there … still bleeding … still unconscious … still desperately alone …
Then a battered old car pulls up … out of his steps … NOW, this is where the story can take a dramatic turn … In the Liberation Theology take on this story, the figure is the GOOD …, and in the blank we add whatever term is current: the good homosexual, the good biker, the good Taliban member, the good First Nations person, the good East Indian, The good welfare mom, the good … whatever person or group flies beneath our radar and has been the recipient of our contempt, is the person who we are to insert in this story … Look deep within and find the figure that we distrust, or fear, or even hate … and place them in that role …
That’s how powerful this story can be …
But this story can be even more powerful.
This story can be very dramatic if we step back and for a moment see and experience it from the point of view of the man, or woman who is lying battered and bloodied and broken on the side of the road …
A recent immigrant … a substance addicted first nations person … a homeless drug addicted street person … a young mom on her way to her underpaying job … if the person on the side of the road begins as a marginalized figure and through violence loses EVERYTHING, including their identity, where do they have left to turn?
Their neighbour …
The first one is too preoccupied … The second one is too rushed … They watch as car after car speeds past them … maybe they are conscious and just watching … Until one who is marginalized JUST LIKE them steps out and lends a hand …
Not only do they offer care … they give the victim back their identity … they are no longer an un-person… a nameless, faceless figure by the side of the road – they are a PERSON, who is broken, and battered, and bloodied and worthy of care, compassion and love … A hand is offered, care is extended and help is provided … Not just a simple – “there there” and a pat on the hand and a shake of the head, but a commitment to care – a commitment to get the person from the side of the road to a place of healing – the hospital … a clinic … a warm bed …
In our scenario, it would play out with the Samaritan figure going the step further and contacting Maple Leaf so that the victim would not be jobless, it would involved helping find out who this person is, and returning to them their identity … It would be about being present in a real way as the healing journey begins …
Both the victim and the Samaritan become people to one another and the Kingdom of God becomes real and tangible … it is more than just words.
This is radical stuff … this is not for the faint of heart … This is about altering our reality and living in a new territory, a territory where God’s ways become our ways …
The heart of the Kingdom of God is radical inclusion – everyone has a place. The nameless immigrant lying battered on the roadside AND the good homosexual, the good terrorist, the good street person they are included ALONG with us … everyone has a place.
The Kingdom of God is a place of radical abundance – there is enough for everyone. The five barley loaves and the two grilled fish become symbols of our fetters being loosened and our shift to being open to share with each other and with complete strangers … The little boy showed the way, and a crowd was transformed.
The Kingdom of God is about being in uncharted territory – it is where God wants us to be. Right now, realistically speaking – we live in a time and a place of decline. Our town is struggling, our Church is aging, our community is dying … but we ARE people of the Resurrection. Our challenge is to think outside the box – to celebrate what we have and what we are, while boldly embracing and welcoming radical new ways of being Church beyond this group … The Church is the people – all the people … the people we greet on the street each day, the people we sit at fellowship with, the people we live alongside … Just because they don’t worship here today, doesn’t mean they aren’t church – it just means the Church is in transition and something new is forming …
The Kingdom of God is about revisioning the world in a bold new way and living accordingly … The stories Jesus told have universal and timeless messages … What he said 2000 years ago in a time of huge societal transition, still speak to us today …
Faith based on Hope, love, care and compassion is what we have … and it is all we need … The vision is clear – The Kingdom of God … the challenge is for us to look forward rather than trying to defend at all costs what once was …
Jesus didn’t advocate the support of the temple and its structure – he wanted his followers – and us to think beyond the institution that is the church. Today we stand in a place where the institution has been found lacking – just look to the settlement announced by the Catholic Church in Southern California … Our own denomination is struggling with issues of abuse, falling attendance, and aging congregations (ourselves included), yet we stand in a yeasty time where more and more people are craving something spiritual. Even in our little town, young people are asking the big questions of spirituality, and even though they find the Institution lacking, they look to the Church …
Our challenge is whether we will be too distracted to pause and help, or do we have the faith, the courage and the boldness to stop and to not only help the nameless victim lying battered on the side of the road, but to stop open our hearts, our arms and our lives to them, and to welcome them in …
The story Jesus told – the stories we retell, are not comfortable stories. They are challenging stories. They are stories that should cause us pause. They are stories that should change our way of seeing the world, our faith, our lives and what it is that we are about as people of faith gathered together as Church …
The story of the Good Samaritan is about including ALL people … The story has been told … now the challenge is for us to live that story today in the streets of Minnedosa … the challenge is to make this story OUR story …
There are battered and wounded people all around us … we are called to care for them, we are called to stop and lend them more than a fleeting thought and few shallow words … we are called to engage and transform the world … we are called to care … about each other, and about the nameless stranger who happens by … we are called to care for our neighbour …
And it begins here (heart) … and is expressed here (hands) ...
May it be so – thanks be to God …
Let us pray …
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sermon for July 8th 2007
This week at Church, there were visitors from Australia, New Zealand, India and Southern Ontario. They were visiting delegates from the IRCA Conference that was held in Brandon at Brandon University.
One of the interesting coincidences that arose from the Conference was the realization that Prasad, the delegate from the South of India, had spent time in Southern Ontario. While based in Woodstock, he visited a hog farm outside of Shakespeare Ontario ... Later he and I visited over coffee and he shared his experiences of visiting the farm that is directly across the road from my family's home farm ... on the corner of the farm he visited stands the Building for Lingelbach United Church - my family's home church ...
Relationships and networks and connections run deep in the rural areas of our world !!!
I would like to begin with some statistics and facts …
Did you know that Samaritan House Ministries in Brandon distribute 500 food hampers every two weeks?
Did you know that Samaritan House Ministries’ soup kitchen Helping Hands offer over 41 000 lunches every year?
Did you know that the three emergency homeless shelter suites (that are not much bigger than a small storage shed) for families run by the YWCA in Brandon are seldom empty?
Did you know that this week in Brandon 85 delegates from 12 countries have gathered to talk about the experience of being rural church?
Did you know that repeatedly, throughout the week in session, over meals and in conversation we’ve talked about food justice, economic justice, rural depopulation, and the many many many challenges faced by modern rural farming families whether they be in Manitoba, Southern Ontario, New Zealand, Australia, England or on an island in the South Pacific?
So this week it was a pleasant surprise to find our two scripture readings in the lectionary cycle as I began the process of reflecting on the experience of being at the International Rural Church Association Conference I have been privileged to attend this past week …
The story of the great General Naaman, could well be a story about rural ministry … He comes to the prophet Elisha while suffering from leprosy. He seeks the gift of healing …
The prophet doesn’t even step outside to see the great man – but instead just sends a message … The prophet is busy is the message – don’t bother him, even if you are a great and powerful leader …
Naaman is outraged … not only by the prophet’s refusal to see him, but also by the message the prophet offers – Go bath in the River Jordan …
It would be like some saying – “go to that slough over there and soak for awhile …”
Naaman responds – “there are much greater rivers, surely I could bath in one of them ??” – “Instead of the slough, what about the Lake? Or Lake Manitoba? Or Lake of the Woods? Or Lake Superior? There are better places to bath than that stinky old slough … I know what those cows over there have been doing in there …”
But the answer is firm – that ONE …
What a profound lesson for the Rural Communities … That little stream – a crick really, is the source of God’s gift of healing. Trust in God enough to experience the healing from where it comes …
Today we live in a time and a place where something is broken … our values are skewed, our economic system is simply not working, the problem of poverty and homelessness is growing in ALL urban centres – even Brandon.
One Friday as I drove in to Brandon to take part in a walking tour of the work and ministry that Samaritan House enacts, I was listening on the radio to a conversation about the 7/7/7 weddings … One of the speakers talked about how popular a particular tour package has become in Brandon. It is a week long all inclusive stay at a luxury resort, where you have a private beach, a private villa, a private pool, a private chef, a butler and you are waited on hand and foot … and the cost is a mere 30 000 US dollars for a week … And the travel agent indicated that it is popular in Brandon …
As she spoke those words I was crossing the train bridge on 18th St and I couldn’t help but think – “what would the folks who live UNDER this bridge do with THAT kind of money?”
There’s something amiss in a society where 30 000 a week vacations are becoming increasingly popular while 41 000 meals are handed out through a soup kitchen and people live under a bridge …
But then a whisper breaks through – a whisper of hope – a whisper that says: change will come … And today, I am beginning to believe that that change WILL come from the rural areas. That despite our depopulation, despite the dearth of young people, and IN SPITE of all the challenges that rural areas around the world face, it will be from the rural areas of this world that this new thing we await will come …
We are poised in a place where something new is coming. The dust up over the WonderCafe ads shows this clearly – the church and our society is in a time of change – the old way of doing and being are no longer working, and all around us (unfortunately many of those voices are OUTSIDE the church) are voices saying – “it’s broken and it needs fixing …”
The issues are many – the environment, the economy, poverty, food justice, equality, … the list goes on and on and on. And the Church – you and I as people of faith are called not to ignore these things, but to embrace them and to become people of transformation and change …
None of us really know what will come as this transformation takes hold, but our challenge and I would dare to say our faith demands of us the willingness to let that transformation come and happen … That was Jesus’ message to the 70 he sent out into the country side …
Go and preach the Gospel … enter the villages and towns, share with them, but if they reject you – walk away and keep doing what I have called you to do … These are bold and difficult words. Not everyone is prepared to hear what the disciples have to say. Not everyone is ready to embrace the vision that is before them. But they are to persevere and trust in God when they are given a rocky welcome.
This is the experience of the Rural Church … this is the experience of the rural areas of our world … We are becoming increasingly marginalized and overlooked. In the modern Global economy we are a place to extract commodities and wealth, and nothing more.
But in that moment of recognition comes the whisper of Hope that says – “there is more to come …”
Think of the Fair Trade Movement … in a little over 20 years is has grown from a marginal movement confined to churches and a handful of NGOs into a global movement that is being embraced by huge Multi-nationals who now offer fair trade coffee, tea, cotton, sugar, bananas and soccer balls … Every month the movement grows and claims a bigger and bigger market share … it hasn’t transformed the world YET, but give it time …
Imagine for a moment the power that can come when the farmers of New Zealand and the farms in Canada and the farmers of the plains of Ukraine begin to talk to one another and say – “there’s something wrong here …” And instead of racing to the bottom of the economic ladder, people around the world begin to insist that farmers have earned a LIVING wage for their work … Such things are possible when people like Prasad come from half a world away and visit a family pig farm and everyone involved goes away from that moment changed … such things are possible when we, as people of faith stop saying to ourselves – “the role of the Church is to gather to worship and nothing more …”
Our task as people of faith – as people of faith who live and work in a rural area – our task as a people of faith is to live the Gospel in ALL things, not just in some … We are called to be midwives to something wondrous and something radically different … we are called to be present to something new …
Elisha ordered the great and powerful general Naaman to bath in a mucky back water trickle … Jesus sent 70 disciples out into the vast Galilean countryside to proclaim the Gospel … Our world is rife with problems and challenges … In each case it is the saving Grace of God that will break through and bring into reality the transformative change the comes from the power of the Risen Christ …
There is an old adage that says – “all evil needs to triumph is for people of faith to do nothing …”
Today in our rural areas – in our world, inaction is NO LONGER and option …
We are called as people of the resurrection to go into the world and embrace the ministry Jesus showed US … we need to challenge the way things are and be present as something new is birthed into being … We are in a yeasty time – something new is happening … and it begins when across the globe connections are made and friendships are formed and that whisper of hope that promised wholeness and healing becomes more than a faint whisper …
This week in Brandon, for a brief moment that whisper has become a shout of hallelujah … but in the face of what is out there it would be too easy to throw up our hands and say – “it’s only 85 people from 12 countries …” But like one of our speakers said this week – “look what Jesus did with 12 folks from a backwater province of the Roman empire called Galilea ??”
In the church we say over and over – “if God is with us, who then can be against us?”
Today, in our midst are what will one day be looked upon as the first stirring of an astounding wave of revival and transformation that will alter the Church and change the world … and all of it will come from the rural areas of the world …
There may have been mightier and cleaner rivers, but God chose a tiny muddy crick … There may have been easier places to witness to the Gospel, more hospitable and welcoming places, but God chose the hard-headed region of Galilea … There are many problems and challenges in our world … 41 000 lunches served in Brandon is only a beginning … but God has chosen us – you and I – to be the people who will embody, share and live that change …
And the bottom line becomes a realization when we meet someone from half a world away that they are NOT the enemy like we might believe – they are not strangers – they are like us, and they too face the same issues and the same challenges, and together, we will be able to address those issues and in faith we WILL BE the change we seek …
May it be so …
Let us pray
One of the interesting coincidences that arose from the Conference was the realization that Prasad, the delegate from the South of India, had spent time in Southern Ontario. While based in Woodstock, he visited a hog farm outside of Shakespeare Ontario ... Later he and I visited over coffee and he shared his experiences of visiting the farm that is directly across the road from my family's home farm ... on the corner of the farm he visited stands the Building for Lingelbach United Church - my family's home church ...
Relationships and networks and connections run deep in the rural areas of our world !!!
I would like to begin with some statistics and facts …
Did you know that Samaritan House Ministries in Brandon distribute 500 food hampers every two weeks?
Did you know that Samaritan House Ministries’ soup kitchen Helping Hands offer over 41 000 lunches every year?
Did you know that the three emergency homeless shelter suites (that are not much bigger than a small storage shed) for families run by the YWCA in Brandon are seldom empty?
Did you know that this week in Brandon 85 delegates from 12 countries have gathered to talk about the experience of being rural church?
Did you know that repeatedly, throughout the week in session, over meals and in conversation we’ve talked about food justice, economic justice, rural depopulation, and the many many many challenges faced by modern rural farming families whether they be in Manitoba, Southern Ontario, New Zealand, Australia, England or on an island in the South Pacific?
So this week it was a pleasant surprise to find our two scripture readings in the lectionary cycle as I began the process of reflecting on the experience of being at the International Rural Church Association Conference I have been privileged to attend this past week …
The story of the great General Naaman, could well be a story about rural ministry … He comes to the prophet Elisha while suffering from leprosy. He seeks the gift of healing …
The prophet doesn’t even step outside to see the great man – but instead just sends a message … The prophet is busy is the message – don’t bother him, even if you are a great and powerful leader …
Naaman is outraged … not only by the prophet’s refusal to see him, but also by the message the prophet offers – Go bath in the River Jordan …
It would be like some saying – “go to that slough over there and soak for awhile …”
Naaman responds – “there are much greater rivers, surely I could bath in one of them ??” – “Instead of the slough, what about the Lake? Or Lake Manitoba? Or Lake of the Woods? Or Lake Superior? There are better places to bath than that stinky old slough … I know what those cows over there have been doing in there …”
But the answer is firm – that ONE …
What a profound lesson for the Rural Communities … That little stream – a crick really, is the source of God’s gift of healing. Trust in God enough to experience the healing from where it comes …
Today we live in a time and a place where something is broken … our values are skewed, our economic system is simply not working, the problem of poverty and homelessness is growing in ALL urban centres – even Brandon.
One Friday as I drove in to Brandon to take part in a walking tour of the work and ministry that Samaritan House enacts, I was listening on the radio to a conversation about the 7/7/7 weddings … One of the speakers talked about how popular a particular tour package has become in Brandon. It is a week long all inclusive stay at a luxury resort, where you have a private beach, a private villa, a private pool, a private chef, a butler and you are waited on hand and foot … and the cost is a mere 30 000 US dollars for a week … And the travel agent indicated that it is popular in Brandon …
As she spoke those words I was crossing the train bridge on 18th St and I couldn’t help but think – “what would the folks who live UNDER this bridge do with THAT kind of money?”
There’s something amiss in a society where 30 000 a week vacations are becoming increasingly popular while 41 000 meals are handed out through a soup kitchen and people live under a bridge …
But then a whisper breaks through – a whisper of hope – a whisper that says: change will come … And today, I am beginning to believe that that change WILL come from the rural areas. That despite our depopulation, despite the dearth of young people, and IN SPITE of all the challenges that rural areas around the world face, it will be from the rural areas of this world that this new thing we await will come …
We are poised in a place where something new is coming. The dust up over the WonderCafe ads shows this clearly – the church and our society is in a time of change – the old way of doing and being are no longer working, and all around us (unfortunately many of those voices are OUTSIDE the church) are voices saying – “it’s broken and it needs fixing …”
The issues are many – the environment, the economy, poverty, food justice, equality, … the list goes on and on and on. And the Church – you and I as people of faith are called not to ignore these things, but to embrace them and to become people of transformation and change …
None of us really know what will come as this transformation takes hold, but our challenge and I would dare to say our faith demands of us the willingness to let that transformation come and happen … That was Jesus’ message to the 70 he sent out into the country side …
Go and preach the Gospel … enter the villages and towns, share with them, but if they reject you – walk away and keep doing what I have called you to do … These are bold and difficult words. Not everyone is prepared to hear what the disciples have to say. Not everyone is ready to embrace the vision that is before them. But they are to persevere and trust in God when they are given a rocky welcome.
This is the experience of the Rural Church … this is the experience of the rural areas of our world … We are becoming increasingly marginalized and overlooked. In the modern Global economy we are a place to extract commodities and wealth, and nothing more.
But in that moment of recognition comes the whisper of Hope that says – “there is more to come …”
Think of the Fair Trade Movement … in a little over 20 years is has grown from a marginal movement confined to churches and a handful of NGOs into a global movement that is being embraced by huge Multi-nationals who now offer fair trade coffee, tea, cotton, sugar, bananas and soccer balls … Every month the movement grows and claims a bigger and bigger market share … it hasn’t transformed the world YET, but give it time …
Imagine for a moment the power that can come when the farmers of New Zealand and the farms in Canada and the farmers of the plains of Ukraine begin to talk to one another and say – “there’s something wrong here …” And instead of racing to the bottom of the economic ladder, people around the world begin to insist that farmers have earned a LIVING wage for their work … Such things are possible when people like Prasad come from half a world away and visit a family pig farm and everyone involved goes away from that moment changed … such things are possible when we, as people of faith stop saying to ourselves – “the role of the Church is to gather to worship and nothing more …”
Our task as people of faith – as people of faith who live and work in a rural area – our task as a people of faith is to live the Gospel in ALL things, not just in some … We are called to be midwives to something wondrous and something radically different … we are called to be present to something new …
Elisha ordered the great and powerful general Naaman to bath in a mucky back water trickle … Jesus sent 70 disciples out into the vast Galilean countryside to proclaim the Gospel … Our world is rife with problems and challenges … In each case it is the saving Grace of God that will break through and bring into reality the transformative change the comes from the power of the Risen Christ …
There is an old adage that says – “all evil needs to triumph is for people of faith to do nothing …”
Today in our rural areas – in our world, inaction is NO LONGER and option …
We are called as people of the resurrection to go into the world and embrace the ministry Jesus showed US … we need to challenge the way things are and be present as something new is birthed into being … We are in a yeasty time – something new is happening … and it begins when across the globe connections are made and friendships are formed and that whisper of hope that promised wholeness and healing becomes more than a faint whisper …
This week in Brandon, for a brief moment that whisper has become a shout of hallelujah … but in the face of what is out there it would be too easy to throw up our hands and say – “it’s only 85 people from 12 countries …” But like one of our speakers said this week – “look what Jesus did with 12 folks from a backwater province of the Roman empire called Galilea ??”
In the church we say over and over – “if God is with us, who then can be against us?”
Today, in our midst are what will one day be looked upon as the first stirring of an astounding wave of revival and transformation that will alter the Church and change the world … and all of it will come from the rural areas of the world …
There may have been mightier and cleaner rivers, but God chose a tiny muddy crick … There may have been easier places to witness to the Gospel, more hospitable and welcoming places, but God chose the hard-headed region of Galilea … There are many problems and challenges in our world … 41 000 lunches served in Brandon is only a beginning … but God has chosen us – you and I – to be the people who will embody, share and live that change …
And the bottom line becomes a realization when we meet someone from half a world away that they are NOT the enemy like we might believe – they are not strangers – they are like us, and they too face the same issues and the same challenges, and together, we will be able to address those issues and in faith we WILL BE the change we seek …
May it be so …
Let us pray
Sermon for July 1st 2007
Canada Day !!
Our Lectionary reading this morning focused on the Samaritan Village and the comments Jesus had about discipleship. But this week as I read over the texts I realized the importance of backing up and placing these two stories in a broader context of what was happening in Jesus’ ministry, and the kinds of things he was saying in the days leading up to his journey to Jerusalem …
First we encounter Jesus taking a child and placing her in the midst of his disciples and saying to them, and to us – “who ever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me, for the the least among you shall be the greatest …”
Then the disciples come back to Jesus and say they found someone casting out demons and performing miracles in Jesus’ name, but they didn’t recognize him, so they told him to stop … But Jesus replies – “if you aren’t against us, you are for us …”
Then Jesus and his disciples are rejected by the Samaritan Village. The disciples want to reign fire down on their inhospitable heads, but Jesus just turns his face to Jerusalem and seeks out a place that WILL welcome him.
Then likely as they walked, perhaps as they passed a fox crouched on the side of the road, or perhaps it was even a foxwarren dug into the sand in a ditch along the way, Jesus offers a profound lesson on discipleship – “even a fox has somewhere to lie his head, but not the son of Man …” Two would be disciples come to join the entourage, but both are rejected – one because he has to go home and bury his father – the second because he simply wants to run home and say “good bye”. Both are rejected because they aren’t ready to go now – they are still attached to home, they are still attached to what was, rather than committing to what will be.
It’s about making faithful choices. It’s about following a path that is different and that calls us to proclaim the Kingdom of God …
The path begins with seeing the world in a bold and radical new way. Putting children – non-people – is a complete inversion of thinking and of the way things are. Children never came first in anything in Jesus’ world … yet, here he is putting a child first and foremost.
Next we encounter the strength of Jesus’ ministry. Others are joining the parade and preaching and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. This speaks to the impact and power Jesus had in Galilea … others who were non-connected were trying to cash in, perhaps even literally.
Then Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem and all that it entails and demands that his disciples set their faces and NO LONGER look back. Today is about choosing to face and embrace the future and leave the past behind. Today is about proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
Jesus and his disciples face a moment not unlike our reading of Elijah and Elisha from 2nd Kings.
Our Hebrew Scripture reading represents a moment where Elijah’s leadership is drawing to a close, and Elisha’s is beginning its ascendancy. The prophets of both Bethel and Jericho try to stop Elijah from continuing on his journey to no avail. Elijah has made his choice … Elisha makes his choice.
Elijah urges Elisha to abandon him, but each time Elisha refuses until he is left standing watching as the great prophet is taken up in a fiery chariot to heaven, leaving behind the mantle of leadership for Elisha to find and take and wear … this story ultimately is about choices. Elisha faces many choices – he could stop and turn back, he could abandon his friend, he could simply leave – but instead he perseveres and claims for the mantle of leadership …
Ultimately, these moments of choices are moments of transition, where what was no longer applies, and what will be – that is the Kingdom of God comes to the fore and we as people of faith face choices …
Moments of transition are never easy – they are fraught with challenges and most of all, they represent change – sometimes on an epic scale.
This week I read the story of the Golden Spruce that used to stand on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlottes) – the subtheme of the book, beyond the story of its tragic and senseless loss, was that of how incredibly senseless modern logging practices are. Repeatedly throughout the book the author cites loggers who KNOW that their logging practices are unsustainable, and will ultimately eliminate the very forests they are dependent upong.
BUT, they are simply powerless to do anything about it … a job, money, a lifestyle – those things have become too important. They resent cutting down in 25 minutes a tree that took a thousand years to grow, and they resent the loss of something intangible to all of us – but they can not make the choice to say – “no”. Because there will always be someone to take their place in the woods – they need the money – they need the work – and they want to provide for their families … So they continue to log and clear cut and destroy an ancient eco-system …
In moments of transition – it is always easier to DO NOTHING, than it is to act boldly and make a choice that may be neither comfortable nor easy … the simple and safe path is to look backwards and focus on what has been rather than what could be …
That’s the issue central to our readings this morning … making the choice to move forward, or making the choice to stay where we are focused on what once was – trying desperately to keep things the same as they have been …
The disciples wanted to stop someone preaching and performing miracles in Jesus’ name because they didn’t recognize him … Jesus said – “let him be, if he is doing it in my name it will be okay …”
The Prophets of Bethel and Jericho wanted to stop Elijah from achieving his destiny – but neither Elisha nor Elijah himself was willing to make a choice that opposed God’s plan …
The unknown village in Samaria rejected Jesus, yet he continued in his ministry and on his journey …
Those who approached Jesus and wanted to join in his ministry were given a simple choice – join us, or not … They needed to wrap up loose ends and were rejected. There was no room for looking back. There is no place for pining for what was. There is only room to look ahead and journey on …
Now, I’m not a farmer. But I have enough farm connections in my life to know a few things about farming … enough to know I would never make a good farmer … but I do know that when you’re ploughing beyond the occasional look behind to see that the plough is working properly, you want to watch ahead to ensure your furrow rows are straight. If you look behind you, even with big modern machinery you tend to waver … So, Jesus used a commonplace example when he said – keep your eyes focused on what’s ahead, not on what’s behind …
So too in our community … we need to look at what is and can be not, what once was … So too in the forests of BC … we need to focuse on what is and what can be, not what once was … So too in the Church … we need to focus on what is and what can be, not what once was.
Choices face us all the time. We can try to stop what will be … we can choose to look backwards rather than forwards … we can fight the future and the changes it represents … OR, we can make a choice and face the future …
Today is Canada Day. The Day that we recognize 140 years of common history as a nation. But our history as a people stretches much farther back – wave after wave of immigrants have come to this land and against overwhelming odds, build new lives for themselves in both field and forest. Today as we celebrate, it is a good day to pause and reflect that had our forebearers arrived in the thick forests of Southern Ontario, or on the vast undulating plains of the prairies and said – “forget it, its too much work …” our nation would never have come into being. But instead our ancestors – our forebearers looked to the future and set to work …
In faith, we are called to do likewise … As a Church we are called to face the uncertainties of the future and to not only embrace the unknown, but to work to build the Kingdom of God in our midst …
And the Kingdom of God begins to stir when we have the courage to see things in bold new ways and no longer look over our shoulder … The last shall be first …
May we have the courage and the faith to journey on …
May it be so – thanks be to God.
Let us pray …
Our Lectionary reading this morning focused on the Samaritan Village and the comments Jesus had about discipleship. But this week as I read over the texts I realized the importance of backing up and placing these two stories in a broader context of what was happening in Jesus’ ministry, and the kinds of things he was saying in the days leading up to his journey to Jerusalem …
First we encounter Jesus taking a child and placing her in the midst of his disciples and saying to them, and to us – “who ever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me, for the the least among you shall be the greatest …”
Then the disciples come back to Jesus and say they found someone casting out demons and performing miracles in Jesus’ name, but they didn’t recognize him, so they told him to stop … But Jesus replies – “if you aren’t against us, you are for us …”
Then Jesus and his disciples are rejected by the Samaritan Village. The disciples want to reign fire down on their inhospitable heads, but Jesus just turns his face to Jerusalem and seeks out a place that WILL welcome him.
Then likely as they walked, perhaps as they passed a fox crouched on the side of the road, or perhaps it was even a foxwarren dug into the sand in a ditch along the way, Jesus offers a profound lesson on discipleship – “even a fox has somewhere to lie his head, but not the son of Man …” Two would be disciples come to join the entourage, but both are rejected – one because he has to go home and bury his father – the second because he simply wants to run home and say “good bye”. Both are rejected because they aren’t ready to go now – they are still attached to home, they are still attached to what was, rather than committing to what will be.
It’s about making faithful choices. It’s about following a path that is different and that calls us to proclaim the Kingdom of God …
The path begins with seeing the world in a bold and radical new way. Putting children – non-people – is a complete inversion of thinking and of the way things are. Children never came first in anything in Jesus’ world … yet, here he is putting a child first and foremost.
Next we encounter the strength of Jesus’ ministry. Others are joining the parade and preaching and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. This speaks to the impact and power Jesus had in Galilea … others who were non-connected were trying to cash in, perhaps even literally.
Then Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem and all that it entails and demands that his disciples set their faces and NO LONGER look back. Today is about choosing to face and embrace the future and leave the past behind. Today is about proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
Jesus and his disciples face a moment not unlike our reading of Elijah and Elisha from 2nd Kings.
Our Hebrew Scripture reading represents a moment where Elijah’s leadership is drawing to a close, and Elisha’s is beginning its ascendancy. The prophets of both Bethel and Jericho try to stop Elijah from continuing on his journey to no avail. Elijah has made his choice … Elisha makes his choice.
Elijah urges Elisha to abandon him, but each time Elisha refuses until he is left standing watching as the great prophet is taken up in a fiery chariot to heaven, leaving behind the mantle of leadership for Elisha to find and take and wear … this story ultimately is about choices. Elisha faces many choices – he could stop and turn back, he could abandon his friend, he could simply leave – but instead he perseveres and claims for the mantle of leadership …
Ultimately, these moments of choices are moments of transition, where what was no longer applies, and what will be – that is the Kingdom of God comes to the fore and we as people of faith face choices …
Moments of transition are never easy – they are fraught with challenges and most of all, they represent change – sometimes on an epic scale.
This week I read the story of the Golden Spruce that used to stand on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlottes) – the subtheme of the book, beyond the story of its tragic and senseless loss, was that of how incredibly senseless modern logging practices are. Repeatedly throughout the book the author cites loggers who KNOW that their logging practices are unsustainable, and will ultimately eliminate the very forests they are dependent upong.
BUT, they are simply powerless to do anything about it … a job, money, a lifestyle – those things have become too important. They resent cutting down in 25 minutes a tree that took a thousand years to grow, and they resent the loss of something intangible to all of us – but they can not make the choice to say – “no”. Because there will always be someone to take their place in the woods – they need the money – they need the work – and they want to provide for their families … So they continue to log and clear cut and destroy an ancient eco-system …
In moments of transition – it is always easier to DO NOTHING, than it is to act boldly and make a choice that may be neither comfortable nor easy … the simple and safe path is to look backwards and focus on what has been rather than what could be …
That’s the issue central to our readings this morning … making the choice to move forward, or making the choice to stay where we are focused on what once was – trying desperately to keep things the same as they have been …
The disciples wanted to stop someone preaching and performing miracles in Jesus’ name because they didn’t recognize him … Jesus said – “let him be, if he is doing it in my name it will be okay …”
The Prophets of Bethel and Jericho wanted to stop Elijah from achieving his destiny – but neither Elisha nor Elijah himself was willing to make a choice that opposed God’s plan …
The unknown village in Samaria rejected Jesus, yet he continued in his ministry and on his journey …
Those who approached Jesus and wanted to join in his ministry were given a simple choice – join us, or not … They needed to wrap up loose ends and were rejected. There was no room for looking back. There is no place for pining for what was. There is only room to look ahead and journey on …
Now, I’m not a farmer. But I have enough farm connections in my life to know a few things about farming … enough to know I would never make a good farmer … but I do know that when you’re ploughing beyond the occasional look behind to see that the plough is working properly, you want to watch ahead to ensure your furrow rows are straight. If you look behind you, even with big modern machinery you tend to waver … So, Jesus used a commonplace example when he said – keep your eyes focused on what’s ahead, not on what’s behind …
So too in our community … we need to look at what is and can be not, what once was … So too in the forests of BC … we need to focuse on what is and what can be, not what once was … So too in the Church … we need to focus on what is and what can be, not what once was.
Choices face us all the time. We can try to stop what will be … we can choose to look backwards rather than forwards … we can fight the future and the changes it represents … OR, we can make a choice and face the future …
Today is Canada Day. The Day that we recognize 140 years of common history as a nation. But our history as a people stretches much farther back – wave after wave of immigrants have come to this land and against overwhelming odds, build new lives for themselves in both field and forest. Today as we celebrate, it is a good day to pause and reflect that had our forebearers arrived in the thick forests of Southern Ontario, or on the vast undulating plains of the prairies and said – “forget it, its too much work …” our nation would never have come into being. But instead our ancestors – our forebearers looked to the future and set to work …
In faith, we are called to do likewise … As a Church we are called to face the uncertainties of the future and to not only embrace the unknown, but to work to build the Kingdom of God in our midst …
And the Kingdom of God begins to stir when we have the courage to see things in bold new ways and no longer look over our shoulder … The last shall be first …
May we have the courage and the faith to journey on …
May it be so – thanks be to God.
Let us pray …
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