Sermon for December 7th 2008

December 7th 2008
Peace on Earth by Ann Weems:

Peace on earth, goodwill to all …
The song came out like one loud hosanna
Hurled through the earth’s darkness,
Lighting the Bethlehem sky.
Sometimes I hear it now,
But it means a baby in a manger;
It means a time of year,
A cozy feeling,
A few coins in the salvation army bucket.
It doesn’t mean much –
And then it’s gone,
Lost in the tinsel.

Where did the angels’ songs go?
Who hushed the alleluias?Was it death and war and disease and poverty?
Was it darkness and chaos and famine and plaque?
Who brought violence and took away the sweet plucking
of heavenly harps?
Who brought despair and took away hope>Who brought barreness and crushed the flowers?
Who stole the music and brought the silence?
What Herods lurk within our world seeking to kill our children?
Are there still those who listen for the brush of angel wings
And look for stars above some godforsaken little stable?
Are there still those who long to hear an angel’s song
And touch a star?
To kneel beside some other shepherd
In the hope of catching a glimpse of eternity in a baby’s smile?
Are there still those who sing
“peace on earth, good will to all?”
If there are – then, O Lord,
Keep ablaze their flickering candle
In the darkness of this world …

I can’t say that I love the Chirstmas season. One of the reasons is that I know that many people struggle to find the Joy and peace of the season because of circumstances beyond their control. I don’t enjoy the hype and emphasis that goes with Christmas.

I do however, love the stories and the pageantry of Christmas – the reasons – the REAL reason for the season. I love the mystery that goes along with the narrative of the events in Bethlehem.

In the Advent season with its emphasis on preparation and making ready for the coming of Christmas I find myself thinking about the contrast between the beautiful almost poetic stories of Christmas and the earthy reality of the so-called Holy Land and the people who live there.

In the late 1980’s I was fortunate to be part of a University of Toronto study tour to the middle east and particularly to Israel. We left Toronto in mid-May and until the end of June were residents of Tantur ecumenical institute just north of Bethlehem … we could take a bus north and in 20 minutes be standing outside the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem, or we could walk south and in 20 minutes be standing outside the doors of the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square in Bethlehem.

Our university classes were reinforced by trips through Jordan, Galilee, Egypt and out into the Judean Wilderness where we would often pause on the presumed site of some Biblical or Historical event and have a laid back university lecture on the significance of both the event AND the site where we were basking in the warm Mediterranean sunshine.

This season, filled with stories of Scrooge, The Grinch, the Shepherds and angels, and others who encounter something wholly unexpected, but definitely HOLY carries the implied sub-text of transformative miracles that alters lives – the whole point of the Christmas story is the power of God taking the mundane and TRANSFORMINING it into something extraordinarily holy …

During this time of the year, I often find myself very mindful of the six weeks I lived within view of Bethlehem, and all of the experiences, the people and the places that brief chapter in my life represents … Bethlehem is a tiny town nestled on the hills south of Jerusalem. There is nothing remarkable about Bethlehem other than the historical association with the birth stories of Jesus that have subsequently drawn attention, pilgrims and religious meaning to this tiny town … I chose the hymn we just sung because one night I remember standing on the roof of Tantur – the institute we were staying at – and looking south to the lights of Bethlehem as a Palestinian demonstration was unfolding somewhere in her darkened streets …

As we heard the sound of conflict – the shouting – the barked orders over a pa system to disperse, offered in Arab, English and Hebrew – as we watched the smoke from tear gas canisters floating over the Holy Town of Bethlehem, I found myself singing softly the song – “O Little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie …” The irony of the soft gentle words of the song contrasted sharply with the reality of the ongoing occupation by the Israelis, and the even harsher reality of the first Intifada which was then ramping up …

We had in the previous days skirted street demonstrations and the counter action by the Israeli army – in one instance a metal door opened and an Arab family beckoned us in and fed us sugary treats and strong sweet arab coffee until the all-clear was sounded and we were sent on our way – SAFELY.

We had learned the underside of the occupation – and so that night under the stars over Bethlehem – a night not unlike the one we will soon read about that found shepherds on the very hill where we were standing hearing the message about the birth of a child … a child that embodied the transformation through God’s grace …

That night though, we were not thinking of shepherds and angels and softly light stables with quiet animals watching over a tiny baby in a manger – but the struggle for FREEDOM that was being waged by 10 and 12 year old children who stood before armed soldiers with modern weapons, and used stones to say – “WE WANT TO BE FREE AND LIVE IN PEACE …”

The contrast between our deeply entrenched visions of Bethlehem and what is represents in our religious understandings – and the reality of what Bethlehem is was sharp … soft focused images of stables and the baby was a world away from what was really going on in the streets of the holy town … and that perhaps is the whole point of the Christmas story …

In the cold harsh reality of a world that is enveloped with poverty, violence, war, crime and countless other issues that divide people from one another and tear communities apart … in THAT reality we prepare for a moment in history when God enters our world in a radically different way … it begins with the words of Mary we heard this morning … words that see a lot of potential in the life of the unborn child …words of promise and power …

Mary’s song – the magnificat - is a powerful proclamation of what Jesus’ ministry was to be about. The Magnificat is the embodiment of those hopes and fears that we sing about each Christmas season and think nothing of as we say the words … The Magnificat is a powerful proclamation of what God is about to do in our world … transformation … but there is no flaming chariot and sword carrying heavenly beings … the way we are preparing is for the powerful servant of God, who comes to us as a tiny frail child … a baby …

Do we dare ?

The message of the prophets – the core of the Christmas story – what we are preparing for is that transformative experience that comes from God entering history through a child … the most unexpected of arrivals … in a time and place where people are giving up hope …

Poet Ann Weems, who we began with speaks of this season – this waiting – this preparation with the words:

Church is Advent,
The unwrapping of God’s greatest gift is near.
Advent – coming.
God will take away the tinsel
And decorate our human hearts in hope
So that Christians can sit laughing in the rain,
Knowing tha the Lord is going to shine in upon their being.
For no matter how long the darkness,
God will send the Light.
In spite of cursing and violence and the massacring of human dignity, we will dance in the streets of Bethlehem, for He will be born!

Our journey leads us forward to a town whose reality is anything but a soft focused pageant, and that perhaps is the point of the Advent Journey … to speak to us in time and place when we least expect to find the transformative power of the HOLY …

May it be so - thanks be to God - Let us pray ...

Sermon from November 9th 2008

November 9th – 2008

It’s interesting that the readings this morning are about the transition of leadership, and being prepared …

Our Old Testament Reading has Joshua, having lead the people from the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land, through innumerable battles for control of the land, to a place of relative security and comfort – he stands before them as asks the simple question – “will you follow God in ALL things? Or will you fall away and begin to serve foreign gods and abandon our ways of faith?”

Our Epistle reading reminds us to be prepared for the Rapture – that moment in time when all of us will be taken up bodily and united with God in paradise … I remember one of my professors at Seminary quipping that his faith in the Rapture was SO STRONG that he never tied his shoes – “so they’d know we was here, but the shoes we left behind …” and with a huge grin and a bigger flourish he’s jump free of his shoes – leaving them sitting on the floor ! (I think he was being a tad sarcastic)

And our Gospel reading is one of the parables that many of us have NO IDEA what to do with … it is the story of the ten bridesmaids – five of whom trim their lamps and extinguish the flame waiting for the arrival of the wedding party, the other five who leave the lamps burning while they fall sleep …then about midnight there is a knock at the door – the Groom has arrived, the celebration can begin … but five of the bridesmaids have to rush out to find more oil, and are locked out of the feast … the other five bridesmaids who have been prepare are able to enter the feast … The placing of this story just prior to the Passion narratives – the story of Jesus arrest, trial and death – is no small coincidence …

Perhaps knowing he is about to die, Jesus wants to prepare his disciples and followers for what is ABOUT to happen … perhaps he is looking beyond the passion and wants them to be ready for BIG things God has in store for them after his death …

In our contemporary world we are watching as our neighbour to the south experiences the transition of power that comes with the election of a new president … in this case, the transition is far more than just a new president from a different party – the baggage of a new president who is dramatically unlike anyone who has gone before, and who arrives in the office with the hopes and aspirations of countless people can not be overlooked …

Joshua understood this process having inherited his leadership from the hands of Moses as they neared the promised land, and now after many months and many battles, the people are becoming settled in their new home – they are beginning to forget the narrative – the story that lead them here, so he wants them to remember.

Remember who you are

Remember where you came from.

Remember what battles and losses have been experienced to bring you here …

Remember your past …

This is far deeper then the adage – “those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it …” This is a case of remembering your roots so that you hold true to your heritage and your background as you boldly move into a new and better tomorrow …

In Canada, as we approach the 90th anniversary of Armisite that came at the 11 hour of the 11th day of the 11th month ending the War to End All Wars, we are called to remember places with names like Vimy, Passechendale, Yrpes, Dieppe, Cassino, Juno, Kapyong, and now Kandahar where Canadian soldiers have stood, fought, and fallen … even though these places were half a world away, they are what helped forge our identity as a nation and a people. They are the places where young men from places like Virden, Brandon, Elkhorn, Melita and Reston journeyed to and were forever changed …

Yet, today we can in our complacency forget this … we can forget our past – our stories – our heritage … if we fail to remember …

Remembrance is an act of faithful preparation … it is a way of recalling what’s important. For a moment though, let’s digress and explore who it is the bridegrooms might represent … who among us might be the five who are welcomed in, and who might be the five who are locked out …

There is a harshness in the parable of Jesus. The notion of exclusion is hard to take, particularly in an era when we speak so often of being an inclusive and welcoming church. Yet, before us is a welcome extended only to those who are able, willing and designated acceptable … it’s a concept I wrestle with. My understanding of the Gospel is that it is for ALL people – not just the chosen few. The doors of our churches and sanctuaries must be thrown open and ALL invited in … yet, here in black and white we have a group of people who are NOT welcomed in – a group who find themselves LOCKED OUT.

The five who are locked out at the end of the parable are doing what is required of them – they’ve lit their lamps and they are actively waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom and the wedding party. They are fulfilling the obligations and social conventions foisted upon them by the expectations of a wedding. They’ve really done nothing wrong.

The problem is – they’ve stayed the course.

They’ve focused on the conventions and expectations. They’ve stayed within the lines so too speak.

They are hung up on the rules … the expectation is to be ready – so they light their lamps and wait … The other five however, don’t light their watch – they break the rules … they wait but they wait by stepping OUTSIDE the expected norms. Rather than following the check list they look around and say – “I don’t see the bride groom, and we ALL know he’s late for everything …”

“Yeah, he’s the guy who will be late for his OWN funeral …” they laugh … and they sit and visit and WAIT, while the other five tend their lamps and with great self-righteousness says – “we’ll be ready when he gets here. You won’t see us fiddling with our lamps and trying to get them lit … we’ll be all ready.”

The undercurrent is – “We’re better than them because we have our lamps all ready to go …”

How often are we the five with the lamps lit and burning brightly – fulfilling the requirements, the expectations and the conventions for their own sake? While what is REALLY needed is a creative outside the box kind of response … Rather than relying on the letter of the law and blind obedience to the RULES, perhaps what is needed is adherence to the SPIRIT of the Law …

We wait … we are involved, but NOT in the way that is expected … having learned from the past – having lived remembrance, we have land earned how to embody and share our faith creatively …

In this season of Remembrance – a season that began over a week ago with All Saints’ Day when we remember the saints of every time and place who have been part of the parade of faith that is the Church – in this season of Remembrance this parable is a timely reminder to open out hearts, our minds and our souls up to creative ways of living our faith …

We can stand year after year and actively REMEMBER the past by re-enacting it over and over … using the same customs and traditions to honour what was … or we can be open to the creativity of the Spirit …

It’s easy to be the five bridesmaids who left their lamps burning brightly – adhering to the rules … it’s harder to step into the uncertainty of the unknown – we’re SO conditioned that we ASSUME that extinguishing the lamps and waiting is simply the WRONG thing to do … yet before us is a story that says – Just cause everyone does it, doesn’t make it the RIGHT thing to do … that’s a hard jump to make – but it is nonetheless a jump we need to make in faith …

We can happily and rightly keep our lamps lit and obey the rules and expectations … or we can step beyond the expectations and the “NORMS” of our society and try something different … and the interesting thing for me is that in this season of Remembrance we repeatedly honour and celebrate in our acts of Remembrance those who stepped outside the norm and acted above and beyond the expectations and journeyed into unknown territory …

The question we MUST keep before ourselves as a people of faith is – do we dare to tread a path that leads us into the unknown, or do we stick with what we know and are comfortable with?

The answer is ours to live out … but our story today tell us to hold to our faith in God, and to open the rest of our being to something new … and the reward of taking the road less taken is well worth it …

May it be so - Thanks be to God
Let us pray …