Homily on Romans 5 Lent 3 Year A March 23,2014
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well meeting Jesus is one of the longest encounters with Jesus recorded in scripture. That’s why is good to be able to do it as a narrative reading—to accentuate the dialogue.
But while this story from John’s gospel explores many important themes, I’d like to look instead at the reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans.
When we suffer through physical or mental illness, we may wonder where God is in all this. We pray for healing, for restoration of health. Yet if our prayers aren’t answered in the way we hope, then what does that mean?
Does it mean our prayers were ignored? That we are being punished or judged to have fallen short?
Paul has an answer, but not one we necessarily expect or hope for. He says we are justified by our faith. In Paul’s time justification was a legal term. A person was justified if declared not guilty of the charge, which brought him or her before the court.
Paul uses this metaphor to describe how we have a new relationship with God, through what God has done for us in his so Jesus. We are “not guilty” of our sins through the grace of Jesus.
And not only that we have a chance to share in God’s glory through the gift of eternal life.
However that doesn’t mean things will be easy.
Next comes a very important reminder of the nature of human life: “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit. That has been given for us.”
This is a statement of faith, but also a statement of reality. Too often particularly in our affluent society we expect to have instant gratification. Suffering doesn’t fit into our idea of the good life, so we struggle when suffering comes along, and don’t develop that endurance that Paul is talking about.
As followers of Christ we must develop endurance out of our sufferings, whatever they may be, on order to carry on as a a people of hope.
Too much we see cynicism and individualism prevail in our common life as a society.
But in Jesus, God has offered us blessings, reconciliation, the chance of a life filled with the love of God and our fellow human beings.
That is a life with the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we can share with our families, our friends, our community. It is a gift freely offered. It doesn’t mean we won’t have sufferings or even doubts. But Paul gives us the powerful message that Christ came for us in our weakness, not our strength.
God loves us in spite of how we fall short. Our reconciliation to God, through Jesus, brings us peace and salvation.
Thursday 27 March 2014
Homily Second Sunday in Lent Year A, March 16
God tells Abram to “go from your country” to the land that God will show him. God promises a blessing on Abram and his descendants.
If we look at the Book of Genesis this is the turning point, we have seen how Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of knowledge, and thereby left paradise in the Garden of Eden.
We have seen how the evil that unleashes sin led Cain to murder his brother Abel. How the wickedness of humanity prompted God to send a flood, but allow humanity to survive through Noah and the animals he brought on board the ark.
We have seen how people built the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens. But the only result was division and many different languages for the peoples of the earth.
These are all stories the ancients passed down to explains early history. But in Abram God has found a leader who he will bless. Abram is already 75, according to the text, and he has already accumulated wealth and success in human terms.
But Abram is obedient to God’s call and God’s promise. He moved on to an unknown land with his possessions and his extended family.
If we look at the human story throughout history, it has a story of moving on. My ancestors on both sides came from the United Kingdom, first my mother’s side of the family from Scotland in the early 1800’s, and then my dad’s from southern England in 1912.
My ancestors like yours went from their country to a new land full of promise, but also of many challenges.
This story is told over and over again throughout the world. In many cases departures can be painful, and require great sacrifice. This is certainly true for many refugees from countries where there is violence and persecution.
But we also have to see God active in blessing our journeys, even if they require being uprooted as Abram was in ancient times.
Abram is also an example because of his age. It would have been easier to stay, to leave the challenge of moving on to the next generation. But God was not finished with Abram.
And we must believe God is not finished with us, whatever our age. We all have gifts to offer as we seek to serve God, whether it is by moving on to something new, or helping to carry out an existing ministry in a better way.
God certainly wasn’t finished with Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee. And Pharisees usually don’t fare well in the Gospels.
They were guardians of the Jewish law, which they held sacred. They believed the law governs every aspect of life. So they codified the law in a Book called the Mishnah, and the interpretive book on the Mishnah, the Talmud.
The word Pharisee means separated one. They were a group apart, who dedicated themselves to observing every aspect of the law.
Nicodemus was also a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a court of 70, which was the supreme ruling body for Jews. And he belonged to a prominent family.
So this meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus was remarkable. A Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a wealthy and educated man meeting the son of a carpenter, who had no formal education, and lived as an itinerant rural preacher.
It happened at night John reports. The time is symbolic. It represents darkness, confusion, uncertainty.
John uses darkness and light that way in his Gospel. Jesus , by contrast, is light, and brings light to the darkness.
The dialogue between the two men is difficult because they are speaking on different levels.
Nicodemus can’t understand what Jesus means when he says no-one can observer the Kingdom of God without being born from above.
Taking this literally, Nicodemus wonders how anyone can be born a second time---how could one re-enter one’s mother’s womb.
Jesus continues with his theological approach, reminding Nicodemus that no-one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and of spirit. “You must be born from above,” he tells Nicodemus.
But Nicodemus is still puzzled. “How can these things be?” he asks.
That is something all of us can sympathize with. The mysteries of God—--father, son and Holy Spirit, rest on faith, not the law, or science or the intellect.
Jesus has cautionary warning for Nicodemus. “You are a teacher of Israel yet you don’t understand this?”
So Jesus is telling Nicodemus that if he can’t understand the simple truths Jesus is teaching, how will he understand the deeper things of life, the heavenly things.
So we like Nicodemus have to remember that our Christian faith is in both our heads and our hearts. It is much more than obeying a set of laws, or saying a creed.
We have to recognize God’s power and blessing in our lives.
And so this dialogue ends with one of the core Gospel passages for Christians. It begins in love. “For God so loved the world.” It continues with the act of giving—that he gave. It describes the gift as the one most costly—his only son. And those who believe in his truth—whoever believes. Will ultimately find eternal salvation—may not perish, but have eternal life.
May we learn from and be inspired by these words as we carry on our Lenten journey.
God tells Abram to “go from your country” to the land that God will show him. God promises a blessing on Abram and his descendants.
If we look at the Book of Genesis this is the turning point, we have seen how Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of knowledge, and thereby left paradise in the Garden of Eden.
We have seen how the evil that unleashes sin led Cain to murder his brother Abel. How the wickedness of humanity prompted God to send a flood, but allow humanity to survive through Noah and the animals he brought on board the ark.
We have seen how people built the Tower of Babel to reach the heavens. But the only result was division and many different languages for the peoples of the earth.
These are all stories the ancients passed down to explains early history. But in Abram God has found a leader who he will bless. Abram is already 75, according to the text, and he has already accumulated wealth and success in human terms.
But Abram is obedient to God’s call and God’s promise. He moved on to an unknown land with his possessions and his extended family.
If we look at the human story throughout history, it has a story of moving on. My ancestors on both sides came from the United Kingdom, first my mother’s side of the family from Scotland in the early 1800’s, and then my dad’s from southern England in 1912.
My ancestors like yours went from their country to a new land full of promise, but also of many challenges.
This story is told over and over again throughout the world. In many cases departures can be painful, and require great sacrifice. This is certainly true for many refugees from countries where there is violence and persecution.
But we also have to see God active in blessing our journeys, even if they require being uprooted as Abram was in ancient times.
Abram is also an example because of his age. It would have been easier to stay, to leave the challenge of moving on to the next generation. But God was not finished with Abram.
And we must believe God is not finished with us, whatever our age. We all have gifts to offer as we seek to serve God, whether it is by moving on to something new, or helping to carry out an existing ministry in a better way.
God certainly wasn’t finished with Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee. And Pharisees usually don’t fare well in the Gospels.
They were guardians of the Jewish law, which they held sacred. They believed the law governs every aspect of life. So they codified the law in a Book called the Mishnah, and the interpretive book on the Mishnah, the Talmud.
The word Pharisee means separated one. They were a group apart, who dedicated themselves to observing every aspect of the law.
Nicodemus was also a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a court of 70, which was the supreme ruling body for Jews. And he belonged to a prominent family.
So this meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus was remarkable. A Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a wealthy and educated man meeting the son of a carpenter, who had no formal education, and lived as an itinerant rural preacher.
It happened at night John reports. The time is symbolic. It represents darkness, confusion, uncertainty.
John uses darkness and light that way in his Gospel. Jesus , by contrast, is light, and brings light to the darkness.
The dialogue between the two men is difficult because they are speaking on different levels.
Nicodemus can’t understand what Jesus means when he says no-one can observer the Kingdom of God without being born from above.
Taking this literally, Nicodemus wonders how anyone can be born a second time---how could one re-enter one’s mother’s womb.
Jesus continues with his theological approach, reminding Nicodemus that no-one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and of spirit. “You must be born from above,” he tells Nicodemus.
But Nicodemus is still puzzled. “How can these things be?” he asks.
That is something all of us can sympathize with. The mysteries of God—--father, son and Holy Spirit, rest on faith, not the law, or science or the intellect.
Jesus has cautionary warning for Nicodemus. “You are a teacher of Israel yet you don’t understand this?”
So Jesus is telling Nicodemus that if he can’t understand the simple truths Jesus is teaching, how will he understand the deeper things of life, the heavenly things.
So we like Nicodemus have to remember that our Christian faith is in both our heads and our hearts. It is much more than obeying a set of laws, or saying a creed.
We have to recognize God’s power and blessing in our lives.
And so this dialogue ends with one of the core Gospel passages for Christians. It begins in love. “For God so loved the world.” It continues with the act of giving—that he gave. It describes the gift as the one most costly—his only son. And those who believe in his truth—whoever believes. Will ultimately find eternal salvation—may not perish, but have eternal life.
May we learn from and be inspired by these words as we carry on our Lenten journey.
Saturday 15 March 2014
Homily for the Funeral of Alice Jermyn, Christ Church, Bobcaygeon, January 2014
Funerals are a time of paradox for us as Christians. We are in grief. But we are celebrating as Alice joins the other saints of God in glory, in an eternal life which remains a mystery to us.
You have heard about how this servant of Christ was much loved and appreciated during her lifetime, how she was dedicated to her family, her church and her community.
Our prayers are with the Jermyn family as they grieve. She lived a long and fall life. She will be greatly missed.
Yet as John tells us in the Gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. It is a place we can’t really comprehend. But since we believe in Christ as the way, the truth and the life, then we can also have confidence that as Paul reminds us---nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, including death.
That message of confidence and consolation isn’t meant to say that we shouldn’t grieve.
When anyone who is near and dear to us dies, we must go through that process of grief, which must include mourning and tears. We have sustained a real loss.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God sustains the faint and the powerless, and will renew our strength, even in grief, so we shall be raised up with wings like eagles and shall run, and not be weary.
That is the message we have had from God from the time of creation, a message reinforced with the incarnation of Jesus, and proclaimed during this season of Epiphany . Jesus is the light of the world.
Even in times of darkness and grief, we are sustained by our faith. We know that as John’s gospel teaches us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”
Funerals are a time of paradox for us as Christians. We are in grief. But we are celebrating as Alice joins the other saints of God in glory, in an eternal life which remains a mystery to us.
You have heard about how this servant of Christ was much loved and appreciated during her lifetime, how she was dedicated to her family, her church and her community.
Our prayers are with the Jermyn family as they grieve. She lived a long and fall life. She will be greatly missed.
Yet as John tells us in the Gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. It is a place we can’t really comprehend. But since we believe in Christ as the way, the truth and the life, then we can also have confidence that as Paul reminds us---nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, including death.
That message of confidence and consolation isn’t meant to say that we shouldn’t grieve.
When anyone who is near and dear to us dies, we must go through that process of grief, which must include mourning and tears. We have sustained a real loss.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God sustains the faint and the powerless, and will renew our strength, even in grief, so we shall be raised up with wings like eagles and shall run, and not be weary.
That is the message we have had from God from the time of creation, a message reinforced with the incarnation of Jesus, and proclaimed during this season of Epiphany . Jesus is the light of the world.
Even in times of darkness and grief, we are sustained by our faith. We know that as John’s gospel teaches us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”
God's Call and Our Response
Second Sunday After Epiphany Year B, 2012
When were you called by God?
That’s a question which is raised when we think about today’s reading from Samuel, parts of the 139th psalm, and the passage from John’s Gospel.
We often think in terms of our lives as consumers, customers, making informed choices about education, leisure pursuits, friends, activities, and even what we believe about politics and faith issues.
And yet this idea of call and response is at the centre of today’s scriptural teaching.
That’s not to say we don’t have free will. As Christians we believe God creates us with free will. God also is present with us. God cares for us. God sent his son Jesus to share in our humanity, and the holy spirit to give us strength.
So we don’t believe our lives are all mapped out, and we don’t have any choices. We are not simply marionettes. Like many other Christians we do not believe in what is called pre-destination.
Having said that Samuel, the psalmist and John all remind us of God’s call, and the power of that call in our lives, if we respond.
Think of those powerful words in the psalm: “You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you, When I was away in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.”
So our intimacy with God is both inspiring, and frightening. That’s what makes Christianity different from other monotheistic religions, we believe in God who is both omniscient—over all the universe---and personal. To be on intimate terms with the creator of the universe is frightening.
There is nothing we can hide from God. Some people feel threatened by that.
During the past two thousand years since the calling of those first disciples outlined in John’s Gospel, call and response have been at the centre of our lives as Christians.
This is how we have grown from a small Jewish sect in an outlying corner of the Roman Empire to the largest body of religious believers in the world, some 2.3 billion people. While our numbers are somewhat in decline in the affluent west-Europe and North America, they are growing in South America, Africa and Asia.
“Your works are wonderful, O Lord. Lord you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar,” says the psalmist.
That’s a hard concept to grasp. Maybe it is more difficult for us in an age of affluence and technological progress, since we think we can do it all ourselves. Our human pride doesn’t allow us to conceive of God as co-creator of the ongoing life of the world.
God didn’t just create the universe, then sit back and let things happen. We believe in God who created, and is creating, through the Holy Spirit.
God calls us over and over, as he did the young Samuel. God knows us before we know him, as Nathaniel found out.
Philip had been called by Jesus, and Philip in turn witnessed to Nathaniel about Jesus. Nathaniel initially doubted—hence the famous line—can anything good come out of Nazareth?” But Philip persists: “Come and See.”
Nathaniel does meet Jesus, and comes to faith.
The style of evangelism Philip used has always been the most effective. You can tell someone what a difference your faith has made, and how much your faith community, your parish means to you. However in order to evangelize, or share the good news, you have to ask them to “come and see.”
Our scripture readings today stress the importance of making that invitation.
When I think of how I got involved again with a parish after finishing university and moving out west, it was based on an invitation. Some friends who I worked with were members of the Cathedral choir in Edmonton. I had never sung in a choir since grade school—too busy with other things, but I had never been invited.
And when I turned up I found quite a mix of people from choir boys still in elementary school to seniors. The choirmaster was a crusty Australian, Hugh Bancroft who had come to Canada and made his home as musician—playing organ and directing choirs in Anglican Cathedrals in Winnipeg then Edmonton. We use his hymn “There’s a Voice in the Wilderness” during Advent.
So I found a home in All Saints Choir and when I moved to Calgary, was asked again to join the choir at the first parish I joined there.
So call has been important in my life—not only in terms of being a choir member and active in parish life, but in later discerning a call to ordained ministry after 20 years as a journalist.
We can all be called to different ministries in the church, and we can respond to that call in some way no matter what our age, or what the circumstances are.
Our parish is in the midst of a challenging time of discerning its call to ministry, and how that might look, both in the short term, and in the longer term. We are working as a parish council, and as a congregation to look at the future, and what kind of parish we will be, and what that would entail—in terms of change.
Might we become partners with another parish? Could we share priestly ministry?
How would we make best use of buildings and other assets?
How do we move forward with a committed but heavily taxed group of lay volunteers—now combined with a full-time priest and part-time organist, secretary and janitorial staff---but in the fall looking at part-time clergy coverage.
There are no easy solutions, and Archdeacon Millward told the parish council and other interested parishioners yesterday that of the 34 parishes he supervises as archdeacon—thirteen will have vacancies by the fall. So there will be a shortage of clergy, at least for the short term.
But it all comes back to call. This is a major time of change for the church, and we are not alone in facing these difficult challenges. We have to discern our call to ministry and how we can build sustainable parishes.
As the Archdeacon told us, there is no master plan that would close this parish or any other. That decision is up to the parish.
Parishes do face the challenge that if they don’t make positive decisions to change, they will be left in a position where there is simply no other alternative.
Whatever happens we need to remember that none of this is our fault. The parish faces a radically different society, and a radically different mission field than during its heydays in the 1950’s. Sundays are no longer for church for most people—even nominal Christians use Sundays—including Sunday mornings as a day for sports, family time, social activity, and community events.
With two income families, time is in short supply for parents of young children, and even the evangelical churches have a somewhat older demographic than they used to.
So let us accept the things we cannot change, as the old saying goes, and realize that this parish has a rich history, which we give thanks for, and a future which is uncertain. Let us pray for wisdom and patience as move into a wilderness time where we are clearly seeking direction, and God’s blessing.
When were you called by God?
That’s a question which is raised when we think about today’s reading from Samuel, parts of the 139th psalm, and the passage from John’s Gospel.
We often think in terms of our lives as consumers, customers, making informed choices about education, leisure pursuits, friends, activities, and even what we believe about politics and faith issues.
And yet this idea of call and response is at the centre of today’s scriptural teaching.
That’s not to say we don’t have free will. As Christians we believe God creates us with free will. God also is present with us. God cares for us. God sent his son Jesus to share in our humanity, and the holy spirit to give us strength.
So we don’t believe our lives are all mapped out, and we don’t have any choices. We are not simply marionettes. Like many other Christians we do not believe in what is called pre-destination.
Having said that Samuel, the psalmist and John all remind us of God’s call, and the power of that call in our lives, if we respond.
Think of those powerful words in the psalm: “You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you, When I was away in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.”
So our intimacy with God is both inspiring, and frightening. That’s what makes Christianity different from other monotheistic religions, we believe in God who is both omniscient—over all the universe---and personal. To be on intimate terms with the creator of the universe is frightening.
There is nothing we can hide from God. Some people feel threatened by that.
During the past two thousand years since the calling of those first disciples outlined in John’s Gospel, call and response have been at the centre of our lives as Christians.
This is how we have grown from a small Jewish sect in an outlying corner of the Roman Empire to the largest body of religious believers in the world, some 2.3 billion people. While our numbers are somewhat in decline in the affluent west-Europe and North America, they are growing in South America, Africa and Asia.
“Your works are wonderful, O Lord. Lord you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar,” says the psalmist.
That’s a hard concept to grasp. Maybe it is more difficult for us in an age of affluence and technological progress, since we think we can do it all ourselves. Our human pride doesn’t allow us to conceive of God as co-creator of the ongoing life of the world.
God didn’t just create the universe, then sit back and let things happen. We believe in God who created, and is creating, through the Holy Spirit.
God calls us over and over, as he did the young Samuel. God knows us before we know him, as Nathaniel found out.
Philip had been called by Jesus, and Philip in turn witnessed to Nathaniel about Jesus. Nathaniel initially doubted—hence the famous line—can anything good come out of Nazareth?” But Philip persists: “Come and See.”
Nathaniel does meet Jesus, and comes to faith.
The style of evangelism Philip used has always been the most effective. You can tell someone what a difference your faith has made, and how much your faith community, your parish means to you. However in order to evangelize, or share the good news, you have to ask them to “come and see.”
Our scripture readings today stress the importance of making that invitation.
When I think of how I got involved again with a parish after finishing university and moving out west, it was based on an invitation. Some friends who I worked with were members of the Cathedral choir in Edmonton. I had never sung in a choir since grade school—too busy with other things, but I had never been invited.
And when I turned up I found quite a mix of people from choir boys still in elementary school to seniors. The choirmaster was a crusty Australian, Hugh Bancroft who had come to Canada and made his home as musician—playing organ and directing choirs in Anglican Cathedrals in Winnipeg then Edmonton. We use his hymn “There’s a Voice in the Wilderness” during Advent.
So I found a home in All Saints Choir and when I moved to Calgary, was asked again to join the choir at the first parish I joined there.
So call has been important in my life—not only in terms of being a choir member and active in parish life, but in later discerning a call to ordained ministry after 20 years as a journalist.
We can all be called to different ministries in the church, and we can respond to that call in some way no matter what our age, or what the circumstances are.
Our parish is in the midst of a challenging time of discerning its call to ministry, and how that might look, both in the short term, and in the longer term. We are working as a parish council, and as a congregation to look at the future, and what kind of parish we will be, and what that would entail—in terms of change.
Might we become partners with another parish? Could we share priestly ministry?
How would we make best use of buildings and other assets?
How do we move forward with a committed but heavily taxed group of lay volunteers—now combined with a full-time priest and part-time organist, secretary and janitorial staff---but in the fall looking at part-time clergy coverage.
There are no easy solutions, and Archdeacon Millward told the parish council and other interested parishioners yesterday that of the 34 parishes he supervises as archdeacon—thirteen will have vacancies by the fall. So there will be a shortage of clergy, at least for the short term.
But it all comes back to call. This is a major time of change for the church, and we are not alone in facing these difficult challenges. We have to discern our call to ministry and how we can build sustainable parishes.
As the Archdeacon told us, there is no master plan that would close this parish or any other. That decision is up to the parish.
Parishes do face the challenge that if they don’t make positive decisions to change, they will be left in a position where there is simply no other alternative.
Whatever happens we need to remember that none of this is our fault. The parish faces a radically different society, and a radically different mission field than during its heydays in the 1950’s. Sundays are no longer for church for most people—even nominal Christians use Sundays—including Sunday mornings as a day for sports, family time, social activity, and community events.
With two income families, time is in short supply for parents of young children, and even the evangelical churches have a somewhat older demographic than they used to.
So let us accept the things we cannot change, as the old saying goes, and realize that this parish has a rich history, which we give thanks for, and a future which is uncertain. Let us pray for wisdom and patience as move into a wilderness time where we are clearly seeking direction, and God’s blessing.
First Sunday in Lent, Year A, March 9, 2014
Sin.
It is just a three-letter word, but has a lot of baggage. First of all, many people would not agree on what is sinful and what is not. And even if we do agree, what do we do about it. Should sin be met with punishment or forgiveness? Who decides?
We are uncomfortable about talking about sin. But it has been part of the human condition since the beginning of time.
The Bible attempts to explain sin through the story of Adam and Eve. Sin is linked to temptation. Temptation involves defying God’s command to taste forbidden fruit.
Yet after all these years since creation—do we really understand all the dimensions of sin. How can we put sin in perspective? How do we understand sin? A dictionary defines sin as “to commit an offense or fault.”
Sin is much more than an individual problem. It concerns families, households, communities and nations. As well as repenting for our own sins during this period of Lent, we need to repent collectively of the sin that is committed in our name.
So when we think of sin we have to think of societal sins such as racism, poverty, slavery, war, and economic exploitation.
In today’s reading from Genesis we hear the story of Adam and Eve, tempted by the serpent in the garden to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
This story is an attempt by the Hebrew people more than 3,000 years ago to explain the origin of sin, the origin of temptation. It is the story of our human fall from innocence, from paradise. It explains the reality of our free will. Eve chose to disobey the Lord God, as did Adam in eating of the tree of the fruit of knowledge.
The story is profound in its simplicity. Once we as humans gain the knowledge of good and evil, we start making choices and start taking responsibility for those choices.
These choices are both a blessing and a burden. They come with a cost. We each make individual choices. But we also make choices as families, communities and nations.
Genesis teaches us that sin is much more than the serpent tempting Eve to eat the apple, and Adam taking another bite.
We have to go beyond the literal meaning of the text and grasp God’s gift of free will, coming as it does with the risk of sin, and the temptation to use God’s gifts in a sinful way.
There’s a timelessness to this story of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We see it in many current issues in the scientific community and beyond on recent discoveries involving DNA, artificial birth, the creation of new life and cloning.
Many ethical issues of life and death have yet to be resolved. God gave us the skill and intellect to develop scientific knowledge. But we must use that scientific knowledge responsibly. We need to exercise our free will with discernment, otherwise we upset the balance of God’s creation.
Indeed many ethicists would argue we’ve already gone too far in upsetting that balance in our pursuit of material wealth.
Paul explains in the reading from Romans how Jesus is the new Adam. Just as the ancient Hebrews taught that sin came into the world through one man, Adam, so Paul tells us that God’s free gift in Christ Jesus is an act of grace which abounds for all.
Just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace brings us etermal life through Jesus.
We notice in Paul a much different view of sin than our modern individualistic approach. Paul saw human beings as a vast network. Each part affects the whole.
English poet John Donne, a devout Christian, wrote “ no man is an island…any man’s death diminishes me.”
Paul believes that as Christians we enter into the divine life of Jesus. It is a free choice. Through Jesus we are made new.
Temptation remains a challenge for Paul and for us. In today’s Gospel we have a vivid depiction of Jesus facing temptation from the devil. The story has echoes of the Exodus story of the Hebrews. All the Hebrew scripture quotes from Jesus are from the Book of Deuteronomy.
Jesus goes into the wilderness alone, for a time of testing, fasting and struggle. We can’t escape the parallels with Moses. The wilderness. The high mountain. The 40 days.
Jesus responds to the challenges of the tempter: political power, ministry through bread, and the use of a sign to coerce faith. His response is rooted in the faith of his ancestors.
The Hebrew people learned they could not live by bread alone. They too were tested by God, and the wilderness as they sought the promised land. The Hebrews failed the test in the wilderness. But Jesus did not.
This story of temptation by power, by bread, by false idols, is something we continue to struggle with today. There is a great temptation for us to align ourselves with power, with privilege, with wealth.
Jesus calls us to resist that temptation and follow his command to love God and love our neighbours.
That means caring for others who are less fortunate, and addressing issues of poverty and racism.
Perhaps most important about this story is that it emphasizes the humanity of Jesus. Many centuries ago the early church concluded that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. This mystery—a term we use to describe something we don’t fully understand—is to explain our unique understanding of Jesus as human, and also as God incarnate. Jesus is not some sort of super-being.
We believe he took on our human nature. So before he began his public ministry he had to go through testing and preparation for the time to come. If Jesus was a super-being, than the tests wouldn’t have made sense.
We believe Jesus went to the top of that mountain and refused the tempter’s offer to rule all the kingdoms of the world. He turned down the offer of making bread out of stones, and he spurned the idea of throwing himself off the temple and calling on Angels to deliver him.
Jesus took the humble path. He preached, he taught, he healed and he ministered to those in need.
That is our example as we begin our Lenten journey. We often think of Lent as a time to give up chocolate, or alcohol or something else we enjoy. But if we leave it there we risk trivializing a time of self-examination, a time of renewal, and a time for spiritual growth.
Sin.
It is just a three-letter word, but has a lot of baggage. First of all, many people would not agree on what is sinful and what is not. And even if we do agree, what do we do about it. Should sin be met with punishment or forgiveness? Who decides?
We are uncomfortable about talking about sin. But it has been part of the human condition since the beginning of time.
The Bible attempts to explain sin through the story of Adam and Eve. Sin is linked to temptation. Temptation involves defying God’s command to taste forbidden fruit.
Yet after all these years since creation—do we really understand all the dimensions of sin. How can we put sin in perspective? How do we understand sin? A dictionary defines sin as “to commit an offense or fault.”
Sin is much more than an individual problem. It concerns families, households, communities and nations. As well as repenting for our own sins during this period of Lent, we need to repent collectively of the sin that is committed in our name.
So when we think of sin we have to think of societal sins such as racism, poverty, slavery, war, and economic exploitation.
In today’s reading from Genesis we hear the story of Adam and Eve, tempted by the serpent in the garden to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
This story is an attempt by the Hebrew people more than 3,000 years ago to explain the origin of sin, the origin of temptation. It is the story of our human fall from innocence, from paradise. It explains the reality of our free will. Eve chose to disobey the Lord God, as did Adam in eating of the tree of the fruit of knowledge.
The story is profound in its simplicity. Once we as humans gain the knowledge of good and evil, we start making choices and start taking responsibility for those choices.
These choices are both a blessing and a burden. They come with a cost. We each make individual choices. But we also make choices as families, communities and nations.
Genesis teaches us that sin is much more than the serpent tempting Eve to eat the apple, and Adam taking another bite.
We have to go beyond the literal meaning of the text and grasp God’s gift of free will, coming as it does with the risk of sin, and the temptation to use God’s gifts in a sinful way.
There’s a timelessness to this story of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We see it in many current issues in the scientific community and beyond on recent discoveries involving DNA, artificial birth, the creation of new life and cloning.
Many ethical issues of life and death have yet to be resolved. God gave us the skill and intellect to develop scientific knowledge. But we must use that scientific knowledge responsibly. We need to exercise our free will with discernment, otherwise we upset the balance of God’s creation.
Indeed many ethicists would argue we’ve already gone too far in upsetting that balance in our pursuit of material wealth.
Paul explains in the reading from Romans how Jesus is the new Adam. Just as the ancient Hebrews taught that sin came into the world through one man, Adam, so Paul tells us that God’s free gift in Christ Jesus is an act of grace which abounds for all.
Just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace brings us etermal life through Jesus.
We notice in Paul a much different view of sin than our modern individualistic approach. Paul saw human beings as a vast network. Each part affects the whole.
English poet John Donne, a devout Christian, wrote “ no man is an island…any man’s death diminishes me.”
Paul believes that as Christians we enter into the divine life of Jesus. It is a free choice. Through Jesus we are made new.
Temptation remains a challenge for Paul and for us. In today’s Gospel we have a vivid depiction of Jesus facing temptation from the devil. The story has echoes of the Exodus story of the Hebrews. All the Hebrew scripture quotes from Jesus are from the Book of Deuteronomy.
Jesus goes into the wilderness alone, for a time of testing, fasting and struggle. We can’t escape the parallels with Moses. The wilderness. The high mountain. The 40 days.
Jesus responds to the challenges of the tempter: political power, ministry through bread, and the use of a sign to coerce faith. His response is rooted in the faith of his ancestors.
The Hebrew people learned they could not live by bread alone. They too were tested by God, and the wilderness as they sought the promised land. The Hebrews failed the test in the wilderness. But Jesus did not.
This story of temptation by power, by bread, by false idols, is something we continue to struggle with today. There is a great temptation for us to align ourselves with power, with privilege, with wealth.
Jesus calls us to resist that temptation and follow his command to love God and love our neighbours.
That means caring for others who are less fortunate, and addressing issues of poverty and racism.
Perhaps most important about this story is that it emphasizes the humanity of Jesus. Many centuries ago the early church concluded that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. This mystery—a term we use to describe something we don’t fully understand—is to explain our unique understanding of Jesus as human, and also as God incarnate. Jesus is not some sort of super-being.
We believe he took on our human nature. So before he began his public ministry he had to go through testing and preparation for the time to come. If Jesus was a super-being, than the tests wouldn’t have made sense.
We believe Jesus went to the top of that mountain and refused the tempter’s offer to rule all the kingdoms of the world. He turned down the offer of making bread out of stones, and he spurned the idea of throwing himself off the temple and calling on Angels to deliver him.
Jesus took the humble path. He preached, he taught, he healed and he ministered to those in need.
That is our example as we begin our Lenten journey. We often think of Lent as a time to give up chocolate, or alcohol or something else we enjoy. But if we leave it there we risk trivializing a time of self-examination, a time of renewal, and a time for spiritual growth.
World Day of Prayer, March 7, 2014, St. John's Dunsford
Just the mention of Egypt brings many images to mind, the magnificent pyramids, one of the seven wonders of the world, the Nile River which has brought water and life to this country of many deserts, and more recently hundreds of thousands of ordinary people camped out in Tahrir square in Cairo demanding democracy and the ouster of a corrupt dictator who had ruled for three decades.
Egypt is a land that fascinates us, but also makes us uneasy, because of the civil strife which currently makes life difficult for all Egyptians, and especially the Christian minority.
It is wrong to see Egypt’s current strife as a battle between religious factions. Most Muslims want to live in harmony with Christians that have deep roots in Egypt going back to the time of the early church.
Some extremists and terrorists have used the banner of Islam to attack Christians and their churches. But that does not make this a religious conflict.
Our Gospel story of the woman at the well has lessons for us in how to address relationships between people of different cultural and religious backgrounds.
Jesus surprises the Samaritan women at the well by treating her with respect, and even talking to her at all. Jews were enemies of the Samaritans. At that time an observant Jew might walk twice the distance to get to his destination rather than cross through Samaritan land.
Such was the enmity built up through many hundreds of years. The Samaritans believed most of the same things as the Jews, following the one true God, but they did not believe in Temple worship, with Jerusalem at its centre. Instead they insisted the prime place of worship should be Mount Gerazim, where they believed Abraham had offered his son Isaac to God.
It’s important that this story of Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman occurs at a well. Water is literally the difference between life and death in this part of the world, and Jesus tries patiently to use this analogy of water as life, to explain what God offers us, through Jesus, as the living water.
Jesus disarms the woman by his knowledge of her past. She realizes her encounter with the divine and goes to share the good news.
So we see Jesus overcoming divisions of ethnic and religious background, with respect, and a willingness to share himself, as the “living water” God offers us.
In Egypt today many Christians carry on with their faith in spite of persecution, violence and even death. The living water that Jesus offers help them as they continue to live out their faith in the most difficult of circumstances.
The revolution of two years ago has not brought freedom and peace, but civil strife. We must pray with these Christian woman of Egypt for peace, justice and safety amidst the uncertainly of this time.
Just the mention of Egypt brings many images to mind, the magnificent pyramids, one of the seven wonders of the world, the Nile River which has brought water and life to this country of many deserts, and more recently hundreds of thousands of ordinary people camped out in Tahrir square in Cairo demanding democracy and the ouster of a corrupt dictator who had ruled for three decades.
Egypt is a land that fascinates us, but also makes us uneasy, because of the civil strife which currently makes life difficult for all Egyptians, and especially the Christian minority.
It is wrong to see Egypt’s current strife as a battle between religious factions. Most Muslims want to live in harmony with Christians that have deep roots in Egypt going back to the time of the early church.
Some extremists and terrorists have used the banner of Islam to attack Christians and their churches. But that does not make this a religious conflict.
Our Gospel story of the woman at the well has lessons for us in how to address relationships between people of different cultural and religious backgrounds.
Jesus surprises the Samaritan women at the well by treating her with respect, and even talking to her at all. Jews were enemies of the Samaritans. At that time an observant Jew might walk twice the distance to get to his destination rather than cross through Samaritan land.
Such was the enmity built up through many hundreds of years. The Samaritans believed most of the same things as the Jews, following the one true God, but they did not believe in Temple worship, with Jerusalem at its centre. Instead they insisted the prime place of worship should be Mount Gerazim, where they believed Abraham had offered his son Isaac to God.
It’s important that this story of Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman occurs at a well. Water is literally the difference between life and death in this part of the world, and Jesus tries patiently to use this analogy of water as life, to explain what God offers us, through Jesus, as the living water.
Jesus disarms the woman by his knowledge of her past. She realizes her encounter with the divine and goes to share the good news.
So we see Jesus overcoming divisions of ethnic and religious background, with respect, and a willingness to share himself, as the “living water” God offers us.
In Egypt today many Christians carry on with their faith in spite of persecution, violence and even death. The living water that Jesus offers help them as they continue to live out their faith in the most difficult of circumstances.
The revolution of two years ago has not brought freedom and peace, but civil strife. We must pray with these Christian woman of Egypt for peace, justice and safety amidst the uncertainly of this time.
Transfiguration, March 2,2014
Matthew Year A Last Epiphany
Mountains have always played an important role in the human experience told in scripture, whether it is the story of the Hebrew people and their quest for faith and freedom, and a covenant, or the story of Jesus, as he seeks solitude to pray and prepare himself for his world changing ministry and mission.
So as we celebrate this Sunday of Transfiguration, we acknowledge the power of the mountain top experience. The images of clouds, seemingly within reach.
As humans we have always sought to reach the heights of mountain tops by climbing. There we can see more clearly the bounty of God’s creation, the vastness of the land and seas.
When I travelled to India and Nepal a couple of decades ago as a journalist I was fortunate enough to spend some time in what is often referred to as the top of the world, the Himalaya mountains. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, but it is also the home of the world’s highest peaks.
It is hard not to be awestruck by the almost supernatural beauty of these majestic mountains.
It was a mountain that Moses ascended, as told in our reading Exodus, to have an encounter with God.
The parallels with the later Transfiguration story with Jesus and his disciples on the mountain are inescapable.
And then we have Peter writing in his second letter about that amazing experience, an unforgettable revelation of God, that he had been privileged to be part of.
So what is it about this Transfiguration story which demands our attention today.
If we look at the overall telling of the story of Jesus ministry this is a pivotal moment.
We began this season of Epiphany with a star, which led the magi, astrologers from the east, to the child Jesus. Epiphany is the sharing of the light of Christ to the world. Part of our celebration is the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, which begins his public ministry. A voice from heaven says “this is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Now we move on to the Transfiguration. Jesus has begun his ministry with healing and teaching, and he has fed the 5,000. He has also begun to prepare his disciples for the journey to Jerusalem and its end on the hill at Calvary.
Who do you say I am, he asked his disciples. And brash Peter answers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
So the transfiguration or transformation of Jesus, in the eyes of the disciples, has already begun.
This mountain top experience is rich in symbolism. Jesus takes only Peter, James and John, his most trusted disciples with him. They are terrified when they see visions of Moses, of Elijah, but then they start to appreciate the amazing revelation they are part of.
Peter blurts out that maybe they can stay, and build houses for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
It is then we hear the voice of God repeating the words from the Baptism of Jesus, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.
But there’s a twist….this time God adds a command for Peter , James and John—listen to him!
That isn’t all. Jesus appears in a different light, transfigured, shining, bright…almost blinding.
This is the scene that Peter would recall many years later as he preached the gospel and wrote letters to the early Christian communities he ministered to.
The powerful mountain top image of Jesus transformed.
But we can’t stay there! And that is perhaps the greatest learning, not only for Peter, James and John, but for all of us as we follow Jesus.
We all hope to have mountain top experiences, where we have visions of peace, justice, harmony and love. We long for the clarity of the view from the mountain top, the exhilaration of being on top of the world.
Think of our wonderful Olympic athletes as they achieved tremendous performances on the world stage. Our men’s and womaen’s curling and hockey teams all winning gold….a matter of pride, and celebration of excellence and teamwork.
But our Olympians couldn’t stay and build houses on the podium at Sochi. They returned to their jobs and their regular teams and competitions.
And so in our world as Christians we long for those elevating experiences, an inspirational service, wonderful music, a shared meal like our Pancake supper. We celebrate our festivals, sacred and secular.
There is a time for celebration, for ecstasy, but also for the more mundane, but necessary tasks of life.
We reminded of that in the upcoming season of Lent, a time of self-examination, of preparation for our annual observance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. After the pancakes, comes the ashes—Ash Wednesday, and 40 days of penitence.
You can give something up for Lent, as self-denial. Or you can take something on—a Lenten study, more Bible reading or devotional books.
The idea of transformation, which we have seen in the Transfiguration story, is to prepare the disciples for something harder than they can ever imagine, spreading the gospel of Christ when he is no longer with them, at least in human form.
So we leave the season of Epiphany, spreading Christ’s light in the world, to follow a Holy Lent when we look inside ourselves, and prepared ourselves to remember the passion of Christ---the story of death and new life. Let us be transformed by the love of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit as we continue on this journey of faith and life in Christ.
Matthew Year A Last Epiphany
Mountains have always played an important role in the human experience told in scripture, whether it is the story of the Hebrew people and their quest for faith and freedom, and a covenant, or the story of Jesus, as he seeks solitude to pray and prepare himself for his world changing ministry and mission.
So as we celebrate this Sunday of Transfiguration, we acknowledge the power of the mountain top experience. The images of clouds, seemingly within reach.
As humans we have always sought to reach the heights of mountain tops by climbing. There we can see more clearly the bounty of God’s creation, the vastness of the land and seas.
When I travelled to India and Nepal a couple of decades ago as a journalist I was fortunate enough to spend some time in what is often referred to as the top of the world, the Himalaya mountains. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, but it is also the home of the world’s highest peaks.
It is hard not to be awestruck by the almost supernatural beauty of these majestic mountains.
It was a mountain that Moses ascended, as told in our reading Exodus, to have an encounter with God.
The parallels with the later Transfiguration story with Jesus and his disciples on the mountain are inescapable.
And then we have Peter writing in his second letter about that amazing experience, an unforgettable revelation of God, that he had been privileged to be part of.
So what is it about this Transfiguration story which demands our attention today.
If we look at the overall telling of the story of Jesus ministry this is a pivotal moment.
We began this season of Epiphany with a star, which led the magi, astrologers from the east, to the child Jesus. Epiphany is the sharing of the light of Christ to the world. Part of our celebration is the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, which begins his public ministry. A voice from heaven says “this is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Now we move on to the Transfiguration. Jesus has begun his ministry with healing and teaching, and he has fed the 5,000. He has also begun to prepare his disciples for the journey to Jerusalem and its end on the hill at Calvary.
Who do you say I am, he asked his disciples. And brash Peter answers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
So the transfiguration or transformation of Jesus, in the eyes of the disciples, has already begun.
This mountain top experience is rich in symbolism. Jesus takes only Peter, James and John, his most trusted disciples with him. They are terrified when they see visions of Moses, of Elijah, but then they start to appreciate the amazing revelation they are part of.
Peter blurts out that maybe they can stay, and build houses for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
It is then we hear the voice of God repeating the words from the Baptism of Jesus, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.
But there’s a twist….this time God adds a command for Peter , James and John—listen to him!
That isn’t all. Jesus appears in a different light, transfigured, shining, bright…almost blinding.
This is the scene that Peter would recall many years later as he preached the gospel and wrote letters to the early Christian communities he ministered to.
The powerful mountain top image of Jesus transformed.
But we can’t stay there! And that is perhaps the greatest learning, not only for Peter, James and John, but for all of us as we follow Jesus.
We all hope to have mountain top experiences, where we have visions of peace, justice, harmony and love. We long for the clarity of the view from the mountain top, the exhilaration of being on top of the world.
Think of our wonderful Olympic athletes as they achieved tremendous performances on the world stage. Our men’s and womaen’s curling and hockey teams all winning gold….a matter of pride, and celebration of excellence and teamwork.
But our Olympians couldn’t stay and build houses on the podium at Sochi. They returned to their jobs and their regular teams and competitions.
And so in our world as Christians we long for those elevating experiences, an inspirational service, wonderful music, a shared meal like our Pancake supper. We celebrate our festivals, sacred and secular.
There is a time for celebration, for ecstasy, but also for the more mundane, but necessary tasks of life.
We reminded of that in the upcoming season of Lent, a time of self-examination, of preparation for our annual observance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. After the pancakes, comes the ashes—Ash Wednesday, and 40 days of penitence.
You can give something up for Lent, as self-denial. Or you can take something on—a Lenten study, more Bible reading or devotional books.
The idea of transformation, which we have seen in the Transfiguration story, is to prepare the disciples for something harder than they can ever imagine, spreading the gospel of Christ when he is no longer with them, at least in human form.
So we leave the season of Epiphany, spreading Christ’s light in the world, to follow a Holy Lent when we look inside ourselves, and prepared ourselves to remember the passion of Christ---the story of death and new life. Let us be transformed by the love of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit as we continue on this journey of faith and life in Christ.
Yr. A Epiphany 7 Matthew 5
February 23, 2014
It is amazing what some Biblical literalists can come up with when they proof text scripture irresponsibly.
I saw a new item this week on a retired US general named Jerry Boykin who is now part of something calling itself the Family Research Council.
In a recent speech Boykin calls Jesus a real man’s man, and a tough guy. When Jesus returns in the second coming envisioned in the Book of Revelation, Boykin says he will be carrying an assault rifle, wearing a cloak covered in the blood of his enemies.
You might wonder how he could get that from scripture. In the Book of Revelation 19, John of Patmos has a vision of a warrior on a white horse called the Word of God. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
The retired general thinks the sword of our time is the assault rifle, so when Jesus comes he will mow down his enemies.
Now this retired general is obviously a kook. But it is scary to think he had a command position in part of the world’s most powerful military.
More scary for us as Christians seeking to be understood in a more secular society, is the gross misunderstanding of Jesus and what he taught. We follow a prince of Peace, not a bloodthirsty warrior.
We need to look at the entire trajectory of the Gospels, and the teaching of Jesus. Our Gospel passage today is one of the most striking in support non-violence and a new approach to conflict.
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Turn the other cheek. Jesus rejects the approach, which calls for revenge—an eye for an eye. If someone wants to steal something, don’t fight, give it up. Be generous to those less fortunate.
When we think about these teachings, they are indeed counter-cultural. We are part of a world where conflict is all to common-place, ranging from violent armed conflict in many countries, to criminal activity, to bullying in schools and in the workplace. Violence is glorified in many of our mass media, and in the world of gamers.
Unfortunately turn the other cheek doesn’t appear to be too popular out there.
No doubt it is a hard teaching to follow. Our instinct is to hit back. To get revenge. To stick up for ourselves, rather than take one for the team.
In hockey I’ve always admired players that don’t retaliate when they take an illegal hit or check. I disagree with my fellow Anglican Don Cherry who like the rough stuff including fighting.
The unselfish player takes one for the team, and holds his head up high, while the other guy—hopefully-- takes a penalty.
A personal story I could share is as a young reporter covering a court case, I was trying to shoot a picture of a person charged with fraud, outside the court house. This is perfectly legal. The guy came up and slugged me—one punch. But I did not fight back. I knew that would be sinking to his level, and it wouldn’t do me any good.
I can also still vividly recall getting decked by one punch when I was in grade eight. I didn’t fight back, and the bully got suspended.
So I’m not saying it’s is easy. But turn the other cheek can work. Of course there are times when self defense might be necessary, but it is frightening to see the term self defense used to justify anything up to murder south of the border…with stand your ground laws in places like Florida, where many of our fellow parishioners go on vacation.
In following Christ’s teaching in Matthew it seems clear to me that Christians should support severe restrictions on guns for anyone other than police, the military and hunters. Guns don’t allow any room for turning the other cheek, or loving your enemy.
Turning to the final verse in this section. “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.”
This is one of those sayings of Jesus, which is hard to interpret. Logically, we are human and therefore fallible, and not perfect. We are all sinners in some respect. So perfection would seem to be an unreachable goal.
Yet Jesus wants us to be as perfect, as much without sin, as much living according to his teaching as possible. He lays out the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor as yourself as a rule of life. Everything flows from that.
And while perfection is elusive, we can all strive to be faithful, and to care for others.
We can see what true perfection is like in the person of Jesus. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, that Jesus is the true foundation that we must build on as Christians.
If we lay any other foundation, it just won’t work. If we have Jesus as our foundation, God’s spirit dwells with us.
Now that is a very theoretical description by Paul. However it also offers us a link between our personal experience of life, and our faith in something larger and greater than ourselves, namely God at work in the world through His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the comforter.
These may seem like lofty descriptions, but I’m sure many of us have experienced moments of grace when prayers have been answered, insights gained, and strength given to carry on.
That’s why we keep coming back to be part of Christian community, to worship God, to share the joys and sorrows of life with our fellow Christians.
We are part of something larger. Our lives do mean something. God cares for us, and offers us the teaching of Jesus in scared text to help us live in a different way. It’s not easy. But it is what we are called to do.
February 23, 2014
It is amazing what some Biblical literalists can come up with when they proof text scripture irresponsibly.
I saw a new item this week on a retired US general named Jerry Boykin who is now part of something calling itself the Family Research Council.
In a recent speech Boykin calls Jesus a real man’s man, and a tough guy. When Jesus returns in the second coming envisioned in the Book of Revelation, Boykin says he will be carrying an assault rifle, wearing a cloak covered in the blood of his enemies.
You might wonder how he could get that from scripture. In the Book of Revelation 19, John of Patmos has a vision of a warrior on a white horse called the Word of God. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
The retired general thinks the sword of our time is the assault rifle, so when Jesus comes he will mow down his enemies.
Now this retired general is obviously a kook. But it is scary to think he had a command position in part of the world’s most powerful military.
More scary for us as Christians seeking to be understood in a more secular society, is the gross misunderstanding of Jesus and what he taught. We follow a prince of Peace, not a bloodthirsty warrior.
We need to look at the entire trajectory of the Gospels, and the teaching of Jesus. Our Gospel passage today is one of the most striking in support non-violence and a new approach to conflict.
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Turn the other cheek. Jesus rejects the approach, which calls for revenge—an eye for an eye. If someone wants to steal something, don’t fight, give it up. Be generous to those less fortunate.
When we think about these teachings, they are indeed counter-cultural. We are part of a world where conflict is all to common-place, ranging from violent armed conflict in many countries, to criminal activity, to bullying in schools and in the workplace. Violence is glorified in many of our mass media, and in the world of gamers.
Unfortunately turn the other cheek doesn’t appear to be too popular out there.
No doubt it is a hard teaching to follow. Our instinct is to hit back. To get revenge. To stick up for ourselves, rather than take one for the team.
In hockey I’ve always admired players that don’t retaliate when they take an illegal hit or check. I disagree with my fellow Anglican Don Cherry who like the rough stuff including fighting.
The unselfish player takes one for the team, and holds his head up high, while the other guy—hopefully-- takes a penalty.
A personal story I could share is as a young reporter covering a court case, I was trying to shoot a picture of a person charged with fraud, outside the court house. This is perfectly legal. The guy came up and slugged me—one punch. But I did not fight back. I knew that would be sinking to his level, and it wouldn’t do me any good.
I can also still vividly recall getting decked by one punch when I was in grade eight. I didn’t fight back, and the bully got suspended.
So I’m not saying it’s is easy. But turn the other cheek can work. Of course there are times when self defense might be necessary, but it is frightening to see the term self defense used to justify anything up to murder south of the border…with stand your ground laws in places like Florida, where many of our fellow parishioners go on vacation.
In following Christ’s teaching in Matthew it seems clear to me that Christians should support severe restrictions on guns for anyone other than police, the military and hunters. Guns don’t allow any room for turning the other cheek, or loving your enemy.
Turning to the final verse in this section. “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.”
This is one of those sayings of Jesus, which is hard to interpret. Logically, we are human and therefore fallible, and not perfect. We are all sinners in some respect. So perfection would seem to be an unreachable goal.
Yet Jesus wants us to be as perfect, as much without sin, as much living according to his teaching as possible. He lays out the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor as yourself as a rule of life. Everything flows from that.
And while perfection is elusive, we can all strive to be faithful, and to care for others.
We can see what true perfection is like in the person of Jesus. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, that Jesus is the true foundation that we must build on as Christians.
If we lay any other foundation, it just won’t work. If we have Jesus as our foundation, God’s spirit dwells with us.
Now that is a very theoretical description by Paul. However it also offers us a link between our personal experience of life, and our faith in something larger and greater than ourselves, namely God at work in the world through His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the comforter.
These may seem like lofty descriptions, but I’m sure many of us have experienced moments of grace when prayers have been answered, insights gained, and strength given to carry on.
That’s why we keep coming back to be part of Christian community, to worship God, to share the joys and sorrows of life with our fellow Christians.
We are part of something larger. Our lives do mean something. God cares for us, and offers us the teaching of Jesus in scared text to help us live in a different way. It’s not easy. But it is what we are called to do.
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