So Long, Farewell

Photo by Joyston Judah on www.pexels.com

This month, I contributed to an article for the Rupert's Land News that gives me a chance to say goodbye to the diocese that formed me. You can find it on their website by clicking here. I’ve also included the text below:

It is an interesting time in both my life and in the life of the Diocese right now. At the time I am writing this story, we are in the process of electing a new bishop, and I am 8 weeks from moving from Winnipeg, a place I was born and raised, to North Cowichan, BC to begin a new step on my pastoral journey.

It’s hard to imagine that I began my relationship with the Diocese of Rupert’s Land over 17 years ago. For those of you in the know, I’m looking at you St. George’s Transcona, that means my oldest child is almost 17 years old. Where on earth did the time go? A lot has changed for me over all that time, and being part of this diocese has been an important piece of my growth as a person and as a priest.

My journey began with a chance meeting of a priest in training — a friend of a friend. I had been struggling with my faith for years and decided on a whim to attend this priest’s church. Why? Because I had never heard of women being priests before, let alone one who rode a motorcycle, and so I was immediately intrigued. I think the most appealing part, right from the beginning, was that they allowed me to return to the church slowly, at the pace that worked for me. That is a lesson that I carry in my heart and pass on to my parishes. While it is important to have people come in the door, it is just as important to let them grow at their own pace and not to try and get them to join vestry, or any other committee, on their first day.

What I received at St. George’s Transcona was also provided to me through the Diocese of Rupert’s Land — a chance to grow as a person of faith, as a person of the collar, and as a person on the whole. I acknowledge that this diocese still has a long way to go, but I honestly feel as if it has grown alongside of me. Whenever I tell me story of coming out as transgender to Bishop Don, people are pleasantly surprised to hear that, rather than barriers, he extended me his full support. Most importantly, he allowed me to continue my pursuit of becoming an Anglican priest.

While people have told me of different experiences in various dioceses, the Diocese of Rupert’s Land has accepted me for who I am. At least, those who don’t have kept quiet about it. I have been allowed to experience all levels of diocesan government right from a lay member of diocesan council up to a clerical representative at General Synod. I have helped organize events, facilitate workshops, and head committees. I have learned so much from the people, lay and clergy, in this diocese, and I have gained plenty of experience. The Diocese of Rupert’s Land has helped to shape me into the person I am today.

While I want to express my gratitude   and pen a farewell letter to everyone I’ve connected with through the diocese, I also have a piece of advice to offer regarding a common question nowadays : why should I go to church? Well, if I hadn’t gone to church 17 years ago, where would I be today? Stepping through the doors of St George’s Transcona all those years ago changed who I was; it  changed the direction of my life. I don’t know if I would have regained my faith if that wonderful church hadn’t opened its doors to me. I truly think if that chance meeting hadn’t happened, I never would have rekindled my relationship with God, and I certainly would never have heard the call to spread the Gospel to others, with or without the collar.

Going to church is like going to the gym. You go to the gym to work out your body, get yourself into shape, and increase your bodily health. Going to church is a workout for your spirit, a place to get it into shape and increase your spiritual health. You go to church to reconnect with God and renew your relationship with Jesus. We falter throughout our lives, losing our way, let our faith slip. We are only human after all. But going to church is how we reset our mind, our soul, and our spirit. Through the prayers, liturgy, ritual, and hymns, we can return to God and strengthen our faith.  Church is also where you go to find a community of people who can enrich your spiritual life. It is a place full of people wanting to talk about Jesus and wanting to experience a life of faith together.

Is that why I went to church 17 years ago? Not consciously, but something inside pulled me to church. I stayed because I found what I didn’t know I was looking for — spiritual peace. I’m still here because I want to share what I found with others.

So, as I pack my life up to head west, I have nothing but fondness and love for the people who helped me start my journey, the people who supported me along the way, and a diocese that gave me ample opportunity to flourish.

So long. Farewell. Goodbye. Until we meet again.

In Relationship with the Holy Trinity: A Sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.

The Easter season has come to an end. Jesus has done his teachings, he has shown himself to the disciples, and the Holy Spirit has come upon us. Now, we are being sent out into the world to spread the Good News of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

 

Trinity Sunday is a time to focus on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the teaching that there is one God in three Persons – God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. The Triune God is one the fundamental theologies of the Christian faith, and it is the ultimate mystery. Take a moment and think about how you would explain to someone how the Almighty can both singular and triune? It’s not easy. Not by a long shot. And trying to separate the entities doesn’t help. God and Jesus might be easy enough to describe, but the Holy Spirit?

 

Several years ago, I taught a Lenten series and in week two the group discussed the Holy Trinity. It was quite the discussion as we talked about what the Trinity is, why it is a difficult concept to understand, and to try and define or describe the Holy Spirit. There were references to God with us versus above us, there was discussion around whether Jesus was human or divine, and there was a lot of confusion surrounding the essence of the Holy Spirit. Lots of talking and debating was done that day and when there was a pause in the conversation, after prayerfully listening to what everyone had been saying, I told the group my vision of the Holy Trinity. It really struck a chord with the group and so I have held it close to me and shared it wherever possible.

 

My image of the Holy Trinity is simple, but it’s powerful to me. God and Jesus stand beside me, one on either side and facing each other, as if they were my walls of solidarity. The Holy Spirit surrounds me in a circle of protection, like a blanket or the arms of a hug. I do not see myself as below the Holy Trinity, as if God and Jesus are somewhere up in the sky looking down on me. I am in the middle of the Trinity; they surround me as I live my life, like my own personal protectors. The Trinity is with me, always.

 

So how would you describe the Holy Trinity?

 

Has your image of the Trinity changed over time?

 

The Holy Trinity is not something tangible, something that you could draw on a piece of paper and say that it is an exact image. Everyone will imagine the Trinity, will experience the Trinity, in a different way. It is an extremely personal experience. But when we trust in our image of the Trinity, things happen. And because it is God, our experience of the Trinity will never be as we expect it to be.

 

The Trinity is not something we believe in because it describes God. It is not something to be studied and understood. The Trinity is something to be experienced, and ultimately it is found in our relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Particularly as we – ourselves, our congregations, our communities – seek to move into a future that aligns more closely with what we believe deep in our heart God wants for us – a right relationship with not only God, but also one another.

 

And there is no path forward if we don’t make room for working to create space for intentional and genuine relationships with people who are different from us – culturally, in faith, in gender, in race. We recognize that harm is being done in the world, and we are demanding a better future. We recognize that there is system of racism in our country, in the justice and policing systems, everywhere. Therefore, there are demands for systemic changes. We recognize that the world is burning because we are not caring for creation in the way we ought to have, therefore there are demands for climate change action. We recognize that we have failed in our human relationships causing pain, trauma, and even death to those on the margins. Therefore, there are demands for human rights laws and protections.

 

But nothing, in the end, will change if we are not drawn into genuine, concrete, actual relationships with persons from communities beyond our experience or comfort. Because just as we know and struggle to name God through our actual experience of God active in our lives, so also, we can only know and appreciate and love and be changed by others in and through actual relationships.

 

This is the long road to not merely social change but a vision and reality of community that more closely matches God’s dreams for us and God’s own existence as a relational being. Holy Trinity Sunday is about revealing the relational being of God. Theologians have been trying for eons to explain the Trinity, this mysterious 3-in-1, but within the mystery lies relationship. There is a closeness in God, an intimate relationship where each one knows the mind of the others, where each is inseparable from the others. God, Jesus, and the Spirit are one. This closeness, this relationship is an example for us. Jesus called his disciples to follow as a group, and sent them out two by two, not alone. The Spirit called more people to join, and so the church began.

 

We were never meant to follow Jesus alone. Whenever life of faith has been challenging, the people of God have gathered together to break bread, to pray, and to encourage one another – and to dream of better things. So, we too, two thousand years later, continue to gather together, to share stories and meals, to pray and to ponder. We gather in our congregations, but also as dioceses and as the national church to pray and discern, to listen to the nudges of the Spirit, to find the way forward together.

 

We have Jesus’s promise that we will never be alone. God remains faithful through the changing world, and the changing church. The Holy Spirit continues to guide us to truth – one step at a time. The Trinity is with us, always.

 

Amen.

Resources

workingpreacher.org

Reverend Elina Singh, Assistant to the Bishop, BC Synod

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 22

Chapter 22 – Overcoming Evil

 

Last week we leaned into a discussion around “an eye for an eye.” This week we continue into Matthew 5:39-42 and explore “turn the other cheek”, moving from the law of equals to the topic of public humiliation.

 

Matthew 5:39 says, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.” This is a very popular saying, even though plenty might not realize it’s from the bible. “Turn the other cheek” is usually interpreted as letting it go, be the bigger person, and things like that. However, when looking at Jewish scriptures, it means a whole lot more than simply ignoring what has happened and walking away. In verses 40-41, Jesus goes on to mention giving up the shirt off your back, going the extra mile, and lending what you have to those in need. I’m sure these are all familiar sayings, or at least notions, within popular culture. Although, I will admit that it feels as if we do these less and less. But I digress.

 

According to Levine and Brettler in The Bible With and Without Jesus,

“The three examples Jesus gives, regarding the slap, the suit, and the subjugation, together reveal their import: do not escalate violence; do not give up your agency; shame your attacker and retain your honour. As with the other inunctions in this section, his concern is correct community relations, rejection of violence, honesty to others, and acting mercifully and justly as God would.” (p. 202)

 

All of these notions have become so ingrained into our social culture that we’ve forgotten their original meaning and purpose. As I mentioned above, turning the other cheek means more that ignoring what happened and moving on. Assuming the person is right-handed, a slap on the right cheek would equate a backhanded slap, saved usually for masters to slaves or soldiers to peasants. Hitting someone on the left cheek would be a fully open-handed slap designed to humiliate the person, giving them the choice only to fight back or cower.

 

Similarly, giving up one’s coat is meant to signify more than simply generosity, and going the extra mile demands much more than making an extra effort.

 

Footnote: “The Bible With and Without Jesus” by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. Published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2020. The discussion above is found in pages 202-203.

A Review of the Book "The Bible With and Without Jesus" by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Title: The Bible With and Without Jesus

Author: Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Year: 2020

426 pages

From the Back: Esteemed Bible scholars Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler take readers on a guided tour of numerous Hebrew Bible stories referenced in the New Testament, revealing a deeper understanding of the texts' historical and literary significance, helping all readers to see more clearly the beauty and power of scripture.

Personal Thoughts: Reading about Jesus from a Jewish perspective has always fascinated me, and I really appreciate having been introduced to the writings of Amy-Jill Levine. In this particular book, she works with Marc Zvi Brettler to explore various pieces of the bible, concentrating on those stories where Christians tend to believe the original story is now "erased" because of the arrival of Jesus Christ. The book is an excellent reminder that Jesus comes from a Jewish background and that what he brought with him was an expansion of the original Hebrew texts, not a cancellation.

    Levine and Brettler's writing is quite easy to understand, making difficult topics easy to read and enjoy. They are not making attempts to turn a person either Jewish or Christian, but from either perspective, this book gives you a chance to explore the depth of your faith and all of the intricacies of the Bible. I highly recommend The Bible With and Without Jesus. I've even already used it as a reference in other writings!

The Holy Spirit Shakes Things Up: A Sermon for the Day of Pentecost

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.

Today, we are celebrating the Day of Pentecost where we commemorate the Holy Spirit being poured out on the disciples in Jerusalem after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many Christians mark this date as the beginning of the Christian Church as we know it.

 

Pentecost comes from a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot. The apostles were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them. It sounded like a very strong wind, and it looked like tongues of fire. Ministers in church often wear robes with red in the design as a symbol of the flames in which the Holy Spirit came to earth.

 

The apostles then found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit. People passing by at first thought that they must be drunk, but the apostle Peter told the crowd that the apostles were full of the Holy Spirit.

 

A lot of sermons will be preached on the "reversal of Babel", or the reunification of God's people under one language. (Do you remember the story about Babel? God punished humans for not doing God's biding of populating the world by giving each other different languages so that they couldn't understand each other and then sent them out into the world in isolation from each other.) However, interpreters have moved away from the traditional views of sin and punishment and have begun to examine the story’s theme of cultural and linguistic origins. A new emphasis is being placed on the diversification of humanity after the flood.

 

It states quite clearly within the passage that the people are building the tower and city in order to stay in one place and to avoid being scattered around the earth. The story then becomes less about pride and more about the desire to preserve the cultural homogeneity of the human race. God’s response to humanity’s actions is to create the world’s cultures by introducing new languages and dispersing the people around the earth. God created us all differently, wanted us to experience life on earth differently from one another, and wants us to embrace our uniqueness.

 

Pentecost almost always falls in the month of June and, therefore, is almost always celebrated during Pride Month. It is interesting to me to think of these two events happening in concurrence. Celebrating Pride Sunday, Pride Week, and Pride Month is all about celebrating diversity. It is a month where the 2SLGBTQIA+ community gets to celebrate who we are, how we live, how we raise our families, and so on and so on. But it's more than just the parties and parades. It's about celebrating that we are still here even though the world doesn't seem to want us around.

 

As a transgender priest, celebrating the Day of Pentecost while celebrating Pride month reinforces the idea that the Holy Spirit was sent to us by God as a call to action. The word Jesus uses in John’s Gospel for Holy Spirit is Paraclete, a Greek word that means “to come alongside another”. The word is often translated as “comforter” but looking at the Pentecost texts, the Holy Spirit isn’t comforting anyone or anything. Instead, the Holy Spirit is shaking things up.

 

This is most pronounced in Acts. There’s nothing particularly comforting about the rush of a “violent wind,” let alone descending tongues of flame. And once the disciples take their new multi-lingual ability into the streets of Jerusalem, pretty much everyone who witnesses their activity is described as “bewildered,” “amazed”, and “astonished.” Again, the Spirit didn’t comfort anyone but instead prompted the disciples to make a very public scene with the troubling good news that the person the crowds had put to death was alive through the power of God.

 

The Holy Spirit is as much agitator as advocate, as much provocateur as comforter. Paraclete as the one who comes along side of us to encourage and equip us for the task of ministry is such a perfect name for the Holy Spirit. If we heed the word and work of the coming-along-side Holy Spirit, we will inevitably be pushed beyond what we imagine and end up stirring things up.

 

We tend to think of the Holy Spirit as the answer to a problem, but what if the Spirit’s work is to create for us a new problem: that we have a story to tell, mercy to share, love to spread, and we just can’t rest until we’ve done so! God sends the Paraclete, the one who comes along side us, to encourage, equip, strengthen, provoke and, at times, to comfort us so that we can get out there and do it all again. I’d even suggest that our job is to “come along side” other people to encourage and equip them as well.

 

We have all been joined by our Baptism into communities of faith that look for – and expect! – the Holy Spirit to come along side us and shake things up, preparing and equipping each and all of us to share the disruptive, surprising, and life-giving word of grace of the God who will not rest until all people enjoy abundant life.

 

So, on this Day of Pentecost, I encourage everyone to embrace the fiery winds of the Holy Spirit and allow her to push you in directions you may not want to go, to places you may not be comfortable being, but to places where you are needed. And on this month of Pride celebrations, God is calling you into action as a defender of God's creation that is full of diversity.

 

I want to close today’s sermon with a sonnet for Pentecost written by Malcolm Guite.

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings

Today the hidden fountain flows and plays

Today the church draws breath at last and sings

As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.

This is the feast of fire, air, and water

Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.

The earth herself awakens to her maker

And is translated out of death to birth.

The right words come today in their right order

And every word spells freedom and release

Today the gospel crosses every border

All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace

Today the lost are found in His translation.

Whose mother tongue is Love in every nation.

 

Amen.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 21

Chapter 21 – Nonresistance

 

An email came across my computer this week from the local Rainbow Resource Center. The headline was “Joy is Resistance. And Together, We Make It Possible.” Within the body it states, “Every day, I witness the transformative power of safer, affirming spaces – and the joy that blossoms when 2SLGBTQ+ people are seen, celebrated, and supported. … queer joy is resistance. In a world that too often tries to silence or erase us, choosing joy is a bold act of defiance. It’s a declaration that we belong, that we matter, and that we will thrive”

 

Many Christian denominations are pacifist, believing that Jesus calls for nonresistance – no violence, no fighting back, etc. I can stand behind that for the most part. Violence should never be the answer, certainly not the first answer, when needing to defend ourselves. As Howard Thurman says, “No one ever wins a fight.” (p. 133) However, pacifism doesn’t need to equate no resistance. Resistance doesn’t need to be violent. As is said in the email I received, joy, celebration, showing support, not keeping silent – these, and many more, are all ways to show resistance to injustices and unfairness.

 

As Harry Emerson Fosdick states, if Jesus was simply nonresistant, why bother crucifying him?  Jesus stirred up so much intense loyalty that people were willing to die for him. And he caused a hatred so fierce that others wouldn’t rest until Jesus was dead. (p. 133) Is this the Jesus of nonresistance?

 

The verse for this chapter is Matthew 5:38, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.” People have used this verse to justify revenge – you did something to me; I’m going to do it back to you. But is this really the Jesus that we know and love? Amy-Jill Levine writes about this verse in her book The Bible with and Without Jesus. She says that the issue here is justice after a crime has been committed. She goes on to say that the Torah, to which Jesus is referring, is speaking not of actual practice of trading a limb for a limb, but of a legal principle known as lex talionis in Roman law, which is “the law of equals.”

 

From the book, “It appears in the classic Roman law code The Twelve Tables, table 8, law 2, which stipulates, ‘If a man broke another’s limb, the victim could inflict the same injury upon the wrongdoer, but only if no settlement was agreed upon.’” Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has taken Torah law and extended it so that people take things further. If we were to continue that pattern, Jesus would have gone beyond eyes and teeth to other body parts or simply told people to do nothing in retaliation at all and simply let it go.

 

However, he does nothing of the sort, moving instead to public humiliation. We will expand on this further in week 22.

 

Footnote: “The Bible With and Without Jesus” by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler. Published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2020. The discussion above is found in pages 201-202.

A Review of the Book "Twilight Zone" edited by Carol Serling

Title: Twilight Zone

Author: Carol Serling, editor

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

Year: 2009

437 pages

From the Back: It was 50 years ago that CBS announced that The Twilight Zone, an unusual new series of dramas dealing with tales stranger than fiction scripted by Rod Serling, would debut on CBS on Friday, October 2 at 10pm. The first episode, "Where is Everybody?" aired that night and was the beginning of a groundbreaking television series that spanned six years and 156 episodes.

    In conjunction with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast episode of The Twilight Zone, this original collection of stories celebrating the unique vision and power of Rod's landmark series was commissioned, and the range and diversity of the resulting stories surprised even me (Carol Serling).

Personal Thoughts: I remember watching The Twilight Zone as a teenager. The stories were so strange and yet captivating. I'm fairly certain that this show alongside of Star Trek is why I am so intrigued by science fiction.

    While reading this collection of stories written in the Twilight Zone format, I was brought back to those days of being entertained by Rod Serling's stoic mannerisms and speech, and the tales that he brought to the screen. These authors did Serling a great honour by being willing to offer up these tales in his name and his style. They were fun to read and greatly nostalgic in format. I dare say that a couple of the stories even gave me the chills!

    This anthology was an excellent break from all of the heavy reading I've been doing lately. Highly recommend for all, but especially for those who were fans of The Twilight Zone.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 20

Chapter 20 – Truthfulness

 

What is truth? This a question Pilate asks of Jesus in John 18:38 in response to Jesus saying, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) So what is truth?

 

For the purposes of exploring the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:33-37 talks about swearing oaths on heaven, on God, on earth, on Jerusalem. Swearing an oath is supposed to mean that you’re telling the truth about what you’re about to say. In a court room, the oath made is to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But again, what is truth?

 

Truth can be factual. Investigators and scientists will look at evidence to solve crimes and to make scientific discoveries. Knowledge can be truth – the earth is round, water is wet, the sun is hot, rocks are solid. In this case, truthfulness lies in the evidence put before us that we can see, smell, and touch. Truthfulness lies in trusting the people who provide us with the evidence and the knowledge.

 

What about opinions? Can they be true? Truthfulness can come from perspective and can be different for every person. I have not seen, smelled, or touched God and yet, for me, God is true and real. For others, God is not true or real. The same goes for Jesus Christ, who is true for Christians but not for Jewish people.

 

The issue around truth becomes distorted when we confuse factual truth for opinionated truth. Social media has exponentially increased that distortion over the years, where the loudest voices come to be considered true and the scientists become accused twisters of truth. I wish I could understand at what point fact and opinion got all muddled up.

 

I like what Francis de Sales says in the book when he states, “Let your words be kindly, frank, sincere, straight-forward, simple, and true; avoid all artifice, duplicity, and pretense.” (p. 127) Jesus calls us to be kind with our words and as truthful as we can be. Don’t be artificial with your words, don’t try to dupe people with your words, and certainly don’t bring harm to others with your words. If you think your words are true, be sincere about them. If someone points out possible flaws in your truth, be willing to have the discussion. However, never deny someone their truth without kindness and without fact.

 

I realize this might sound wishy-washy, giving allowance to all people to have their own truth. But I believe in both fact and opinion, and I want to believe that we all have the ability to have frank discussions without using our words to harm others.

 

Truthfulness is a line we must be willing to walk along with understanding, love, and compassion.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 19

Chapter 19 – Marriage

 

Reading this chapter of the book was awkward, to say the least. I understand that marriage is a sacrament of the church, but if the entire sanctity of the church relies on whether or not people get married, and stay married, then I think we have bigger problems than we realized. Going into this chapter, I was really hoping for a variety of viewpoints, but was sorely disappointed. Now that I’ve said that, let me say a few things about marriage, and about Matthew 5:31-32.

 

As a queer, divorced, and remarried man, I struggle with this verse. I can understand why people don’t want to get married. It can be complicated and messy. Some people simply want to stay single. For some, it’s still illegal to get married – mixed races, same genders, polyamory. Especially for those who have been divorced, sometimes the idea of becoming legally married again might seem not worth the trouble.

 

As well, there are many reasons people get divorced. Perhaps an abusive partner. Or maybe the couple were quite young when they got married and as time went on, the love simply wasn’t there anymore. Perhaps one person in the marriage realized they aren’t heterosexual and therefore remaining in a heterosexual marriage didn’t make sense to do. Assuming that a couple divorces because they were too lazy to work on their relationship is absurd, even thought that seems to be the common perception in today’s society.

 

There are many reasons why people do and don’t get married and there are just as many reasons why people do and don’t stay together. What I can’t hold faithfully is that the lack of marriage or the lack of divorce changes in any way the love that God has for us. Nor can I honestly believe that getting a divorce or being with a person who has been divorced is committing adultery. I think there’d be a lot of people trouble, otherwise.

 

I do believe that getting married brings in a level of visible commitment to another person, and I do believe that such a commitment should be built on love, honesty, and faithfulness. Do I believe that God will smite a person for ending said marriage? No. I can’t bring myself to hold this as truth.

The Revelation to John: Coming Down from Heaven: A Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Easter

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.

Many awful things have happened in the book of Revelation since we last checked in 14 chapters ago! There have been visions of judgment, visions not of what must be, but of what could be if the empire keeps on its current course. Violent visions of self-interest bringing judgment on itself and imploding beneath its own evil. Ultimately, evil brings judgment upon itself.

 

Then we see a dragon, which is Satan, expelled from heaven not through violence, but by the lamb's testimony, by the witness of the lamb’s power of love. That is how evil is ultimately expelled, through the power of love. The dragon Satan comes to earth and wreaks havoc and destruction through its two beasts in the world. The first beast represents Rome (called "Babylon" by John) and the second represents the religion of the Roman Empire and its cult of emperor worship. Again, there is a vision of this empire collapsing under the weight of its own evil, for there is no place for evil in God's vision for this world.

 

Unfortunately, I’ve realized that I won’t be able to finish this exploration of Revelation as I’m heading into two weeks of study leave. So, here’s a brief synopsis of the final two chapters not only of the Book of Revelation, but of the entire bible. In chapter 21 and chapter 22, we see the culminating vision of the perfect world, of the world's final destiny: a vision of its "perfection" or "fulfillment." The trauma and the violence and the chaos are all past. God has banished the evil around us and the evil within us from this world forever. And so, there is a "new heaven and a new earth," for the "old heaven and old earth have made way for the new."

 

It's this new heaven and new earth that is the focus of our reading this morning. Although, what it says in Greek is literally a "fresh" heaven and earth, a refreshed, renewed, or renovated heaven and earth. It is the same heaven and earth but renovated or made like new. The old heaven and earth are not disposable. Indeed, God made them so well in the beginning that they just need restoring. Like that antique piece of furniture that was so well made originally it just needs to be refinished in order to be made like new again.

 

New can be scary and uncomfortable. Have you ever tried a new food? Or gone to a new place? Or tried a new activity? Or had to meet new people? When we think back to 2020, everything was new. None of us had every been locked away in our homes before. I’m thinking most of us had never experienced a health crisis like we did during the pandemic. We had to learn new ways to be together, to worship together, new technology. We’re still learning new things! New things come into our lives through birth, marriage, illness, death.

 

New can be scary and uncomfortable, but also exciting and sometimes very needed. The city of New Jerusalem is the final vision of Revelation. But new doesn’t mean destroy and start over. God didn’t blow the earth up and start again. The book of Revelation isn’t necessarily describing a world gone up in flames. The New Revised Standard Version, the translation we typically use, describes the old world as destroyed, “for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (21:1). But the verb John uses here is not the word for death or dying. It is the verb for departure or going away (apelthon). Heaven and earth haven’t gone up in flames and they haven’t died. Heaven and earth have departed, they’ve left town, they’ve skedaddled.

 

As the old heaven and earth depart, a new heaven and earth come down from God. This scene from Revelation images heaven coming down to earth. Despite popular depictions of heaven, God comes to us. God chooses to join us. It isn’t the other way around. All things flow from heaven to earth and not the other way around. It is this heaven reality, once obscured, is now revealed. In other words, there is an apocalypse!

 

All this to say that God isn’t in the business of starting over. God is in the business of restoration, of renewing our covenantal relationship. To renew something is not to destroy it and replace it. It is to take what is there, and transform it, heal it, and reconcile it to a pristine condition. Limiting our use of Revelation to dealing with disaster, or death as we would in a funeral (as these verse are a typical funeral reading), limits our vision of God dwelling among us here on earth, in our present. The new heaven, the new Jerusalem, is simply the place that God is; heaven is the place where God is and humans are fully invited to be with God. And we don’t need to go up to heaven because God has brought heaven down to us.

 

John tells us that God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (21:6) This means that the beginning is good and the end is good, because God is good. But what about the middle? We all know that the middle isn’t always good. As John reminds us, we are all too familiar with the reality of tears, pain, sadness, darkness, suffering, and death. By bringing heaven down to earth, God has come to mourn with us, cry with us, sit in pain with us.

 

God loves the world. In fact, God so loved the world that God sent his only Son to be with us, to dwell with us, to experience us to God’s fullest. God doesn’t desire our destruction, or the destruction of the earth. God joins us in our pain and suffering and expresses sympathy and concern for us. Just as we see God, God sees us. God calls us to join God in the good work of redemption, the work of radical care. We don’t have to burn it all down. We don’t have to escape to some new world. God meets us right here on earth. God isn’t waiting for us to join God in heaven. God is waiting for us to join God in the good work right here on earth.

 

This is the ultimate lesson we can learn from the Book of Revelation. It’s not about how only a chosen few will survive the total destruction of the earth. It’s not even about the destruction of the earth. It’s about the relationship that God wants with us. It’s about God’s word speaking over a troubled creation banishing evil, restoring hope, and making all things new, including the reconciliation of heaven and earth through the light of God’s glory in Christ.

 

Amen.

Resources

"Revelation for Everyone" by NT Wright

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

pulpitfiction.com

workingpreacher.org

Pastor Michael Kurtz

A Review of the Book "Cross Roads" by WM Paul Young

Title: Cross Roads

Author: WM Paul Young

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Year: 2012

286 pages

From the Back: Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even thought the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He "awakens" to find himself in a surreal world, a "living" landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and, perhaps, redemption. The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to "see" through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is "blind" to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

Personal Thoughts: If you've read The Shack, you'll enjoy this book as well. Not that you need to have read The Shack to enjoy this novel. Young has written yet another enjoyable story about faith, love, and self-learning. Imagine being able to actually experience life through the eyes of another person? Would it cause you to re-examine your own life? Would it teach you lessons of compassion, empathy, and non-judgement? This was a fun book to read, one that has a wonderful storyline of self-discovery and developing human relationships. If you don't take religious imagery too seriously, you'll enjoy reading this story very much.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 18

Chapter 18 – Sexual Purity

 

I’ve been kind of avoiding writing this week’s reflection. Sexual purity is an awkward topic, one that has been used to try and keep teenagers from having sex, used to make people feel bad about having sexual desires, and used to promote chastity as the golden rule of sexual encounters. But should sexual purity be the ultimate goal?

 

Well, I guess that depends on what you believe sexual purity to mean. There is no denying that most humans are sexual beings. Hormones being raging through our bodies during puberty. There is a natural instinct to be with other humans and often an instinct for procreation. Being a sexual person does not equate being a sinful person. It’s all about how you treat the other person.

 

Rather that looking for perfection in our sexuality, what if sexual purity means that when you engage in sexual relationships you do so with respect and honour? And treat each other with dignity and compassion? If sexual purity in the sense of abstinence and monogamy is the baseline of getting into heaven or being close to God, then humanity is a lost cause, full of temptation and sin and failure to maintain our suppose purity.

 

I think this puts too much pressure on us and takes the fun out of life. We are meant to enjoy each to the fullest of our capacities. Sexual intimacy falls into the package that is being human, and we have no reason to deny this part of ourselves. God will not reject a person for listening to their body and embracing all its needs and wants. What God wants is for us to love and honour each other with respect and compassion. That is the type of sexual purity that I can get behind.

The Revelation to John: Nobody Left Behind: A Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Easter

Photo by Rüveyda on www.pexels.com

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen. 

There is a series of books called Left Behind. The collection contains 16 novels, with the first book published 30 years ago. These books are Christian eschatological narratives inspired by the New Testament's Book of Revelation. The storyline focuses on a seven-year conflict, the post-rapture Great Tribulation, between an underground network of Christian converts and an oppressive new world order led by the Antichrist.

 

Despite its apparent fame and an adaption into film throughout the early 2000s, I had only learned about this series last fall while reading a biblical commentary. The premise intrigued me, so I tried reading the books. I made it through the first three novels and that was it for me. The biggest reason has to do with today’s reading from Revelation. Actually, the verses beforehand.

 

Left Behind tells an apocalyptic story about the ending of Earth, set in the contemporary era, over a period of seven years. The true believers in Jesus Christ have been raptured, or taken instantly to heaven, leaving non-believers behind on Earth, now a shattered and chaotic world. If you back up to the beginning of chapter 7 of Revelation, we find a similar story.

 

Throughout chapter 6, all but one of the seals have been opened, bringing forth the 4 horsemen, the souls slaughtered while proclaiming the word of God, and the great earthquake. Chapter 7 begins with 4 angels standing at the corners of the earth, holding back winds that are so strong they will destroy the earth. But first, another angel calls out to the other 4 that the people whom God is choosing to protect from the impending disaster need to be sealed. Sounds like the day of Passover, doesn’t it? Where the people marked their doors with blood so as to be passed over from God’s wrath.

 

Verses 5-8 lists the people who will be receiving God’s seal of protection:

“From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.”

 

12,000 people from each of the 12 tribes – a total of 144,000 people. It is from these few lines that the premise of Left Behind is conceived. 144,000 people out of billions (5 at the time the series started, 8 now). That’s it. The world will be destroyed, and a fraction of the people will survive. And, of course, you had better believe in Jesus Christ to make the cut.

 

Anyway, this isn’t meant to be a critique of the series. Instead, I want to talk about the number 144,000, especially because as we turn to today’s chosen verses, the specific number falls away and simply becomes the multitude from every nation.

 

Numbers are very symbolic in the book of Revelation, they are not meant to be taken literally.

3 = a number suggesting a limited number

4 = universality, ex) 4 corners of the world

7 = perfection or completeness, ex)7 days of creation

12 = completeness or fullness, used especially to brin unity to chaos ex)12 tribes of Israel

1,000 = myriads, number too large to count

 

So now let’s look at verses 5-8: the perfect number of 12 multiplied by the unifying number of 12 (the tribes of Israel) multiplied by a number too great to count (1,000). In other words, John isn’t witnessing the sealing of an exact number of specially selected people equalling 144,000; he is witnessing the sealing of an unbelievably massive crowd of people, a sea of humanity! The calculations found at the beginning of chapter 7 are not limiting, they are unlimited! John even says so in verse 9, “there was a great multitude that no one could count.”

 

John’s vision of this is breathtaking: a vast multitude from every nation, gathered before the throne, clothed in white. These are not the strong, the powerful, or the victorious as far as the world is concerned. They are those who have come through a great ordeal; their robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb. God and the lamb have won victory over death, and it is through the blood of the lamb that we can wear the victorious colour of white. We are forever and eternally protected by God. But that doesn’t mean we won’t still suffer during our time on earth.

 

This is the strange promise of our faith. Victory comes through mercy, not might. The Lamb reigns by sacrifice, not force. Those who follow him are carried through great ordeals, not spared from them. And, most importantly, the salvation of God is for all people, not the limited few. A faithful life doesn’t equal and easy life. But a faithful life means that we trust God to give us the strength and the courage to handle the suffering that comes into our life, to sustains us through all the tribulations that the world throws our way.

 

The promise we have received is not that we will never weep, but that the Lamb is our God, who will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes. It is the Lamb, who died at the hands of human sinfulness and suffering, who will now Shepherd the faithful through our own journeys of faith in the world. The Shepherd who will lead us to springs of living water and give us rest in his grace. And until that day, we hold fast to the one who shelters us, who is always with us.

 

God, we are weary. In a time marked by excessive hunger and thirst, by war and worry, by violence and vitriol, by climate change and corporate corruption, by acts of hate and hurt done by one child of God to another, we are weary. Keep us close and remind us that you are making all things new. Amen.

Resources

"Revelation for Everyone" by NT Wright

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

"New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament" edited by Daniel Durken

pulpitfiction.com

workingpreacher.org