Things I learned this week:

• “Comfort, O comfort my people” – those words from God, through the prophet Isaiah, are addressed to me, and to you. It’s a command!

• Do what you can, and then step aside so others can do what they can do…

• People’s priorities are very different – sometimes it’s the impractical that brings comfort and joy…

• Sometimes things get taken care of very well, by other people (smile)...
  

• Faithfulness and genuine caring are more important than ‘wise words’…

• People can and do change – God’s time is not my time!
• I am pitifully addicted to my internet - and thus very frustrated by the vagaries of satelite - woe is me!
  

Lament and Hope

Today's readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

Today is the 1st Sunday in advent: the beginning of a new year! And like it is with most beginnings, we find ourselves filled with hope, promise, and the expectation of opportunities. We have 4 weeks to prepare ourselves for the coming again of the Christ Child (not just to cook, and shop and party!): to hope that it will make a change, to think about the promises of our God and to expect opportunities for new things to happen – changes in our lives and in the world.

But before we can truly start that journey towards the Christ Child we begin by lamenting, by lamenting our own sorry situation and the situation in the world.
We heard a big lament in the Isaiah reading:
“Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down”
“You were angry, and we sinned because you hid yourself (trying to blame God)…but you are our Father, we’re the work of your hands….” Please, please
and in the psalm – “Restore us, O God, let your face shine …”
and we move through that lamenting with Hope.

We all have personal times of despair – times when it seems that God has forgotten us, or is very far away – and heaven knows, there is much to cry out about in the world today: why do you let unspeakable things happen in India? Will the war in Afghanistan never end?

And we Hope for salvation, for healing, for God’s coming to us and presence with us, to help us.

There are two important things about Lament:
it needs to be given space, to be expressed;
we move on in Hope – lament is not a place to stay and wallow – we move on, actively hoping and waiting for God’s coming into our situation.

We lament the death of a loved one, the end of a relationships, serious illness… and we stay with that reality / emotion long enough to really feel it – to live through it, but live through it, with Hope, we must!

There is a story of a little church of 55 people with a 12- person choir! And they had a wonderful and gifted choir director. And for 4 years they did anthems, and prayers, and special music, and led the congregation in singing and dancing and praising God in all sorts of musical ways: they were renowned. And suddenly, one day, the choir director’s partner died of cancer, and he just couldn’t do it anymore. And when he did come to church, he just sat there and cried. And gradually choir members drifted away, and people mourned with him, and cried with him, and prayed to God, when will we sing again? For 2 years they had no choir. They gave him space to lament; they honoured his grief and their own at the loss of the wonderful music, and they waited in hope that one day he would return to the choir, or God would send another person gifted with those abilities. And finally, he found God’s music in his heart again… Lament needs to be expressed, and that opens the way for Hope, for the hope that God will lead us again to Light and Life.

I can relate it to my own story – many of you know that I have experienced some hard times of ‘renovation burnout’ over the past few months. I’ve cried out saying, ‘will it ever be finished?’, ‘will we ever have free time again?’, ‘will we be warm enough this winter?’…but I don’t expect anyone to take over and finish it for us: I just need to be able to say it as it is! Don’t try to ‘jolly me up’ – just acknowledge my pain. I must live through it, experience it, learn from it (not to take on such an enormous project – ever again! ) and eventually be able to look forward in Hope to the completion, one step at a time … the restoring of order and balance in my life!

We lament that our congregation is smaller than it used to be – people have died, people have moved away, people have stopped coming regularly on Sunday morning for various reasons. Perhaps we need to cry out intentionally to God about that… to express our loss, our disappointment. Perhaps we need to admit that we may have offended someone, we may not have been as welcoming or generous or compassionate as we might have been…

And we hope for a new day! The time comes when we begin to live again, with Hope in our hearts. Hope that God will continue to be present among us, and will show us a new direction! Hope that we still have a job to do in the Kingdom, and that we can open our hearts to hear God calling us. The reading from Paul’s list letter to the Corinthians points to our hope: we have been enriched in Christ Jesus, not lacking any spiritual gifts as we wait … he will strengthen us to the end: God is faithful! We have symbols in the church this month to help us remember that: the evergreens remind us of God’s never-fading commitment to us and the blue candles in our wreath signify Hope.

Lament recognizes the Reality that to be alive is to suffer loss and grief: once we name that loss and pain we can work towards wholeness and health and healing. Psychologists tell us that until we admit/identify our feelings, we can’t move ahead…we can’t really do anything with or about them.

Lament is honest; it recognizes God’s presence; it trusts; and it unites us with others who suffer: family, neighbours, people around the world…

So, as we set out on our Advent path this year, we start with a time of transition: we lament the past and our present situation; we long for God to come back into our lives in a powerful way; and we begin to express that longing with Hope and conviction and trust in God’s promises as we set out to make the journey, once more,from darkness to Light.

Picture this...

A little country church - very little - seating perhaps 50 comfortably. Candles in birch logs in the windows, oil lamps for light, a well decorated Christmas tree in the corner, a pump organ for music, a wood fire for heat. More than 75 people gathered tonight from 5 years old to 85, to hear again the reading of the Christmas Story, to sing the old familiar carols and some lively Christmas songs, to laugh and pray and praise, to share hot chocolate and Christmas baked goodies. And then we stepped out into the crisp dark night under a canopy of stars...no problem of city light contamination here! Wow! Sometimes it just doesn't get much better ... Thank you, Lord.

First meal in the kitchen, tra la!

After all these months ... the frig took an excursion to the kitchen (not quite its final resting spot, but close enough!) and the dining room/living room is about to be reorganized. Despite all my gloom and doom about the place not feeling like home, etc. etc. (imagine many small violins playing furiously) things have taken a dramatic upturn this past week.

First there were the chickadees who found my newly hung feeders! O happy day! How I do love watching the birds, and considering no one has lived in this house in the winter for over 70 years, one could hardly say that the birds were expecting feeders! lol But they found them, and brought along a blue jay: it's a very good start.

Then there was a real, honest 'day off' ...a whole day when I got to play house again and cook and sew and walk in the sunshine. That too was very, very good.

And this afternoon - a kitchen! Wow! Of course you fancy folks will note from the picture that there are still many 'pretty things' missing from the room - like cupboard doors and drawers - but for me, just having the frig, stove, sink and table all in the same room is Heaven!

Once again, Gratitude hits the top of my list! :)

Where have I been...?

You've asked! you've poked! you've prodded! My blogging goes in 'fits and starts', as we say somewhere ... and for most of the summer I was buried under house renovations, house guests, and work. There were certainly a few moments that I might have recorded to entertain you, but alas! I found someone to listen to the story - and then it was gone.

I've also started writing a monthly column for the Quebec Diocesan Gazette, a small local paper mailed with the Anglican Journal. Our Bishop-elect asked me to do a column on spirituality and I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity. Plus I write a monthly page for the in-house newsletter at the long-term care facility where I work and try to post something inspiring for the hospital staff on a monthly basis. Most of the time that takes care of my writing urge!

But I'm coming back. My life seems to be settling into a better balance these days and there is often some little thing to share ... so, watch for me!

"Why are you looking up at the sky?"

Today's readings: Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 32-35; John 17:1-11.
Sermon May 4,, 2008 Easter 7a

What an interesting question for the angels to ask the disciples after Jesus’ ascension! “Why are you looking up at the sky?”

Our reading from Acts began with the disciples asking Jesus if it was time yet for him to restore Israel as a nation: that was the people’s expectation of a Messiah – one who would come, conquer all the earthly enemies and restore Israel to its former glory. Notice two things about that idea:
They were expecting things to be put back – as they had been – ‘restore’.
They were expecting someone else to do it for them.
They still hadn’t quite grasped the meaning of Jesus’ message of radical inclusion of all peoples into God’s Kingdom, AND they were in for another surprise: there was work for them to do!

The disciples had their time with Jesus – their opportunity to listen and learn – and now Jesus informs them: you will receive power… you will be my witnesses! … and he takes off and leaves them, mouths agape, staring into heaven! Can you just picture it? I wonder if some of you, like me, have experienced that feeling?

The first experience of that kind of situation for me was when I asked my mom to teach me how to make bread. I was busy with my first baby; she gathered the ingredients, mixed them together, sat the bowl on the oven door and said, “Oh, you’ll just get the feel of it…” I stood there with my mouth open – in utter disbelief! Making bread is something quite magical, and I sure didn’t think I was ready to do it on my own after that brief illustration. I suspect it’s much the same feeling for teachers – you study and listen and watch, and then one day the professor says, “OK, it’s your turn: go and do it now!” And they want to say, “but, but … I’m not quite ready yet.”

Here were the disciples asking Jesus if he was ready to complete the work they imagined he had come for – and what does he say?? “You’re ready – the Spirit will help you – you’re going to do it” … and he’s gone !!!!! That would leave me staring up at the sky too – in fact, it does, regularly!

But that’s not the end of the story, is it? The angels appear, to jolt the disciples back to reality, with the words “why are you staring up at the sky?” … What are you waiting for? There’s work to be done here: get on with it! No more standing around, waiting for someone else to do it for you!

What a wonderful story! What an inspiring (and maybe scarey?) message for all of us.
1. Jesus didn’t come to “restore” things, to put them back ‘the way they used to be’…Jesus introduced a radical new approach to life: justice for all, abundance of love and mercy for all, and his final prayer to God was for our unity – that we might love one another as he and the Father loved one another. It wasn’t a prayer for superiority – for restoring one nation or group of people to power over others – but a prayer for unity in him…that we be one in the Spirit, together in the way of life he taught, forward looking, moving together towards God’s kingdom: that’s unity.

2. We are promised the gift of the Spirit to help us: “you will receive power”, and support and encouragement. Peter’s letter echoes that promise when he tells the people to cast all their anxieties on God, because God cares for you. “The God of all grace will support, strengthen and establish you”. We don’t have to do it alone… but we do have to do something.

3. “You will be my witnesses”, says Jesus. The teaching time - the watching me time - is over now: it’s time for you to take up the work. Transition of leadership, perhaps, and certainly moving from watching from the sidelines (safety out of the way!) to full action / participation in God’s work in the world. God’s mission. That’s what we’re about, you know: God’s work. And so the angels said, “why are you looking up at the sky?” Get on with it, in other words. The action is down here – on earth – your feet are in the middle of it!

And so, we look forward to the celebration of Pentecost next Sunday – the coming of the Spirit – the founding of the church, no longer as people gathered around one leader, but as people all empowered by the Spirit to carry out God’s work on earth, in love and unity with Christ, supported and protected by God.

“Why are you looking up at the sky?” Get busy! The world is here – right at your feet – and it needs you desperately… all of you!

Readings April 27th, Easter 6a: Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21

“Be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands an accounting for the hope that is in you – yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”

Times were hard. As our reading from Acts continues with the stories of the apostles shortly after the crucifixion & resurrection, we hear about Paul being ‘on the run ‘ …

Paul, Silas & Timothy had been traveling and preaching about Jesus – they had enraged the local hard-line Jews – and had to escape from Thessalonica. They went to Berea, and got into trouble there too, so Paul took a boat and went to Athens. While he was waiting there for Silas & Timothy to catch up with him, he got more and more angry with all the idols he saw around. He talked with people, and was eventually invited to present his ideas in public!

The part that precedes our reading this a.m. describes how Paul talked with people he met – various people – and shared his ideas and listened to them, and some agreed and some didn’t, but eventually he was invited to speak. He met some people of the community – explored his ideas cautiously til he found some supporters to put him forward. What a wise way to interact with strangers … with everyone! J

Paul talked of the hope that was in his – his belief that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah … but he was finally learning to do it with gentleness and reverence! (We know Paul didn’t always work that way, but it seems to have been effective in this case because he didn’t have to immediately run for his life or get tossed into prison!)

“Make your defense … with gentleness and reverence…”

I was away in Gatineau for a few days this week attending the annual conference of the Reseau des soins palliatifs du Quebec. We heard a lot about approaching people with the hope that is in us – in a gentle and respectful manner. When we work with people at the end of their lives, or at least who know that the disease they have will lead to their death, we must meet them where they are. We must get to know The Person – not simply what we see on the surface, the role they are playing, a sick person – or, as in Paul’s case, false gods. We must LISTEN, propose our hope gently and with reverence – respect who people are and what has formed them before we came along!

As I spent a few hours on airplanes, I was reading a book called “Three Cups of Tea”, a true story about a mountain climber – of the Big Stuff: not Mt. Everest, but others in the northern Pakistan Himalayas [K2, Gasherbrum, Mitre Peak…] . On one of his descents, he became separated from his guide, wandered off and eventually turned up in an extremely isolated little village in northern Pakistan. To make a long story short, he discovered that there was no real school for the children – they shared a teacher with another village, the children knelt outdoors on the rocks and scratched their lessons into the clay with sticks. His heart was opened to these people who took him into their midst and cared for him while he recovered, and he promised that he would come back and build them a proper school!

The story about the difficulties he faced is fascinating! Not just raising the money in America, but returning to Korphe and trying to do business as he was used to in the US: ordering materials, hiring transportation and workers. ….. Things just don’t work that way in the isolated areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He had to do like Paul – he finally discovered: with a lot of help and mentoring from a few local people who shared his dream. He had to listen to people, and learn about them and their ways and then he could gently put forward his ideas. It takes a lot of time! But it works! (The 3 cups of tea = you drink the first cup as a stranger; with the 2nd cup your become a friend; with the 3rd cup you become family, and people will do anything for a member of their family.) Gentleness and respect …

It reminds me of when I first moved to Calgary – I was lonely, everything was strange, and I wanted to buy a piano (playing has always been a great comfort to me)… so I went to a well-reputed music store, and the salesperson started asking me a lot of questions – questions I found ‘personal’. I didn’t want to spend all afternoon! I guess I was being pretty short with him, and eventually he said, “You must be from Ontario: we don’t do business that way in Alberta. Relax! Take your time!” … He was trying to get to know me, to treat me gently, with respect, so that when he eventually led me to the piano he thought would be best for me, I would be ready to trust him and accept his suggestion. It works – in most situations ….

But what about Zimbabwe? Today we have been asked to especially remember the people of that country in our prayers… If you follow the news a bit you have heard about the election, and the lack of publicized results and the violence and terror that are happening there…There doesn’t seem to be any respect or gentleness being shown. How are people to react? How can they cope?

We see what happens when someone takes control and doesn’t treat people with gentleness and respect. Prosperous farms were taken from families who had worked them for generations, and given to Mugabe’s friends, who knew nothing about farming. They didn’t take time to listen and learn, and now there is no food! The land has been ruined and the country is in chaos. Some of the people have strong faith – they hold onto Jesus’ promise of a comforter – a paraclete – an advocate for them…and little bits of help get through, and people try to nourish the faith in each other.

For me, that’s the message of our readings this morning. Approach each other with gentleness and respect – not just our friends and the neighbours we like: that’s easy! But the people we don’t immediately like – the people whose ways are not our ways. Honour each other. Get to know the other person as a person – as a human being, created in God’s image! We’re not called to force our ideas on others, but simply to give account of our hope in a gentle, respectful manner.

And though we see and know that it is not always easy to do, Jesus promises us, as he promised the disciples, that we are not left alone. We are not abandoned to work this out for ourselves! We will receive the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth - to be with us forever.

This is our Easter faith – the transformation of life by love and grace (gentleness & respect)– God’s work of resurrection!

How then shall I live?

Readings: Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 2:19-25 and John 10:1-10.

First of all, let me promise you that you’re not going to hear another ‘good shepherd’ story this morning! Most of you know that I was a shepherd for 5 years – in the Ottawa Valley – and so I’ve heard lots of sheep stories. But you know, sheep herding was so widely practiced in Palestine in ancient times that stories such as our gospel this morning made sense to the people. Well, perhaps they didn’t understand it fully – people seemed to rarely understand what Jesus was really trying to tell them – but they could appreciate the concept: they knew about sheep folds, and the lack of a gate, and shepherds singing to their sheep so they would know his voice. It’s not a scene that relates immediately to our lives – we do better with the fishing stories, perhaps…

Rather, I want to look again at the question: How, then, shall I live? It’s a question that keeps coming up for me – all the time – and I hope it’s important to you, too, because if we say we’re Christians, and we live in this very complex world, it’s pretty challenging to know what’s the right thing to do, in so many situations.

[I went to Honduras a few years ago, and we visited the Coke bottling plant there. They had been in the news a lot for their unfair management practices and people in N. Am were being encouraged to boycott Coke. We talked with the leaders of the employees there, and asked if this was a way we could help. And they said no – please don’t do that! If you boycott Coke, they will shut down the plant, and we won’t have any work at all. Wait to see if they will negotiate fairly with us, and then we’ll get the word out if a boycott would help….]
it’s so hard to know what is the right thing to do…
[ When I walk down the street and someone puts out a hand asking for money – do I give freely, because I have enough for my needs today, or do I say to myself that this person will probably use the money for drugs or booze and I don’t want to encourage that? …] These are the kind of difficult decisions most of us have to make every day, if we think at all about what’s going on around us, and how to live the life God calls us to ….

I’ve chosen one line or sentence from each of our readings this morning… to see how they might help us to live more faithfully in our time.

• From Luke’s writings in Acts, we hear:

They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers…
This was the early community of apostles. It sounds like a good way for a community of people to live – and Luke says that many signs and wonders happened, and more people joined them…

So, how are we doing? Could you say we devote ourselves to Teaching? Fellowship? Breaking of bread? Prayers? Well, I think those are the things we try to do on Sunday morning … but what about the rest of the week? And are we doing them with a sincerity, with a commitment, that leads to great things happening, and others joining us? What might that look like? Bible study / teaching/ discussions during the week? People gathering at any time to pray for each other and the local and larger concerns – and expecting God to hear and answer our prayers? Fellowship: what might that mean for us in this community? I think we do it better in the summer – with our breakfasts that give people a chance to come together and break bread and share their stories – tho’ the fellowship in the kitchen is pretty exclusive! … but what can we do in the winter, when many people are homebound or depressed or discouraged; when the days are short and the nights seem long? How can we practice fellowship on a wider scale than Sunday morning? And the formal breaking of bread – we might do that more often, … and do all of these things in an intentional way, with the intent of becoming more of a vibrant Christian community, more like the early church, trying to learn and live by the teachings of Jesus.

• Peter’s letter to the faithful in Asia Minor says that we have been freed from our sins…we have been healed.

What does it mean to live after we’ve been healed? What does that look like?

Some of us have experienced healing in the physical sense: cancer survivors tell me that they look at life in whole different way - usually with a sense of radical gratitude. One lady said that every morning when she got up the first thing she did was to open her blinds and look out at the world and thank God for the gift of another day of life! “We know just how precious health and life are!”

So to be freed from our sins – to be ‘healed’ in our innermost selves – is more than precious. And since we know that we can do nothing to earn or demand that– our freedom, our forgiveness, our healing is a free gift from God – then the only thing we can do in return is to be grateful. “Radical gratitude”, as Mary Jo Leddy calls it … a gratitude that fills our whole being and overflows bounteously into every aspect of our lives. If we live each day with gratitude, gratitude for the very breath of life, for the privilege of being part of God’s creation … not judging, not complaining about others, about our lot in life… that’s really living! Jean Shinoda Bolen, in her book called Close to the Bone ( life-threatening illness and the search for meaning) says,
“What we do between being born and dying is what matters”.
“What we do between being born and dying is what matters”.

How we live every one of our days – not how many days, not how much money or possessions or success – but how we live … with gratitude.

• And finally in the words of John’s Gospel,

“I am come that you might have life – life in all its fullness” or
“have life and have it abundantly”, or
“more and better life than we ever dreamed of” (depending on your translation).

Not a life of fear and scarcity: abundant life!

Think for a minute about who (and what) are the ‘thieves and bandits’ of our day, the ones Jesus referred to as robbing the people of life… how about greed? Self-interest? Fear mongering: those who encourage people to fear for their safety, to distrust those who are different from themselves, to be afraid that there isn’t enough for everyone in God’s world, and so we have to hoard what we have for ourselves, for fear of ‘going without’…. Those worries don’t add anything to our lives – they take away from us. They cause us to close in on ourselves – to narrow our focus…and as soon as we do that we take our eyes off God!

So many times people have told me stories of their childhood, and said “we didn’t have much, but we were rich”; or “we were pretty poor, you know … but we had a loving family”; or “we hardly had enough to eat ourselves, but momma would always take something to the lady next door, cause she had all those little children to feed”… Isn’t that what abundant life is? Love, peace, acceptance, sharing …. “Life in all its fullness”: the opportunity for every person to grow into the image that God has in mind for each of us – that image of Beloved One.

So perhaps as we face our difficult choices and decisions this week, perhaps as we ask ourselves again “How then shall I live?”, we might find some help in these three readings...
They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers… those are the things we must do as a community to support us in our life – to keep us accountable to each other and to God, and if we do them well things will happen!
we have been freed from our sins…we have been healed… the appropriate response is radical gratitude – and when we’re radically thankful I believe we see the world around us through different eyes;
“I am come that you might have life – life in all its fullness”… that’s for everyone. If God wants abundant life for every single person, then our choices must not in any way limit life for someone else. But also, what a gift! Another reminder of what God wants for us – what Christ did for us ….
LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS!
Thanks be to God!

The Road to Emmaus

Easter 3a – April 6, 2008

Based on the gospel reading Luke 24:13-35 the Road to Emmaus
“At that moment…….. open –eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him”!
How do I recognize you, Lord?
When and where have I recognized you?

I hope you each have your own story of a time when your eyes have suddenly been opened – wide – and you recognized Jesus… and if you haven’t, keep watching!

I’d like to share one of mine with you this morning.
It was Palm Sunday, in New Westminster, a joint Ang / UC service, where we started the service at the Anglican church, and then paraded up to the United church for the 2nd part of the liturgy. The children were invited up to sit on the large ‘stage’ at the front, and while someone was telling them a story, my eyes were drawn to toddler. She couldn’t have been more than 2 – still a bit wobbly on her feet as she stood up and began to pick her way amongst the other children. She had a container of something in her little hand – cheerios I assumed – and as she walked among the children she carefully picked one out and gave it to each child. Just one each - sharing what she had – equal piece for each – no preference for her ‘favourites’, or best friends … utterly spontaneous. As it dawned on me what was happening, something warm opened up deep inside me – a recognition (a re-knowing) – it was Eucharist!
Many people saw what was going on, I’m sure: did they all experience what I did? Probably not … we have different experiences of the Risen Christ, as did the disciples: Mary in garden, the disciples gathered together, Thomas, the ones Jesus cooked breakfast for on the beach…

The Road to Emmaus story is a very intimate encounter… (something special about walking & talking together – when we’re troubled, trying to work something out, trying to find our way….I’ve heard people here say they go down to the point to ‘walk’)

• Time spent (7 miles –‘a long way’)
• Stories shared – listening (both sides)
• Relationship established…
• Hospitality offered (they invited him to come in & stay),
• Recognition!

What about our ‘road to Emmaus’? (the journey that leads each of us to the Risen Christ)…

• Where’s Emmaus? perhaps it symbolizes for us the place people go to get away – ‘the town for broken hearts’ – the disciples were trying to get out of town, to escape their confusing situation …the fear, the reality… it might not even be a place, for us; it might be an addiction, a way we escape…

• Takes time – we tell our story, Jesus listens to our disappointments, our sadness, what we’re running away from …. And we in turn hear God’s story – history, creation, salvation, faithfulness, love …

• Through this sharing and listening we build a relationship

• In that relationship we open up– enough to offer hospitality. An invitation to come in… to see us at our most vulnerable. (We don’t ask every stranger we meet to come into our homes, do we? Usually we need to feel safe with the person, because our homes reflect who we really are. We can put on a façade when we’re out, we can dress in our best clothes, or behave in ways that we think will make us acceptable to society, but the inside of our homes … that’s pretty private. That’s where people will see who we really are – the condition of our lives, how we live, what we have to eat…) We know that Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks: but he leaves it up to us to open that door, to offer hospitality – to invite him to come in….

• And in that place of vulnerability – our eyes are opened! We recognize our Lord & Saviour – in his actions, his response to us … We recognize that he IS still alive – wants to be very present to us … IS with us, walking beside, listening… hoping to be invited into our hearts.

There is a ‘warmth’… the disciples mentioned it: “weren’t our hearts on fire?” …. A feeling of peace and love, …. and excitement! God with us! God here among us!

So let us watch for him – this Risen Christ!

• Make time to get to know him – it takes time … like becoming ‘best friends’… tell him your troubles, listen to him talk to you of God (read the scripture, come to church),

• invite him into your life – make yourself vulnerable and open to him, perhaps in a new way – trust him,

• and he WILL reveal himself to you….reveal himself with you –

Then Resurrection Hope will take hold and give you courage to go back into the fray (like the disciples went straight back to Jerusalem) …. to go back and face the unknowns of life.
Let him walk with you!
He was crucified for you!
He was raised from the dead for you!
He offers you his body and blood as food for the journey …your life’s journey!

Thanks be to GOD

Life in the country - it doesn't get much better!

I went to our local post office this morning - it was open on a Saturday morning because we're rural, and sometimes folks can only get to the P.O. on Saturday.

The lady behind the counter was not the usual person, and as soon as she greeted me, in perfect English, she apologized for the fact that she might not figure out the various options for mailing my parcel as quickly as the regular post mistress would. Well, I could wait an extra minute or two for such an honest admission!

Eventually we got it all worked out, and then she went on a hunt for the book in which I could sign that my parcel was going out of province and then I wouldn't have to pay PST! Splendid idea! Most of my parcels go out of province, and I can't remember ever having this option before. Book found, she began to fill in the details. I could tell she was struggling about something, and finally she looked up at me, genuinely apologetic, and said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask your name."

Where else but in the country would post office employees think it their duty to know everyone by name? And as it turned out, she did know my first name - it was the family name that she was struggling with! (probably confused between Ross and Aird...or maybe even Beck) And we have been in this community all of 13 months! Wow! We say country folks are friendly, and they care about their neighbours, and apparently it starts right from the Post Office!

An awesome responsibility ...

There’s something I want to look at from the gospel this week (John 20:19-31). It’s the part where Jesus breathes on his disciples and empowers them to carry on his work in the world.

Listen to this:
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ?

I've always found this a troublesome passage, and I’m sure it’s been used against people in a most awful controlling way.
Jesus himself didn’t bind anyone by refusing to forgive them – everyone he encountered he forgave. Forgiveness seemed to be his most plentiful gift! So why, then, would he tell the disciples that if they retained the sins of anyone, they would be retained????

Perhaps it’s the language used here that makes it so confusing. Is Jesus telling the disciples to judge? Is he saying, the people you forgive will be forgiven, and those you choose not to forgive will never be forgiven? That’s quite a power trip, isn’t it?
Think about it for a minute: why would Jesus say that? Why would he, a man who forgave everyone, even those who crucified him, tell us, mere mortals, to judge others and decide on their merit for forgiveness?

In Peterson’s translation, I think the meaning comes out a little clearer:
“If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

Forgiveness is vital – vital to Life itself! When we don’t forgive someone we bind them – and we bind ourselves! We freeze the situation – there’s no room for change, for improvement, everything stays captured in that wrong – that hurt. It’s only when we forgive, and are forgiven, that there’s the opportunity to start over – to try again – to make a fresh start. That’s why the church recognizes the importance of confession – so we can be forgiven and reconciled (not so our sins can be held against us forever) – but so we can say we’re sorry and let them go, and start on a clean page.

When Adam & Eve sinned in the garden, God didn’t hold them prisoners there forever in punishment! He put them out of the Garden to make a fresh start – to find a new way of being. There were consequences to what they did – there are consequences to every choice we make every day – but God didn’t hold them prisoners – unforgiven – unable to move forward into the fullness of life God wanted for them! God gave them the opportunity to find a different way.

And so I believe Jesus is cautioning the disciples here – cautioning them that if they don’t forgive someone, what are they going to do? Are they going to judge? To punish? Jesus didn't given them the power to do that. “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

And so he tells them, after he breathes the Holy Spirit into them, that they have the power to forgive. That they, too, have the power to release the captives – those who are held captive by their sins – and set the prisoners free – but he knows what human are like. He knows our every weakness – especially the love of power … and so he adds the caution:
If you don’t forgive them, what are you going to do with them?

They – and you – are going to be trapped forever – chained forever to their misdeed – without the opportunity to find a new way to fullness of life in God. That’s a horrible thought! You, me, taking the responsibility for blocking another human being’s way to fullness of life in God! Not a responsibility I want on my list when I face St. Peter @ the pearly gates!

And remember, that means us, too. We have the power to forgive – we have God’s invitation, nay - commandment, to forgive each other – and if we choose not to …….... what are we going to do with the consequences?

For Easter

RESURRECTION!
The rising to life again of our Lord Jesus Christ after his death on the cross.
The ultimate sign to the world that evil and sin do not have the last word: God has the last word and God’s word is LIFE

HE LIVES! It’s our hope – it’s our faith – it’s the foundation of our Christian identity…

All the stories of Jesus’ earthly ministry – the healings, the miracles, the acceptance of outcasts – were all stories of life triumphing over darkness…people being brought from ‘deadening’ situations to a new state of life, to another chance to live into the fullness of God’s plan for us.

The Resurrection is what Christians hold onto in our darkest moments: the firm belief that in Christ’s rising from the dead good triumphed over evil. God can make something good out of the worst situation. … That’s perhaps also our most difficult article of belief, isn’t it?

It’s easy enough to look at the increasing snowbanks these days (in my part of the country), and then at the calendar, and say ‘It IS Spring, and this will all eventually melt and it will water the land well for crops this year and fill the rivers and lakes for fish.”! (and we hope there won’t be floods). It’s harder to hold onto that sense of hope when someone I love is battling addictions, or cancer, or has just lost his or her job … It’s harder to imagine just what good God will make out of this tragedy…

So let’s return for a minute to our Gospel story this morning (John 20:1-18):
Mary was the first one to meet the risen Lord. Why didn’t he reveal himself to the other disciples also? I'd like to suggest that our Lord revealed himself to Mary because she came with her HEART…the same way we’re asked to come before this great mystery of Resurrection and new life.

Mary came filled with love for her friend Jesus – she risked being seen by the authorities as one of his followers (it says she came while it was still dark), she wept, she came perhaps simply to be near him. She didn’t even look inside the tomb at first. The men came. They looked inside. Saw the evidence. And we’re told – “he believed” – one of them, at least. And they went home … to puzzle it out, I suspect. They went home to try to make some sense (mentally, intellectually) out of what they had seen … They must have been confused, perhaps even afraid at this turn of events. But Jesus didn’t reveal himself to them…

But Mary stayed on, weeping, still convinced someone had taken her Jesus’ body – she stayed because of her love, her heart… And when she finally stole a glance into the tomb she saw two angels! And they spoke to her: why are you weeping? She told them the obvious: “someone has taken away my Lord”. And then a man appears in the garden, and asks her the same question: Why are you weeping? So, she thinks, he might be the gardener – perhaps he moved the body, or at least saw who did. And then Jesus calls her by name: MARY! Wow!

In that moment she recognized him : recognized him with her eyes, as her friend Jesus, and from the depths of her heart, as her Lord.

But Jesus said don’t hold onto me. (Just picture how much Mary must have wanted to cling to him! My Lord, my Lord, I thought you were dead – I thought they had stolen your body – etc. etc.) You know how it is when you are reunited with someone precious whom you haven’t seen for a very long time, or someone that you love dearly and you were really worried for their safety or health …. How we cling to them, how we need to feel their physical presence …! But Jesus says no – go and tell the brothers that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.

He chose the person who recognized him – with her heart – to go and tell the Good News!

I believe that this is how we, too, must come before the Resurrection. We must come with our hearts. It’s not something to believe with our heads – with our intellect. We come with our deepest love -with our most wounded and hurting selves- weeping, as Mary did for all that we have lost… for what might have been… and Jesus calls us by name! He lives! And in that moment we too come back to LIFE. Our burdens are lifted, our Lord is here to help us carry them. God has the last word, and that word is LIFE. Life can begin again. A fresh start! The triumph of good over evil!

And like Mary, we are called to go and tell the others … to share the Good News – that Christ is indeed risen from the dead and because of his rising we, too, can Live again!

Alleluia! Thanks be to God!

A request for sermons...

Sermon Lent 5a March 9/08

Preamble:
Ezekial’s vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones (Ezekial 37:1-14) and the Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45) are so much alike: what humans believe see as dead can be brought back to life by the breath of God!

Vs 14: “I will put my spirit within you and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will act”, says the Lord.

The vision to Ezekial of the valley of dried up bones: complete desolation – no human possibility for life (not just dried up land or crops that we might hope to somehow revive if we could find enough water….)
In the Gospel, Lazarus had been dead 4 days – starting to smell/rot, no hope of human life, Jewish belief that soul lingered for 3 days …
Dramatic revival to make a point of God’s power and glory – another of John’s ‘signs’ of Jesus’ divinity, we’ve been following these past few weeks…

What can we take from these readings? How can they speak to us this morning as something more than stories from the past?
1) First on a personal level - Are there parts of your life that have dried up? Have our hearts dried up with sadness, disappointment, fear, hurt…God can restore you! God can breathe new life into you!
Who has not felt, at some point of hurt or loss or despair that his/her life was over?
I feel confident in saying that each of us here has felt ‘dead’ at some point - felt like we would never smile or dance or sing or feel ‘truly alive’ again. And yet …. I have seen you all do that! I know you are alive! I know God has breathed new life into that part of you that had died – restored you, just as Ezekial saw the dried bones coming to life again – just as Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, just as God raised Jesus from death on the cross.
They were all situations of NO MORE HOPE – The END.
And the beautiful thing is that God offers us that new life, over and over again … “new every morning is the love” (words of John Keble, early 1800s) – Grace – new life – fullness of life – life where we thought there was only death…

It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Life throws some awful ‘deaths’ at us – and even Jesus wept, wept for his friend. But we have God’s promise of new life – of resurrection from that which deadens us – kills our very souls…. That’s our faith … wonderful mysterious Faith …

2) and what about as a community? Have we died? Do we feel dried up? Where is the life in us? Are we alive here on Sunday morning? Are we alive as a community during the week? Do people look at us and say – see how much they love one another? In both our stories today the bringing back to life was clearly to be a sign of God’s power and glory – to lead people to glorify God, to believe in God. Is that what we do here?

Well, I think that our wonderful summer breakfasts and strawberry festival do that – People look at the work that is done by a very few and they are amazed. They come – they flock to the doors of the hall, and enjoy hospitality and friendship. Those are things of God! We’re doing well – we seem to be alive. ;)

But I want to suggest that we might be more effective for God if we did it in a different spirit… not focusing on how much work it is and what will happen when we can’t manage any more, but do it intentionally – with the intent of bringing glory to God!
As a thanksgiving for the gifts we have: life and health and strength – a cozy hall – friendship that draws people to work together. God’s abundance! J
This is not something to be hoarded – to be greedily kept for ourselves – this is to be shared! This opportunity to give thanks – to give glory to God: that’s our sole purpose, you know – that is ALL that we were created for: to glorify God!

I’ve been inviting you since Christmas to pray and listen for God’s instructions for us here. As soon as the weather permits, we’re going to get together at the hall, and count our blessings, and tell the stories of this community, and see how God wants to breathe new life into us … revive us to glorify him. Dream about what it might look like when our dried ole’ bones come together and receive the life-giving ‘ruach’ – the breath of the Spirit. And whatever it looks like, it will glorify God. It will bring others to believe – (just as the raising of Lazarus did) to see the breadth of possibility for new life when we open ourselves to God’s Spirit … when we let it blow over us and into us. I’m calling you to faith – I share Ezekial’s vision J

And now I want to teach you a very special prayer this morning…a prayer that I think helps us to receive this enlivening Breath. I’ve mentioned it before. It’s definitely my favourite – Thomas Merton’s prayer. We’ll go through it a couple of times so that you can really get the ‘feel’ of it, cause that’s what’s important.

So, I’d like you to stand up now, please – give yourselves a bit of room – almost arms length apart – there’s lots of space in here!
v Start with hands together – bow head – address God
v Bow to earth – acknowledge gifts for life – Mother Earth
v Open ourselves – really open, like ready to receive a BIG hug! Imagine child, grandchild, long lost friend running toward you – open arms WIDE!
v Hug yourself – enfold all those gifts – that new life, breath, Spirit, into yourself. Stay for a moment – feel God’s breath and love nourishing you, warming you, filling you up, strengthening you ….
v Send it out now as a gift to the world! Extend your arms as if offering something out in a large and generous gesture. Share your abundance. Share the life God has given you! There’s lots more where that came from! Don’t worry about scarcity. “It is in giving that we receive” (prayer of st francis)
v Bow again – in thanksgiving
X 2 – and then actually pray it.
Don’t feel uncomfortable – no one’s watching- we can all face same way… Towards sun?

I want you to try this again someday, by yourself. Don’t worry if you forget the words –you’ll remember the actions. Have you ever walked into a room and felt the warmth of the sunshine fall on you? Or stepped outside – especially these days when the sun is really feeling warm? Stop, right there when you feel that, and do this prayer. Open your arms WIDE – feel your lungs expand and your body warm with God’s love. Experience the breath of God filling you with Life – and give thanks!
Amen.