Sermon for August 9th 2009

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Our readings this morning are not comfortable warm pink fuzzy readings … they are challenging, and they move us deeper into a place of self-reflection.
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The first reading has David weeping over his son Absalom, who had lead an unsuccessful rebellion against his father, only to be killed after hanging by his hair in a tree for an extended period of time … yet, even in the face of this rebellion David openly weeps and laments for his son … his grief is real because what might have been has passed …
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Then we move to the reading from the book of Ephesians where we have the writer, presumably Paul, spelling out in almost painful detail the kinds of behaviour that are acceptable and those that are not within the church … one can almost hear Paul sighing with exhaustion at the thought that he has to put something so utterly simple to paper because the Church at Ephesus isn’t getting it … speak the truth, be angry but do not let your anger fester – deal with it before the sun goes down, resist evil, share with those who are needy, watch what comes out of your mouth, build one another up with your words don’t tear each other down, trust in the spirit, and put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander and all malice … and this is where the Church too often fails miserably: “be kind to one another, be tenderhearted, forgiving as Christ has been forgiving, and live in Love, as Christ has loved you …
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Simple words to say. Simple concepts to envision. But the question that resonated through Paul’s world, and that continues to resonate through ours is – why is it so hard to LIVE THOSE WORDS?
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Then we turn to the Gospel reading where we have Jesus continuing the attempt at teaching the people what it means when he says – “I am the bread of life …”
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They can’t quite wrap their heads around the concept of hungering after something other than real bread … they’ve been through the feeding of the multitudes, they’ve been following him watching the miracles and asking for more signs that he is God’s chosen on, and NOW, as he tries to enlighten them about what ALL of this means – they simply don’t get it …
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The debate today focuses on how Jesus can be descended from God while his family is here …
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They are so focused on the fine points, they are missing the big picture …
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This week I encountered a delightful quotation about living a life of faith in a time of incredible upheaval and change. Bill Easum, in his book Dancing with Dinosaurs observed: “Who, then, do we turn to when looking for clues about ministry in the twenty-first century? We certainly cannot turn to those who insist on clinging to the status quo. We turn to the people on the fringe of normalcy.”
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Jesus is standing before a crowd clinging to the status quo … their lives are filled with change and upheaval. Rome is a harsh occupying power. The stringent requirements of the temple and keeping Kosher are tough, and getting tougher. They are in a time and a place that feels like standing on sand …nothing that was once certain is any more, and the future is filled with grey and murky images of what might be … or maybe not …
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SO the people yearn for something MORE … they want their spiritual hunger fed. They want certainty …
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Jesus says – “look to God,” and they start to bicker about what he means … There is an element in these moments that the comedy team of Monty Python picked up on in their movie “the life of brian”.
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The scene where Jesus is relating the Sermon on the Mount shows the kind of unbelievable confusion that must have accompanied Jesus as he spoke and preached … IN the movie Jesus says – “blessed are the peace makers,” and as the message is relayed through the crowd it is transformed to “Blessed are the cheesemakers …” then at the back of the crowd they start debating if he meant ALL dairy producers, or JUST cheesemakers …
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Such is the world Jesus lived in … such is the world we live in … everyone is on the look out for a loophole, everyone wants to get there easily and quickly with a minimal amount of effort, everyone wants someone to do something but they would prefer if it was not them…
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“Show us a sign,” they call … and even as Jesus shows them sign after sign after sign, they don’t get it … they want more, and they understand less … even when he spells it out in plain clear language, they still don’t get it …
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And sadly, we – we as a modern society and culture – we as a modern church – we still don’t get it … we are like the folks Paul was writing to … he was spelling out things that should be common sense – yet he was writing to a Church and saying – “as members of the Body of Christ, you WILL refrain from …” and he inventoried actions and behaviours that should be regarded as abhorrent within the Church …
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But if we look back over the history of the Church we find some of the most savage and nasty fights erupting over things that we would readily say – “should be regarded as abhorrent within the Church …”
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Slavery, the vote and equal rights for women, civil rights for non-whites, treatment of Jews, First Nations People and other ethnic minorities, and if we dig deeper we find fights over “what language will the services be held in?” and “is it okay to translate the Bible into the vernacular of the people instead of just using the Latin text?” … the list of fights within the church where that litany of Paul’s to the Ephesians gets thrown out the window and the gloves come off is LONG … we even have the example of the Churches in Nazi Germany dividing over whether to support Hitler or not … it is remarkable what can happen when people cling to the status quo, as Easum says, and fail to see how unfaithful that can truly be …
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The challenge is to listen to the voices on the margins … the voices who are urging us forward in a radical way … Jesus was one of those voices … a wandering rabbi from Galilea who consorted with sinners, tax collectors, Samaritans, and the unwashed - he was already an outsider in the establishment of his day.
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Then he opened his mouth and started speaking about things that were radical – radical as a return to the fundamentals of faith … Inclusion, welcome, openness … these were the concepts at the heart of his message when he spoke of God’s gift of boundless Grace.
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Yet somewhere along the way confusion set in, and these ideas became just words on a page …
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This past week, I’ve started an online discussion with a young theology student in Toronto who has been a friend for a number of years. We’ve repeatedly had online exchanges on any number of issues. But this week he posted a link to one of the study documents going before the United Church’s General Council this week in BC. The document is asking what it means to be Church in an inter-cultural context … it is asking what it means to be a welcoming, inclusive and open community in the modern world …
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Adam and I began to discuss this when I read the material and thougth - “oh great, they’re shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic to get a better view of the ice berg instead of tending to the gaping hole in her side …”
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The modern church has such a tight grip on maintaining the status quo that we’ve lost sight of any other possibilities, and we’ve lost sight of chance to embrace and embody change by living out the welcome that Jesus offered …
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Adam replied by noting: “I like to think of this text as an Apocalyptic Welcome; I like to think of this passage as one that reveals that which God is calling out of us. But we need to get our words straight about apocalypse, which is a Greek word that means “to reveal” or “to disclose” or “to unveil.” The word welcome, on the other hand, is about the positive greeting on the arrival of a person – be they a friend or a stranger. The God that Christians worship in Jesus Christ discloses generosity through us – the Church – to those we love and to those we hate. The Apocalyptic Welcome is deeply rooted in the cross…”
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I like the concept of the Apocalyptic Welcome … I see the resonance of the Apocalyptic Welcome in our readings today.
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David is struggling to make sense in a place where all of his hopes and dreams for the future of his family, his throne, and his country are in upheaval … the only certainty is this moment, and it seems pretty bleak … so he laments …
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Paul is writing to a church who is struggling to live its faith. They are falling into their old ways, and being less than kind to each other, and they are not being good reflections of faith … so he takes a deep breath and tries to spell it out clearly …
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Jesus is standing before a crowd who simply doesn’t get it … they want the status quo to remain. They want things to go from uncertain and frightening to calm and docile … they don’t want the boat rocked. They don’t want to be confused …they want simple straight forward answers …
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SO Jesus takes a deep breath and gives it to them – “I am the Bread of Life …”
And still they debate and argue … they fail to see the Apocalyptic Welcome that is right there in front of them … they miss it …
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And perhaps most distressing of all – we miss it too.
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Too often in the Church we get caught up in the moment and we won’t let our hands that are tightly gripping the status quo let go … and most frustrating of all – we simply fail to see it … we’ve invested SO MUCH in the way things are, that we are deeply hesitant to embrace the way things might be if we dared to let go and trust in God to carry us through …
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One of the most significant quotations I’ve encountered an lived over the last three years is the simple statement: one does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time …
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It’s a scary thought – but it is the heart of what Jesus and Paul are saying … it under girds David’s life taking a turn he didn’t expect nor embrace … it’s about letting go and trusting in God to carry us forward to something new … something different … something we may not expect, but something that will be guided by the Spirit …
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One last quotation – this one from Mark Twain … Twain said -
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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
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Our children and grandchildren have been raised on the lessons of the Magic School Bus that has teacher Ms Frizzle say in each episode – “take chances, make mistakes, get messy …”
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It’s good advice for children learning to discover and explore the world … and it’s GREAT advice for the Church seeking to continue the journey of discovery and exploration that accompanies us as we wrestle with understanding and sharing our faith in a changing time, and as we struggle to embrace our calling to ministry … it’s about letting go and trusting in God to embrace ALL of us in an Apocalyptic Welcome …
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May it be so … thanks be to God … Let us Pray …

Sermon for August 2nd 2009

King David is experiencing one of those moments when the rubber hits the road, and he’s having a hard time maintaining control … to recap … David has just about everything – power, prestige, wealth and a solid kingdom to preside over. Then one afternoon he spies his neighbour bathing on her roof, has her brought to the palace where he sleeps with her, gets her pregnant and then tried to cover his tracks.

First he sends Bathsheba’s husband home … but Uriah won’t go, instead because his fellow soldiers are sleeping on the battle field, he beds down in the guard house rather than his comfie bed at home … next David tries to get Uriah drunk and sends him home to sleep it off with Bathsheba … even that fails … so, David sends Uriah back to the battle field with secret orders that demand Uriah be placed in the most vulnerable place on the battle field, while the Israelite army falls back and leaves Uriah to his fate …

Uriah dies in battle, and David, the benevolent King brings the poor pregnant widow to the palace …

It’s a nice tidy ending … David keeps his misdeeds relatively secret, Uriah is out of the picture, Bathsheba is now one of his wives and no one is any the wiser …

Until dear old Nathan steps up and shares with the king and the court the sad story of the poor land owner who had but one lowly sheep … a sheep he loved like a child … a sheep he tended and doted upon … a sheep that was his precious animal …

As the story unfolds the poor little land owner loses that sheep to the banquet table of his wealthy neighbour who wants to host an extravagant feast but would not sacrifice any of his own animals to his own table … instead he sends his servants over to the poor landowner and they take the poor sheep and prepare it for their master’s guests …

The king hears the story … as a shepherd he understands the connection to the sheep … the fiercely protective attitude one has towards the animals under their care …they are animals, but more … The King is out raged … “who is this man to do such an outrageous thing??? How dare he. He must pay … tell me Nathan WHO IS THIS MAN??” the king bellows …

The culmination of the story is Nathan … and I picture this moment like this … Nathan has come before the king and told the story … as the King reacts he has turned and is leaving the court … he is almost to the door when the King bellows – “who is this man ??” Nathan stops … the room is quiet … Nathan slowly turns and staring into the king’s eyes lifts his finger and says – “YOU are the man … YOU are the one who did this …”

Then in the hush of the court, Nathan moves towards the King and reminds him of ALL of the blessings that God has given to David – all of the power, the wealth, the success - ALL of it … and David couldn’t be content with it … for David it wasn’t enough, and so he had to have more … and he was willing to murder poor Uriah for it …
Nathan filled with righteous indignation and anger stands before the King and says – “YOU are that man …” and in that moment David’s world comes to a screeching halt as he stares into the mirror that is held before him…


And in our Gospel reading, we encounter the crowds following Jesus and clamouring for more of what he offers …

Jesus, no doubt tired and weary begins to press the crowd about what it is that they want … “a sign, give us a sign …” they demand … “I’ve given you signs, but it isn’t enough …”

“we want more …” the crowd calls … we want more …

Jesus likens the moment they stand in to the time in the wilderness when the people clamoured for food and demanded that Moses DO SOMETHING, only to be given manna and water and quail … but still it was never enough … it is never enough … they want more …

(Ann Weems – Gifts of God)

I like to use this poem at Communion as we prepare to break bread and pour out the cup. It is a powerful reminder that sometimes OUR ways are NOT God’s ways … sometimes we clamour and yearn for things that are unimportant and that ultimately will stand in the way of our relationship with God and with each other …

Like a cosmic Oliver Twist we stand before God with our hands outstretched as we utter the words, “Please sir I would like so more …”

Except God doesn’t mock us by saying “More, you want MOOOOORRRRREEEEEE…” Instead God quietly supplies us with more and more and more, hoping all the while that perhaps we’ll pause long enough to realize how much we really have.

That’s where the Nathan’s in our world come in handy … they are the reality checks that help us pause and consider where we’re at, and what is really important.

Sometimes they are obvious and noticeable. Other times they arrive quietly and subtly, popping up where we least expect it.

The Nathan’s in our lives are those people and those moments when we are forced – and not in a negative way – but in an open way, to reflect on our path and our journey and what is important in our lives, in our faith and in our movement in the world …

It can be something as simple and unexpected as a picture in a newspaper, or it can be something as big and dramatic as a prophetic presence standing before us with a single finger pointing at our nose … the entry into the moment varies, but the outcome remains constant … the self-reflection and consideration of what is happening in our lives is central …

It’s an inner – “what would Jesus do?” moment when we consider what we are doing with our lives and our faith and the many blessings God has poured out upon us …

Taking time to reflect on our life journey and how we are living our lives is never a bad thing …

The WWJD movement began with the publishing of a simple book called “In His Steps.” A book many of us have read. The premise of the book is that a small town church is deeply affected by the visit of a tramp – a homeless guy, who arrives in the community and dies. This profoundly affects the pastor who reflects on whether his response and that of his faith community is in keeping with the values offered by Jesus and his ministry.

The Pastor then challenges his flock to spend a year living their lives with the simple guiding principle of asking themselves “what would Jesus do?” in each and every decision they have to make …

The outcome is dramatic and challenging … one by one the characters in the story wrestle with the question – what would Jesus do when it comes to business, to pleasure, to life … their reflections lead them to challenging and interesting outcomes … but one by one they appreciate how easy it has been to live their lives without really trying to connect their faith and their day to day decisions. There has been a disconnect … the things they did Monday to Saturday, and even Sunday afternoon were not always in keeping with the values they were about on Sunday morning … so slowly they began to change. They began to take their faith more seriously. They began to place their faith in the forefront as they made decisions throughout their lives.

It wasn’t an easy process. But the outcome was a transformation of themselves and of their community … All because the pastor had an encounter with a moment in time that required of him some critical self-reflection …

Critical self-reflection is key … the 12 steps of AA are ALL about critical self reflection that leads to a better understanding of one’s self … much of the counseling and help offered to people struggling in life is about critical self-reflection to help them better understand themselves from within … I remember as a teen going to our minister in my home church and asking him tough life questions as
I struggled with issues in my life and my world.

It was frustrating that Ross would never offer a straight answer. Nine times out of ten, his answer was ANOTHER question … I would ask him a question and he would answer with a question …

I went away mad and frustrated. But looking back I’ve come to appreciate that in asking those questions – questions I didn’t want to face much less ask myself – Ross was moving me forward …

I would find the answer to my first question as I wrestled with the second questions … and as I came back and shared my reflections Ross would nod and smile and ask another DARNED question …

And so it went – step by step – question by question – struggle by struggle until I came to see with a bit of hind-sight, that each question was moving me forward and holding a mirror up before me. A mirror that required I take time to reflect on what was there, and to consider how that impacted my life …

Self-reflection isn’t easy … but, whether we are 15 or 85, it is part of remaining vital, dynamic and active in our lives, our faith and our attitudes within the world … being able to wrestle with our demons and doubts is key to growing in faith.

David stood before Nathan, no doubt with knees shaking … Nathan through a story had laid bare the King’s misdeeds and errors and called him to a different path …
Jesus stood before the crowds, weary and tired and through story challenged them to open their eyes, their hearts, their minds and their souls to what God was offering them …

We stand before a mirror, and are challenged through the story that is OUR lives, to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds and our souls to what God is offering us …
And in that moment we remember … “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases … God’s mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning … and for those who open their whole being to God, and bend their knees to praise God … for them the whole world is a gift …”

May it be so … thanks be to God … Let us Pray …