Temptations in the Wilderness: A Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent

This homily is the opening message to the 159th Annual Meeting of the Parishioners for St Peter, Quamichan Anglican Church.

Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.

 

Not long after his baptism, Jesus is sent out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. This wilderness is not just a physical location, but also a spiritual one. It is here that Jesus will be tested three times by the tempter, the deceiver, Satan. First, Jesus is tempted to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. The deceiver is misleading Jesus into using power for himself rather than trust in God to provide. The recognition of being provided for, particularly recalling God’s provision of manna in the wilderness, the knowledge of God’s provision in the direst of times, in the most unexpected and overwhelming circumstances, is what Jesus carries forward and does throughout his ministry.

 

Next, God’s protective grace is tested as Jesus is tempted to use power to secure himself from injury and death. But Jesus refuses to misuse his power and he knows that the tempter is using scripture out of context to try and convince Jesus to test God’s protective grace. Finally, the tempter attempts to seduce Jesus with domination and prestige by offering him control over all the world’s kingdoms in exchange for his allegiance. Jesus has no interest in earthly empires. Jesus is bringing God’s kingdom to earth.

 

Jesus’ temptations are our temptations still. Though none of us are tempted to turn stone to bread, and hopefully none expect to survive jumping off a building, we are still tempted to pursue other paths to wealth, influence, and power. We are still tempted to seek short cuts, ignore God’s will, and pursue goals that promise fulfillment, but only lead to emptiness.

 

Temptation comes to us in moments when we look at others and feel insecure about not having enough. Temptation comes in judgements we make about strangers or friends who make choices we don’t understand. Temptation rules us, making us able to turn away from those in need and to live our lives unaffected by poverty, hunger, and disease.

 

The temptations we all face, day by day and at critical moments of decision and vocation in our lives, may be very different from those of Jesus, but they have exactly the same points. They are trying to distract us, to turn us aside, from the path of servanthood to which our baptism has commissioned us.

 

But as Jesus has taught us, we need to trust that God will provide for us, to understand that we don’t need to throw ourselves off a cliff to prove to everyone that God will protect us, and to know that we move about in the world in the promise that God’s kingdom has come near.

 

As we head into our annual meeting, let’s remember how Jesus turned away the tempter, keeping his faith and trust in God. When we are dealing with the business of the church, especially considering the budget we will be discussing, it can be easy to lose sight of God, to lose faith in the path that God has for us, or to leave God out of the conversation completely. But Jesus has shown us that even through our doubts and fears, God will be walking with us. If we keep our hearts turned towards God, we can achieve anything and everything.

 

Immediately after Jesus came out of the wilderness, he began his ministry. Whenever we emerge from our wilderness experience, we are called to do the same. Finding our way out of the wilderness means that we have accomplished our trial, leaning on God. Jesus made it through to the other side of his wilderness journey, and so will we. May it be so.

 

Amen.

Resources

pulpitfiction.com

episcopalchurch.org

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

'Matthew for Everyone" by NT Wright

The Visible Invisible Mark: A Sermon for Ash Wednesday

Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.

 

Ash Wednesday serves as a solemn reminder of human mortality and the need for reconciliation with God. It also marks the beginning of the penitential Lenten season.

 

Looking back into history, it was the practice in Rome for penitents and grievous sinners to begin their period of public penance on the first day of Lent in preparation for their restoration to the sacrament of the Eucharist. They were sprinkled with ashes, dressed in sackcloth, and obliged to remain apart until they were reconciled with the Christian community on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. It was a public display of their penitence.

 

These practices have since gone by the wayside, replaced instead by the symbolism of placing ashes on the forehead. We may no longer be in sackcloths or segregated from each other but attending an Ash Wednesday service and having ashes marked on our forehead remains a public announcement to the world that we have moved into a time of reflection and penitence.

 

And yet, today’s reading from Matthew seems to indicate that we need to be invisible. If you are going to be pious, give alms, pray, and fast. Do so in private. Don’t announce it to the world. Don’t be obvious about it. Be invisible. Hide. Is Matthew telling us to disguise the fact that we are Christian? Is he telling us to hide who we are?

 

Not at all. Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting were the three pillars of piety for a devout Jew. And all three acts of piety can easily be transformed to be acts of self-glorification. All three acts of piety can be done not to glorify God but to glorify one’s self. The issue becomes one of motive.

 

Many pious and devout Jews were doing the right thing but for the wrong reason. There is always the temptation for religious people to demonstrate their religiosity in order to receive praise, affirmation, and applause. Christians are no exception. And that is what Matthew is wanting us to avoid. Matthew wants us to beware of practicing our piety before others in order to be seen by them. Instead, practice piety because you believe it brings you into a closer relationship with God. Evangelize by living out the Christian life without expecting praise in return. Do so because you know it to be the right thing to do, not because you want a reward from God or from others.

 

The purpose of tonight’s text is to inspire us to give and act out of our hearts, without any expectation of reward. When Jesus Christ lives in our hearts, our acts of charity, devotion, and love are real, not phony. They are genuine not fake. They come from unselfish motives with no expectation of any external reward. Jesus wants us to let our lights shine that others might see our good works of love, but we are not to show off our works of love. Don’t do things in order to be a hero or receive praise, but just because the person in front of you needs love. That’s what it is all about. Announce your Christianity to the World! But do it without expectation of anything in return.

 

Tonight is a night where we aren’t meant to be quiet. We become visible to the world by donning ashes on our forehead. A colleague of mine once said to me that ashes are a symbol that blow away in the wind, that washes off without a problem, and that disappear as easily as they appear. He said that the world is ashes, the signs and symbols of sin and death are all around us.

 

The ashes may be temporary, but they reveal what is underneath the sign they mark – the mark of the one who has claimed us, the sign of the one who will not leave us, even in death, the cross of the one who turns ashes into something new, who turns us into something new.

 

The world is ashes. There is division in the world, in our country, in our communities. Our hearts crumble as we listen to the news, as we follow events on social media, and maybe even as we listen to friends and family. But we have the Gospel of truth and hope. We have the message that from the ashes something new will be born and the phoenix of a new world will rise.

 

As Christians, not only do we need to be a part of it, but we need to lead the way. A few years ago, a joint message from the bishops of MNO Synod, Diocese of Rupert’s Land, and Diocese of Brandon contained this statement, “God is speaking, the Spirit is sighing deeply, and the Body of Christ is compelled to prayer and prepares to act to relieve suffering.”

 

The Church in every age has responded to God’s call to pray and work for peace. As the church, the Body of Christ, moves through the marketplace and side streets, it is a sign of God’s holy and healing presence, a responsibility the gospel compels us to take up. Let us pray and work for understanding, relief, and compassion in our communities. Let us recommit ourselves to the work of reconciliation which Jesus has shown us through the Gospel stories. Let us work to dispel fear and then draw people into healthy interdependent relationships where we can act locally to make a global difference.

 

On this Ash Wednesday, may God’s gracious love guide us into Lent and deeper trust as we follow Jesus. Our faith practices are not about us or what others might think. Jesus commands us to practice our faith in ways that focus on God, not ourselves. Jesus calls us to share our practices with God. Tonight, as we accept the sign of the cross on our foreheads, let us remember that we are Christians, and they will know us by our love.

 

Amen.

The Mountain Before Us: A Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday

Photo by Kyle Johnson on unsplash.com

May my words be gentle but your message strong. Amen.

 

What an emotional week this has been. It’s not often that we have school shootings in Canada. Only 9 since 2000 compared to the US’s 642. And yet here we are, mourning alongside our neighbours of Tumbler Ridge for the lives lost in and affected by a horrific event. While this is not something that happened in the Cowichan Valley, it feels like it happened in our backyard. When a tragic event like this happens, no matter where in the country it happens, feelings like grief, numbness, anger, and fear rise up inside of us. It’s hard to know what to do with these feelings we’re having. We want to hug our families close, especially our children, and maybe even hide away from the world. Maybe we want to yell at God, and that’s ok. There’s no one else to yell at, and I promise you, God can handle it. To have all this tumbling around in our hearts while hearing passages about the dazzling sights and sounds of Jesus’ glorious divinity being revealed to his friends, and to us, is confounding, to say the least. But perhaps there is something in today’s scripture that can give us some comfort, maybe even some hope.

 

The Last Sunday of Epiphany, also known as Transfiguration Sunday, serves as the climax of the Epiphany season. It marks the transition from the season of revelation – celebrating Jesus as the light of the world – to the reflective, penitential season of Lent. What we will see and hear takes us from one season to the next: from Epiphany, God made manifest in Jesus to Lent, Jesus’ journey to the cross. Clouds, and fire, and glory! God is making a bright and bold statement, clarifying what Jesus means to us and who he is to us, but first there is this mountain before us, especially today. A mountain of emotions that is perhaps dimming the light, making it so that we can’t see clearly what God is trying to show us.

 

In both the Exodus story and the Gospel story, the mountain is a place our main characters go off to pray and to meet God. In Exodus, Moses and his friend Joshua climb up Mount Sinai where they sit for 6 days. I am making the assumption they sat in prayer, not idly hanging about. On the 7^th day, they meet the devouring fire of glory that is God. The dazzling sight before them began the steps of receiving the new covenant between God and the Israelites. Matthew also tells a dazzling story where Jesus and his friends Peter, James, and John, after 6 days of prayer (ok I’m making another assumption here), go off on their own up a mountain. It is here that Peter, James, and John see and hear more in this moment than they’ve seen and heard in the previous three years they’ve been with Jesus. This is a light and sound show like no other. Suddenly, the earthy Jesus with his dusty feet and tired eyes becomes the ethereal Jesus – robe glowing and face shining – a shimmering window into pure divinity. It is in this moment, on this mountaintop, that these men meet God in Jesus – and they fall to the ground in fear.

 

What would you do with a mountaintop experience? Resist? Fall down in fear? Would you even climb the mountain in the first place?

 

There are many points in our lives where we come across mountains that cast a shadow over us, building up our fears and uncertainties. This past week has certainly been one of those mountains. The world feels like a terrible pace right now. The world is a challenging place right now, for many reasons, and we often don’t know how God’s people are called to live within it or how we are called to lead people in these fearful and changing times. It’s in these times where we can easily lose sight of God.

 

And yet, through it all sometimes in profoundly unexpected times, we are pulled up out of the difficulty and find ourselves right back up on the mountaintop where again we are privileged to see Jesus transfigured before us, “shining like the sun itself.” We remember why we are here and why we do what we do. And somehow with that to carry us, we are able to join Jesus in going back down the mountain and joining God’s beloved people in times and places where they also find themselves yearning for the kind of understanding and hope which too often we only receive when we have been on the mountaintop. And though the way of our journey ahead is not entirely clear; what is sure is that we will encounter God and that we do not travel alone. God invites us into ministry where we might be delving into the hard parts of life, and not necessarily through dazzling moments of transfiguration, but more likely in the daily trenches of faithfulness.

 

We need to take our transfiguration moments, our mountaintop moments, our God moments, with us, to remind us why we are on this journey, especially when things are difficult. Like Moses and Joshua…like Peter, James, and John, we may not always understand what we have witnessed or what we have experienced, but we know that we are loved and called by the God who shares these moments, these experiences with us. We may not always understand the mountain of emotions before us, but we can take to heart the knowledge that God feels every emotion with us – grief, anger, fear – all of it.

 

As we prepare to enter the spiritual wilderness of Lent and explore our brokenness, we already know how this story ends. The story of Jesus requires us to take the brilliance of the Transfiguration into our own journeys, so that God can give the ending meaning. The story of Jesus tells us that God was willing to suffer agony on the cross so that we would know we are not alone in our despair. The story of Jesus tells us that death is not the end and gives us comfort and hope that God is always with us, and we will always be with God.

 

Let us pray the prayer provided to us by the Provincial House of Bishops,

 

We stand together in hope. We stand together in faith. We stand together in love. We stand individually as ambassadors of hope, vessels of faith, and sentinels of love. We stand as a community committed to making no peace with gun violence. We pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to inflame and enkindle our lives, our churches, our communities, our cities, and our nation with a passion for lasting peace; through Jesus Christ the Author of Peace.

 

Amen.

Resources

luthersem.edu

episcopalchurch.org

A Review of the Book "polysecure" by Jessica Fern

Title: polysecure

Author: Jessica Fern

Publisher: Thornapple Press

Year: 2020

240 pages

From the Back; Attachment theory has entered the mainstream, but most discussions focus on how we can cultivate secure monogamous relationships. What if, like many people, you're striving for secure, happy attachments with more than one partner?

    Polyamorous psychotherapist Jessica Fern breaks new ground by extending attachment theory into the realm of consensual nonmonogamy. Using her nested model of attachment and trauma, she expands our understanding of how these emotional experiences influence our relationships. Then, she sets out six specific strategies to help you more toward secure attachments in your multiple relationships.

Personal Thoughts: Whether or not you're exploring polyamorous relationships, human beings are social people and tend to have some sort of relationship with more than one person. It's likely you have more than one friend, more than one relation, and more than one co-worker. Understanding what it means to be in a healthy relationship with another human being is important for the progress of society. polysecure was a fairly easy read and gave some very good insight as to how to exist in harmony with yourself and with others.

A Review of the Book "Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview" by Randy S Woodley

Title: Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview

Author: Randy S Woodley

Publisher: Baker Academic

Year: 2022

134 pages

From the Back: Cherokee teacher, missiologist, and historian Randy Woodley encourages us to reject the many problematic aspects of the Western worldview and the convert to a worldview that is closer to that of both Indigenous traditions and Jesus.

Personal Thoughts: This book was assigned reading for a class that I am taking. I was really quite good. Woodley is a process theologian. Process Theology is a concept of God that is rooted in the nature around us. It also states that God is both eternal and temporal, immutable and mutable, and impassible and passible.

    Using a storytelling method of discussing God, Woodley explains how Indigenous people view God and God's relationship to the world. Unlike most theology books, this one was quite easy to read and understand, and you can definitely feel his passion about the connection between God and nature.

    As we work towards learning more about Indigenous people and reconciliation, reading about their worldview is an excellent first step. Woodley's book is an easy entrance into that work.

A Review of the Book "In the Courts of the Lord" by James Ferry

Title: In the Courts of the Lord

Author: James Ferry

Publisher: Key Porter Books Limited

Year: 1993

231 pages

From the Back: In February 1992, the New York Times reported: "Before an ecclesiastical tribunal knows as Bishop's Court, an archaic forum used by Anglicans to hunt down heretics and other miscreants since the time of King Henry VIII, lawyers for the Bishop of Toronto began the trial of the Rev. Jim Ferry."

    This extraordinary court, the first of its kind in over forty years, found James Ferry guilty of willful disobedience and disrespectful conduct toward his bishop. But the real issue the Court faced was that James Ferry was in a loving homosexual relationship while ministering to the spiritual needs of his Unionville, ON parishioners. James Ferry lost his parish, his livelihood, his privacy, and the man he loved, but he remains a priest, and an articulate advocate for gays and lesbians who yearn for full inclusion in the Anglican Church.

    In the Courts of the Lord chronicles the anguished process by which, after the failure of his marriage to an evangelical Christian woman and several loving but fragile relationships with men, Ferry came to terms with his sexual orientation. Ferry describes the history of his devotion to the Anglican Church, his successful work in one of the more difficult parishes in Toronto, and his election to the Unionville parish where his clerical career was abruptly halted. His account of how a homophobic member of his congregation encountered his partner while snooping around the rectory, and then agitated for James Ferry's removal, is both vivid and shocking.

    With pain, compassion, and deep insight, Ferry explains the moral dilemma in which the Church now finds itself, on the one hand committed to accepting gay people within the Church and society, on the other hand requiring that they refrain from entering into loving relationships.

Personal Thoughts: This book was very powerful and a reminder that the past is not really that long ago. As a transman going through the ordination process, I had to tread carefully and fully expected to be booted from the process by my bishop. Luckily I wasn't and I continue to be lucky with finding supportive people around me. However, I can probably guess why I didn't get certain positions within the church, especially considering how public I am on social media and in the news.

    In the Courts of the Lord is a perfect book for anyone who questions why we still need to talk about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and their place in the church as well as the pain the church has caused.

A Review of the Book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell

Title: Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Publisher: Secker & Warburg

Year: 1945

96 pages

From the Back: Revolution is in the air at Manor Farm after old Major, a prize boar, tells the other animals about his dream of freedom and teaches them to sing "Beasts of England". Mr Jones, the drunken farmer, is deposed and a committee of pigs takes over the running of the farm. The animals are taught to read and write, but the dream turns sour, the purges begin, and those in charge come more and more to resemble their oppressors.

    Orwell's allegory of the Soviet revolution remains as lucid and compelling as ever. In beautifully clear prose, he gives us a vivid gallery of characters and a fable that conveys the truth about how we are manipulated through language and the impossibility of finding heaven on earth.

Personal Thoughts: Animal Farm is one of those books that I probably should have read in high school but never did. It was recommended to me by my partner as a "must read". She said that the story relates perfectly to what's going on in the world today. And boy they weren't kidding! Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is the crux of this story. The animals wish for a better life, one where everyone is equal. On the surface, it seems like the perfect plan. But it doesn't take long for one group of animals to get the taste of being in control and taking power from the others. Keeping those below them uneducated, not keeping government transparent, using threat of danger as a motivation tactic...sound familiar?

    Animal Farm is a good read but beware, the subject matter hits home. I highly recommend it, as well as Orwell's 1984.

Finding Hope in Suffering: A Sermon for the Presentation of the Lord

Photo Credit: Mart Production

O God, take our minds and think through them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.

 

February 2^nd is a holy day called the Presentation of the Lord, or in Catholic circles, the Purification of our Lady. Bringing your attention to Leviticus chapter 12, it says,

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, saying: ‘If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed… When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering. He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, male or female.’”

 

Under the Mosaic Law, a woman was ritually “unclean” for 40 days after childbirth, when she was to present herself to the priests and offer sacrifice for her “purification.” Contact with anyone who had brushed against mystery, whether that be birth or death, excluded a person from Jewish worship.

 

In today’s gospel reading, we find Mary and Joseph respecting the Mosaic Law by offering the sacrifice prescribed for the poor: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. We also discover a number of people who have been waiting for a very long time for their great hope to arrive. First of all, Simeon, who’s described as waiting for the consolation of Israel. Secondly there’s Anna and the people that she speaks to who are looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. All these people are looking for the same thing. They’re looking forward to the fulfilment of prophecies such as Isaiah’s that told of the restoration of Jerusalem, of the coming of the Messiah to restore the fortunes of Israel, and to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth, bringing salvation to all peoples.

 

All these people were waiting for God to act. Most of them had been waiting for many years. We’re not told how old Simeon was, but the implication is that he’d lived beyond the normal span of years as he waited to greet the coming Messiah. He’s certainly ready to go once he’s seen Jesus. Anna we’re told, is 84, which was a great age for the time. But notice that their time hasn’t been wasted. Rather they’ve spent their time in worship of God. Simeon is described as righteous and devout. That is, his life was exemplary. He was a regular worshipper of God. He was open to God speaking to him and responded when he heard God’s voice. We’re told the Holy Spirit rested on him. Presumably that means that he’s a prophet, like the prophets of old. God, it seemed, had been silent for 400 years. There had been no prophets since Malachi. But now here is Simeon, waiting for the Messiah to be revealed. In fact, Luke tells us that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

 

Similarly, there was Anna. She too was a prophet. She never left the temple but worshipped there with prayer and fasting night and day. What a great example of a godly woman. And what a great example of a woman who acts as a mouthpiece for God. Anna is a great example of a woman whom God uses to teach his people about who Jesus is.

 

Simeon and Anna had each spent long years at prayer in the temple. In that time, they must have seen countless babies. But, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, some special quality in Jesus aroused in them the conviction that this child was the Messiah. Their long years of faith-filled yearning were over. They recognized him. The Anointed of the Lord had come.

 

This Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a celebration of that extraordinary moment of recognition. It is a moment worth thinking about, because we are all invited to experience it. Each one of us is called upon to recognize Jesus. We won’t have that forty-day old baby to gaze at, but the same Holy Spirit who inspired Simeon and Anna is with us, enabling us to recognize Jesus in the Scriptures, in the hungry, in the stranger, in the prisoner, and in the Eucharist we share.

 

In Luke’s account, Jesus was welcomed in the temple by two elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. They embody Israel in their patient expectation, both living in a world of patient hope where suffering has become a way of life. They acknowledge the infant Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, God’s appointed redeemer who will deal with the suffering by sharing it himself. Luke also tells us that to love Jesus is to suffer with him when Simeon tells Mary, “A sword will pierce your own soul, too.”

 

When we look at the world around us, we can see the suffering. People are hurting, hungry, sick, and dying. Violence is rising. Politics are becoming destructive. God’s people are suffering. How do we recognize Jesus in this suffering? Where is God in this suffering? From theologian and author NT Wright,

“Everybody has their own role in God’s plan. For some, it will be active, obvious, working in the public eye, perhaps preaching the gospel or taking the love of God to meet the practical needs of the world. For others, it will be quiet, away from public view, praying faithfully for God to act in fulfilment of [God’s] promises. For many, it will be a mixture of the two, sometimes one, sometimes the other.”

 

Keeping Wright’s words in mind, what is our role in this suffering?

 

In Simeon’s and Anna’s world, suffering was an everyday thing, with no end in sight. But they were able to hold out hope that God’s promises would come true one day. They found that hope in Jesus. When we look around, it feels as if this suffering will go on forever. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. In fact, it just seems to get worse on the daily. But we can have hope, too. Our hope lies in the knowledge that God is sitting with us through it all, shedding the same tears and feeling the same grief, while also presenting to us, in Jesus, the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is confronting the Kingdom of the World.

 

I will end this time of teaching with a prayer for grieving by Cole Arthur Riley,

                        “God who is moved to tears,

Lead us into a kind of solidarity that reminds us that in pausing to bear witness to suffering, we do not center ourselves as the rescuer. We do not become the voice. Free us from the responsibility to understand every tragedy at once. Help us to discern our capacity for solidarity, lament. Help us to learn when to stand and when to rest and allow others to do so, remembering that our activism is shared among a collective. We don’t have to hold it alone.”

 

Amen.

Resources

sermoncentral.com

franciscanmedia.org

"Luke for Everyone" by NT Wright

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

Has Christ Been Divided?: A Sermon for the 3rd Sunday After Epiphany

O God, take our minds and think through them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.

 

Things were not going well in the fledgling Corinthian Christian congregation and matters seemed serious enough to occasion a letter from the Apostle Paul. In-fighting and clique-forming were the norm. Factions were splintering the congregation as people claimed allegiance to one leader over another instead of following God’s way in the central message of the gospel of Christ. Paul is urging the people to cease their divisions and quarrels and to remember that they were all united by their baptism in the name of Christ. Paul argues that the central message of the gospel is the cross of Christ, and it is through the lens of the cross that Christians are called to regard one another and to treat them accordingly.

 

We are called to do the same. We are all one in Christ being connected to each other through our baptism in Christ’s name. Like the religious people so fiercely denounced by the biblical prophets, some Christian believers have been or continue to be complicit in supporting or perpetuating prejudice and oppression and fostering division. History shows that, rather than recognising the dignity of every human being made in the image and likeness of God, Christians have too often involved themselves in structures of sin such as slavery, colonisation, segregation, and discrimination which have stripped others of their dignity on the spurious grounds of race, gender, sexuality, and so forth. So too within the churches.

 

Churches must acknowledge how they have been silent or actively complicit regarding social injustice. Racial prejudice has been one of the many causes of Christian division that has torn the Body of Christ. Toxic ideologies, such as White Supremacy and the doctrine of discovery, have caused much harm, particularly in North America and in lands throughout the world colonized by White European powers over the centuries.

 

Christians throughout history have excluded, persecuted, and killed those they deemed to be different – Jews, Muslims, gays, witches, heretics, and so on. Today, separation and oppression continue to manifest when any single group or class is given privileges above others. The sins of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia is evident in any beliefs or practices that distinguish or elevate one type of person over another. As Christians we must be willing to disrupt systems of oppression and to advocate for justice. Christians have failed to recognise the dignity of all the baptised and have belittled the dignity of their siblings in Christ on the grounds of “difference”.

 

Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr memorably said, “It is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hour in Christian America”. This statement demonstrates the disunity of Christians. This division runs counter to the unity that God desires for the whole of creation. Tragically this failure to recognise the dignity of all people is part of what has divided Christians from one another, has caused Christians to worship at separate times, and in separate buildings, and in certain cases has led Christian communities to divide.

 

Now, not all Christians distrust, demonize, fear, caricature, and separate themselves from each other. We can also find voices of inclusion, embrace, toleration, and even celebration. How can we live our unity as Christians so as to confront the evils and injustices of our time? How can we engage in dialogue, increase awareness, understanding and insight about one another’s lived experiences?

 

Let us be open to God’s presence in all our encounters with each other as we seek to be transformed, to dismantle the systems of oppression, and to heal the sins of racism. Together, let us engage in the struggle for justice in our society. Oppression is harmful to the entire human race. There can be no unity without justice.

 

We need to confront all instances of oppression and bring forth justice for all. We are all human and we all deserve the dignity of living the truth of our lives, to live as we are, to embrace our differences in the knowledge that we are all children of God deserving of love, peace, and salvation. And, in this unity, we all belong to Christ. It is the gifts and the life experience of the people of the church that gives the most complete picture and witness of the body of Christ and where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are experienced and exercised.

 

It is not an act of charity to reach out to those different from us or our way of being Christ’s person in the world, or who have been taught the faith differently. It is an act of faithfulness, an extension of the faith of Jesus, to seek communion with all those who call upon the name of Jesus. If we belong together to Christ, we must belong to one another.

 

Our church is divided. But it doesn’t have to be. It is up to us to bridge the divides and bring unity as baptized people of Christ. We must find ways to work together as the undivided Body of Christ, not with the goal of all being the same, but to embrace all humanity as they are, in all their differences, and as loved Children of God.

 

Amen.

A Review of the Book "Life of the Beloved" by Henri JM Nouwen

Title: Life of the Beloved

Author: Henri JM Nouwen

Publisher: Crossroad Publishing Company

Year: 1992

149 pages

From the Back: This spiritual classic began as a simple request from one friend to another. Fred Bratman, a secular journalist and writer, asked friend and renowned author Henri Nouwen to write a book explaining the spiritual life in terms that he and his friends could understand, avoiding theology and technical language. Nouwen's answer has become one of the most cherished books of our era.

Personal Thoughts: I don't think I've read anything by Henri Nouwen that I haven't liked. Life of the Beloved is no exception. Coming recommended to me by a friend and colleague, I enjoyed the conversational style writing of the book. It made for easy reading. The challenge made by Nouwen's friend, to talk about spirituality without talking about theology was quite interesting. As it was pointed out to me, the book it laid out almost perfectly for a 6-week book study, so I may end up doing just that one day.

A Review of the Book "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan

Title: The Eye of the World

Author: Robert Jordan

Publisher: To Doherty Associates

Year: 1990

782 pages

From the Back: The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Personal Thoughts: I will be honest. It's not often I reread books but I decided to challenge myself to read through the Wheel of Time series. The Eye of the World was my first foray out of the science fiction genre many years ago. I had only read the first 3 books of the series and then got defeated by the sheer massiveness of the books. Now that I've gotten used to reading longer novels, I'm hoping I will slowly make my way through the series. The story is quite incredible and I love Jordan's writing, but it will definitely take me a long while to read all of the books. Especially as I will still be reading other books along the way. Here we go!

A Review of the Book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E Frankl

Title: Man's Search for Meaning

Author: Viktor E Frankl

Publisher: Beacon Press

Year: 1959

165 pages

From the Back: Psychiatrist Viktor E Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful. Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.

Personal Thoughts: I won't say this was an easy book to read, because it certainly wasn't. It's also not one I likely would have picked up, except that it was on my course reading list. However, I don't regret making way through these pages. I have read plenty of books from the WWII era over the last few years, most of them historical fiction, but to read about the events from the perspective of a psychiatrist was quite different. The fact that Frankl could find meaning in the events of his life, and of his time in the death camps, is simply incredible. It was also interesting to read about his theory of logotherapy. We often hear the phrase "the pursuit of happiness" but I agree with Frankl when he theorizes that it is more important to have the "pursuit of meaning". A life without meaning will never have happiness.

The Servant Brings Salvation to All: A Sermon for the 2nd Sunday After Epiphany

O God, take our minds and think through them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.

 

Today we are blessed to read one a text that stands at the very heart of the Bible's central claim. As it says in Isaiah, the servant of God has been chosen, "chosen before I was born" (Is. 49:1), "so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Is. 49:6).

 

For Christians, the servant is Jesus whose epiphany we remember and celebrate and now attempt to illuminate for our time. Why has Jesus come? It is amazing how many answers to that question we can find in Isaiah, a book written well before Jesus’ time. God’s servant has been called and named before birth, having been known even in the mother's womb (Is. 49:1). The first characteristic of the servant is that their "mouth" was made by God to be "a sharp sword" (Is. 49:2). It is important to note that this servant is decidedly not a warrior but an orator, whose words are sharp rather than whose iron sword is honed for battle. The book of Revelation borrows this image in John's description of "one like a son of humanity" from whose mouth comes a "sharp two-edged sword" (Rev. 1:16). Thus, very earliest Christianity focused on the power of Jesus found in his words, not in his prowess as soldier or fighter.

 

The identity of the servant for Isaiah is not Jesus, but the specific identity of the servant is less significant than the work of the servant. The chief task of the servant is to return the exiles to the Promised Land of God. Isaiah himself paints the famous pictures of Israel streaming back to Zion from the various places of their exile (go back and read Isaiah chapter 2 to see what I mean). When the exiles return to Jerusalem, the glory of God will be revealed and all flesh will see it together, as Isaiah chapter 40 describes it.

 

But now comes the more expansive work that God has for the servant. God says that it is too small a task to speak the word of truth and power only to those you have known and loved and whom you recognize as people like yourself in order that you might create again the community you had before the calamity of exile. No, says God! That is simply too trivial in the grand scheme of my desire for the world. "I offer you as a light to the nations in order that my saving work may reach to the very ends of the earth" (Is. 49:6b). The full task of the servant of God is nothing less than a beacon of light for the whole world in order that all may see and experience the saving of God. This servant was initially summoned to reconstitute the remnant of the Israelite exiles, but Isaiah realizes that such a task is too small, too trivial. No, this servant will now be sent as a "light to the nations," in order that God's "salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

 

In fact, Isaiah echoes famous words from the book of Genesis 12:3 where Abram, God's chosen one, is called from his homeland to be one who "will bless all the families of the earth." In effect, Isaiah's great servant is a new Abram, fulfilling that call given so long ago. Little wonder that the early Christians read this marvelous passage and thought of the one they called Christ. That baby in the manger, so small, so unknown, so mysteriously hidden, for them became public in power and healing, finally despised and dying on a Roman cross. Why? To fulfill the role of the servant, they believed, to offer the light of God to the ends of the earth. The servant Jesus called his followers to attend to all, not just to some, not just to those they knew and loved and recognized as "one of them."

 

And so, he calls us to embrace the world, all of it, in order that all may have the salvation, the "making whole" of God, for them as for us. The call of the servant is to extend the saving work of God to the nations, to the whole earth. How are we light to that vast company? On Isaiah 49:6 rests the Bible's central claim that no one may be excluded from the salvation of our God. And our task is to continue to make that inclusion real in every place and time. We are in good company in the attempt to make inclusion real, aren’t we?

 

Consider the central person in the reading from John’s Gospel. Peter is considered to be one of Jesus’ first disciples, the rock upon which the church has its foundation. But really, he was just a regular guy, a fisherman minding his own business when he was called to be a servant of Christ. We are all aware of his loyalty to Jesus, as well as his cowardice and denial during Jesus’ trip to the cross. He was scared of experiencing the same fate as Jesus. Wouldn’t we all have done what we could to save our hides?

 

But Peter’s failures did not overshadow his faith or his passion. Peter ran to the tomb when he was told of Jesus’ resurrection. Peter was with Jesus during the time after his resurrection and before his ascension. Spurred by accusations of drunkenness during the time following Pentecost, it was Peter who stood up to the crowds, telling them about the events of Pentecost, and demanding they repent. It was his declaration of faith in Jesus that converted about 3,000 people to follow Christ that day. And it was Peter who fought and won the battle to accept Gentiles into the church. Because he knew that God’s salvation was for everyone. So, I ask again, how are we a light to the world? How can we be like Peter and spread the Gospel to all, not just the elite few?

 

Jesus was sent by God to show us how and Peter was his main example. Be an orator, not a warrior. Evangelize through loving action and be nothing less than a beacon of light for the whole world.

 

Amen.