Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen
The very first words of Jesus when he met Simon Peter and his brother Andrew on the shores of the Sea of Galilee were "Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men."
Most of you knew that before - and if you didn't - you heard them read today from the first chapter of the Gospel According to Mark.
But how many of you know what the last words of Jesus to Simon Peter were? Words also spoken down by the waters of the sea of Galilee - just before Jesus was taken up into heaven?
Yes - this is a bible test... something for you to think about - but to have mercy - I will give you the answer.
His very last words to Peter, words spoken just before he was taken up into heaven, words spoken after Peter and the others had been his daily companions for three years, were virtually the same as the first: "Feed my sheep, Follow me."
Our calling - the calling of every single person here - and the call that is extended to all of God's children is the same as that of Peter.
Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
Follow me and feed my sheep.
We have a twofold calling - you and I.
We are called to be disciples - to be ones who walk with Jesus and who learn from him and we are called to be apostles - to be ones who go forth, and in the particular way that God gifts us for, act as Christ's ambassadors in the world
- to be ones who allow Jesus to speak through us.
- to be ones who minister God's reconciling love to the world,
- to be one's who bring God's word of forgiveness and of hope, God's life giving word to all who need it.
A twofold calling.
The first aspect of our calling is to enter into a relationship with Jesus, that is one of complete and utter trust. To come to him as he asks us to come - and to give to him our weariness, our burdens, our anxieties - and to receive from him those things he wants to give us - peace, hope, joy, truth, love, strength, wisdom....To come to him - and to follow him - where-ever he leads - even if it be to a cross. To come to him and to learn from him. To come to him and to live in him - and have him live in us. To come to him and to be made new by him and in him.
This is not easy.
It is not easy
- not because Christ is unable to bear our burdens and to give us rest,
- nor because Jesus does not have the power to make us new and turn us into the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
It is not easy because it demands of us more than most people are willing to give.
It demands discipline, single-mindedness, a determination to indeed make Christ the centre of our lives.
It demands of us the resolve to do those things that our Lord asks us to do, to go where-ever our Lord leads us - even if that involves leaving behind things precious and dear to us - even if that involves doing things we think we can't do - or wish that we would not have to do.
In certain church circles there is a story told about Dr. George Darby who
served as a missionary Doctor for over 45 years.
"I hope that no one will ever say to me that I stuck it out here", Darby said at a retirement party way back in 1959. "It was a privilege, and I thank you."
When Doctor Darby graduated from Medical School in 1914 his professors recognized in him a great deal of surgical skill and tried to persuade him to take up a lucrative practice in the city, but he was determined to minister in Christ's name and out of his love for a people who needed someone to care.
And he did - in tiny fishing and logging camps and Indian villages, and under conditions that were frequently harsh and almost always uncomfortable.
Compare that to the choices some people make.
Compare it to those folk who can't even spend a hour or so a week at worship or three or four hours a week helping children or youth learn about or experience the love of God because these activities take place at the same time as mahjong games or might interfere with a favourite TV show, or some money making activities.
The benefits, my friends, of the Christian life, can only come if we actually live the Christian life, if we actually follow Christ where he went and learn and do what Christ taught and did.
Christ prayed every day - indeed he prayed continually. Christ went to the synagogue to worship and to learn every week. And Christ allowed his meals to be interrupted and his time of relaxation to be interfered with by the hungry, the crippled, and the needy.
Does this few, relatively little things I have lifted up, describe our lives? In whole? Or even in part.
Discipleship involves discipline.
No one, as Paul puts it in another place in his letter to the Corinthians can win the prize if he doesn't run the race. No one can receive the crown of victory - if he doesn't persevere to the end of the course.
Or as Jesus said - "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other."
Jesus spoke those words about choosing between God and Money. But they apply to every area of our lives. We either serve God - we either follow Christ - or we follow after the desires of our own hearts.
Our call to be disciples and our life as disciples is perhaps best described as a choice - a choice between living like everybody else, or living in the way Christ shows how to live: living in the way of the cross - knowing that the this will lead us as well to the resurrection.
Peter and Andrew, James and John and all the rest were told over and over again by Jesus that they must chose and that all who would follow him must choose: that they must chose between seeking to save their lives - between pursuing their own desires and wants - and the cross, his cross.
We sang about that choice a few minutes ago:
Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world's golden store from each idol that would keep us, "saying Christian, love me more". In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease, still he calls, in cares and pleasures, "Christian love me more than these"
Our Apostleship flows forth from our discipleship.
Those who are called to follow are also sent forth, they are given a ministry - what Paul calls the ministry of reconciliation, and told variously to feed Christ's sheep, to fish for men, to be Christ's Ambassadors, to allow God to make his appeal to all humankind through us.
This is not a hard thing - though it may involve hardships. This is not a difficult thing - though it may involve difficulties.
It - as I said - flows forth from our discipleship; it flows forth from the fact that as we follow Jesus we are made new in him, - by his power we are equipped and made ready to do all that we are called to do, - we are made to be, as Paul puts it in our epistle reading today, "the righteousness of God" - we are made to be people who embody the saving love of God - and who share it.
When we join God's team - when we follow Christ day by day, God equips us, God empowers us, God uses us, God supports us, God helps us.
We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation. And we are all equipped to discharge that ministry.
We are made, by the power of Christ within us, to be the salt of the earth. We are made, by our daily choosing to follow Christ, the light of the world.
All of us are called - each in our own way - to follow and to serve. All of us are called - each in our own way - to be made new in Christ - and to allow Christ to speak through us, to allow God to act within us and to reach out and touch others using our hands - our hearts - our words.
When we follow Christ, when we learn from him and obey him, when we allow him to come in and live in us and then go out and carry him to the world, great things happen - no matter who we think we are - or who others might think us to be.
Rick Warren, in the book "The Purpose Driven Church" writes:
Small ministries often make the greatest difference. The most important light in my home is not the large chandelier in our dining room, but the little nightlight that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up to use the bathroom at night. It's small, but it's more useful to me than the show-off light."
In the dark night of the soul that our friends, our neighbours, our co-workers, might be experiencing, the light we have because we are disciples of Christ - because we are followers in his way - might be the most important thing in their lives.
We are called to let it shine.
Our Christian life revolves around two poles
- discipleship - following Christ
- and apostleship - carrying Christ into the world.
May you indeed be fully resolved to follow him and live up to your calling as fishers of men, as ones who feed his sheep.
May His Name be praised day by day. Amen.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27; I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
When Christ called the first disciples he set himself a task - the task of making them into fishermen.
"As he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea - for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "follow me, I will make you fish for people."
That is what God wants us all to do.
- It's what Jesus did - in Galilee and in Samaria and in Jordan and Judea and Jerusalem,
- And it's what we are supposed to do - in Wanchai, in Central, in Shumshuipo and in Mongkok.
We are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God - into that creel known as salvation, as redemption, as everlasting peace.
But are we? Are we fishing that is? And if we are fishing - who are we fishing for?
For God and God's glory?
For the sake of those we talk to each day?
Or for ourselves and for the sake of those people to whom we are loyal - albeit in a worldly way?
There is so much power that flows when you witness to the love of God - when you share with others what it does for you and what it can do for them - when you have a chance to engage someone who is troubled, or curious, or hungry, and bring them before the one who can sooth their pain, satisfy their yearnings, and feed their soul.
I was talking to someone the other day whose father is an alcoholic. He was sharing with me how his family coped with the problem - and naturally Alcoholics Anonymous came up in the conversation. From that it was but a short step to the concept of the Higher Power which is at the heart of that program - and then to the concept of believing that the Higher Power can help you with your problem and that one should surrender to that Power - to "Let go and let God."
What a prescription for life that is - and how wonderful it was to be able to share it - as any believing person is able to share it - whether or not they have read through the AA program.
It was wonderful to be able to share with someone that God ready and able to help them.
There is power in witnessing - in sharing one's faith - in being a person who fishes for people, because there is power in the message and power in the God the message is about.
But sometimes we don't experience that - most often - perhaps - we don't experience that.
We don't experience the power and we don't succeed at the task of fishing for people - indeed most often we don't even begin that task, because we are involved with and committed to the wrong stuff.
Although every one of us believes in God - our energy - our focus - is all too often fixed elsewhere.
It is as if we belonged to another - and indeed we often do. We often belong to other things - to other people - to other teams - and God gets the short end.
But my friends, when God gets the short end from us, so do the people around us, so do our families, so does our church, and so do we ourselves.
When Paul wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians there were a lot of problems in the congregation.
There was arrogance, there was pride, there was indifference. There was gluttony and laziness and intolerance, and there was depression, and anger, and despair. And it all tracked itself down to one simple fact - the people in the congregation at Corinth had fixed their focus on themselves and on one another instead of fixing it on Christ and on the power of his cross.
That's not to suggest that the Corinthians never paid attention to God - or that they totally ignored Jesus. Far from it. It's simply to say that most of their attention went elsewhere.
Instead of using the gospel as a filter by which to see the world around them and of asking God at each moment of decision to direct their words and their actions - they fell into their old routines, routines that are programmed into us by our genes and by the expectations that others have of us and by our own reluctance to really trust God for everything.
They relied upon the teachings of others for their own understanding of the gospel. They formed loyalties with those who first showed them the love of God and quite naturally they defended those teachers when questioned about them. And because their was a contrary spirit in Corinth, they soon began to quarrel about who was better and who was worse - some saying Paul, others Apollos, and still others Cephas, and even some entered the fray saying that they belong to the party Christ and that he was, and therefore they were, better.
In short the Corinthians missed the point of what the gospel is all about and instead of knowing the joy and the peace that comes with the fellowship of the faithful - instead of being powerful in their witness and being able to catch people for God - their congregational life collapsed and their sense of well being evaporated.
People complained about each other and about their leadership, they became confused about what was right and wrong, and they bickered about issues that made no sense to then and even less now.
The King James Version of the Bible says that problems at Corinth could be traced to the believers there having a party spirit.
When I was younger I used to joke around a bit and say that this meant that the Corinthians stayed up too late and drank and danced a bit too much - that they played even more than they worked - but really it is no joking matter.
The Corinthians placed their loyalty in things other than the things of God - in persons other than the person of Jesus Christ, and they suffered because of it
- they suffered a loss of power
- they suffered a loss of love
- they suffered a loss of joy in believing and in sharing.
The Corinthians did this
- they misplaced their loyalty
- they missed the point of the gospel
- they formed up into party, cliques, and factions, not because they were wicked or mean or stupid, but because they looked elsewhere and forgot what they were to be about, because, most of all, they forgot who they believed in and what who they believed in was, and is, about.
The effective Christian life is based on three simple facts
- the fact that God loves us unconditionally,
- the fact that apart from God we can do nothing that is worthwhile,
- and the fact that God is pleased to work through us if we allow him to, and around us if we will not.
Sometimes we look out upon our families, upon our congregation, or upon our club or lodge, or upon our place of employment and we say to ourselves
- "things would be better if only Joe would cut x and y out", or
- "if only Wai Ching would do this or that everything would be fine".
Who hasn't heard the old song that is sung by close to everyone
if only my father hadn't been so stern,
if only my parents hadn't gotten divorced
if only my mother had been more affectionate,
if only my high secondary had a better program
if only my boss wasn't such a boob.
Who do we belong to? What holds onto us because we hold on to it?
Do you look out and assign blame for what problems exist upon some people - and apportion credit for what good is happening to still others instead of alternately - either asking God to work through you to make things better or thanking God for making things as fine as they are.
Too many judge things, too many judge people just as they always used to instead of judging them by the standard show them by Christ when he went to the cross for them
We prefer our friends to our enemies quite naturally.
We prefer our comfort to our discomfort quite naturally.
We would rather fit in than stand out.
We would rather be praised than be criticized, and we would rather be served than serve - all quite naturally.
But we are not meant to be natural people any longer - we are meant to be the children of God - to be a spiritual people who live by spiritual principles to be a people who live by the power of the cross of Christ rather than a people who live by the ways of the world.
Do you recall what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar place?
Sometimes a night light glows down the hall, providing a small amount of light, of security, against the darkness of the night. Sometimes a light has been left on in the den down the hall and its steady glow allows you to navigate safely when you have rise to raid the fridge or do what is necessary. And that's great.
But what foolishness it would be if you got up, as you do when you are at home, and, ignoring the fact of whether there is any light on or not, you try to navigate your way to the kitchen or the bathroom by making all the usual twist and turns. It's a sure fire way to experience some form of pain - I mean think of what happens if someone simply moves something in your home without telling you about it, if for some reason they leave the seat up instead of down, or some other unexpected thing...
But we do this all the time - in a metaphorical sense at least.
We forget that we have been called to a new way of living, and that we are meant to navigate our way through our new life by the light that God provides rather than by our old channel markers.
Do you have a problem - don't worry about fixing blame - check out the possible solutions in the word of God. Do we have something that is hampering our life together - let not accuse one another - lets pray together and then let's work the works that God calls us to, both individually and collectively.
The church at Corinth was a weak church.
It was weak because the people there forgot that they were called to a new way of life. It was weak because they forgot that the true and only real source of transforming and healing power comes from the cross of Jesus Christ. And it was weak because they forgot that their sole and only task as his followers was to show his love to others - that they were to live in such a manner and to speak in such a manner that others might be touched by God - that others might know the lure - the attraction - the wonder of God through us -and so be moved to claim Christ as their own.
I started this message today by saying we are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God into that creel known as salvation, as redemption - as everlasting peace.
That is, my friends, the central calling of every disciple and every apostle, and every teacher, and every evangelist, and indeed of everyone who bears the name of Christ.
And it is a wonderful calling
- a calling in which we have the privilege of witnessing God at work,
- a calling in which we are shown a portion of the love and the joy that exists in heaven.
Turn to Christ and place your allegiance in his person, your focus on his cross, your energy on his work, and all that God has in mind for you will be yours in this life as well as in the next.
Blessed Be God, Day by Day, Amen
When Christ called the first disciples he set himself a task - the task of making them into fishermen.
"As he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea - for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "follow me, I will make you fish for people."
That is what God wants us all to do.
- It's what Jesus did - in Galilee and in Samaria and in Jordan and Judea and Jerusalem,
- And it's what we are supposed to do - in Wanchai, in Central, in Shumshuipo and in Mongkok.
We are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God - into that creel known as salvation, as redemption, as everlasting peace.
But are we? Are we fishing that is? And if we are fishing - who are we fishing for?
For God and God's glory?
For the sake of those we talk to each day?
Or for ourselves and for the sake of those people to whom we are loyal - albeit in a worldly way?
There is so much power that flows when you witness to the love of God - when you share with others what it does for you and what it can do for them - when you have a chance to engage someone who is troubled, or curious, or hungry, and bring them before the one who can sooth their pain, satisfy their yearnings, and feed their soul.
I was talking to someone the other day whose father is an alcoholic. He was sharing with me how his family coped with the problem - and naturally Alcoholics Anonymous came up in the conversation. From that it was but a short step to the concept of the Higher Power which is at the heart of that program - and then to the concept of believing that the Higher Power can help you with your problem and that one should surrender to that Power - to "Let go and let God."
What a prescription for life that is - and how wonderful it was to be able to share it - as any believing person is able to share it - whether or not they have read through the AA program.
It was wonderful to be able to share with someone that God ready and able to help them.
There is power in witnessing - in sharing one's faith - in being a person who fishes for people, because there is power in the message and power in the God the message is about.
But sometimes we don't experience that - most often - perhaps - we don't experience that.
We don't experience the power and we don't succeed at the task of fishing for people - indeed most often we don't even begin that task, because we are involved with and committed to the wrong stuff.
Although every one of us believes in God - our energy - our focus - is all too often fixed elsewhere.
It is as if we belonged to another - and indeed we often do. We often belong to other things - to other people - to other teams - and God gets the short end.
But my friends, when God gets the short end from us, so do the people around us, so do our families, so does our church, and so do we ourselves.
When Paul wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians there were a lot of problems in the congregation.
There was arrogance, there was pride, there was indifference. There was gluttony and laziness and intolerance, and there was depression, and anger, and despair. And it all tracked itself down to one simple fact - the people in the congregation at Corinth had fixed their focus on themselves and on one another instead of fixing it on Christ and on the power of his cross.
That's not to suggest that the Corinthians never paid attention to God - or that they totally ignored Jesus. Far from it. It's simply to say that most of their attention went elsewhere.
Instead of using the gospel as a filter by which to see the world around them and of asking God at each moment of decision to direct their words and their actions - they fell into their old routines, routines that are programmed into us by our genes and by the expectations that others have of us and by our own reluctance to really trust God for everything.
They relied upon the teachings of others for their own understanding of the gospel. They formed loyalties with those who first showed them the love of God and quite naturally they defended those teachers when questioned about them. And because their was a contrary spirit in Corinth, they soon began to quarrel about who was better and who was worse - some saying Paul, others Apollos, and still others Cephas, and even some entered the fray saying that they belong to the party Christ and that he was, and therefore they were, better.
In short the Corinthians missed the point of what the gospel is all about and instead of knowing the joy and the peace that comes with the fellowship of the faithful - instead of being powerful in their witness and being able to catch people for God - their congregational life collapsed and their sense of well being evaporated.
People complained about each other and about their leadership, they became confused about what was right and wrong, and they bickered about issues that made no sense to then and even less now.
The King James Version of the Bible says that problems at Corinth could be traced to the believers there having a party spirit.
When I was younger I used to joke around a bit and say that this meant that the Corinthians stayed up too late and drank and danced a bit too much - that they played even more than they worked - but really it is no joking matter.
The Corinthians placed their loyalty in things other than the things of God - in persons other than the person of Jesus Christ, and they suffered because of it
- they suffered a loss of power
- they suffered a loss of love
- they suffered a loss of joy in believing and in sharing.
The Corinthians did this
- they misplaced their loyalty
- they missed the point of the gospel
- they formed up into party, cliques, and factions, not because they were wicked or mean or stupid, but because they looked elsewhere and forgot what they were to be about, because, most of all, they forgot who they believed in and what who they believed in was, and is, about.
The effective Christian life is based on three simple facts
- the fact that God loves us unconditionally,
- the fact that apart from God we can do nothing that is worthwhile,
- and the fact that God is pleased to work through us if we allow him to, and around us if we will not.
Sometimes we look out upon our families, upon our congregation, or upon our club or lodge, or upon our place of employment and we say to ourselves
- "things would be better if only Joe would cut x and y out", or
- "if only Wai Ching would do this or that everything would be fine".
Who hasn't heard the old song that is sung by close to everyone
if only my father hadn't been so stern,
if only my parents hadn't gotten divorced
if only my mother had been more affectionate,
if only my high secondary had a better program
if only my boss wasn't such a boob.
Who do we belong to? What holds onto us because we hold on to it?
Do you look out and assign blame for what problems exist upon some people - and apportion credit for what good is happening to still others instead of alternately - either asking God to work through you to make things better or thanking God for making things as fine as they are.
Too many judge things, too many judge people just as they always used to instead of judging them by the standard show them by Christ when he went to the cross for them
We prefer our friends to our enemies quite naturally.
We prefer our comfort to our discomfort quite naturally.
We would rather fit in than stand out.
We would rather be praised than be criticized, and we would rather be served than serve - all quite naturally.
But we are not meant to be natural people any longer - we are meant to be the children of God - to be a spiritual people who live by spiritual principles to be a people who live by the power of the cross of Christ rather than a people who live by the ways of the world.
Do you recall what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar place?
Sometimes a night light glows down the hall, providing a small amount of light, of security, against the darkness of the night. Sometimes a light has been left on in the den down the hall and its steady glow allows you to navigate safely when you have rise to raid the fridge or do what is necessary. And that's great.
But what foolishness it would be if you got up, as you do when you are at home, and, ignoring the fact of whether there is any light on or not, you try to navigate your way to the kitchen or the bathroom by making all the usual twist and turns. It's a sure fire way to experience some form of pain - I mean think of what happens if someone simply moves something in your home without telling you about it, if for some reason they leave the seat up instead of down, or some other unexpected thing...
But we do this all the time - in a metaphorical sense at least.
We forget that we have been called to a new way of living, and that we are meant to navigate our way through our new life by the light that God provides rather than by our old channel markers.
Do you have a problem - don't worry about fixing blame - check out the possible solutions in the word of God. Do we have something that is hampering our life together - let not accuse one another - lets pray together and then let's work the works that God calls us to, both individually and collectively.
The church at Corinth was a weak church.
It was weak because the people there forgot that they were called to a new way of life. It was weak because they forgot that the true and only real source of transforming and healing power comes from the cross of Jesus Christ. And it was weak because they forgot that their sole and only task as his followers was to show his love to others - that they were to live in such a manner and to speak in such a manner that others might be touched by God - that others might know the lure - the attraction - the wonder of God through us -and so be moved to claim Christ as their own.
I started this message today by saying we are supposed to fish for people, to seek to bring them into that great net known as the Kingdom of God into that creel known as salvation, as redemption - as everlasting peace.
That is, my friends, the central calling of every disciple and every apostle, and every teacher, and every evangelist, and indeed of everyone who bears the name of Christ.
And it is a wonderful calling
- a calling in which we have the privilege of witnessing God at work,
- a calling in which we are shown a portion of the love and the joy that exists in heaven.
Turn to Christ and place your allegiance in his person, your focus on his cross, your energy on his work, and all that God has in mind for you will be yours in this life as well as in the next.
Blessed Be God, Day by Day, Amen
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40; I Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
The scripture readings for today are each so rich.
We have the prophet Isaiah declaring how the promised one - was called from his mother's womb to be the one who brings salvation to the people of Israel - and more - who is appointed to be a light to the gentiles.
It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
And we have Paul speaking to people of Corinth - to the believers in that city - and saying that they will be kept strong and blameless till the time of the promised one's return - strong through the spiritual gifts that God has poured out on Christ's people through the Holy Spirit - and blameless because of the what Christ has done for us on the cross.
Very rich readings indeed. As is today's Gospel lesson with it's account of the testimony that John the Baptist makes about Jesus - and it's description of how Andrew (for whom this church is named) first visited with Jesus and then, on the following day, brought his brother - Simon Peter - to meet Jesus.
Today I want to focus mainly on the gospel lesson - and within that - mainly upon part of the testimony that John the Baptist made about Jesus on two separate days. The first part.
"Look" said John on the first day, pointing to Jesus as Jesus draws near to him and his disciples "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
And on the second day John again says to his disciples as Jesus approaches. "Look, the Lamb of God".
What does John the Baptist mean when he calls Jesus the Lamb of God? What is a Lamb of God - that Jesus could be called "The Lamb of God?
Is John referring to the thousands of lambs that were sacrificed daily at the temple in Jerusalem? Those lambs whose blood was spilled as a means of connecting the people with God? Those lambs whose death expressed the worshippers' acknowledgement of God's power over life and death?
The lambs that were sacrificed at the temple each day died as a way of thanking God for the abundance of the harvest, for the increase in the people's herds and flocks, and as a thank offering for the birth of a new child.
The time of sacrifice was a time of communion
- of communion between those who came to worship as the law required
- and of communion between them and God.
The flesh of the lamb was consumed by the worshippers and by the priests who offered the sacrifices. Much as we do today as we gather to commune with God and to thank God for being our God - prayers were said, psalms were sung, scripture was read, and the people affirmed by their presence and by their offering that they were the children of God and brothers and sisters to one another.
Is it these lambs of thanksgiving - of communion that John refers to when he calls Jesus 'The Lamb of God'?
Or is John referring to another kind of lamb - to the Passover Lamb, that lamb that every household in Israel slaughtered each year and whose blood was then painted on the doorposts of their homes as a way of remembering the first Passover - that time when the angel of the Lord passed over the homes of the children of Israel as they suffered in slavery in Egypt and struck down the first born of their taskmasters?
The flesh of the Passover Lamb was entirely consumed on the night of the Passover - thus commemorating the strength that God gave the people to make their escape from bondage in Egypt - an escape that led them to the land of promise - to the land where God would give to them - in abundance - every good thing they needed.
Which kind of lamb is 'The Lamb of God'?
We believe that it is both kinds of lambs - but in particular - we believe that it is the Passover Lamb that John the Baptist had in mind - that Lamb whose blood signified that those who sheltered behind it were to be spared death and given new life in a new land.
But when John points at Jesus and says "behold the lamb of God" - he says something more about Jesus than the images of the Passover Lamb and the Lambs of Thanksgiving might suggest to us. He says that this person, this Lamb of God, provided by God's own hands, does more than simply spare the lives of his chosen people and help to bring them to the promised land.
He is saying that this particular lamb - this particular person - has been given by God to take away the sins of the whole world.
Sin, as every child of Israel knew, leads to death.
Permanent Death.
Final Death.
Caput.
Fini.
That is - indeed the point of the story of Adam and Eve - who upon eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - come under the sentence of death. And that is the message of the story of Noah and the flood and the message of every prophet sent by God to the people of Israel.
Sin leads to death. Not just for the people that God has chosen - but for all humankind.
As the Apostle Paul so simply puts it in his letter to the Romans "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"
What John is indicating when he points to Jesus and says "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" is that this man - this Jesus - is the one promised by Isaiah and so many of the other prophets: that he is the one who is sent by God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth - the one who will free all people from slavery to sin and reconnect them to the perfect and holy God who created and austains us.
He is saying that Jesus will free all people from the sentence of death, not just those people God chose at the beginning to be his people - and he is giving to those who hear him - to his own disciples - an indication of how that would come about, namely by the offering of his body and his blood.
Just as the Passover lamb is slain so that it's blood may cause death to pass by the homes of the children of Israel and it's flesh may sustain the people as they escape from their bondage, and just as lambs in the temple were killed so that the prayers of thanksgiving and dedication might be heard by God and so that the people might rejoice and eat together, so the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World will offer his body and his blood for us - and to us - once and for all.
From the time of his baptism by John, Jesus is led like a lamb to his eventual slaughter in Jerusalem.
His teachings and his healings, the miracles he works and the journeys that he makes during his ministry entire ministry, leads to one moment - his sacrifice on the cross.
"Here is the Lamb of God" we say, as we stand stunned, watching our Saviour's blood drain from his body for our salvation.
Here is one who was unblemished - one who was with out sin - an innocent one taking upon himself the punishment that should be ours; giving his life that we may have life.
As all the saints and the angels in heaven say
"Worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"
A tourist visited a church in Germany and was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church's tower.
He asked why it was there and was told that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured.
How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved.
To commemorate that miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman fell.
That expresses a tiny bit of what it means when John says "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" The sense indicated by Isaiah with his promise of one "who will bring salvation to the ends of the earth".
And with it's visible symbol, the carving on the bell tower that gives testimony to what happened, it expresses a tiny bit of another important part of the Gospel reading today - that of John calling out to his own disciples - and to all those who would hear his voice: "Look - the Lamb of God."
As you know it was because John the Baptist said "look" that Andrew and another disciple - most likely the Apostle John - turned and followed Jesus and became excited by what they experienced with him and became his disciples.
And it was because of Andrew telling his brother Simon "We have found the Messiah" and then bringing Simon to him - that Simon became Peter - the Rock of the Church.
I call you to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Like John the Baptist, I do not want you to follow me
- I want you to follow the one who gives everyone who comes to him life and that abundantly.
- I want you to follow the innocent one, the pure one, the one of God and from God who offered himself as the unblemished sacrifice for our sins, once and for all.
I want you to follow Jesus and have the angel of the Lord's judgement pass over your house and for you to escape from bondage and enter the promised land.
And more - I want you to be like John - and Andrew - and Simon Peter - and every disciple since.
I want you to call to those who trust you and to those who will hear your voice - I want you to call to them and say "look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is still with us - to make us free and to make us holy and to give us eternal life"
There is not one of us who does not need to draw closer to the Lamb of God. There is not one of us who does not need to come to Jesus and be cleansed and forgiven and given life. There is not one of us who does not need to experience Jesus and his transforming love on a deeper basis - day by day.
The Lamb of God my friends is here - here in the book we read, here in the songs we sing and the prayers that we pray, here in the love that we share and the forgiveness we grant in his name, here in the laughter and here too in the pain. He is here in the Spirit that God poured out upon the world in response to his sacrifice.
He is here - and he is in heaven above interceding for and protecting his people and calling to all the world to come and be healed.
Blessed be his name - now and forevermore. Amen.
The scripture readings for today are each so rich.
We have the prophet Isaiah declaring how the promised one - was called from his mother's womb to be the one who brings salvation to the people of Israel - and more - who is appointed to be a light to the gentiles.
It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
And we have Paul speaking to people of Corinth - to the believers in that city - and saying that they will be kept strong and blameless till the time of the promised one's return - strong through the spiritual gifts that God has poured out on Christ's people through the Holy Spirit - and blameless because of the what Christ has done for us on the cross.
Very rich readings indeed. As is today's Gospel lesson with it's account of the testimony that John the Baptist makes about Jesus - and it's description of how Andrew (for whom this church is named) first visited with Jesus and then, on the following day, brought his brother - Simon Peter - to meet Jesus.
Today I want to focus mainly on the gospel lesson - and within that - mainly upon part of the testimony that John the Baptist made about Jesus on two separate days. The first part.
"Look" said John on the first day, pointing to Jesus as Jesus draws near to him and his disciples "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
And on the second day John again says to his disciples as Jesus approaches. "Look, the Lamb of God".
What does John the Baptist mean when he calls Jesus the Lamb of God? What is a Lamb of God - that Jesus could be called "The Lamb of God?
Is John referring to the thousands of lambs that were sacrificed daily at the temple in Jerusalem? Those lambs whose blood was spilled as a means of connecting the people with God? Those lambs whose death expressed the worshippers' acknowledgement of God's power over life and death?
The lambs that were sacrificed at the temple each day died as a way of thanking God for the abundance of the harvest, for the increase in the people's herds and flocks, and as a thank offering for the birth of a new child.
The time of sacrifice was a time of communion
- of communion between those who came to worship as the law required
- and of communion between them and God.
The flesh of the lamb was consumed by the worshippers and by the priests who offered the sacrifices. Much as we do today as we gather to commune with God and to thank God for being our God - prayers were said, psalms were sung, scripture was read, and the people affirmed by their presence and by their offering that they were the children of God and brothers and sisters to one another.
Is it these lambs of thanksgiving - of communion that John refers to when he calls Jesus 'The Lamb of God'?
Or is John referring to another kind of lamb - to the Passover Lamb, that lamb that every household in Israel slaughtered each year and whose blood was then painted on the doorposts of their homes as a way of remembering the first Passover - that time when the angel of the Lord passed over the homes of the children of Israel as they suffered in slavery in Egypt and struck down the first born of their taskmasters?
The flesh of the Passover Lamb was entirely consumed on the night of the Passover - thus commemorating the strength that God gave the people to make their escape from bondage in Egypt - an escape that led them to the land of promise - to the land where God would give to them - in abundance - every good thing they needed.
Which kind of lamb is 'The Lamb of God'?
We believe that it is both kinds of lambs - but in particular - we believe that it is the Passover Lamb that John the Baptist had in mind - that Lamb whose blood signified that those who sheltered behind it were to be spared death and given new life in a new land.
But when John points at Jesus and says "behold the lamb of God" - he says something more about Jesus than the images of the Passover Lamb and the Lambs of Thanksgiving might suggest to us. He says that this person, this Lamb of God, provided by God's own hands, does more than simply spare the lives of his chosen people and help to bring them to the promised land.
He is saying that this particular lamb - this particular person - has been given by God to take away the sins of the whole world.
Sin, as every child of Israel knew, leads to death.
Permanent Death.
Final Death.
Caput.
Fini.
That is - indeed the point of the story of Adam and Eve - who upon eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - come under the sentence of death. And that is the message of the story of Noah and the flood and the message of every prophet sent by God to the people of Israel.
Sin leads to death. Not just for the people that God has chosen - but for all humankind.
As the Apostle Paul so simply puts it in his letter to the Romans "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"
What John is indicating when he points to Jesus and says "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" is that this man - this Jesus - is the one promised by Isaiah and so many of the other prophets: that he is the one who is sent by God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth - the one who will free all people from slavery to sin and reconnect them to the perfect and holy God who created and austains us.
He is saying that Jesus will free all people from the sentence of death, not just those people God chose at the beginning to be his people - and he is giving to those who hear him - to his own disciples - an indication of how that would come about, namely by the offering of his body and his blood.
Just as the Passover lamb is slain so that it's blood may cause death to pass by the homes of the children of Israel and it's flesh may sustain the people as they escape from their bondage, and just as lambs in the temple were killed so that the prayers of thanksgiving and dedication might be heard by God and so that the people might rejoice and eat together, so the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World will offer his body and his blood for us - and to us - once and for all.
From the time of his baptism by John, Jesus is led like a lamb to his eventual slaughter in Jerusalem.
His teachings and his healings, the miracles he works and the journeys that he makes during his ministry entire ministry, leads to one moment - his sacrifice on the cross.
"Here is the Lamb of God" we say, as we stand stunned, watching our Saviour's blood drain from his body for our salvation.
Here is one who was unblemished - one who was with out sin - an innocent one taking upon himself the punishment that should be ours; giving his life that we may have life.
As all the saints and the angels in heaven say
"Worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"
A tourist visited a church in Germany and was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church's tower.
He asked why it was there and was told that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured.
How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved.
To commemorate that miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman fell.
That expresses a tiny bit of what it means when John says "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" The sense indicated by Isaiah with his promise of one "who will bring salvation to the ends of the earth".
And with it's visible symbol, the carving on the bell tower that gives testimony to what happened, it expresses a tiny bit of another important part of the Gospel reading today - that of John calling out to his own disciples - and to all those who would hear his voice: "Look - the Lamb of God."
As you know it was because John the Baptist said "look" that Andrew and another disciple - most likely the Apostle John - turned and followed Jesus and became excited by what they experienced with him and became his disciples.
And it was because of Andrew telling his brother Simon "We have found the Messiah" and then bringing Simon to him - that Simon became Peter - the Rock of the Church.
I call you to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Like John the Baptist, I do not want you to follow me
- I want you to follow the one who gives everyone who comes to him life and that abundantly.
- I want you to follow the innocent one, the pure one, the one of God and from God who offered himself as the unblemished sacrifice for our sins, once and for all.
I want you to follow Jesus and have the angel of the Lord's judgement pass over your house and for you to escape from bondage and enter the promised land.
And more - I want you to be like John - and Andrew - and Simon Peter - and every disciple since.
I want you to call to those who trust you and to those who will hear your voice - I want you to call to them and say "look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is still with us - to make us free and to make us holy and to give us eternal life"
There is not one of us who does not need to draw closer to the Lamb of God. There is not one of us who does not need to come to Jesus and be cleansed and forgiven and given life. There is not one of us who does not need to experience Jesus and his transforming love on a deeper basis - day by day.
The Lamb of God my friends is here - here in the book we read, here in the songs we sing and the prayers that we pray, here in the love that we share and the forgiveness we grant in his name, here in the laughter and here too in the pain. He is here in the Spirit that God poured out upon the world in response to his sacrifice.
He is here - and he is in heaven above interceding for and protecting his people and calling to all the world to come and be healed.
Blessed be his name - now and forevermore. Amen.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2:13-23
Today I wish to share with you a wonderful Christmas tale written by Raymond MacDonald Alden many years ago. It is a story that is delightful and warm and I pray that you may be blessed by it as have many others. It is called "Why the Bells Chimed".
There was once, in a far-away country where few people have ever travelled, a wonderful church. It stood on a high hill in the centre of a great city; and every Sunday, as well as on sacred days like Christmas, thousands of people climbed the hill to its great archways, looking like lines of ants all moving in the same direction.
When you came to the building itself, you found stone columns and dark passageways, and a grand entrance leading to the main room of the church. This room was so long that one standing at the door-way could scarcely see to the other end, where the choir stood by the large altar. In the farthest corner was the organ, and this organ was so loud that sometimes when it played, the people for miles around would close their shutters and prepare for a great thunderstorm. Altogether, no such church as this was ever seen before, especially when it was lighted up for some festival, and crowded with people, young and old.
But the strangest thing about the old building was the wonderful chime of bells. At one corner of the church was a great, grey tower, with ivy growing over it as far up as one can see. I say as far as one can see because the tower was quite grand enough to fit the grand church, and it rose so far into the sky that it was only in fair weather that anyone claimed to be able to see the top. Even then one could not be certain that it was in sight. Up and up climbed the stones and the ivy, and, as the men who built the church had been dead for hundreds of years, everyone had forgotten how high the tower was supposed to be.
Now, all the people knew that at the top of the tower was a chime of Christmas bells. They had hung there ever since the church had been built, and were the most beautiful bells in the world. Some thought it was because a great musician had cast them and arranged them in their place; others said it was because of the great height, which reached up where the air was cleanest and purest. However that might be, no one who had ever heard the chimes denied that they were the sweetest in the world. Some described them as sounding like angels far up in the sky; others, as sounding like strange winds singing through the trees.
But the fact was that no one had heard them for years and years. There was an old man living not far from the church who said that his mother had spoken of hearing them when she was a little girl, and he was the only one who was sure of as much as that. They were Christmas chimes, you see, and were not meant to be played by men or on common days. It was the custom on Christmas Eve for all the people to bring to the church their offerings to the Christ- child; and when the greatest and best offering was laid on the altar, there used to come sounding through the music of the choir the Christmas chimes far up in the tower. Some said that the wind rang them, and others that they were so high that the angels could start them swinging. But for many years they had never been heard.
It was said that people were growing less careful of their gifts for the Christ-child, and that no offering was brought great enough to deserve the music of the chimes. Every Christmas Eve the rich people still crowded to the altar, each one trying to bring some gift better than any other, without giving anything he wanted for himself, and the church was crowded with those who thought that perhaps the wonderful bells might be heard again. But although the services were splendid and the offerings plenty, only the roar of the wind could be heard, far up in the stone tower.
Now, a number of miles from the city, in a little country village where nothing could be seen of the tower when the weather was fine, lived a boy named Pedro, and his little brother. They knew very little about the Christmas chimes, but they had heard of the service in the church on Christmas Eve, and had a secret plan, which they had often talked over when by themselves, to go and see the beautiful celebration.
"Nobody can guess, Little Brother," Pedro would say, "all the fine things there are to see and hear; and I have even heard it said that the Christ-child sometimes comes down to bless the service. What if we could see Him!"
The day before Christmas was bitterly cold, with a few lonely snowflakes flying in the air, and a hard white crust on the ground. Sure enough, Pedro and Little Brother were able to slip quietly away, early in the afternoon; and although the walk was hard in the frosty air, before nightfall they had trudged so far, hand in hand, that they saw the lights of the big city just ahead of them. Indeed, they were about to enter one of the great gates in the wall that surrounded it when they saw something dark on the snow near the path, and stepped aside to look at it.
It was a poor woman who had fallen just outside the city, too sick and tired to get in where she might have found shelter. The soft snow made of a drift a sort of pillow for her, and she would soon be so sound asleep in the wintry air that no one could ever waken her again. All this Pedro saw in a moment, and he knelt down beside her and tried to rouse her, even tugging at her arm a little as though he would have tried to carry her away. He turned her face toward him so that he could rub some of the snow on it, and when he had looked at her silently a moment, he stood up again and said:
"It's no good, Little Brother. You will have to go on alone."
"Alone?" cried Little Brother, "And you not see the Christmas Festival?"
"No," said Pedro, and he could not keep back a bit of the choking sound in his throat. "See this poor woman. She will freeze to death if nobody cares for her. Everyone has gone to the church now, but when you come back you can bring someone to help her. I will rub her to keep her from freezing, and perhaps get her to eat the bun that is left in my pocket."
"But I cannot bear to leave you, and go on alone," said Little Brother.
"Both of us need not miss the service," said Pedro, "and it had better be I than you. You can easily find your way to the church; and you must see and hear everything twice, Little Brother, once for you and once for me. I am sure the Christ-child must know how I should love to come with you and worship Him; and oh! if you get a chance Little Brother to slip up to the altar without getting in anyone's way, take this little silver piece of mine, and lay it down for my offering when no one is looking. Don't forget where you have left me, and forgive me for not going with you."
In this way he hurried Little Brother off to the city, and winked hard to keep back the tears as he heard the crunching footsteps sounding farther and farther away in the twilight. It was pretty hard to lose the music and splendour of the Christmas celebration that he had been planning for so long, and spend the time instead in that lonely place in the snow.
The great church was a wonderful place that night. Everyone said that it had never looked so bright and beautiful before. When the organ played and the thousands of people sang, the walls shook with the sound and little Pedro, outside the city wall, felt the earth tremble around him, for the sound was so great.
At the close of the service came the procession with offerings to be laid on the altar. Rich men and great men marched proudly up to lay down their gifts to the Christ-child. Some brought wonderful jewels, some baskets of gold so heavy that they could scarcely carry them down the aisle. A great writer laid down a book that he had been making for years and years.
And last of all walked the king of the country, hoping with all the rest to win for himself the chime of the Christmas bells. There went a great murmur through the church as the people saw the king take from his head the royal crown, all set with precious stones, and lay it gleaming on the altar as his offering to the holy Child. "Surely." everyone said, "we shall hear the bells now, for nothing like this has ever happened before."
But still only the cold old wind was heard in the tower, and the people shook their heads, and some of them said, as they had before, that they never really believed the story of the chimes, and doubted if they ever rang at all.
The procession was over, and the choir began the closing hymn. Suddenly the organist stopped playing as though he had been shot, and everyone looked at the old minister who was standing by the altar holding up his hand for silence. Not a sound could be heard from anyone in the church, but as all the people strained their ears to listen there came softly, but distinctly swinging through the air, the sound of the chimes in the tower. So far away and yet so clear the music seemed - so much sweeter were the notes than anything that had been heard before, rising and falling away up there in the sky, that the people in the church sat for a moment as still as though something held each of them by the shoulders. Then they all stood up together and stared straight at the altar to see what great gift had awakened the long-silent bells.
But all that the nearest of them saw was the childish figure of Little Brother, who had crept softly down the aisle when no one was looking, and had laid Pedro's little piece of silver on the altar......
May His Name be praised day by day! Amen.
There was once, in a far-away country where few people have ever travelled, a wonderful church. It stood on a high hill in the centre of a great city; and every Sunday, as well as on sacred days like Christmas, thousands of people climbed the hill to its great archways, looking like lines of ants all moving in the same direction.
When you came to the building itself, you found stone columns and dark passageways, and a grand entrance leading to the main room of the church. This room was so long that one standing at the door-way could scarcely see to the other end, where the choir stood by the large altar. In the farthest corner was the organ, and this organ was so loud that sometimes when it played, the people for miles around would close their shutters and prepare for a great thunderstorm. Altogether, no such church as this was ever seen before, especially when it was lighted up for some festival, and crowded with people, young and old.
But the strangest thing about the old building was the wonderful chime of bells. At one corner of the church was a great, grey tower, with ivy growing over it as far up as one can see. I say as far as one can see because the tower was quite grand enough to fit the grand church, and it rose so far into the sky that it was only in fair weather that anyone claimed to be able to see the top. Even then one could not be certain that it was in sight. Up and up climbed the stones and the ivy, and, as the men who built the church had been dead for hundreds of years, everyone had forgotten how high the tower was supposed to be.
Now, all the people knew that at the top of the tower was a chime of Christmas bells. They had hung there ever since the church had been built, and were the most beautiful bells in the world. Some thought it was because a great musician had cast them and arranged them in their place; others said it was because of the great height, which reached up where the air was cleanest and purest. However that might be, no one who had ever heard the chimes denied that they were the sweetest in the world. Some described them as sounding like angels far up in the sky; others, as sounding like strange winds singing through the trees.
But the fact was that no one had heard them for years and years. There was an old man living not far from the church who said that his mother had spoken of hearing them when she was a little girl, and he was the only one who was sure of as much as that. They were Christmas chimes, you see, and were not meant to be played by men or on common days. It was the custom on Christmas Eve for all the people to bring to the church their offerings to the Christ- child; and when the greatest and best offering was laid on the altar, there used to come sounding through the music of the choir the Christmas chimes far up in the tower. Some said that the wind rang them, and others that they were so high that the angels could start them swinging. But for many years they had never been heard.
It was said that people were growing less careful of their gifts for the Christ-child, and that no offering was brought great enough to deserve the music of the chimes. Every Christmas Eve the rich people still crowded to the altar, each one trying to bring some gift better than any other, without giving anything he wanted for himself, and the church was crowded with those who thought that perhaps the wonderful bells might be heard again. But although the services were splendid and the offerings plenty, only the roar of the wind could be heard, far up in the stone tower.
Now, a number of miles from the city, in a little country village where nothing could be seen of the tower when the weather was fine, lived a boy named Pedro, and his little brother. They knew very little about the Christmas chimes, but they had heard of the service in the church on Christmas Eve, and had a secret plan, which they had often talked over when by themselves, to go and see the beautiful celebration.
"Nobody can guess, Little Brother," Pedro would say, "all the fine things there are to see and hear; and I have even heard it said that the Christ-child sometimes comes down to bless the service. What if we could see Him!"
The day before Christmas was bitterly cold, with a few lonely snowflakes flying in the air, and a hard white crust on the ground. Sure enough, Pedro and Little Brother were able to slip quietly away, early in the afternoon; and although the walk was hard in the frosty air, before nightfall they had trudged so far, hand in hand, that they saw the lights of the big city just ahead of them. Indeed, they were about to enter one of the great gates in the wall that surrounded it when they saw something dark on the snow near the path, and stepped aside to look at it.
It was a poor woman who had fallen just outside the city, too sick and tired to get in where she might have found shelter. The soft snow made of a drift a sort of pillow for her, and she would soon be so sound asleep in the wintry air that no one could ever waken her again. All this Pedro saw in a moment, and he knelt down beside her and tried to rouse her, even tugging at her arm a little as though he would have tried to carry her away. He turned her face toward him so that he could rub some of the snow on it, and when he had looked at her silently a moment, he stood up again and said:
"It's no good, Little Brother. You will have to go on alone."
"Alone?" cried Little Brother, "And you not see the Christmas Festival?"
"No," said Pedro, and he could not keep back a bit of the choking sound in his throat. "See this poor woman. She will freeze to death if nobody cares for her. Everyone has gone to the church now, but when you come back you can bring someone to help her. I will rub her to keep her from freezing, and perhaps get her to eat the bun that is left in my pocket."
"But I cannot bear to leave you, and go on alone," said Little Brother.
"Both of us need not miss the service," said Pedro, "and it had better be I than you. You can easily find your way to the church; and you must see and hear everything twice, Little Brother, once for you and once for me. I am sure the Christ-child must know how I should love to come with you and worship Him; and oh! if you get a chance Little Brother to slip up to the altar without getting in anyone's way, take this little silver piece of mine, and lay it down for my offering when no one is looking. Don't forget where you have left me, and forgive me for not going with you."
In this way he hurried Little Brother off to the city, and winked hard to keep back the tears as he heard the crunching footsteps sounding farther and farther away in the twilight. It was pretty hard to lose the music and splendour of the Christmas celebration that he had been planning for so long, and spend the time instead in that lonely place in the snow.
The great church was a wonderful place that night. Everyone said that it had never looked so bright and beautiful before. When the organ played and the thousands of people sang, the walls shook with the sound and little Pedro, outside the city wall, felt the earth tremble around him, for the sound was so great.
At the close of the service came the procession with offerings to be laid on the altar. Rich men and great men marched proudly up to lay down their gifts to the Christ-child. Some brought wonderful jewels, some baskets of gold so heavy that they could scarcely carry them down the aisle. A great writer laid down a book that he had been making for years and years.
And last of all walked the king of the country, hoping with all the rest to win for himself the chime of the Christmas bells. There went a great murmur through the church as the people saw the king take from his head the royal crown, all set with precious stones, and lay it gleaming on the altar as his offering to the holy Child. "Surely." everyone said, "we shall hear the bells now, for nothing like this has ever happened before."
But still only the cold old wind was heard in the tower, and the people shook their heads, and some of them said, as they had before, that they never really believed the story of the chimes, and doubted if they ever rang at all.
The procession was over, and the choir began the closing hymn. Suddenly the organist stopped playing as though he had been shot, and everyone looked at the old minister who was standing by the altar holding up his hand for silence. Not a sound could be heard from anyone in the church, but as all the people strained their ears to listen there came softly, but distinctly swinging through the air, the sound of the chimes in the tower. So far away and yet so clear the music seemed - so much sweeter were the notes than anything that had been heard before, rising and falling away up there in the sky, that the people in the church sat for a moment as still as though something held each of them by the shoulders. Then they all stood up together and stared straight at the altar to see what great gift had awakened the long-silent bells.
But all that the nearest of them saw was the childish figure of Little Brother, who had crept softly down the aisle when no one was looking, and had laid Pedro's little piece of silver on the altar......
May His Name be praised day by day! Amen.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Luke 2:1-14
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ.
I would like you to pretend that you are back 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, you wake up on this day, get the morning newspaper and you read about some strange happenings which occurred in your town during the night. As most newspaper do, this one, the Daily Bethlehem covered the story from every angle. You read....There is a story about astronomy in which the strange bright star over Bethlehem is explained The top astronomers of the day give their opinions concerning this latest appearing in the sky.
As you read further, you find on article concerning the many miles people traveled and the crowded conditions in your town especially last night. A special human interest story appeared which told of a pregnant woman traveling 70 miles on top of a donkey, then arriving so late that Mary and Joseph find no room in the inn, so they have to settle for a stable.
Then in the police reports, you find that a group of shepherds invaded your town during the night. The report gives little detail, but the shepherds were reported to have gone to that stable to see a little baby who was suppose to have been born. The police kept close track of those shepherds because of their reputation for causing trouble whenever they come to town. The report said something about the shepherds seeing angels in the sky and hearing the angels singing and telling them about a special baby being born this night in a stable. The report went on to say that the police were very suspicious of the shepherd's story.
Finally in the birth announcements you read about a baby born who as yet has not been named being born in a stable behind the inn. You find out that the parents, Mary and Joseph were of the house and lineage of David and that is why they are in your town because of the census ordered by Herod.
By all the accounts, there were some strange happenings in your town last night. As you read these stories, you come to the conclusion that these were all unrelated events. You wonder how the baby is doing since little was said concerning his welfare.
Using your imagination, those might have been the stories you read concerning the strange events in Bethlehem. Notice every angle was covered, but the story which was the short shortest concerned the baby born in that stable. Is that how it should have been? Maybe not, but that is the way it was and I bet if it happened today, it would be reported in the same manner.
The most important event of Christmas, the birth of God's Son would probably receive the least print, except the human interest side, the baby being born in a stable.
Is the human interest side of the story the reason God thought of Christmas? Did God think of Christmas so that everyone would fell for Mary and the Baby born in a cold, drafty stable in the middle of the night?
Why did God think of Christmas?
God thought of Christmas because God wanted to give us the gift of Himself. God to be with us, in a human form. God wanted to give us the gift of salvation. God wanted to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, to love us, to forgive us, to bring peace and contentment into our lives.
A story entitled The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon explains the gift of Christmas very well It seems in 1878 a chapel was built and completed and named Our Lady of Light and run by the sister of Loretto . But a problem developed, it seemed that the plans for the chapel came from Paris and the architect who drew them forgot to put a staircase leading to the choir loft. After the chapel was built, it was soon discovered that there was no room for a staircase.
One cold December day a carpenter came hearing about the problem and offered to build a staircase. The mother superior Magdalene was leaving to help in a village with sickness and couldn't talk with the Carpenter.
The best ones in Santa Fe and New Mexico couldn't figure out how to guild a staircase so she figured this one wouldn't either. She left giving orders for him to be fed and then he could go on his way. While fighting the sickness in the village she received some strange letters from home. It seemed that the carpenter was working late, into the night on something.
The Mother Superior having completed her mission in the village hurried home. Because of a snow storm she arrived late at night on Christmas Eve. The chapel was ablaze with light. She hurried in and was met by excited sister ushering her quickly into the chapel to the choir loft area.
"Like a curl of smoke the staircase rise before them as insubstantial as a dream. Two completed spirals it made, nothing seemed to support it. One sister whispered, it has 33 steps, One for each year of the Lord. Mother Magdalene moved toward the staircase, stepped up and began to climb. She reached the choir loft, she was ecstatic
"How did he do it?" she asked, "How did he finish it in time? What is his name?"
The sister answered,"He finished today, he left when he was done."
A young girl who had been mute came forward trying to form words and uttered, "his name was Jose" Jose is the name in Spanish for Joseph. The sisters bowed their heads.
This staircase can be seen today in Santa Fe. No one can explain how it was built. 33 Steps make two complete turns without central support. There are no nails, only wooden pegs. The curved stringers are put together with precision and the wood is spliced in seven places on the inside and nine on the outside!
That mysterious staircase was a gift, an unexplainable gift just as the baby born in the manger is an unexplainable gift from God to us.
Why did God think of Christmas, easy, to give us a gift, a gift of love which was freely given. A gift which is just as masterful as that staircase in Santa Fe.
This closing story tells it all, why God gave us Christmas!
I would like you to pretend that you are back 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, you wake up on this day, get the morning newspaper and you read about some strange happenings which occurred in your town during the night. As most newspaper do, this one, the Daily Bethlehem covered the story from every angle. You read....There is a story about astronomy in which the strange bright star over Bethlehem is explained The top astronomers of the day give their opinions concerning this latest appearing in the sky.
As you read further, you find on article concerning the many miles people traveled and the crowded conditions in your town especially last night. A special human interest story appeared which told of a pregnant woman traveling 70 miles on top of a donkey, then arriving so late that Mary and Joseph find no room in the inn, so they have to settle for a stable.
Then in the police reports, you find that a group of shepherds invaded your town during the night. The report gives little detail, but the shepherds were reported to have gone to that stable to see a little baby who was suppose to have been born. The police kept close track of those shepherds because of their reputation for causing trouble whenever they come to town. The report said something about the shepherds seeing angels in the sky and hearing the angels singing and telling them about a special baby being born this night in a stable. The report went on to say that the police were very suspicious of the shepherd's story.
Finally in the birth announcements you read about a baby born who as yet has not been named being born in a stable behind the inn. You find out that the parents, Mary and Joseph were of the house and lineage of David and that is why they are in your town because of the census ordered by Herod.
By all the accounts, there were some strange happenings in your town last night. As you read these stories, you come to the conclusion that these were all unrelated events. You wonder how the baby is doing since little was said concerning his welfare.
Using your imagination, those might have been the stories you read concerning the strange events in Bethlehem. Notice every angle was covered, but the story which was the short shortest concerned the baby born in that stable. Is that how it should have been? Maybe not, but that is the way it was and I bet if it happened today, it would be reported in the same manner.
The most important event of Christmas, the birth of God's Son would probably receive the least print, except the human interest side, the baby being born in a stable.
Is the human interest side of the story the reason God thought of Christmas? Did God think of Christmas so that everyone would fell for Mary and the Baby born in a cold, drafty stable in the middle of the night?
Why did God think of Christmas?
God thought of Christmas because God wanted to give us the gift of Himself. God to be with us, in a human form. God wanted to give us the gift of salvation. God wanted to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, to love us, to forgive us, to bring peace and contentment into our lives.
A story entitled The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon explains the gift of Christmas very well It seems in 1878 a chapel was built and completed and named Our Lady of Light and run by the sister of Loretto . But a problem developed, it seemed that the plans for the chapel came from Paris and the architect who drew them forgot to put a staircase leading to the choir loft. After the chapel was built, it was soon discovered that there was no room for a staircase.
One cold December day a carpenter came hearing about the problem and offered to build a staircase. The mother superior Magdalene was leaving to help in a village with sickness and couldn't talk with the Carpenter.
The best ones in Santa Fe and New Mexico couldn't figure out how to guild a staircase so she figured this one wouldn't either. She left giving orders for him to be fed and then he could go on his way. While fighting the sickness in the village she received some strange letters from home. It seemed that the carpenter was working late, into the night on something.
The Mother Superior having completed her mission in the village hurried home. Because of a snow storm she arrived late at night on Christmas Eve. The chapel was ablaze with light. She hurried in and was met by excited sister ushering her quickly into the chapel to the choir loft area.
"Like a curl of smoke the staircase rise before them as insubstantial as a dream. Two completed spirals it made, nothing seemed to support it. One sister whispered, it has 33 steps, One for each year of the Lord. Mother Magdalene moved toward the staircase, stepped up and began to climb. She reached the choir loft, she was ecstatic
"How did he do it?" she asked, "How did he finish it in time? What is his name?"
The sister answered,"He finished today, he left when he was done."
A young girl who had been mute came forward trying to form words and uttered, "his name was Jose" Jose is the name in Spanish for Joseph. The sisters bowed their heads.
This staircase can be seen today in Santa Fe. No one can explain how it was built. 33 Steps make two complete turns without central support. There are no nails, only wooden pegs. The curved stringers are put together with precision and the wood is spliced in seven places on the inside and nine on the outside!
That mysterious staircase was a gift, an unexplainable gift just as the baby born in the manger is an unexplainable gift from God to us.
Why did God think of Christmas, easy, to give us a gift, a gift of love which was freely given. A gift which is just as masterful as that staircase in Santa Fe.
This closing story tells it all, why God gave us Christmas!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
II Samuel 7:1-11,16; Luke 1:47-55; Luke 1:26-38
Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, many good things happen - family gatherings
- baking
- candy treats
- rich food (am I dwelling on the tummy?)
- also music that lifts our hearts (carols, anthems)
- people dress up as well as they can
- visiting, sleigh rides, many other things,
it is a great time - a wonderful time, a time of promise,
But there is more than this to Christmas
There is a serious side
- the side that makes it all meaningful
- the side that was promised thousands of years ago...to Adam and Eve, to David the King, and to the prophets
The promise of God about this season came long before Jesus was born, it was a promise that evil would be defeated, a promise of a lasting peace, of lasting hope, of lasting joy and of lasting love. It was a promise that a king would be born... an everlasting king, who would rule his people with justice and truth, a king like David, but greater yet. A king whose reign would never end, a king who would look after the poor and give justice to the widow and orphan
And all of this goodness, all of this hope, rested one day, upon a young girl, barely a woman, who was engaged to a simple carpenter in the Land of Israel.
Imagine her with me... imagine yourself in her place...
Mary visited by an angel
- perhaps in a dream in a hot summer night...
- perhaps while carrying water from the village well...
And she is told by this angel that she is loved by God, that she is favoured by Him, and when she reacts with fear, and who could not be afraid of such a divine messenger, she is told to not be afraid, but to listen, and to understand that God was going to do something special to her, and through her, that God was going to cause her to become pregnant and to give birth to a son - a son who would become the promised king, the Messiah.
Mary's response was very predictable, it was like ours, HOW CAN THIS BE - SHE SAID - SINCE I AM A VIRGIN
How indeed can God work through us?
- We are nothing
- We are inadequate
- God is spirit, but we are flesh
- We are not important people,
- God would not use us,
- God could not use us,
except perhaps in very small things, like loving our neighbours, or helping the poor and the lonely during a difficult time, AND THESE OF COURSE ARE REALLY OUR ACTIONS, God does not actually direct them, or cause them, does he?
HOW CAN THIS BE - HOW CAN I GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH, I AM A VIRGIN?
But the angel persisted saying that the power of God would come over her - that she would conceive a son and that she should call him Jesus - which means "The Lord Saves"
And Mary replied - I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT, MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID."
Mary agreed to what God asked. Mary obeyed the Lord.
And a wonderful thing happened - she became pregnant.
BUT CONSIDER MORE Once Mary obeyed the Lord, once she accepted his word, there were imaginable difficulties, for after all - she was a single woman - who was pregnant - she had a fiance who was troubled, and did not know what to do for quite a while. Although there were difficulties, once she accepted God's message, once she really believed it, incredible Joy came.
In the words of day's canticle which we just said, Mary's soul magnified the Lord.
- She realized in way she could not before that God was in fact real
- that his promises to Israel, to Abraham and his children would come true
- that the world was save, for the saviour was coming.
Mary's soul magnified the Lord - it exalted the Lord - and God filled her, and gave her the joy and the peace and the hope and the love that our toys, our gifts, our carols, and our gatherings can only at best hinted at.
Our Souls too - we when we accept God's word and when we obey his commands, will realize great joy. God will expand in us, and use us - and give us the joy, peace, hope and love we need for ourselves and that which we need to be a light to the world around us.
The hope of Israel and the hope of the world rested on Mary, and she obeyed and Jesus was born.
The hope of our world rests today on us - will we be like her? Will we give birth to God in our actions and thoughts. Will we obey the Lord, and walk in his ways?
John's call to the people of Israel was Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord.
Advent and Christmas - a time of goodness - a goodness that can last and spread throughout the world - if we indeed do prepare ourselves, if we hope and obey like Mary - for with God nothing is impossible.
When we accept God's message to us through the angels, through the prophets, and through Jesus, not only our souls will magnify the Lord, but the souls of every man, woman and child who encounters us, for they will see the promise of God coming true in our lives. Thanks be to God for the gift of his word - Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, many good things happen - family gatherings
- baking
- candy treats
- rich food (am I dwelling on the tummy?)
- also music that lifts our hearts (carols, anthems)
- people dress up as well as they can
- visiting, sleigh rides, many other things,
it is a great time - a wonderful time, a time of promise,
But there is more than this to Christmas
There is a serious side
- the side that makes it all meaningful
- the side that was promised thousands of years ago...to Adam and Eve, to David the King, and to the prophets
The promise of God about this season came long before Jesus was born, it was a promise that evil would be defeated, a promise of a lasting peace, of lasting hope, of lasting joy and of lasting love. It was a promise that a king would be born... an everlasting king, who would rule his people with justice and truth, a king like David, but greater yet. A king whose reign would never end, a king who would look after the poor and give justice to the widow and orphan
And all of this goodness, all of this hope, rested one day, upon a young girl, barely a woman, who was engaged to a simple carpenter in the Land of Israel.
Imagine her with me... imagine yourself in her place...
Mary visited by an angel
- perhaps in a dream in a hot summer night...
- perhaps while carrying water from the village well...
And she is told by this angel that she is loved by God, that she is favoured by Him, and when she reacts with fear, and who could not be afraid of such a divine messenger, she is told to not be afraid, but to listen, and to understand that God was going to do something special to her, and through her, that God was going to cause her to become pregnant and to give birth to a son - a son who would become the promised king, the Messiah.
Mary's response was very predictable, it was like ours, HOW CAN THIS BE - SHE SAID - SINCE I AM A VIRGIN
How indeed can God work through us?
- We are nothing
- We are inadequate
- God is spirit, but we are flesh
- We are not important people,
- God would not use us,
- God could not use us,
except perhaps in very small things, like loving our neighbours, or helping the poor and the lonely during a difficult time, AND THESE OF COURSE ARE REALLY OUR ACTIONS, God does not actually direct them, or cause them, does he?
HOW CAN THIS BE - HOW CAN I GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH, I AM A VIRGIN?
But the angel persisted saying that the power of God would come over her - that she would conceive a son and that she should call him Jesus - which means "The Lord Saves"
And Mary replied - I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT, MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID."
Mary agreed to what God asked. Mary obeyed the Lord.
And a wonderful thing happened - she became pregnant.
BUT CONSIDER MORE Once Mary obeyed the Lord, once she accepted his word, there were imaginable difficulties, for after all - she was a single woman - who was pregnant - she had a fiance who was troubled, and did not know what to do for quite a while. Although there were difficulties, once she accepted God's message, once she really believed it, incredible Joy came.
In the words of day's canticle which we just said, Mary's soul magnified the Lord.
- She realized in way she could not before that God was in fact real
- that his promises to Israel, to Abraham and his children would come true
- that the world was save, for the saviour was coming.
Mary's soul magnified the Lord - it exalted the Lord - and God filled her, and gave her the joy and the peace and the hope and the love that our toys, our gifts, our carols, and our gatherings can only at best hinted at.
Our Souls too - we when we accept God's word and when we obey his commands, will realize great joy. God will expand in us, and use us - and give us the joy, peace, hope and love we need for ourselves and that which we need to be a light to the world around us.
The hope of Israel and the hope of the world rested on Mary, and she obeyed and Jesus was born.
The hope of our world rests today on us - will we be like her? Will we give birth to God in our actions and thoughts. Will we obey the Lord, and walk in his ways?
John's call to the people of Israel was Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord.
Advent and Christmas - a time of goodness - a goodness that can last and spread throughout the world - if we indeed do prepare ourselves, if we hope and obey like Mary - for with God nothing is impossible.
When we accept God's message to us through the angels, through the prophets, and through Jesus, not only our souls will magnify the Lord, but the souls of every man, woman and child who encounters us, for they will see the promise of God coming true in our lives. Thanks be to God for the gift of his word - Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; Luke 1:47-55; I Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28
Let us Pray - Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
If we were still using Latin at our Sunday Service, the first word we would have heard in today's liturgy would have been "Gaudete", or "rejoice". The word is sprinkled throughout today's readings: in the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that God has sent him to bring "glad tidings to the poor" and "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul". The psalm of the day is taken from Mary's Magnificat, in which she exclaims "My soul rejoices in my God, my spirit finds joy in God my savior". The second reading from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians begins with the words "Rejoice always".
These readings have their basis in the Hebrew language, which has more words for joy and rejoicing than any other language and this from a language known for having few words. In the Old Testament, 13 Hebrew roots, found in 27 different words, are used primarily for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in religious worship.
1) Hebrew religious ritual proclaims God as the source of joy.
2) In contrast to the rituals of other faiths of the East, Israelite worship was essentially a joyous proclamation and celebration.
3) The good Israelite regarded the act of thanking God as the supreme joy of his life.
4) As noted in our readings, pure joy is joy in God as both its source and object, like a circle: God gives joy to us and we return it back to God. The Old Testament is a book of joy! The New Testament is a book of Good News! This is God's will for us to be joyful, to pray continuously and to give God thanks in all circumstances.
There is a story told about a man from who had to travel to London on business. This was years ago when Christians still kept Sunday as a very special day. For this man, "keeping the Sabbath" meant not riding the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in London until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Protestant church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular church? There must be several churches nearby that you could have recommended." The policeman smiled and replied: "I'm not a church man myself, but the people who come out of that church are the happiest looking church-people in London. I thought that would be the kind of church you would like to attend."
One thing many people have forgotten in their Christian pilgrimage the duty to be joyful. Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus used a little child as the sole embodiment of the kingdom of God is the innate joyfulness of children.
One writer tells of her trepidation at seeing the slums of Bombay. The poverty was overwhelming and hygiene was all but lacking. Nonetheless, the air was filled with the laughter of children at play.
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross speaks movingly of an even worse situation. Visiting a children's barracks in one of the German death camps after the Second World War, she had expected to see evidence of horror. Instead, the walls were covered with drawings of butterflies, a universal symbol of joy.
For those of us who are adults, one of the things that make Christmas so joyful is seeing the wide-eyed expressions of wonder on little faces. Children know about joy. Somehow we adults seem to lose that awe and wonder somewhere along the road to adulthood.
There's a story I read to which some of you may be able to relate about a woman's remembrances of her grandmother, Gagi. At the time of her grandfather's death, at 90 years of age, her grandparents had been married for over 50 years. Gagi felt the loss deeply. The central focus had been taken from her life, and she retreated from the world, entering into an extended period of mourning. Her grieving lasted nearly five years, and during that time, her granddaughter visited her every week or two.
One day, she visited Gagi expecting to find her in her usual state of quiescence. Instead, she found her sitting in her wheelchair beaming. When she didn't comment quickly enough about the obvious change in her demeanor, Gagi confronted her: "Don't you want to know why I'm so happy? Aren't you even curious?" She went on to explain: "Last night I got an answer. I finally know why God took my husband and left me behind to live without him. Your grandfather knew that the secret of life is love, and he lived it every day. He had become unconditional love in action. I have known about unconditional love, but I haven't fully lived it. That's why he got to go first, and I had to stay behind. All this time I thought I was being punished for something, but last night I found out that I was left behind as a gift from God. He let me stay so that I too could turn my life into love. You see, you can't learn the lesson after you die. Love has to be lived here on earth. Once you leave, it's too late. So I was given the gift of life so that I can learn to live love here and now."
On one of her subsequent visits, Gagi told her of something that had happened to her that day. "This morning, your uncle was upset and angry with me over something I had done. I didn't even flinch. I received his anger, wrapped it in love and returned it with joy." Her eyes twinkled as she added, "It was even kind of fun, and his anger dissolved."
Though age continued on its course, Gagi's life was vigorously renewed. In the last days of her life, the granddaughter visited her often in the hospital. As she walked toward her room one day, the nurse on duty looked into her eyes and said, "Your grandmother is a very special lady, you know...she's a light." Yes, love and joy lit up her life and she became a light for others until the end.
The nurse in the story speaks of Gagi as a light. In John's gospel, when our Lord receives news of John the Baptist's death, he comments to his disciples: "This man was a light, consuming and revealing, but you wished to rejoice exceedingly for a while in his presence."
That one verse has stayed with me for many years and I have tried to live it to the best of my ability.
If we were to take Gagi's theory to heart, we would realize that obviously we're not ready to go yet either. We are still "works-in-progress".
At this time of year, we need to let joy into our hearts. If your heart is aching this Advent season for any reason: the loss of love in a marriage, the memory of someone you love who is now with God, concern about a teenage child, concerns about your health, don't let despair defeat you. If you have recently lost a loved one and that person could come back and stand before you right now, they wouldn't tell you to continue to grieve for them. They would tell you: "I am at peace; you be at peace also. That is my wish for you." If something stands in the way of joy, let it go.
One of the things which I have seen stand in the way of joy is people taking themselves or what they do too seriously. We need to laugh at ourselves, because others will be more than willing to do so for us. When I believe someone is being too serious, I will often joke with them in the hope that laughter will bring them back to reality. We are eminently laughable at - I know that I am - and what we do is just a job or an appointed position, something that in the big picture is not worth getting upset about with another person and something which could be taken away in the twinkling of an eye.
Enjoy life, relish every moment, for we know not the day nor the hour. Find someway this special season to defeat the blues. Consider doing something for shut-ins who have no one to care for them. Do something positive, something heart-warming, something that will bring someone else joy. For joy has a way of boomeranging and giving the person who gives it more joy than the one who receives it. I read recently that we ought to "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty".
Love came down at Christmas, as one seasonal song goes, and with it came joy, the ability for us to overcome sin and sadness, because our Lord loved us enough to become one like us. As in the chorus of a song, "Rejoice and be glad. Blessed are you, holy are you. Yours is the kingdom of God."
May joy be yours this Christmas season.
If we were still using Latin at our Sunday Service, the first word we would have heard in today's liturgy would have been "Gaudete", or "rejoice". The word is sprinkled throughout today's readings: in the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that God has sent him to bring "glad tidings to the poor" and "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul". The psalm of the day is taken from Mary's Magnificat, in which she exclaims "My soul rejoices in my God, my spirit finds joy in God my savior". The second reading from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians begins with the words "Rejoice always".
These readings have their basis in the Hebrew language, which has more words for joy and rejoicing than any other language and this from a language known for having few words. In the Old Testament, 13 Hebrew roots, found in 27 different words, are used primarily for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in religious worship.
1) Hebrew religious ritual proclaims God as the source of joy.
2) In contrast to the rituals of other faiths of the East, Israelite worship was essentially a joyous proclamation and celebration.
3) The good Israelite regarded the act of thanking God as the supreme joy of his life.
4) As noted in our readings, pure joy is joy in God as both its source and object, like a circle: God gives joy to us and we return it back to God. The Old Testament is a book of joy! The New Testament is a book of Good News! This is God's will for us to be joyful, to pray continuously and to give God thanks in all circumstances.
There is a story told about a man from who had to travel to London on business. This was years ago when Christians still kept Sunday as a very special day. For this man, "keeping the Sabbath" meant not riding the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in London until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Protestant church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular church? There must be several churches nearby that you could have recommended." The policeman smiled and replied: "I'm not a church man myself, but the people who come out of that church are the happiest looking church-people in London. I thought that would be the kind of church you would like to attend."
One thing many people have forgotten in their Christian pilgrimage the duty to be joyful. Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus used a little child as the sole embodiment of the kingdom of God is the innate joyfulness of children.
One writer tells of her trepidation at seeing the slums of Bombay. The poverty was overwhelming and hygiene was all but lacking. Nonetheless, the air was filled with the laughter of children at play.
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross speaks movingly of an even worse situation. Visiting a children's barracks in one of the German death camps after the Second World War, she had expected to see evidence of horror. Instead, the walls were covered with drawings of butterflies, a universal symbol of joy.
For those of us who are adults, one of the things that make Christmas so joyful is seeing the wide-eyed expressions of wonder on little faces. Children know about joy. Somehow we adults seem to lose that awe and wonder somewhere along the road to adulthood.
There's a story I read to which some of you may be able to relate about a woman's remembrances of her grandmother, Gagi. At the time of her grandfather's death, at 90 years of age, her grandparents had been married for over 50 years. Gagi felt the loss deeply. The central focus had been taken from her life, and she retreated from the world, entering into an extended period of mourning. Her grieving lasted nearly five years, and during that time, her granddaughter visited her every week or two.
One day, she visited Gagi expecting to find her in her usual state of quiescence. Instead, she found her sitting in her wheelchair beaming. When she didn't comment quickly enough about the obvious change in her demeanor, Gagi confronted her: "Don't you want to know why I'm so happy? Aren't you even curious?" She went on to explain: "Last night I got an answer. I finally know why God took my husband and left me behind to live without him. Your grandfather knew that the secret of life is love, and he lived it every day. He had become unconditional love in action. I have known about unconditional love, but I haven't fully lived it. That's why he got to go first, and I had to stay behind. All this time I thought I was being punished for something, but last night I found out that I was left behind as a gift from God. He let me stay so that I too could turn my life into love. You see, you can't learn the lesson after you die. Love has to be lived here on earth. Once you leave, it's too late. So I was given the gift of life so that I can learn to live love here and now."
On one of her subsequent visits, Gagi told her of something that had happened to her that day. "This morning, your uncle was upset and angry with me over something I had done. I didn't even flinch. I received his anger, wrapped it in love and returned it with joy." Her eyes twinkled as she added, "It was even kind of fun, and his anger dissolved."
Though age continued on its course, Gagi's life was vigorously renewed. In the last days of her life, the granddaughter visited her often in the hospital. As she walked toward her room one day, the nurse on duty looked into her eyes and said, "Your grandmother is a very special lady, you know...she's a light." Yes, love and joy lit up her life and she became a light for others until the end.
The nurse in the story speaks of Gagi as a light. In John's gospel, when our Lord receives news of John the Baptist's death, he comments to his disciples: "This man was a light, consuming and revealing, but you wished to rejoice exceedingly for a while in his presence."
That one verse has stayed with me for many years and I have tried to live it to the best of my ability.
If we were to take Gagi's theory to heart, we would realize that obviously we're not ready to go yet either. We are still "works-in-progress".
At this time of year, we need to let joy into our hearts. If your heart is aching this Advent season for any reason: the loss of love in a marriage, the memory of someone you love who is now with God, concern about a teenage child, concerns about your health, don't let despair defeat you. If you have recently lost a loved one and that person could come back and stand before you right now, they wouldn't tell you to continue to grieve for them. They would tell you: "I am at peace; you be at peace also. That is my wish for you." If something stands in the way of joy, let it go.
One of the things which I have seen stand in the way of joy is people taking themselves or what they do too seriously. We need to laugh at ourselves, because others will be more than willing to do so for us. When I believe someone is being too serious, I will often joke with them in the hope that laughter will bring them back to reality. We are eminently laughable at - I know that I am - and what we do is just a job or an appointed position, something that in the big picture is not worth getting upset about with another person and something which could be taken away in the twinkling of an eye.
Enjoy life, relish every moment, for we know not the day nor the hour. Find someway this special season to defeat the blues. Consider doing something for shut-ins who have no one to care for them. Do something positive, something heart-warming, something that will bring someone else joy. For joy has a way of boomeranging and giving the person who gives it more joy than the one who receives it. I read recently that we ought to "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty".
Love came down at Christmas, as one seasonal song goes, and with it came joy, the ability for us to overcome sin and sadness, because our Lord loved us enough to become one like us. As in the chorus of a song, "Rejoice and be glad. Blessed are you, holy are you. Yours is the kingdom of God."
May joy be yours this Christmas season.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8
Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen
Hagar the Horrible is one of the favourite cartoon strips of my wife.
One of her favourite Hagar strips is the one in which Hagar is addressed by a Monk.
In the first frame, the monk, bible tucked under his arm, an expression of peace on his face, says to Hagar, "Remember, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
In the next frame, we see the monk disappearing over the horizon, and we see Hagar, looking out at us - saying - "But I enjoy cursing the darkness"
How many of us enjoy cursing the darkness?
How many of us would rather complain about what is wrong than to add to what is right?
- To feel sad or upset, or angry, about what is going on around rather than to change it.
- To cast stones and criticize what is happening, rather than to gather up the stones and build from them a new and better thing?
You think it is a silly question maybe? That no sane person would want to feel upset or angry?
Well, all I can say is perhaps we are not as sane as we might be
Advent and Christmas is a strange times of year for many of us. A time in which, as we prepare for the coming of the Son of God, we often feel down, disappointed, and anxious. A time in which instead of feeling joy, we feel despair. A time in which instead of rejoicing, we fret and worry and drive others insane.
You know, as I anticipate the coming of the Lord, as I look forward to Christmas Eve, to the candles, to the hymns, to receiving in my hands the bread and the wine, I am amazed by the number of grinches that exist around me, the number of people who grump and complain about how Christmas is corrupt, how our songs have been stolen, our gifts cheapened, our hopes made trivial, and our dreams destroyed.
I am amazed by how I hear around me the voices of doom, by how people tell me that nothing is as it was, and that Christmas has become nothing but a merchant's delight, and that what is supposed to be a time of faith and hope has become nothing but a time of a greed and despair.
Where is our faith?
Where is our conviction?
Where is our sense that indeed God has come to us in Jesus
and that he had overcome the power of darkness?
Do we enjoy cursing the darkness?
Do we enjoy it more than we enjoy lighting a candle?
This is the season of good news, the season of preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord, the season of celebration, of rejoicing, of praising God for what he has done, and what he is doing, and what he will yet do.
But can you tell? Can people look at us and say "Yes, something special is happening! Something good is going on?"...
Every year at Christmas I want to cry with John the Baptist and with Isaiah the prophet. I want to cry with them:
Get with it. Get an attitude! See what is really happening! Prepare ye the way for God! Look for his coming in power! Make his paths straight! Know that the time of vindication and of peace is at hand! Rejoice and be glad - for while there is darkness in the world - there is also light, and the light is stronger than the darkness, the darkness cannot overcome it."
I want to cry - Prepare ye the way of the Lord, - Comfort,, O comfort my people, - The Lord comes with might, his arm rules for him, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom..."
There is so much good around us.
There is so much power and righteousness at hand.
What does the Monk say to Hagar??? It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness...
My friends,. a candle has been provided to us. A light has been granted unto the world, and it 's power is unquenchable.
So what are we doing???
Are we letting the enemy win???
Are we cursing the darkness rather than lighting a candle???
Are we dithering, rather than preparing the way of the Lord??
Think of the good news! Get an attitude! Prepare the way of the Lord. Celebrate the good news instead of cursing the bad news....
Do you really want good news? Then look for what is good, look for God - and you will see that not only is he is coming, you will see that he is here.
Who can account for the mothers who feed their children before they feed themselves? Who can explain the men who spend their spare time in lodges and societies dedicated to helping others? Who can account for the little ones who hug and play with their neighbours?
What keeps the food banks going?
What explains the tenderness of a young married couple?
What makes sense of the feelings that come to us when we see a baby take her first steps?...
Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Lord - but you know - that getting ready is not, for us, a getting ready for a future coming, it is an opening to the God who is already with us, an opening to the Prince of Peace - who came to us as a baby in Bethlehem, and who, after his resurrection, is Lord in heaven above.
Are we prepared?
Are we open?
Fred Craddock, a well known preacher and scholar, tells the story about a young pastor who visited an old lady who was very sick in a hospital.
He entered the room and saw person lying on the bed, gasping for breath. H decided to have a short visit, not to tire her. He asked, "Would you like me to pray for you?"
She nodded yes.
"What would you like me to pray?" asked the young preacher?
"I want you to pray that I will be made well, that God will give me health.", the old lady said.
The young preacher gulped. But he prayed, praying something like, "God, if it be thy will, restore this sister to health. However, let us accept thy will, so that whether she receives her health or not, she will know that you are still close to her."
When the prayer ended, the old lady's eyes flashed open. She sat up. She startled the preacher by throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up. She stretched out her arms. She turned around to the astonished young preacher and said, "I feel better. I feel a great deal better. In fact, I feel like I have been healed.!"
With that she walked out of the room, headed down the hall toward the nurse's station, shouting, "I am healed!"
The young preacher staggered out, went down the stairs, out the door of the hospital and into the parking lot. As he stood at his car, before opening the door, the young preacher looked up. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" he said.
There are a lot of people who believe in God, and who yet miss the good news.
For them God is always coming, but never here.
God is always promising, but never delivering.
God is always near, but never quite in touch....
But this is never the case!
God lives. God is here. And God is coming here.
You can see it in the face of a new born baby!
You can see it in the gaze of young lovers!
You can see it in the look of old married couples!
You can see it within your own hearts, when you take time to look!
God will accomplish his purpose.
The kingdom will come.
The question for us is - will we get an attitude?
Will we be a part of the fulfilment of God's purpose?
Will we light a candle?
Or will we curse the darkness?
May His name be blessed!
Hagar the Horrible is one of the favourite cartoon strips of my wife.
One of her favourite Hagar strips is the one in which Hagar is addressed by a Monk.
In the first frame, the monk, bible tucked under his arm, an expression of peace on his face, says to Hagar, "Remember, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
In the next frame, we see the monk disappearing over the horizon, and we see Hagar, looking out at us - saying - "But I enjoy cursing the darkness"
How many of us enjoy cursing the darkness?
How many of us would rather complain about what is wrong than to add to what is right?
- To feel sad or upset, or angry, about what is going on around rather than to change it.
- To cast stones and criticize what is happening, rather than to gather up the stones and build from them a new and better thing?
You think it is a silly question maybe? That no sane person would want to feel upset or angry?
Well, all I can say is perhaps we are not as sane as we might be
Advent and Christmas is a strange times of year for many of us. A time in which, as we prepare for the coming of the Son of God, we often feel down, disappointed, and anxious. A time in which instead of feeling joy, we feel despair. A time in which instead of rejoicing, we fret and worry and drive others insane.
You know, as I anticipate the coming of the Lord, as I look forward to Christmas Eve, to the candles, to the hymns, to receiving in my hands the bread and the wine, I am amazed by the number of grinches that exist around me, the number of people who grump and complain about how Christmas is corrupt, how our songs have been stolen, our gifts cheapened, our hopes made trivial, and our dreams destroyed.
I am amazed by how I hear around me the voices of doom, by how people tell me that nothing is as it was, and that Christmas has become nothing but a merchant's delight, and that what is supposed to be a time of faith and hope has become nothing but a time of a greed and despair.
Where is our faith?
Where is our conviction?
Where is our sense that indeed God has come to us in Jesus
and that he had overcome the power of darkness?
Do we enjoy cursing the darkness?
Do we enjoy it more than we enjoy lighting a candle?
This is the season of good news, the season of preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord, the season of celebration, of rejoicing, of praising God for what he has done, and what he is doing, and what he will yet do.
But can you tell? Can people look at us and say "Yes, something special is happening! Something good is going on?"...
Every year at Christmas I want to cry with John the Baptist and with Isaiah the prophet. I want to cry with them:
Get with it. Get an attitude! See what is really happening! Prepare ye the way for God! Look for his coming in power! Make his paths straight! Know that the time of vindication and of peace is at hand! Rejoice and be glad - for while there is darkness in the world - there is also light, and the light is stronger than the darkness, the darkness cannot overcome it."
I want to cry - Prepare ye the way of the Lord, - Comfort,, O comfort my people, - The Lord comes with might, his arm rules for him, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom..."
There is so much good around us.
There is so much power and righteousness at hand.
What does the Monk say to Hagar??? It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness...
My friends,. a candle has been provided to us. A light has been granted unto the world, and it 's power is unquenchable.
So what are we doing???
Are we letting the enemy win???
Are we cursing the darkness rather than lighting a candle???
Are we dithering, rather than preparing the way of the Lord??
Think of the good news! Get an attitude! Prepare the way of the Lord. Celebrate the good news instead of cursing the bad news....
Do you really want good news? Then look for what is good, look for God - and you will see that not only is he is coming, you will see that he is here.
Who can account for the mothers who feed their children before they feed themselves? Who can explain the men who spend their spare time in lodges and societies dedicated to helping others? Who can account for the little ones who hug and play with their neighbours?
What keeps the food banks going?
What explains the tenderness of a young married couple?
What makes sense of the feelings that come to us when we see a baby take her first steps?...
Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Lord - but you know - that getting ready is not, for us, a getting ready for a future coming, it is an opening to the God who is already with us, an opening to the Prince of Peace - who came to us as a baby in Bethlehem, and who, after his resurrection, is Lord in heaven above.
Are we prepared?
Are we open?
Fred Craddock, a well known preacher and scholar, tells the story about a young pastor who visited an old lady who was very sick in a hospital.
He entered the room and saw person lying on the bed, gasping for breath. H decided to have a short visit, not to tire her. He asked, "Would you like me to pray for you?"
She nodded yes.
"What would you like me to pray?" asked the young preacher?
"I want you to pray that I will be made well, that God will give me health.", the old lady said.
The young preacher gulped. But he prayed, praying something like, "God, if it be thy will, restore this sister to health. However, let us accept thy will, so that whether she receives her health or not, she will know that you are still close to her."
When the prayer ended, the old lady's eyes flashed open. She sat up. She startled the preacher by throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up. She stretched out her arms. She turned around to the astonished young preacher and said, "I feel better. I feel a great deal better. In fact, I feel like I have been healed.!"
With that she walked out of the room, headed down the hall toward the nurse's station, shouting, "I am healed!"
The young preacher staggered out, went down the stairs, out the door of the hospital and into the parking lot. As he stood at his car, before opening the door, the young preacher looked up. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" he said.
There are a lot of people who believe in God, and who yet miss the good news.
For them God is always coming, but never here.
God is always promising, but never delivering.
God is always near, but never quite in touch....
But this is never the case!
God lives. God is here. And God is coming here.
You can see it in the face of a new born baby!
You can see it in the gaze of young lovers!
You can see it in the look of old married couples!
You can see it within your own hearts, when you take time to look!
God will accomplish his purpose.
The kingdom will come.
The question for us is - will we get an attitude?
Will we be a part of the fulfilment of God's purpose?
Will we light a candle?
Or will we curse the darkness?
May His name be blessed!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7,17-19; Mark 13:24-37
Let us Pray - Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord and help us to respond in faith both now and always. Amen.
Today's texts deal with the coming of the end of time as we know it
- the time when God arrives to judge the world
- the time when the Son of Man gathers the elect from the four corners of the world.
The Rev. William Peake once wondered HOW THE MEDIA WOULD HANDLE THE END OF THE WORLD and he put together a few possible headlines. Here is a sample of what he wrote:
USA Today: WE'RE DEAD.
Wall Street Journal: Dow Jones Plummets as World Ends.
National Enquirer: O.J. and Nicole, Together Again.
Inc. Magazine: 10 Ways You Can Profit From the Apocalypse.
Rolling Stone: The Grateful Dead Reunion Tour.
Sports Illustrated: Game Over.
Playboy: Girls of the Apocalypse.
Ladies' Home Journal: Lose 10 Pounds by Judgment Day with Our New "Armageddon" Diet!
TV Guide: Death and Damnation: Nielsen Ratings Soar!
Discover Magazine: How will the extinction of all life as we know it affect the way we view the cosmos?
Microsoft's Web Site: If you don't experience the rapture, DOWNLOAD Software patch RAPT777.EXE.
America Online: System temporarily down. Try calling back in 15 minutes.
You know my brothers and sisters-in-Christ - as much as most people try to deny it - the end is coming. Science tells us this, experience tells us this, and the scriptures tell us this. And it will not be some temporary system failure. Rather it will be a complete crash - a crash that will bring in its wake a new heaven and new earth - and not merely some patch, some fix it quick continue as usual remedy that allows us to go on as if nothing had happened.
And that should catch our attention. It should make us think.
The end is coming. That is the plain truth of the bible.
It's both its prayer - as in the reading from Isaiah this morning
"O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence" and it's promise
"But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory
The end, my friends is coming - it is coming to each one of us individually - a fact which cannot be denied and which ought to be enough to make us think and it is coming to all of us together to our whole world to the sun and the moon and all beneath them.
It might be sooner - or it might be later. But it is coming.
We now have the technology to darken the skies, and to make the heavens shake and to cause stars to fall from heaven.
We now have the means to bring about what is described in the Book of Revelation: the means to cause 1/3 of all the birds of the air to perish and 1/3 of the fish of the sea to die.
We can assemble with very little problem at all an army of two hundred million men on the fields of Armaggedon - which do not lie all that far away from the nation of Iraq, and we have built already the scorpions that have fire in their tails and the machinery by which the whole world might see the death of two men, two witnesses to God's love, in the city of Jerusalem.
And if we have the means to make it happen - perish the thought we should actually do so then how much more so God?
- the God who through the prophets spoke of it thousands of years ago,
- the God who through his son - promised it - indeed warned us of it, not quite some two thousand years ago.
From the fig tree learn it's lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
The season of Advent is about the coming of the Lord - the coming of the Lord as a babe in a manger in Bethlehem - and the coming of the Lord as a judge in power and might.
And the question of the season, the challenge of the weeks that lie ahead of us is this -are we ready?
Are you ready to meet God?
Are you ready to stand before the judgement seat?
Are you ready to welcome the new world?
Are you ready to see the old world come to an end?
The question for you and me and for the world is not are we ready in the sense that some survivalists are ready for the next big war - but are we ready for Jesus? Are we ready for the time when the world is judged - when we are judged.
The question is not have we saved enough canned food and toilet paper in our basement shelters, incidentally for those of you are visitors to Hong Kong, there are no basement shelters here in Hong Kong - but have we prepared our eternal soul to dwell in heaven.
The question is not whether we taken our resources and converted them into physical assets where neither stock market crashes or computer failures can affect them - but whether we have taken our resources and converted them into spiritual assets - the assets that never pass away even though all other things will cease.
There are some things that we can take with us - and there are other things that we cannot. The question of Advent, is are we ready? Are we awake? Are we prepared?
Our hope is that God will redeem our world.
The question is - are we ready to be redeemed?
Are we allowing the potter to form us - his clay?
Or are we thinking that the day of the Lord will never come?
It is coming my brothers and sisters-in-Christ. For us all - ready or not. May you - may I, be alert and awake. Amen
Today's texts deal with the coming of the end of time as we know it
- the time when God arrives to judge the world
- the time when the Son of Man gathers the elect from the four corners of the world.
The Rev. William Peake once wondered HOW THE MEDIA WOULD HANDLE THE END OF THE WORLD and he put together a few possible headlines. Here is a sample of what he wrote:
USA Today: WE'RE DEAD.
Wall Street Journal: Dow Jones Plummets as World Ends.
National Enquirer: O.J. and Nicole, Together Again.
Inc. Magazine: 10 Ways You Can Profit From the Apocalypse.
Rolling Stone: The Grateful Dead Reunion Tour.
Sports Illustrated: Game Over.
Playboy: Girls of the Apocalypse.
Ladies' Home Journal: Lose 10 Pounds by Judgment Day with Our New "Armageddon" Diet!
TV Guide: Death and Damnation: Nielsen Ratings Soar!
Discover Magazine: How will the extinction of all life as we know it affect the way we view the cosmos?
Microsoft's Web Site: If you don't experience the rapture, DOWNLOAD Software patch RAPT777.EXE.
America Online: System temporarily down. Try calling back in 15 minutes.
You know my brothers and sisters-in-Christ - as much as most people try to deny it - the end is coming. Science tells us this, experience tells us this, and the scriptures tell us this. And it will not be some temporary system failure. Rather it will be a complete crash - a crash that will bring in its wake a new heaven and new earth - and not merely some patch, some fix it quick continue as usual remedy that allows us to go on as if nothing had happened.
And that should catch our attention. It should make us think.
The end is coming. That is the plain truth of the bible.
It's both its prayer - as in the reading from Isaiah this morning
"O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence" and it's promise
"But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory
The end, my friends is coming - it is coming to each one of us individually - a fact which cannot be denied and which ought to be enough to make us think and it is coming to all of us together to our whole world to the sun and the moon and all beneath them.
It might be sooner - or it might be later. But it is coming.
We now have the technology to darken the skies, and to make the heavens shake and to cause stars to fall from heaven.
We now have the means to bring about what is described in the Book of Revelation: the means to cause 1/3 of all the birds of the air to perish and 1/3 of the fish of the sea to die.
We can assemble with very little problem at all an army of two hundred million men on the fields of Armaggedon - which do not lie all that far away from the nation of Iraq, and we have built already the scorpions that have fire in their tails and the machinery by which the whole world might see the death of two men, two witnesses to God's love, in the city of Jerusalem.
And if we have the means to make it happen - perish the thought we should actually do so then how much more so God?
- the God who through the prophets spoke of it thousands of years ago,
- the God who through his son - promised it - indeed warned us of it, not quite some two thousand years ago.
From the fig tree learn it's lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
The season of Advent is about the coming of the Lord - the coming of the Lord as a babe in a manger in Bethlehem - and the coming of the Lord as a judge in power and might.
And the question of the season, the challenge of the weeks that lie ahead of us is this -are we ready?
Are you ready to meet God?
Are you ready to stand before the judgement seat?
Are you ready to welcome the new world?
Are you ready to see the old world come to an end?
The question for you and me and for the world is not are we ready in the sense that some survivalists are ready for the next big war - but are we ready for Jesus? Are we ready for the time when the world is judged - when we are judged.
The question is not have we saved enough canned food and toilet paper in our basement shelters, incidentally for those of you are visitors to Hong Kong, there are no basement shelters here in Hong Kong - but have we prepared our eternal soul to dwell in heaven.
The question is not whether we taken our resources and converted them into physical assets where neither stock market crashes or computer failures can affect them - but whether we have taken our resources and converted them into spiritual assets - the assets that never pass away even though all other things will cease.
There are some things that we can take with us - and there are other things that we cannot. The question of Advent, is are we ready? Are we awake? Are we prepared?
Our hope is that God will redeem our world.
The question is - are we ready to be redeemed?
Are we allowing the potter to form us - his clay?
Or are we thinking that the day of the Lord will never come?
It is coming my brothers and sisters-in-Christ. For us all - ready or not. May you - may I, be alert and awake. Amen
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Ezekiel 34:11-17,20-24; Psalm 100; Matthew 25:31-46
Let us pray. Creator and maker of us all – bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts – grow in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen.
I do not how many times we have heard the parable of the sheep and the goats – it is a well known story to many of us. It is a church favourite here in Hong Kong. It is also one the passages in the Gospels that underlies what theologians call “The Social Gospel.”
Every nation is gathered before the judge, before the throne of the Son of Man, before the King, and the King separates them. The right from the left, the sheep from the goats, and he judges them. Only those on the right hand side are save, and those on the left are condemned.
Most of us know this parable, and we know therefore the basis upon which the King makes His final judgement about the various nations when they are gathered before Him.
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you took me in..”
How well we know this story, and for some of us – those who measure things by how much they have done – it serves as a warning – and for others, who also measure themselves by what they have done for others – it is a comfort.
Yet, despite all our knowledge of this parable, our being reassured that we know what it means, and that we know the God of whom the story tells us about, we may not have grasped the fullness of the story.
I am going to ask you to think with me on the response of the sheep and of the goats who were standing before the King, and at the same time to consider with me the message that is found in the surprise that were expressed by both the sheep and the goats.
This parable is full of shocking, unexpected, dumbfounded surprises to everyone:
- surprise at the words and the judgements of the King
- surprise that it is not our beliefts that are considered by the King, but our actions
- surprise that it is not which denomination or how long we believe in Jesus that is being taken into consideration but our compassion and our love.
Some theologians will tell us that this is because the judgement of the nations are just that, a judgement on those people who are not joined to Christ, a judgement on those people who do not profess or follow Jesus, on those who, as the Scriptures tells us, are judged by the law that is written in their hearts. Others will say that the judgement of the King applies to all the people. Whether you are a believer or unbeliever, it makes no difference, that Jesus, in telling this story, makes no distinction between those who follow him and those who do not. For all people are expected by God to live by the law that is written in their hearts – that, as the Apostle James puts it in the second chapter of his letter to the church, “faith without works is dead”.
Whatever is the truth of the matter there is a judgement; and in that judgement, there is a great sense of surprise in both those is the “sheep” and those who are the “goats”.
We, of course, might expect the goats to be dumbfounded at the words of the King.
They are supposed to be confused, shocked and surprised when they at last come fact to face with God, are they not? Their unbelief is meant to be condemned, is it not? Their lack of compassion and of mercy for the least amongst us, is worthy of condemnation, is it not?
Yet, what makes the parable amazing is that the sheep were just as surprised.
The sheep, the righteous - those who have given the cup of cold water, who have visited those in prison, and worked for many different causes in society for the poor and needy, and have given so much to charity, and taken in refugees and strangers into their homes. They were just as dumbfounded and shocked by the King’s judgement as the unrighteous.
Both groups, both the sheep and the goats, asked the very same question of the King when he renders His judgement. Both groups asked, “Lord, when did we see you?”
Lord, when did we see you? Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
There was a time in my life when I thought that this surprise was a good thing – a very good thing that is for the sheep.
I felt and believed that their surprise fit in well with the Biblical injunction, not to let your left hand know what your hand is doing – especially when you are doing good.
I felt that the surprise of the sheep was good because it indicated to us that they were not simply doing nice things to the people around them as a way of gaining credit from God; that it meant that their love and compassion for other people was unstained by any selfish thoughts – unstained by the idea that they were somehow working towards their salvation.
The words of surprise of the sheep seemed rather sweet to me: Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And so I let the more hidden message of the parable go by.
After reading and studying this passage once again, I have come to realize that the surprise of the sheep can be seen in a different light, and I do not really know how to characterize what that light reveals, but I do know that it makes me feel a little bit sad.
Why is it that the sheep, the righteous, were surprised? Why is it that they did not see their Lord as they reached out in acts of love and compassion? What did they really miss?
What do we miss?
I think of the great joy I have had when I have been the recipient of other people’s kindness, the recipient of other people’s love.
As a young man, during my first year in England, I joined a church over there.
I was not that well known to the people of the church. I had just joined the congregation. I was not involved in much more than Sunday worship, and my skin colour is not even white. But during my first Christmas there, I and the people I shared the house that I was living in, were showered with boxes and boxes of food, and other good things.
It was an incredible feeling to be so richly and unexpectedly blessed. I felt cared for and understood, and I praised God for those who had reached out to me.
Their act of kindness and others done by that particular congregation changed my life and helped to bring me standing here in front of you today.
Alex Haley, the author of the story ‘Roots’ tells the story of how his father had his life changed by a similar act of kindness.
He was the youngest of eight children, living in a farming family. Everyone in the family was needed to help with the crops. After several years of schooling, the family will pressed each child to work on the farm. Fortunately for the boy, the mother intervened on behalf of this child, and he was allowed to stay on in school.
When he completed secondary school, he chose the Lane Institute for his university education, working as many as four jobs in addition full-time studies. It was all physically and emotionally tiring.
During the summer holidays he worked as a porter on a train, and early one morning when he was working on the train, he met a man who could not sleep and wanted someone to talk with. This man was impressed by a black porter working to earn money for university and tipped him the princely sum of five dollars, which was a lot of money in those days.
When the summer holidays came to an end that year, Mr. Harley had to make a decision as to whether he should use his summer earnings to purchase a mule and began to work on the farm, or to complete his last year of university. He took the risk of completing his university education.
Alex Haley tells us what happened next. When his father arrived on campus, the president called him into his office and showed him a letter he had just received. The letter was from the elderly man whom his father had met on the train, and inside the envelope was a cheque for the sum of $518, enough money to cover his father’s tuition fees and living expenses for one full year.
The kindness of an unknown person made all the difference in the life of Alex Haley’s father, Alex Haley himself, and every succeeding generation of that family.
As a person who has been in need of help in the past, I know what the acts of love and care performed by a stranger can mean to oneself.
Each of you here, I am almost certain, also knows what it can mean.
Each of you, I am almost certain, has a story like mine, or like that of Alex Haley’s father, stored away somewhere in your personal history in your family’s history.
So – what are we really missing, when, as the doers of these deeds of kindness, we are surprised when the Son of Man says: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcome me?”
What are we missing when we feel burned out, tired from giving to too many worthy organization, worn out from working on too many worthy causes?
What are we missing when we doing good deeds and yet feel that we have not yet met God?
I think that the answer is simple. We are missing the sense of holy in the ordinary. We are missing the sense of the imminence of God.
It may be stretching the point of the parable of the sheep and the goats a bit far, but I just cannot get away from the feeling that we all to often lead our lives as if Christ did not exist. Our moment and our days, even when filled with doing good deeds, often are not sanctified, blessed, made fully alive by the sense of Christ’s living presence.
My best moments as a human being, are not just the moments when I show care to one of the least of my brothers and sisters. My best moments are when I do so in the awareness that I am ministering to my Lord and Saviour: when I am aware that Christ lives inside the least of my brothers and sisters, whether these brothers and sisters are the less fortunate of those of us who are joined to Christ, or the pagans and gentiles amongst us, the ones in whom no form of blessed can be detected. Those of whom, we do not consider to be our brothers and sisters because of who they are or what they may have done.
Such a sense of awareness serves to keep me humble. Such an awareness serves to keep me alert.
It is an awareness that should all be cultivating. This awareness that Christ may be found and found especially amongst the poor, and the lonely and the sick, amongst those in prison, and those who simply needed nothing more but a drink of cold water.
Let us all think of it, think back 2000 years ago, when the Son of Man, the one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords wandered this earth as a poor preacher in a poor land, having no home to call his own, much less a throne of righteousness. Think if when the Son of God was put on trail for blasphemy and flogged 39 times, and then was hung on a cross as a common criminal.
Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And think of it today, 2000 more years later.
Where is Christ to be found?
Is he not among us, as it was so very long ago?
Is he not, according to His own words, to be found in the least of our brothers and sisters, in those who are most neglected, scorn or despise?
Thinking about where Christ is to be found transforms what I do and helps me to transform into who I am.
It gives a rich meaning to my actions, it lifts up my spirit in hope and in worship. It makes me wanting to praise God, even when I am feeling tired and worn out. It gives me new strength.
What a privilege we have, each and every one of us, when we reach out and touch someone, for in doing so, we may be, no, we are, in fact, reaching out to touch God, reaching out to touch Christ.
I understand the surprise of those on the right side of the Son of Man. I understand the feeling of shock and surprise of the sheep. I understand it because it is so very easy for me to forget the privilege that I have. So easy for me to start living a life as if Christ was not actually here in this building, this town, and this place we call Hong Kong. So easy for me to do what I do as if it were a burden, rather than as a glorious service to my God…
I understand, but at the same time, I do find it a little sad. Sad, not because doing good has no effect, but feeling sad, because seeing Christ in those around us is so enriching, so helpful, as we walk the walk that he calls us to walk, and yet seeing so many losing the way in this walk.
Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And the King will answer them, “Truly I tell you – just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.
May you be with Christ in your walk, day by day. Amen.
I do not how many times we have heard the parable of the sheep and the goats – it is a well known story to many of us. It is a church favourite here in Hong Kong. It is also one the passages in the Gospels that underlies what theologians call “The Social Gospel.”
Every nation is gathered before the judge, before the throne of the Son of Man, before the King, and the King separates them. The right from the left, the sheep from the goats, and he judges them. Only those on the right hand side are save, and those on the left are condemned.
Most of us know this parable, and we know therefore the basis upon which the King makes His final judgement about the various nations when they are gathered before Him.
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you took me in..”
How well we know this story, and for some of us – those who measure things by how much they have done – it serves as a warning – and for others, who also measure themselves by what they have done for others – it is a comfort.
Yet, despite all our knowledge of this parable, our being reassured that we know what it means, and that we know the God of whom the story tells us about, we may not have grasped the fullness of the story.
I am going to ask you to think with me on the response of the sheep and of the goats who were standing before the King, and at the same time to consider with me the message that is found in the surprise that were expressed by both the sheep and the goats.
This parable is full of shocking, unexpected, dumbfounded surprises to everyone:
- surprise at the words and the judgements of the King
- surprise that it is not our beliefts that are considered by the King, but our actions
- surprise that it is not which denomination or how long we believe in Jesus that is being taken into consideration but our compassion and our love.
Some theologians will tell us that this is because the judgement of the nations are just that, a judgement on those people who are not joined to Christ, a judgement on those people who do not profess or follow Jesus, on those who, as the Scriptures tells us, are judged by the law that is written in their hearts. Others will say that the judgement of the King applies to all the people. Whether you are a believer or unbeliever, it makes no difference, that Jesus, in telling this story, makes no distinction between those who follow him and those who do not. For all people are expected by God to live by the law that is written in their hearts – that, as the Apostle James puts it in the second chapter of his letter to the church, “faith without works is dead”.
Whatever is the truth of the matter there is a judgement; and in that judgement, there is a great sense of surprise in both those is the “sheep” and those who are the “goats”.
We, of course, might expect the goats to be dumbfounded at the words of the King.
They are supposed to be confused, shocked and surprised when they at last come fact to face with God, are they not? Their unbelief is meant to be condemned, is it not? Their lack of compassion and of mercy for the least amongst us, is worthy of condemnation, is it not?
Yet, what makes the parable amazing is that the sheep were just as surprised.
The sheep, the righteous - those who have given the cup of cold water, who have visited those in prison, and worked for many different causes in society for the poor and needy, and have given so much to charity, and taken in refugees and strangers into their homes. They were just as dumbfounded and shocked by the King’s judgement as the unrighteous.
Both groups, both the sheep and the goats, asked the very same question of the King when he renders His judgement. Both groups asked, “Lord, when did we see you?”
Lord, when did we see you? Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
There was a time in my life when I thought that this surprise was a good thing – a very good thing that is for the sheep.
I felt and believed that their surprise fit in well with the Biblical injunction, not to let your left hand know what your hand is doing – especially when you are doing good.
I felt that the surprise of the sheep was good because it indicated to us that they were not simply doing nice things to the people around them as a way of gaining credit from God; that it meant that their love and compassion for other people was unstained by any selfish thoughts – unstained by the idea that they were somehow working towards their salvation.
The words of surprise of the sheep seemed rather sweet to me: Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And so I let the more hidden message of the parable go by.
After reading and studying this passage once again, I have come to realize that the surprise of the sheep can be seen in a different light, and I do not really know how to characterize what that light reveals, but I do know that it makes me feel a little bit sad.
Why is it that the sheep, the righteous, were surprised? Why is it that they did not see their Lord as they reached out in acts of love and compassion? What did they really miss?
What do we miss?
I think of the great joy I have had when I have been the recipient of other people’s kindness, the recipient of other people’s love.
As a young man, during my first year in England, I joined a church over there.
I was not that well known to the people of the church. I had just joined the congregation. I was not involved in much more than Sunday worship, and my skin colour is not even white. But during my first Christmas there, I and the people I shared the house that I was living in, were showered with boxes and boxes of food, and other good things.
It was an incredible feeling to be so richly and unexpectedly blessed. I felt cared for and understood, and I praised God for those who had reached out to me.
Their act of kindness and others done by that particular congregation changed my life and helped to bring me standing here in front of you today.
Alex Haley, the author of the story ‘Roots’ tells the story of how his father had his life changed by a similar act of kindness.
He was the youngest of eight children, living in a farming family. Everyone in the family was needed to help with the crops. After several years of schooling, the family will pressed each child to work on the farm. Fortunately for the boy, the mother intervened on behalf of this child, and he was allowed to stay on in school.
When he completed secondary school, he chose the Lane Institute for his university education, working as many as four jobs in addition full-time studies. It was all physically and emotionally tiring.
During the summer holidays he worked as a porter on a train, and early one morning when he was working on the train, he met a man who could not sleep and wanted someone to talk with. This man was impressed by a black porter working to earn money for university and tipped him the princely sum of five dollars, which was a lot of money in those days.
When the summer holidays came to an end that year, Mr. Harley had to make a decision as to whether he should use his summer earnings to purchase a mule and began to work on the farm, or to complete his last year of university. He took the risk of completing his university education.
Alex Haley tells us what happened next. When his father arrived on campus, the president called him into his office and showed him a letter he had just received. The letter was from the elderly man whom his father had met on the train, and inside the envelope was a cheque for the sum of $518, enough money to cover his father’s tuition fees and living expenses for one full year.
The kindness of an unknown person made all the difference in the life of Alex Haley’s father, Alex Haley himself, and every succeeding generation of that family.
As a person who has been in need of help in the past, I know what the acts of love and care performed by a stranger can mean to oneself.
Each of you here, I am almost certain, also knows what it can mean.
Each of you, I am almost certain, has a story like mine, or like that of Alex Haley’s father, stored away somewhere in your personal history in your family’s history.
So – what are we really missing, when, as the doers of these deeds of kindness, we are surprised when the Son of Man says: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcome me?”
What are we missing when we feel burned out, tired from giving to too many worthy organization, worn out from working on too many worthy causes?
What are we missing when we doing good deeds and yet feel that we have not yet met God?
I think that the answer is simple. We are missing the sense of holy in the ordinary. We are missing the sense of the imminence of God.
It may be stretching the point of the parable of the sheep and the goats a bit far, but I just cannot get away from the feeling that we all to often lead our lives as if Christ did not exist. Our moment and our days, even when filled with doing good deeds, often are not sanctified, blessed, made fully alive by the sense of Christ’s living presence.
My best moments as a human being, are not just the moments when I show care to one of the least of my brothers and sisters. My best moments are when I do so in the awareness that I am ministering to my Lord and Saviour: when I am aware that Christ lives inside the least of my brothers and sisters, whether these brothers and sisters are the less fortunate of those of us who are joined to Christ, or the pagans and gentiles amongst us, the ones in whom no form of blessed can be detected. Those of whom, we do not consider to be our brothers and sisters because of who they are or what they may have done.
Such a sense of awareness serves to keep me humble. Such an awareness serves to keep me alert.
It is an awareness that should all be cultivating. This awareness that Christ may be found and found especially amongst the poor, and the lonely and the sick, amongst those in prison, and those who simply needed nothing more but a drink of cold water.
Let us all think of it, think back 2000 years ago, when the Son of Man, the one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords wandered this earth as a poor preacher in a poor land, having no home to call his own, much less a throne of righteousness. Think if when the Son of God was put on trail for blasphemy and flogged 39 times, and then was hung on a cross as a common criminal.
Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And think of it today, 2000 more years later.
Where is Christ to be found?
Is he not among us, as it was so very long ago?
Is he not, according to His own words, to be found in the least of our brothers and sisters, in those who are most neglected, scorn or despise?
Thinking about where Christ is to be found transforms what I do and helps me to transform into who I am.
It gives a rich meaning to my actions, it lifts up my spirit in hope and in worship. It makes me wanting to praise God, even when I am feeling tired and worn out. It gives me new strength.
What a privilege we have, each and every one of us, when we reach out and touch someone, for in doing so, we may be, no, we are, in fact, reaching out to touch God, reaching out to touch Christ.
I understand the surprise of those on the right side of the Son of Man. I understand the feeling of shock and surprise of the sheep. I understand it because it is so very easy for me to forget the privilege that I have. So easy for me to start living a life as if Christ was not actually here in this building, this town, and this place we call Hong Kong. So easy for me to do what I do as if it were a burden, rather than as a glorious service to my God…
I understand, but at the same time, I do find it a little sad. Sad, not because doing good has no effect, but feeling sad, because seeing Christ in those around us is so enriching, so helpful, as we walk the walk that he calls us to walk, and yet seeing so many losing the way in this walk.
Lord, when did we see you? When was it we saw you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, and took care of you?
And the King will answer them, “Truly I tell you – just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.
May you be with Christ in your walk, day by day. Amen.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Matthew 25:14-30
The parable of the talents is a parable about the manner in which God will judge the world and his people. It is a straightforward account.
A man who is about to leave on a journey entrusts his servants with different portions of his property. They are to look after that property and to ensure that it continues to work for the master, that it continues to make a profit while he is away.
Two of the servants double the investment they are intrusted with, and are richly rewarded for doing so; but the third gains nothing from it for his master, all he does is keep what he is given safe - following the custom of the time he buries the money so that no harm might come to it.
The result for him? What was entrusted to him is taken from him and given to the servant with the 10 talents - and he is cast off the estate of his master and into the place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! - forever! - in darkness! - in torment....
Wow! Pretty heavy stuff this!
Right in there with several other stories and teachings about the end of time - stories in the 24th and 25th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew about the coming of the master to his rightful estate - of the groom to his bride - of the king to his throne in the imperial court - cautionary tales - that end with evil servants being cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites and careless maidens being denied their spots at the wedding feast - stories, like that of today's parable of the talents - which end with the ones who have blown it - the ones who have proven themselves to be goats instead of sheep, being thrown into eternal fire - while those who have heeded their Master - those who have looked for him - those who have fed him and clothed him - those who have invested for him - enjoy great reward.
As I said - it is a straightforward account this parable of the talents, this parable of the three servants who each were entrusted with fabulous wealth by their master, - a straightforward account of how God judges the world.
So what should we make of it?
Well - I think we need to consider ourselves to be one of the servants in the parable. Or perhaps even as a forth servant.
We need to consider ourselves - and our family - and our church as a servant entrusted with fabulous wealth - wealth to look after - wealth to steward - while our master goes on a long trip.
We need to consider ourselves as having been given one or two, or three, or four, or five or maybe even ten talents and being left with this money - this treasure - to do with what we will.
What would we do? What will we do?
I ask that because that is what God has done. God has given each one of us a fabulous a treasure - each in a different but abundant measure, and left what we do with it up to us.
God has endowed you.
God has endowed me.
God has endowed this church.
So where are we at with it?
And we going to play it safe? And it put it in the bank? Like the third servant did? Or are we going to risk it? Like the first and second servants did?
Think about it.
Think about what God has entrusted to you.
Think about who God has entrusted to you.....
Think about it.
Think about what we have been given in this life by our God. What we have been entrusted with for a matter of a few years, and what we have been promised will be ours for an eternity.
Think of the fantastic treasure that has been poured out upon us with the giving of our breath, with each meal we can eat, with each person we come into contact with, with each sight we can see.
I don't think that most of us think about enough. If we did - things would be different wouldn't they? Different for us. Different for our world.
There is a little article I been told has been reprinted in various forms in different church newsletters. It goes like this:
What would the church be like if every member were just like me?
- Would our church be empty on Sunday, or full to overflowing, if everyone attended as I do?
- How much Bible Study and prayer would occur if everyone took the time I do?
- How many bruised, hurting, lonely people, would be touched by the church if every member acted exactly as I do?
- Would we need more ushers and offering plates if everyone gave like me?
- How many children would be led to faith through the Sunday School and church if everyone had my priorities?
- Would the church just be an attractive social club? Would it be closed, bankrupt, out of business? Or would it be a dynamic force for Jesus Christ in our community and our world - if everyone were just like me?
What would the church be like if every member were just like me?
You know - one of the basic teachings of the bible, of the whole bible, the New Testament as much if not more than the Old, is that if don't use it - we lose it.
Even though Paul writes: "it is by grace, through faith, that we are saved, not by works, lest anyone should boast" there remains a judgement. A judgement grounded in mercy most surely; a judgement given in love - no doubt; but none-the-less, a judgement.
Some once rewrote the Parable of the Talents to try to get at this point. The rewrite goes like this:
Once there was a king who had three sons, each with a special talent. The first had a talent for growing fruit. The second for raising sheep. And the third for playing the violin. Once, the king had to go overseas on important business. Before departing he called his three sons together and told them he was depending on them to keep the people contented in his absence.
Now for a while things went well. But then came the winter, a bitter and cruel winter it was. There was an acute shortage of firewood. Thus the first son was faced with a very difficult decision. Should he allow the people to cut down some of his beloved fruit trees for firewood? When he saw the people shivering with cold, he finally allowed them to do so.
The second son was also faced with a difficult decision. Food became very scarce. Should he allow the people to kill some of his beloved sheep for food? When he saw the children crying from hunger, his heart went out to them and he allowed them to kill some of the sheep.
Thus the people had firewood for their fires, and food for their tables. Nevertheless the harsh winter continued to oppress them. Their spirits began to sag, and there was no one to cheer them up. They turned to the fiddler, but he refused to play for them. In the end things got so bad that in desperation many of them emigrated.
Then one day the king arrived back home. He was terribly sad to find that many of his people had left his kingdom. He called in his three sons to give an account of what had gone wrong. The first said, "Father, I hope you won't be angry at me, but the winter was very cold and so I allowed the people to cut down some of the fruit trees for firewood." And the second son said, "Father, I hope you won't be angry with me because when food got scarce I allowed the people to kill some of my sheep."
On hearing this, far from being angry, the father embraced his two sons, and told them that he was proud of them.
Then the third son came forward carrying his fiddle with him. "Father", he said, "I refused to play because you weren't here to enjoy the music."
"Well then", said the king, "play me a tune now because my heart is full of sorrow." The son raised the violin and bow, but found that his fingers had gone stiff from lack of exercise. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get them to move. Then the father said, "You could have cheered up the people with your music, but you refused. If the kingdom is half-empty, the fault is yours. But now you can no longer play. That will be your punishment."
What would the church be like if every member was like me?
What would the world be like if every believer believed like I do?
You know the problem with the third servant don't you?
His problem was his fear. He either feared too much - or not enough. And so he was very very careful of all that the master gave him.
Like the man who is afraid to love - because he might get hurt. Like the woman who is afraid to reach out - because she might be rejected. Like the child who is afraid to walk - because he might fall down, the third servant was afraid; and as in the case of all most fears, his fear came true - what he had was not enough for his master.
The third servant was afraid. He was afraid even though the constant message of God - the message seen whenever God visits his people - is - "be not afraid".
Be not afraid.
Be not afraid of losing what you have.
Be not afraid of being alone, or of being hated
Be not afraid of suffering or dying.
Trust God.
Trust in the one who said "they who seek to save their lives will lose them, but they who give their lives for me and for the gospel, will save them."
Trust in the one who gave himself on the cross - and who in doing so made an end of death.
The parable of the talents is not a lesson about our degree of ability or productivity.
It is a lesson about our attitude and our responsibility
- about stepping out with God's treasure in our hands and risking it all for the sake of God.
- about really daring to love - really daring to care, even though the conditions do not seem right for it, even though the persons involved do not really seem worthy of it, even though a thousand and one bad things might happen.
The sin of the third servant that could not be forgiven, it is the sin of not daring to risk - the sin of not believing that God will reward all who trust in him, the sin of not trusting the one who gave his life for us to raise us up when we give our lives for him.
The mystery of the Gospel is not entrusted to the Church to be buried in the ground. It is given to the Church in order to be risked in the change and interchange of the spiritual commerce of humanity.
Be not afraid
- if we invested ourselves as well as we are able too in God's work
- if we use the gifts of God for the glory of God, God will be pleased with us - and we will enter into his joy, we will sit down and eat with groom, and we will abide in the blessedness saved up for all who trust and believe, both now - and forevermore. Amen
A man who is about to leave on a journey entrusts his servants with different portions of his property. They are to look after that property and to ensure that it continues to work for the master, that it continues to make a profit while he is away.
Two of the servants double the investment they are intrusted with, and are richly rewarded for doing so; but the third gains nothing from it for his master, all he does is keep what he is given safe - following the custom of the time he buries the money so that no harm might come to it.
The result for him? What was entrusted to him is taken from him and given to the servant with the 10 talents - and he is cast off the estate of his master and into the place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! - forever! - in darkness! - in torment....
Wow! Pretty heavy stuff this!
Right in there with several other stories and teachings about the end of time - stories in the 24th and 25th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew about the coming of the master to his rightful estate - of the groom to his bride - of the king to his throne in the imperial court - cautionary tales - that end with evil servants being cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites and careless maidens being denied their spots at the wedding feast - stories, like that of today's parable of the talents - which end with the ones who have blown it - the ones who have proven themselves to be goats instead of sheep, being thrown into eternal fire - while those who have heeded their Master - those who have looked for him - those who have fed him and clothed him - those who have invested for him - enjoy great reward.
As I said - it is a straightforward account this parable of the talents, this parable of the three servants who each were entrusted with fabulous wealth by their master, - a straightforward account of how God judges the world.
So what should we make of it?
Well - I think we need to consider ourselves to be one of the servants in the parable. Or perhaps even as a forth servant.
We need to consider ourselves - and our family - and our church as a servant entrusted with fabulous wealth - wealth to look after - wealth to steward - while our master goes on a long trip.
We need to consider ourselves as having been given one or two, or three, or four, or five or maybe even ten talents and being left with this money - this treasure - to do with what we will.
What would we do? What will we do?
I ask that because that is what God has done. God has given each one of us a fabulous a treasure - each in a different but abundant measure, and left what we do with it up to us.
God has endowed you.
God has endowed me.
God has endowed this church.
So where are we at with it?
And we going to play it safe? And it put it in the bank? Like the third servant did? Or are we going to risk it? Like the first and second servants did?
Think about it.
Think about what God has entrusted to you.
Think about who God has entrusted to you.....
Think about it.
Think about what we have been given in this life by our God. What we have been entrusted with for a matter of a few years, and what we have been promised will be ours for an eternity.
Think of the fantastic treasure that has been poured out upon us with the giving of our breath, with each meal we can eat, with each person we come into contact with, with each sight we can see.
I don't think that most of us think about enough. If we did - things would be different wouldn't they? Different for us. Different for our world.
There is a little article I been told has been reprinted in various forms in different church newsletters. It goes like this:
What would the church be like if every member were just like me?
- Would our church be empty on Sunday, or full to overflowing, if everyone attended as I do?
- How much Bible Study and prayer would occur if everyone took the time I do?
- How many bruised, hurting, lonely people, would be touched by the church if every member acted exactly as I do?
- Would we need more ushers and offering plates if everyone gave like me?
- How many children would be led to faith through the Sunday School and church if everyone had my priorities?
- Would the church just be an attractive social club? Would it be closed, bankrupt, out of business? Or would it be a dynamic force for Jesus Christ in our community and our world - if everyone were just like me?
What would the church be like if every member were just like me?
You know - one of the basic teachings of the bible, of the whole bible, the New Testament as much if not more than the Old, is that if don't use it - we lose it.
Even though Paul writes: "it is by grace, through faith, that we are saved, not by works, lest anyone should boast" there remains a judgement. A judgement grounded in mercy most surely; a judgement given in love - no doubt; but none-the-less, a judgement.
Some once rewrote the Parable of the Talents to try to get at this point. The rewrite goes like this:
Once there was a king who had three sons, each with a special talent. The first had a talent for growing fruit. The second for raising sheep. And the third for playing the violin. Once, the king had to go overseas on important business. Before departing he called his three sons together and told them he was depending on them to keep the people contented in his absence.
Now for a while things went well. But then came the winter, a bitter and cruel winter it was. There was an acute shortage of firewood. Thus the first son was faced with a very difficult decision. Should he allow the people to cut down some of his beloved fruit trees for firewood? When he saw the people shivering with cold, he finally allowed them to do so.
The second son was also faced with a difficult decision. Food became very scarce. Should he allow the people to kill some of his beloved sheep for food? When he saw the children crying from hunger, his heart went out to them and he allowed them to kill some of the sheep.
Thus the people had firewood for their fires, and food for their tables. Nevertheless the harsh winter continued to oppress them. Their spirits began to sag, and there was no one to cheer them up. They turned to the fiddler, but he refused to play for them. In the end things got so bad that in desperation many of them emigrated.
Then one day the king arrived back home. He was terribly sad to find that many of his people had left his kingdom. He called in his three sons to give an account of what had gone wrong. The first said, "Father, I hope you won't be angry at me, but the winter was very cold and so I allowed the people to cut down some of the fruit trees for firewood." And the second son said, "Father, I hope you won't be angry with me because when food got scarce I allowed the people to kill some of my sheep."
On hearing this, far from being angry, the father embraced his two sons, and told them that he was proud of them.
Then the third son came forward carrying his fiddle with him. "Father", he said, "I refused to play because you weren't here to enjoy the music."
"Well then", said the king, "play me a tune now because my heart is full of sorrow." The son raised the violin and bow, but found that his fingers had gone stiff from lack of exercise. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get them to move. Then the father said, "You could have cheered up the people with your music, but you refused. If the kingdom is half-empty, the fault is yours. But now you can no longer play. That will be your punishment."
What would the church be like if every member was like me?
What would the world be like if every believer believed like I do?
You know the problem with the third servant don't you?
His problem was his fear. He either feared too much - or not enough. And so he was very very careful of all that the master gave him.
Like the man who is afraid to love - because he might get hurt. Like the woman who is afraid to reach out - because she might be rejected. Like the child who is afraid to walk - because he might fall down, the third servant was afraid; and as in the case of all most fears, his fear came true - what he had was not enough for his master.
The third servant was afraid. He was afraid even though the constant message of God - the message seen whenever God visits his people - is - "be not afraid".
Be not afraid.
Be not afraid of losing what you have.
Be not afraid of being alone, or of being hated
Be not afraid of suffering or dying.
Trust God.
Trust in the one who said "they who seek to save their lives will lose them, but they who give their lives for me and for the gospel, will save them."
Trust in the one who gave himself on the cross - and who in doing so made an end of death.
The parable of the talents is not a lesson about our degree of ability or productivity.
It is a lesson about our attitude and our responsibility
- about stepping out with God's treasure in our hands and risking it all for the sake of God.
- about really daring to love - really daring to care, even though the conditions do not seem right for it, even though the persons involved do not really seem worthy of it, even though a thousand and one bad things might happen.
The sin of the third servant that could not be forgiven, it is the sin of not daring to risk - the sin of not believing that God will reward all who trust in him, the sin of not trusting the one who gave his life for us to raise us up when we give our lives for him.
The mystery of the Gospel is not entrusted to the Church to be buried in the ground. It is given to the Church in order to be risked in the change and interchange of the spiritual commerce of humanity.
Be not afraid
- if we invested ourselves as well as we are able too in God's work
- if we use the gifts of God for the glory of God, God will be pleased with us - and we will enter into his joy, we will sit down and eat with groom, and we will abide in the blessedness saved up for all who trust and believe, both now - and forevermore. Amen
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Joshua 24:1-3a,14-25; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13
Let us Pray: Bless I pray, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - in Jesus name. Amen.
A Time of Remembering - A Time of Decision - this is the focus of today's reading from the Book of Joshua
As Joshua - as an old man - about to die - called the people of Israel together - to remember and to decide - so we are called together here today - to remember - and to decide
We remember today - what for some
- the sacrifice, the pain, the loss
- the comradeship - the closeness - the hopes and fears
- the evil that threatened - the victory that came
We remember too - as we did in the Litany of Reconciliation and Justice - the deeper things of God and of this world - of the things in this world that divide families, groups, peoples, and nations one from the other - and of the need not only forpeace - but for the justice that upon which true peace is built - the justice and the love that shows mercy to those who seek it - and even to those who do not..
Value of remembering
- for some - is strictly in telling the story - in sharing what is important to them - in working out the good and the bad - the happy and the sad - one has encountered.
- for others it is the issues - the lessons - involved in any telling of the past - the education it can provide - for others it is a matter of honouring - of respecting - of evoking the emotions and feelings that are best in a person - laughter, joy, tears, peace, outrage, forgiveness, humility, determination.
Remembering is good - but primarily today, remembering is a call for decision on our part - and without the decision - without the deciding that we are called to do remembering has little power or purpose.
In our scripture reading this morning Joshua told the story of how God had treated the children of Israel - how he had chosen Abraham - and Isaac - and Jacob and promised them a land - how he had remembered Joseph in Egypt and raised up Moses to deliver the people - how he had led his people safely from the clutches of Pharaoh and watched over them in the Wilderness of Sinai - and how finally he had brought the 12 tribes across the Jordan and into the promised land, driving out their enemies before them, and giving them a land that they had not laboured for, grapes and olives that they didn't plant.
He tells the story - he remembers and he then calls the people to understand what has been remembered and to make a decision the decision to choose to follow and be true to the God who gave them life - or to choose to follow in the path of the nations around them and to worship their gods.
The people respond to this challenge by reciting back to Joshua the story as they remember it - of how God worked miracles to set them free and all though other nations were all around them the Lord protected them where-ever they went and they then say to Joshua that like him - they will serve the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Moses - the God that has been good to them.
And so we are called today to remember - to remember not only all those who suffered and died - who sweat and sacrificed so much - but to remember the reason for which all honourable men and women have fought through the centuries - namely the good of not only their nation - but of the whole world - AND - most importantly - We are called to choose.
When Joshua reminds the people of their history - of their experience - and then demands that the people choose what God they will serve - he tells them that this is no easy decision that there is a cost involved the cost of total commitment - and that should they falter - should they put their hand to the plow and look back; - should they attempt to live with one foot in the kingdom of God - the God who gives life - and the other in the world of idols that God himself will turn against them and make terrible things to happen to them - and then he will finally wipe them out - even though he has been good to them in the past.
Today we remember - and we are called to choose
We are called to choose this day much the same thing Joshua called the people of Israel to choose.
We are called to choose life or death, to choose God and the things of God - or ourselves alone - and the things of this world
And the message for us is the same as the message to the children of Israel, the same message that every veteran of every battle with this world's evil can tell you - namely they who forgot - they who choose to ignore the call of God and to instead be like everyone else - to be a people who look after only themselves - a people who seek wealth instead of justice - who pursue happiness rather the way of truth - who elevate peace as a value over that of the truth of God - are lost.
Should we follow other gods - should we value our own prosperity while ignoring the poverty of others - should we desire our own comfort more than we desire to help others - should we value the peace of endless compromise to the hard work of speaking truth to those who lie, and in doing justice even though it may cost us our own lives then not only will the sacrifice made by so many others on our behalf be in vain, and their memory dishonoured even as speak their names but we ourselves and our descendants after us - will perish.
The kingdom of God, the kingdom that is distinguished by joyful peace, by freedom from pain and death, by love that knows no hate, by plenty that knows no limit demands our all.
As Jesus gave himself wholly for us on the cross - and in doing so rose to new life on the third day so we are called to give ourselves completely for the sake of what is right. May His name be blessed day by day, Amen!
A Time of Remembering - A Time of Decision - this is the focus of today's reading from the Book of Joshua
As Joshua - as an old man - about to die - called the people of Israel together - to remember and to decide - so we are called together here today - to remember - and to decide
We remember today - what for some
- the sacrifice, the pain, the loss
- the comradeship - the closeness - the hopes and fears
- the evil that threatened - the victory that came
We remember too - as we did in the Litany of Reconciliation and Justice - the deeper things of God and of this world - of the things in this world that divide families, groups, peoples, and nations one from the other - and of the need not only forpeace - but for the justice that upon which true peace is built - the justice and the love that shows mercy to those who seek it - and even to those who do not..
Value of remembering
- for some - is strictly in telling the story - in sharing what is important to them - in working out the good and the bad - the happy and the sad - one has encountered.
- for others it is the issues - the lessons - involved in any telling of the past - the education it can provide - for others it is a matter of honouring - of respecting - of evoking the emotions and feelings that are best in a person - laughter, joy, tears, peace, outrage, forgiveness, humility, determination.
Remembering is good - but primarily today, remembering is a call for decision on our part - and without the decision - without the deciding that we are called to do remembering has little power or purpose.
In our scripture reading this morning Joshua told the story of how God had treated the children of Israel - how he had chosen Abraham - and Isaac - and Jacob and promised them a land - how he had remembered Joseph in Egypt and raised up Moses to deliver the people - how he had led his people safely from the clutches of Pharaoh and watched over them in the Wilderness of Sinai - and how finally he had brought the 12 tribes across the Jordan and into the promised land, driving out their enemies before them, and giving them a land that they had not laboured for, grapes and olives that they didn't plant.
He tells the story - he remembers and he then calls the people to understand what has been remembered and to make a decision the decision to choose to follow and be true to the God who gave them life - or to choose to follow in the path of the nations around them and to worship their gods.
The people respond to this challenge by reciting back to Joshua the story as they remember it - of how God worked miracles to set them free and all though other nations were all around them the Lord protected them where-ever they went and they then say to Joshua that like him - they will serve the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Moses - the God that has been good to them.
And so we are called today to remember - to remember not only all those who suffered and died - who sweat and sacrificed so much - but to remember the reason for which all honourable men and women have fought through the centuries - namely the good of not only their nation - but of the whole world - AND - most importantly - We are called to choose.
When Joshua reminds the people of their history - of their experience - and then demands that the people choose what God they will serve - he tells them that this is no easy decision that there is a cost involved the cost of total commitment - and that should they falter - should they put their hand to the plow and look back; - should they attempt to live with one foot in the kingdom of God - the God who gives life - and the other in the world of idols that God himself will turn against them and make terrible things to happen to them - and then he will finally wipe them out - even though he has been good to them in the past.
Today we remember - and we are called to choose
We are called to choose this day much the same thing Joshua called the people of Israel to choose.
We are called to choose life or death, to choose God and the things of God - or ourselves alone - and the things of this world
And the message for us is the same as the message to the children of Israel, the same message that every veteran of every battle with this world's evil can tell you - namely they who forgot - they who choose to ignore the call of God and to instead be like everyone else - to be a people who look after only themselves - a people who seek wealth instead of justice - who pursue happiness rather the way of truth - who elevate peace as a value over that of the truth of God - are lost.
Should we follow other gods - should we value our own prosperity while ignoring the poverty of others - should we desire our own comfort more than we desire to help others - should we value the peace of endless compromise to the hard work of speaking truth to those who lie, and in doing justice even though it may cost us our own lives then not only will the sacrifice made by so many others on our behalf be in vain, and their memory dishonoured even as speak their names but we ourselves and our descendants after us - will perish.
The kingdom of God, the kingdom that is distinguished by joyful peace, by freedom from pain and death, by love that knows no hate, by plenty that knows no limit demands our all.
As Jesus gave himself wholly for us on the cross - and in doing so rose to new life on the third day so we are called to give ourselves completely for the sake of what is right. May His name be blessed day by day, Amen!
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