Pentecost +6 Sermon

Today was an *incredibly* fun day for worship. The Sunday School led the service. They did the ministries of: greeting and sides people, altar server, chalice bearer, readers, intercessors, and preacher! I got to help a bit - the sermon was a combined effort of myself (doing the theological stuff) and one of our delightful young folks, who applied practical examples. Preaching with a young person who's dedicated to building the kingdom - definitely a high point!
The basis for the sermon was mostly on Paul's letter to the Galatians (5.13-25), but also referencing the gospel reading (Luke 9.51-62). I've only got my portions, but here it is...

In our Gospel this morning, Jesus invites people to follow him, as he focuses on Jerusalem. We all want that, right? Jerusalem not being just a place on a map, but the symbol of seeking out the holiest of holies. Who wouldn’t want to focus there?

Apparently a lot. People then, and sometimes us today. The folks in the first village like having things their own way, and don’t want Jesus to come and change that. Then someone says “I will follow you anywhere!” and the unspoken second sentence is “so long as I can stay at home where I’m comfortable.” Another man is invited to follow, but is so focused on his own immediate plans that he can’t see the big picture.

 We can put ourselves into that story; following Jesus is not always easy, and at times we choose not to. It happened in Galatia – and Paul tells them what happens when they’re not following Jesus. It’s a scary list, we don’t want that said about us! So Paul then is very clear that following Jesus is GOOD. And it’s practical, and realistic. There’s a whole list of good stuff – and that’s what we’re going to focus on today; the concepts, and some practical examples we can all relate to.

First off, there’s LOVE.

Paul is using the “agape” love – that unconditional, unending, incomprehensible love. This is not the nice affection that we have for things, but a deep-rooted connection with one another, seeing in everyone else (regardless of if we know them, like them, agree with them) that they are special and important and beloved of God.

*youth's part

Then comes JOY.

The joy of the Lord is not fleeting, it doesn’t pass us by, it’s the permanent, foundational reality on which we base our lives. It’s more than happiness – that’s worldly. It’s the feeling deep in our core that comes from being loved by God, and it’s what shines out of us when we choose to share that joy with someone else.

*youth's part

Then, Paul assures us there is PEACE.

The world understands peace as an absence of conflict. But Jesus tells us plainly that God’s peace is not as the world gives. It’s not a worldly neutral zone, it’s the calmness and serenity of putting our full trust in God’s care, no matter what happens in the world around us. It’s no wonder this peace “passes all understanding” as it’s in our hearts, not our minds.

*youth's part

The fourth gift Paul assures us will happen when we follow Jesus is PATIENCE.

Clearly, Paul had never been on hold with customer support; but everyone experiences frustrating times. What matters is how we respond! A cranky-pants will get cranky, but a Jesus-follower will try to avoid complaining, or making another person- child of God - feel bad. A patient person tries to respond to the circumstance to make it better for everyone.

*youth's part

Paul then speaks of KINDNESS.

Kindness is a sense of compassion in the heart. Compassion means with extreme emotion. With that, kindness then encourages us to act with a tender concern. It’s about helping other people in their lives, just as we want other people to help us in our lives. It’s seeing in a situation all the possible goodness and holiness that can come about, and working intentionally to get there.

*youth's part

Then: GENEROSITY

Being generous isn’t just opening our wallets to hand over some cash. That’s the effect or result: generosity is that part of us that is convinced that everyone and everything around us is full of a basic holiness – God is working in and through all things. Our generosity comes when we see the world that way, and do our best to celebrate that ever-present holiness.

*youth's part

Paul then speaks about FAITHFULNESS.

Obviously, we practice faithfulness in our relationship with God, but it’s also important that we make loyal commitments to one another: families, friends, the groups or communities that we’re a part of. Our faithfulness to them is a reflection of our ability and choice to be faithful / committed to God – and that’s something we all benefit from.

*youth's part

Next on Paul’s list is GENTLENESS.

Older translations used “meekness” here, but that started to be understood as “weakness” – and that’s not what Paul is referring to. He’s suggesting that followers of Jesus don’t have to be in control – we’ve got God for that. And when we don’t force our way into everything, a godly gentle spirit will come through in how we relate to the world, and how the world relates to us.

*youth's part

The last thing Paul speaks about is SELF-CONTROL.

Just what it sounds like, Paul is inviting us to show the world that because we are followers of Jesus, we are able to direct our energy wisely and appropriately. For all things, and at all times, self-control takes practice.

*youth's part

So there you have it – a step-by-step on how to follow Jesus. It’s helpful that Paul lists these all out for us; it’s up to us now to make them happen.

Here’s where the good news continues - we have access to all of these gifts! They’re given to all of us from God, and we can choose to use them as often as we want to, as much as we want to. And the more we use them, the easier it will get. And even better – these gifts are the fruits of the Spirit – so every time we use them, we’re doing that with God’s help.

The invitation is there for us all – to see the gifts that we have been given, and to use them – as we all do our best to follow Jesus every day of our lives.

Pentecost +5 sermon

1 Kings 19.1-15a; Psalms 42&43; Galatians 3.23-29; Luke 8.26-39

Have you ever felt like Elijah does this morning?

It’s possible – probable – that we all have. He’s just lived through battle – and watched his friends and colleagues all die. He’s lonely, despondent, depressed. What a great time for self-pity. What a great time to run away, hide in the wilderness, retreat from responsibilities, avoid all human contact.

Sounding familiar? Possibly.

And what a great time to seek out God. That’s exactly what Elijah does – he goes out, and God’s messenger won’t let him die of starvation under the tree – so he goes to Sinai.

This is significant, because Sinai was known to be a special place, a holy place, a place where folks would feel closer to God.

So that’s where Elijah goes. Feeling despondent, he seeks out God.

Sounding familiar? I hope so.

And how wonderful that God is so persistent in his response. The Holy One is saying to Elijah “Nope. I’m not done with you yet. You matter to me. You have ministry opportunities yet coming your way, and I’m going to give you what you need to engage with them.”

That’s a message that would shake your foundation, right? Well, it certainly did for Elijah. Literally. Winds strong enough to break rocks and mountains. An earthquake to dramatically shake things up. An all-consuming fire.

And then – strongest and most poignant of all - Silence.

It’s in this silence that Elijah recognizes the presence of God, the communication of God. It’s in this silence that Elijah is moving from the distractions of this world and instead choosing to focus – humbly and intentionally – on God.

Sounding familiar?

Then we get to hear what God has to say to Elijah. Elijah’s listening, and God – well, God’s message is the exact opposite of what Elijah wants to hear. God is asking him to return to Damascus. Damascus, the city – the ministry – the challenge. The place he’s just fled from. The place where his life and livelihood are threatened. It’s a common message with God – the path to follow God can be a dangerous one, sometimes fraught with difficulties. The road to follow God can be unpopular, uncomfortable, incomprehensible by human standards.

Especially when we’re feeling low and despondent and self-pitying.

Sounding familiar?

But – BUT! There’s a stronger message here. God is speaking! And so the opportunity arises, then, for us to listen. The responsibility is on us to listen. To heed the call. To come out of the place of the dead and into the place of life.

That’s not always easy; sometimes we’d rather stay ion our own wilderness, our own desert. But when we do that, we become like the people that Paul was writing to, in Galatia. Imprisoned, before faith. They were stuck! They were running away! They were avoiding the full life!

Aren't we SO glad then to be living freely in the life of faith, with no restrictions!

Aren't we? Well, if we're not, is it because we're not fully living the life of faith?

That's a hard message to hear. We're comfortable in our ways. The ways that we have set - that we have established - that we then judge others by.

These can become, for any human or group, ways that can be used to exclude, to criticise, to render harsh judgement with.

I had an interesting experience on Monday – I was asked to join the candle light vigil outside City Hall, remembering the victims of, and denouncing the violence of, the Orlando massacre. My role seemed simple - show up, and wear a collar.

Um.  It was an interesting witness. There were several people who started conversations with me – me, an obvious representation of “THE CHURCH”. One person said "I was excluded by the church;" another shared "I'm not welcome at my church;" another tearfully and quietly said "I was told God doesn't love me." HEARTBREAKING.

It saddened me, that these people who were speaking had experienced a denial of full life; a denial of God's love. It saddened me to realize that in any act of exclusion or judgement, that’s exactly what I am doing. And really - who am I to tell God who to love? Who are any of us to convey that message? Who is the church to tell someone they’re not good enough to be loved by the source of all love?

Sadly, this is not a new thing. It's the story happening in today's gospel.

The man – who doesn’t give his name, just a description of his ailment, his diagnosis, if you will. LEGION – he is horribly afflicted. He has been castigated, chained, literally denied access to full community. He is possessed by something that was deemed so horrible that it became accpetable to deny him help - health - inclusion.

So much so that they cast him away to the edges - to the cemetery, close enough to see what happens in the city, to hear what people are saying, and to be reminded that he's not welcome to be a part of it.

Heartbreaking.

How often do we, as society, do the same thing? How do we emotionally chain people in our midst to prevent them from inclusion, rather than try to find ways to help?

How often do we spiritually deny people access to community that is life-giving, forcing them to remain just on the outside looking in?

We - society - segregate, insult, judge, exclude our folks who are different, whom we don't fully understand. They don't have to be demon possessed - just different. They may have mental illnesses (like schizophrenia) - or physical ailments (like the Vancouver attack on the wheelchair-bound person) - or different skin colours (let’s consider the ‘black lives matter’ movement, or our treatment of Indigenous Canadians) - or different religions (would you want to be Muslim in the USA these days?) - or different sexual orientations (the Orlando nightclub is just one sad, extreme example) - or different political views (political rallies can be potentially dangerous) - the list, SADLY, goes on.

And yet the message we have time and again from God - from Jesus' very own words - is to love. To accept. To seek out ways to promote love, to tell the world what God has done for us. To look beyond our own judgements - which is not always easy, especially when the world is full of the noise of discrimination and hate and anger.

The repetitive and sensationalized news is a wind storm of anger; the rhetoric - sometimes false - of people who want to make the news is an earthquake of anger; the local gossip is a fire of judgement.

Yet through that, we're invited to share the good news.

Jesus didn't say it would be easy, my goodness look at his journey.

Jesus didn't say 'church' would be a lovely group of people with all the same opinions – the Gospels of the past few weeks have Jesus hanging out with Pharisees and women of questionable professions and even engaging in conversation with a demon-possessed man!

What Jesus did say is that we are to love.

And God gives us love. And spiritual healing. And forgiveness of sins. And the promise of inclusion. And encourages us to share.The church of today tries to do that - and we can always do better - but that is our mandate. That is our invitation.

So may we hear the words of God today, calling us into the land of the living, and asking us to bring others with us. May we be brave enough to take the risk of faith in order that we might live fully - in our community and in our world - recognising that all are members of the body. May we celebrate that we are loved by God, that everyone we meet is loved by God. May we turn away from the distractions of the world long enough to listen to the silence of our hearts, and delight in the still, small voice that assures us, no matter what: we are loved.

Pentecost +4 Sermon

On Luke 7.36-8.3 

           We start off this morning with a rather interesting premise for the gospel.

            We have a Pharisee, named Simon. And we know that Pharisees like rules. They like to know - and tell others - what the difference is between right (their right) and wrong (others' wrongs). They cast judgement according to their standards - standards which are near impossible to reach, by the way. The Pharisees presume - and preach - that God's love is limited by their standards. Ouch.

            So Simon, our Pharisee here, invites Jesus to dinner. Why would that happen? Possibly to help him (Jesus) see how right the Pharisees are, and how he (Jesus) should be favourable to them. He can learn from them, after all, they're PHARISEES. They're right.

            So off to dinner they all go. And then, the unthinkable happens. In walks "the woman." What do we know about her? Not much. Not much at all. She is unnamed. Unknown. Uninvited.

            Yet, bold as brass, she walks in the house, straight to the dining room, lowers herself at the feet of the guest, and starts crying - enough tears to literally wash feet. Hmm.

            Then, this woman uncovers her hair. For us, not a big deal; in that tradition, however, it was considered scandalous to uncover hair in front of strangers. Hair was considered a thing of beauty and of great pride - it still is, if we're honest; women (and men!) continue to colour over their grey, cut and style in the latest trends, all that. Hair matters. And in the desert, with lots of blowing sand but without salons, women wanted to keep their hair clean and protected as much as possible - and so they kept their hair covered, as a point of pride and respect. To uncover hair in front of strangers? Simply not done by those of good reputation.

            So there she is - this scandalous, uninvited guest - who walks right in, and immediately lowers herself to clean the feet of Jesus - the lowest of jobs, with her very self - all she has and all she is - literally her tears and her hair! Can you even imagine - I find it hard.

            Then, as though the submission and humility wasn't obvious enough, she kisses his feet. Literally and figuratively. And then uses an expensive ointment that she has brought with her, to anoint his feet. So obviously she knew who was there and had planned what she would do. This wasn't a chance encounter.

            How would you respond?

            Well, Simon's response is a bit shocking. Rather than have the woman thrown out, he decides to cast judgement on Jesus himself - his invited guest! He decides that Jesus is rather horrible, as he has not judged the woman that way he - Simon - has judged her.

            And how is that? By her past. Only her past. Not her worthiness as a human to come to Jesus as she is - but by her reputation - what others think and say about her.

            Yet - it's the gospel, of course there's good news. And that is that grace flows. Abundantly. The grace that comes here is from Jesus' judgement on the woman. He does not get stuck on her past, but focuses on her as she is - right now, And who she can become - her potential, her future. Jesus judges - or more accurately assesses - this unknown woman by her desire to receive forgiveness - not as a one-time thing but as a life-changing reality, to be changed by that forgiveness, to live out her life as a completely changed woman.

            To receive forgiveness from God  WOW. That's as good as it gets.

            That's the lesson today; but not to the woman - she already gets it - but to Simon, and the other guests, and everyone else who would find themselves around that table.

            And to us - those of us who can look at our lives and see that we may have been guests at that table - judging someone else based on appearance or reputation, making comments about their choices, using only our opinions and our projections.

            Yet. The woman came - she was expecting nothing, but she had within her a deep and profound hope. Without uttering even a single word, she makes clear that she wanted to see and serve Jesus, to live in hope, to be assured of God's forgiveness of her sins.

            And the first thing that Jesus says to her, after she has broken protocol and gone against the status quo and risked being thrown outside and beaten - or worse- for her actions. Jesus says to this person:

            "Your sins are forgiven."

            And as the dinner guests are looking at each other as though to say "WHOA. Wait - what just happened? Who is this guy, and who does he think he is?!"

            Jesus continues to this woman -

            "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

            It's interesting to me that the dinner story ends there, at the end of the chapter; the next chapter highlights the ministry of Jesus' followers. I think Luke does that intentionally. He invites us to remember that we have, at some point in our lives, been just the same way as the guests at that table. And so we are invited to act out, in our own lives, what would have happened next. That we can change our perspectives on other people, that we can change our decision to judge others, that we can change our closed hearts to welcome and celebrate the free-flowing grace that can only come from God.

            Lucy Lind Haven suggests that we are also invited to look around us, and recognise that we have BEEN that woman; that we all come to Jesus with debt of sin; that we all owe God an un-payable debt. And that we are all able to receive healing when we come to Jesus' feet, kneeling, and pour out our own love.[1]

            And what wonder - what pure and eternal delight - when we too can hear the words of Jesus saying to us, through the gift of his never-failing love and grace - in the truth of our baptism -

            "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

---

[1] see http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2864

Pentecost+3 Sermon

1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24

Luke 7:11-17

There's a commonality in the readings today that's really earthy, practical, applies to us all.

            DEATH. People have died. Their loved ones aren't happy about it. They try to overcome death, by whatever means possible. They're crying out against reality, saying "Wake up! I need you! Come back to life!"

            Have you ever tried that? Has it ever worked?

Death, unfortunately, is something that we all understand; because we've all seen it. It's the cessation of life. Following that logic, spiritual death, is merely the cessation of spiritual life.

            But what does that MEAN? To be spiritually DEAD is to be completely disconnected from God - who, of course, is the source of all life.

            By disconnecting with God, we are intentionally and actively rejecting the Spirit - who gives us the gifts we need to be well and whole - and to minister. By refusing to engage in ministry, to live out our callings, we are denying the essence of being the church of God. We are choosing to be spiritually dead.

            Yet - it is the same Spirit who engages us - the church - into action; it is the same Spirit who wills us - the church - into life.

            Church (it's a verb, by the way) is not a place on a map, or a time to gather, or even the worship itself. Church is what we do as a result of that worship at that time in that place. It's what happens when we are changed by the time, place, people, the worship. And so we ARE changed, and inspired (remember from Pentecost that 'Inspired' means in the Spirit) and invited to be alive in the Spirit, and to take that life into the world around us.  The church, then, uses a place, and time, and gathering of people - to foster life.

            Brother Geoffrey Tristram, of the Society of St John the Evangelist down in Boston, puts it this way: "In apparently dead wilderness are countless seeds, lying in the ground, dormant, watching, just waiting for water so that they can burst into life."

            So there are seeds, just waiting for water. And here's the good news - Jesus promises us life. He promises - and exemplifies in today's readings - that he is the living water. He promises us the spiritual wellspring that will give us exactly what we need - and he knows that we will all need it.    

            We have seeds within us - waiting for that water, to encourage and support growth. Also, we are seeds, within our community - a place of opportunity to go and grow, to blossom where we are planted.

            So we have people who love us, and see our spiritual struggles, and in their own way they call out to us - WAKE UP! I need you! Come back to life! And the beautiful thing is that they are not crying alone - they are echoing the words of love coming from love itself, as God calls us to do just that.

            Our challenge then, as we take stock of our spiritual life, is to discern areas of our lives in which we have died. How we have disconnected from God so much so that we have denied the Spirit moving in our lives. We have to ask ourselves "What is happening in my life that has disconnected me from God?"

            Obviously, the answer is unique to each of us. There's sin, fear, apathy, anger, the list could go on. And the list, once we start to look deep within our own hearts, may reflect something we don't want to see. This is not the ideal that we strive for.

            So then, we are challenged to change this narrative, into what we DO want. We are challenged to change our stories so that we might truly and fully LIVE. I'm going to suggest we first consider what it means to fully live.

            Life - like death, we understand the basic concept of life. A physical life, at least - because we all have one of those. It's a good thing, we like this.

            Within our earthly lives, there are various aspects that we can spend some time thinking about. We have romantic lives. (Ah, yes, some of you were just casting glances at your sweethearts, how lovely!). We have social lives, friends and families who make our lives better. We have our work lives, being fulfilled by using our gifts to try and make the world a better place. We have our academic lives - we're all learning new things all the time, some of us just get more excited about classrooms and old books. (I had a GREAT week at school!)

            These are all parts of the picture - but not the whole thing. They're what we do, and with whom we do it. These are all aspects of our life that are fed by the various things we do, and these things feed us - the true us - in a variety of ways.

            But then there's the true self that we have, that includes and is influenced by these aspects. I think that's the SPIRITUAL LIFE. Full life. Life in the presence of the Holy One of God.

            That full life is where we find ourselves with one foot in the comfort zone, and one out. It's a place of constant challenge, which of course means constant growth. It's a place where we find an overall sense of peace, compassion, fulfillment, love. It's where we have a general sense that it's all where it needs to be, and is ready for the next opportunity. It's where we might say to ourselves, "I've got this" and recognise that's by the grace of God.

            Teresa of Ávila puts in prayerfully:

“May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, & pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, & allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise & love. It is there for each and every one of us.”

            Teresa gives this definition of the full life, not as a destination, but as the journey. Each day we take another step along the way, practice another ministry in that direction. Each day we're invited to find that peace, delight in that peace, and share that peace with another.

            When we do that, we come to celebrate the full life in this world, which prepares us for the full life of the next. It's the life of faith. It's the opposite of death.

            It's what happens when we hear and respond to the cry that jolts us from our spiritual complacence and demands our attention and our action. It's what happens when we hear God saying to us: "WAKE UP! I need you. Come back to life."