To the heights of his throne

In getting ready this week to preach I encountered a lot of people who seemingly cannot make sense of the Ascension of Jesus. Now, to be fair what I encountered was their writings, letters, sermons and blogs; not these people personally. And that is why I would take the whole of the last encounter the apostles have with Jesus and read it with the account of his Ascension. Encounter Jesus in the midst of the Church and experiencing him as the risen and arising Lord go together. They go together like toast and tea; like hand in glove; like peanut This peace is not just any peace but God’s own peace. Peace that moves a person from fear to faith. It is a peace that moves a person from misery to mercy. It is a peace that removes the idols of people’s lives and replaces them with the awe and wonder of the presence of the Almighty and everliving God.

The reaction to Christ’s presence is fear and bewilderment of those who are supposed to know him best. They suppose they are in the presence of a ghost or are hallucinating all together his presence among them because of their shared grief. So he shows them the marks left by the nails in his hands and his feet. Yet knowing it is really him, the Church remains befuddled by this moment. And so Jesus goes one more step and asks for something to eat. Hey give a piece of broiled fish leftovers from the recently completed supper of that day. Jesus goes and washes up and comes to the table and eats his piece of fish.

It is in this moment that I have to wonder what it was that the disciples talked about with each other as they watched the fish disappear into Jesus’ mouth. We aren’t told but I know there must have been something said. Peter, Thomas, even John the beloved disciple must have had something to say, even if it was only “Wow!” Then there was time through the late afternoon for Jesus to open up the Scriptures and show them that everything that needed to be done was done and everything that needed to be said was said. He did this to open not only their minds to understand but also their hearts that they might believe and truly live into the lives they had been given.

Then Jesus took them on a short walk to a familiar place where two important things happened. First Jesus blessed his friends and told them to wait for the power of the Spirit before they go to live into the blessing. Second, Jesus as he leaves takes his humanity with him to the heights of the heavenly throne. And there he waits to come again at the Father’s biding to return and to bring with him the new creation that will last and grow into eternity.

So we await our Lord and his return, not left alone and to our own devices but to live into the blessing he provides and with the power to become the children of God through the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

Learning to love full time

A usually irate parishioner is said to have tackled the rector after church one Sunday morning. "I'm so glad you preached an historical sermon," she said. The rector, shocked by this unusual praise beamed thanks. The parishioner continued, "Yes, because I am sick and tired of hearing about love all the time."

Is it possible that we have not got the message about love yet in the Church? As I approach this Sunday, I cannot help but think that we in the Church, know what, love is and therefore we lack the obedience that God demands of us because we have tuned out and shut down because we think that we have it all together. We have certainly learned that God sent his Son so that Jesus could die for us. Some will understand that there is life after the cross and the grave. But how many will know that they need to continue to stop and listen? Or let’s think of it another way: love expresses itself in obedience and obedience will express itself in love.  And if this is so, let me ask you a question: “What will you lay your own life for?”

Then world around us is constantly worried with who we can love... dating sites on the internet to find that special somebody; trying to find and using drugs to enhance physical expressions of love (also known as sex). The world worries about whether are we being emotionally supported by our significant other and about whether or not are we getting what we need or do we need to go somewhere else? Are we going g to make changes in our life to bring us happiness?  The world’s idea of happiness, far short of the joy that God offers us is what we can get to fill our lives with that will supposedly make us happy. So long as we can get, things are good.

Just in case you haven’t noticed or figured it out, that is not the way that Jesus lived among us. His command to love each other is borne out of how he lives and loves us. He has been teaching us and calling us to live and to love like he does. And he loves us so that we can discover the joy that comes from living such a life. There is a deliberate choice to love God and to love others. So perhaps then the lesson that we need to learn now is that there isn’t a person on the face of the planet that isn’t worth giving, sacrificing and dying for. Didn’t Jesus tell all of his disciples, “By this (sign) all will know you to be my disciples, by your love, one for another”?

Here is a simple truth: the real power of love is not in what it can get and possess. The real power of love is in love’s ability it give and to give freely to another. It is what God teaches us in the death and resurrection of Jesus. If we are God’s, chosen and appointed by God to be his Church in the midst of the life of the world then through our relationship with God we are witnessing the building of the Church and the transformation of human society. We are not a part of the Church or living as spiritual people solely for personal gain or selfish ends. We are the fruit of Christ’s life being offer to the world that they might come and eat and live.

If we claim life with Christ then there is, out of necessity, the need to love both God and neighbour. This means that there will be the need to learn to not only giving but to surrender because we are God’s and his alone. We are called to love and to live, in his name. We are God’s and we need to love all time.

Abiding in the Vine

When I was a little boy I used to spend a lot of time at my maternal grandparents. They had a modest, well kept bungalow in “uptown” Kelowna, better known perhaps as Rutland. My grandparents shared a passion for the care of their yard. The lawn was as thick and as tightly woven as any carpet. My grandfather would mow it in one direct one time and then two weeks later would mow it in the opposite direction the next time. My grandmother had a beautiful rose garden out front and a vegetable garden in back. There were all kinds of flowers and plants in the back yard which required a lot of tender, loving care throughout the growing season.

At the very back of the yard there was an apple tree. I thought the tree marvelous because it grew more than just one kind of apple. In fact it could grow four different kinds of apples. My grandparent would hire an arbourist who over several years built a relationship with the apple tree. I can remember in early spring when the tree was pruned, it would be the ugliest looking thing I had ever seen. But as time passed from spring into the summer, from the ugly barrenness of the pruning phenomenal growth occurred, and the tree would change. Blossoms into buds and buds into fruit. By the end of July the Tree would be so loaded with apples that my grandfather would have to prop up the limbs of the tree so that they would not break off because of the weight of the fruit.

I can also remember one year when my grandparents had someone else come in had prune the tree. The results were less then satisfactory and the tree did not yield the kind of fruit that it normally did. And the next Spring, the regular arbourist was back and there were apples galore!

So how does this matter to the Church? Well first we need to remember who God is and then see what God is doing. The Church needs to learn to abide in God – not just the individual Christians. It is easy to make this all about each person and how God works in each person’s life, though this is important in the growth and life of the Church. John’s recount of life at the table with Jesus reminds us that this is not just about individuals, this is about the community. And the people that are being removed are people who have been unproductive in their faith and practice of that faith. We have been chose and appointed not just to be fruitful. We have been appointed to bear much lasting fruit. In other words there are things that God has called us to do and there are things that God wants to accomplish in us. We cannot stand in the church parking lot or on the sidewalk and claim to love God and be good people if we then turn and mistreat and disregard the people around us. We can also never know the full extent of the height, the depth, and the breadth of God’s love for us. So that same love calls and challenges us to keep love those we find around us because of the circumstances that we find them in.

We are called by God to be the living sacrifice he wants to me in recreating the world into the new creation that will someday manifest itself. We are to live out the dyings and risings of Christ. This is how God “prunes” us a makes us ready to bear the fruit of the spiritual life and to live the life of his Son in this moment. In this way we are slowly becoming the people and the Church that God created us to be in the first place. And if we are becoming the people and the community God intends then this has a benefit of being there for the rest of the world that they too might be drawn in and begin to live the abundant life that God offers. Being in Christ the vine is hard work. It is hard work to stay with him and harder still to be pruned by the Father, but then though such things we are empowered to be the followers and leaders that we are meant to be. We living out the promises that God has made to humanity. This is the life that we are all called to in the Church that others might find abundant life and eternity with us and with God.

A start of the Week smile

Walking before the King

An old Chinese proverb tells the story of a fox that was captured by a tiger. The fox said, "You can't eat me because the King has made me the leader of all the animals." The tiger did not believe him because the fox was crafty. So the fox said to the tiger, "Follow me and see if any animal in the forest challenges me." The tiger agreed to this and followed directly behind the fox as the fox began his walk through the forest. To the tiger's amazement it turned out to be exactly as the fox had said. Not a single animal they encountered challenged the fox. Indeed every animal they met fled in sheer panic. After several such encounters the tiger finally agreed that the fox was the leader of all the animals and let him go. It goes to show that it is always easier to lead when you have a tiger backing you up.

I choose to tell you this story for a simple reason: we need to stop and examine our relationship with the Christ the Tiger. It is important to do so in the light of the many things that he has said in this chapter about who the real leader is and what real leadership is about. Jesus directly challenges those who call themselves, the priests and prelates, the Pharisees and Saduccees, the lawyers and Levites who make known the Law and how to follow it. There is a controversy about Jesus having healed a man who was born blind and did this healing on the Sabbath.  In doing so, Jesus provokes the leadership of the faith into finally dealing with him and this leads to his death on the cross.

You might wonder why Jesus would do such a thing? In making his challenge, Jesus labels those who claim to be decent shepherds and following God pretenders, thieves and robbers, and most of all he calls them blind. He boldly pronounces that he is the better leader and that he is God by telling them “I am the Good Shepherd”. But we need to be careful here, this is not a battle of political parties, trying to get someone to vote for them. Jesus goes much further than that. He claims that he can bring life to those who follow him. The heart of the argument that Jesus makes is this: “The thief comes for nothing but to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they might have life and have life abundantly.” This means that those who try to live a life without the Shepherd live the shell of a life – a live that is not able to give life and a life that is not able to truly and full live.

So, in a real way not only do we learn something about Christ the tiger, we learn that there is a promise about having him in our lives. It is not just a promise. It is more than a huge promise. It is a life giving life, life transforming promise that, when you follow and walk before him, your life is never going to be the same again. It is also important to know that your Shepherd is going to lead you to where you need to be. This means you are not always going to go where you want to, but where you need to be, for your sake, for the sake of others and most of all for God’s glory.

We need to consider carefully how we live before the Lord, knowing not only that he is risen from the dead but that he is also Lord and King of all creation. Holy and faithful living is not just for those who are in the leadership, especially the clergy. It is for all who would walk before the Lord and with the Lord, so that we are with him even in the valley of the shadow of death, we continue to be who we are and continue to become the people that God created – filled with his peace, clothed with his love and moved by his power. We are to become the full life that God desires in the face of others.

So let us learn how to walk before the King and to live our lives to their divinely inspired fullest for the sake of his coming kingdom.

Having the Heart to care for our own

Long ago, there was a king who placed on one of his highways, a boulder. Then he hid himself nearby to wait and see if anyone would come along and remove the boulder from the roadway. Some of the wealthiest among his subjects, merchants and courtiers came to the boulder and simply walked around it. Many people loudly blamed the kings for not minding the condition of the roadway and keeping it clear, but did nothing to remove it themselves. Then late in the day a peasant, pulling his load of vegetables comes and stops at the large stone. After struggle and toil the farmer finally moves the boulder out of the highway so that he could pass with his cart and load of vegetables. After he picks up his load to continue on his way, he notices a purse on the side of the road with a note attached to it. Again he puts down his load and goes to the bag, retrieves the note and reads it. The note tells the peasant that this bag contains many pieces of gold which the king himself gives to him, because he took the time to remove the stone from the road. The peasant discovered that day what many of us need to learn: every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve his condition.

Perhaps by now many in the diocese will have heard that the amounts of money coming to the diocese from beyond our church walls and borders is going to be reduced yet again and will be reduced further  incrementally over at least the next four years. I think many of you would look at that kind of news as a kind of boulder that is in our road. I know that it has been a challenge that the leadership of the Diocese has had to grapple with for a while now. It has been hard and a struggle. Now we are faced with the reality that we are going to have to look at how we do ministry in this diocese and how we can do it differently. In the short term at least the reality is that we are going to have to consider personnel cuts as a measure to be able to keep doing what we are already doing. Perhaps that is another stone that we encounter.

We need to consider carefully how we are going to work together to remove the stones that are in our paths to building our ministry across the diocese. One of the things I deeply appreciated about the recently held Clericus was the opportunity to actually pray with my brother and sister clergy in this diocese for the life of this diocese. We were able to talk with one another and be with one another and agree in prayer with one another. The time sent us away from the Cathedral filled with hope and joy and a real sense of belonging to each other. And most of all in prayer, we began to see that God was moving stones out of our road.

At the most recent gathering of the Diocesan Executive Committee in March, each of the members talked a little bit about what was going on in their parishes in terms of ministry and what we as parishes were doing and how we were and are reaching out to people in the parish and beyond. In one parish there is a running group looking to promote health amongst the members of the community while another parish is having a meal and raising monies to help Camp Caledonia. A third parish is running a soup kitchen and helping needy families in the community in which they minister.

Perhaps where we have lacked in our common life as a diocese is in the financial support from within, of the frontline people who lead and administer all the great things that the parishes can do when they have leadership. We have become dependent on the grace and gifts of others to make our own ministry happen. This is the biggest stone in the road. This Diocese has benefited greatly from the generosity of givers from Great Britain in the beginning and from our fellow Canadians even now. There are farmers in Saskatchewan, professional people in Ontario and fishermen in Newfoundland, who every time they put money in the plate to support their own churches, are helping us to do what we do as well.

The hard work that we have ahead of us is to learn how to make the ministry of our Diocese and our parishes truly ours. We need to work to learn how to support the ministry of our parishes and our Diocese so that we can be effective in sharing the good news of God in Christ were we are: from Masset to Fort St. John, from Pouce Coupe to Kitkatla  and all the points in between. And there is one thing more that we need to keep in mind: God is in all this! God is enabling us to be his people, in his way with his blessing. May we take the risk of faith and move forward in the strength of our risen and ascended Lord and Saviour as the early apostles did, making it known that  Jesus lives and he reigns!

Learning to believe by giving your heart away

Did you know that the original meaning for the word “believe” meant to give your heart and not what we have stored in our heads?  Belief is about what we have given our hearts to not what we have managed to store up in terms of knowledge, facts and proofs. This is the moment when we are called to reach out not with what we know but with hope for the things we do not know and the things we cannot prove and yet still know that they are still true.  Or if you want to think of it differently, is believing without doubt really faith?

Let me draw you a picture of what those first days after the resurrection might have been like: there was no pipe organ, no piano, no priest lead and preach. It was the Christian community at its lowest and worst. They were in behind locked doors and shuttered windows for fear of what the world was going to do to them next. It was Church at its nastiest:  group who were frightened, disheartened and defensive. Into this perfectly gloomy conglomeration of people, through locked doors comes the risen Jesus who bids them a good evening and God’s very own peace. The first time he had to say it not just once but twice. The first bidding to was to announce his presence among the disciples and bring their disbelief to an end. Then he greeted them a second time so that they knew that they knew that it was him. Only then they could properly greet each other, Teacher and disciples. But there was one missing who needed to be there but he wasn’t.

And here is the thing about the absent Thomas. The Ranger had Yogi Bear. Snow White and the Dwarfs had Grumpy. Sesame Street had Oscar the Grouch. Charlie Brown had Lucy. And Jesus had Thomas. Thomas was not about to accept anything but the real thing. He wanted an experience all his own; to know that it really was him for his own self after what he had seen on that hill that day not so long ago. Many will pour scorn on Thomas because he did not just accept what he was told. Wasn’t it Thomas who was the one, who in John’s Gospel, encouraged and called his fellow apostles to go with Jesus that they would meet their death together with Jesus? Thomas believed with all his heart that Jesus was the Messiah, the Chosen One and had given it freely only to have it crushed on that hilltop just outside the city. Thomas didn’t need to have a change of heart, just a change of mind.

That’s why Jesus confronted him and challenged Thomas to open up his broken heart to continue to believe in him. And did you notice that Thomas did not need to do what said when confronted? He did need to touch and to see – he knew that he knew he was in the presence of the Master, which is why he boldly confessed for everyone to hear, “My Lord and my God”.

Having faith does not mean that you suddenly have all your questions answered. Having faith means that you will trust what you know because God has shown things to you and that you have hope for what you have not seen because you know God and put your trust in him. e need to learn to walk with our questions knowing that it may take time for us to know and to understand because, as St. Paul might remind us, we see in a glass darkly. We know only in part and only see in part. So I can trust and believe in what I know and leave room for hope because of what I do not know. Thanks be to God for that! Jesus is risen, alleluia!