Making our mission incarnational

Around the Cathedral these days, there is a lot of talk about the future and what the mission of the parish might be. And as it happens, I was doing some research towards some planning we are going to do this winter. In particular, I wanted to know how to define mission so that I could build on that for what we were going to do. Yet in my research I uncovered something I was not prepared for. The word “mission” as it was first used in English in the early 16th Century, according to a online dictionary, is now obsolete. The dictionary indicated that “the act of sending” had ceased. I take that to mean that we do not use the word in that manner anymore. I could not help but think of the work of the Church and what it is that we are called by God to do. And then it struck me. We do not do “mission” the way that we used to.

We could debate the merits and failures of the Church and how it has carried out its mission in Canada and in other places in the world. It would take some time to do that. I believe that such a discussion while tremendously useful on some levels would also distract us from what we need to do in the here and now. Such a belief comes from the old adage “the Church that lives unto itself, dies unto itself.” Thus I am pushing myself to look at the ministry of my own parish, of our Diocese and of the wider Church as something more than the establishment and maintenance of a physical presence in a particular place at any given time. We as parishes and as a diocese, need move from being mission churches to being churches in mission. After all, what is mission but a group of people who are working to see the goals and objectives of God established and accomplished in our lives and that of our community? We are sent and are trusted with the work that would bring people into the kingdom. Our mission is to embody Christ for others to see and to get to know.

When I served in the far North, I would walk (not drive) in the community I served. People in the community came to know me not just by my face or how I talked; people knew me without those things simply by how I walked. Even the children would point at me as I passed by on my way somewhere and would say loudly, “There goes Jesu Krist!” It did matter who it was that saw me, Anglicans, Roman Catholics? No, it didn’t. Even non-believers after a time of getting to know me would say that there was something different going on after I would speak with them. There was calm and a peace that they didn’t know themselves that would be present when we would talk. There would be joy and happiness that was deeper and more real.

So let us make being incarnational our mission. Let us embody Christ for others so that we might both present him and represent him in our different communities. Let us be about the work that God has set before us and be willing to pray with everything we are and give what we have that the kingdom would be extended so that we would go from being mission churches to being communities of mission.

Waiting for the promise

There is something that struck me over this Christmas season about the older people in the Gospel lesson (Luke 2.21-40). It is the ability of older people to wait for things that we have been promised. Simeon and Anna are two such people. Both had lived long lives. Simeon had been away from home a good portion of his priesthood. Anna had been without husband and family for even longer. Both were waiting for God to answer their various prayers which they had been praying in different ways with varying levels of enthusiasm over their lifetimes. Now is the time for their individual moments to shine, to proclaim the greatness of God and the ponderous gift that God had given. and then… well then what?

This is a moment when we can consider not only the faithful lives and Anna and Simeon lived and that is important. Their words and actions point out to the rest of the world who God is and what has done and is going to do in the life of the One they proclaim.

 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.For my eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Today we not only celebrate the movement into another year and the birth of a child who was named Jesus, we celebrate them together. And if we are to be more like Simeon and Anna, then we need to stop and ask ourselves an important question, “When we discover that God has been faithful and fulfilled promises he has made to you, how do you respond?” The Child that has been born for us, the Son that has been given to us should cause us to rejoice. Such a moment is an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness and God’s blessings upon us so that we can become the people that we are. And if we are to be like Simeon and Anna then we need to recognize that this very celebration does not go away with the trees, lights and tinsel. God is faithful to us and responds to us each and every day. God responds to us and to our prayers, our hopes and our dreams each and every time that we are willing to stop and offer them. God’s grace and our giving are not limited to one day or even to a particular season like Christmas. This is a season when we can thank God that he has put his name on us and that god has blessed us. We can praise God that he remains with us and is present to us in the flesh and blood of his One and Only Son. We have indeed been blessed. And we have also been, as my children would say, “Owned”. Because we have been blessed; because we have a name that has been put on us and because God is in our midst, we are still his. And together we live out the risings and dyings of Jesus in our everyday, workaday lives.

Let us follow Jesus that we might learn more of him and of his true nature that we might reflect that light to the world and help people to share in the blessings and honours due is wonderful name. Come let us adore him and celebrate him. What are you waiting for… Christmas?

Thanks to you who read

I wanted to say a thank you to all of my gentle-readers for your willingness to take some time and consider what is posted at Skypilot. When I logged on to write this week, there are been more than  2000 visits to the site. This is appreciated. I look forward to sharing with you in 2012. May God bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up the light of countenance upon you and give you peace.

Jason+

The undomesticated Christmas

When you think about it, it was an interesting way to begin. An unplanned, unexpected pregnancy to a couple who had not come under the same roof yet to full be husband and wife. The wife had disappeared for a length of time to see a relative who was said to be barren and unable to have children. But the old couple did and they had a son. Angels came to the wife and then to the husband to reassure them that what was happening was of God and that God was at work in them and through them. Angels went to the couple and then to shepherds and whispered in the night to magi who had come to see and worship the new born king.

It would seem in our modern moment that we are more worried about what we want. Can we afford it? No problem that is what the credit card is for; we can deal with the fall out in January when the bill comes. That way we know that Santa Claus isn’t going to disappoint. We can even taunt the jolly ol’ elf with text messages telling him he is too late because we when out and got what we wanted and we really don’t want anything from him. As one Christmas commercial put it, Me – 1 and Elf Boy – 0. I have noticed in our culture we are moving more and more away from the idea that Christmas is about what happened that night in the stable more that 2000 years ago and that Santa has become an inept deliverer as well so we are going to have to save ourselves.

And yet in the younger generation there is still that hope. Kids understand that Jesus taught Santa how to give; that there is the need to be generous, caring and kindest in them as well as in the world. One of the things I want to work at is bringing a little bit of Christmas into each and every day so that someone can see and meet the King. After all didn’t John’s Gospel remind us that God came to his own and his own did not receive? God was in the world and the world didn’t know it. And if that is true then what else do we not know? Christmas is about God coming to us. He has come to us and made his presence among us made known. We can see his glory, we can receive what he has to offer and never be the same again – we can be reborn (anothen). We can go from what’s in it for me and why me, Lord to hearing the words, “Come, follow me.”

This is the moment when we are squarely challenged with questions like, “Do you believe that God still comes?” and “Do you believe that God is still at work in the world?” Most people believe that God is watching and keeping track but is not involved. Let this Christmas dispel that notion once and for all – God is here and he is involved through the life of his one and only Son. God comes to us in the flesh so that we might know him and live – really and truly live. God is doing things: great things and small things. God is doing things: mundane things and exceptional things. God is at work helping us as his Church to make know that God is here and he wants to share his love and his life with us. That is not something you will not find under the tree or in a brightly wrapped package in the closet. It is found in the earthenware jars that are us, waiting to burst out. And that can only happen if we learn to be like Mary and Joseph, heeding the voice of angels and the Message of God. Take some time and give thanks for the gifts that you have been given and thank God that the unwrapping of our undomesticated Christmas is still going on.

Will you make room?

Will we make room for God? It is a question that we ought to respond to each Christmas. Can we take a bit of time in the midst of everything that needs to be done to stop and take some stock to see where God fits into everything?  We avoid saying things like, “He must increase and I... must decrease, especially after Christmas!” Jesus came not to be just involved in your life and mine but to take the centre of it. The heart of the Christmas celebration is about being in the presence of the King and knowing the reality of his coming kingdom.

Think of it this way: there is a legend told about the king Hiero II who asked Archimedes to find a method for determining whether a crown was made of pure gold or if the gold in the crown was mixed with silver. One day Archimedes went to get into his bath. And as he sat down in the bath the level of the water rose up as his body displaced the water in the tub. He suddenly jumped up and ran out of the house, stark naked, and ran out into the street exclaiming, “Eureka, eureka! I found it! I found it!”.  Archimedes may have spent some time, days and maybe even weeks, thinking about how to weigh the crown. His discover came as a surprise to him. The truth had been the truth before he knew it. But now he knew that he knew it. He knew how to weigh the crown to discover the truth.

Mary understood this and was willing to receive what God was. Mary was willing to be open to what God asked of her even though it sounded silly, foolish. She was at least open to the possibility that God could take what seemed silly and foolish and make it possible and so much more. Through Mary and her willingness to hear and to respond, God works out salvation for all of humanity. Jesus comes to us because Mary was willing see the truth. We have not found it, he has found us. Now we have the chance to respond to him and his presence. This is as true for those of us who have walked with Christ for many years as it is to the person who is hearing about Jesus for the first time.

Mary had to wait for her time to come, for the birth of the baby. She and her intended would have to make the long trek to Bethlehem on dangerous roads and on foot. And there would be no room for them at the end of that road. It is not easy to make room for Another, but if we are willing he will come into us and live with us and we with him. And that might be the greatest gift any of us can receive this Christmas... so will you make room?

light and hope in God's world

In thinking about holding out the hope and waiting for the coming of the King and his kingdom, I came across the following story during my sermon preparation and thought it important to share it here. The story is about a Rabbi named Hugo Grynn. As a child, he and his family were sent to the labour camp at Auschwitz. In the middle of that tragedy and horror Grynn’s father and family (as did many of the Jewish families in that place) tried to hold on to as many of the Jewish customs as they could. One particularly cold night at the start of Hanukkah, Grynn’s father called the family together. When they were assembled, he took a pat of butter, the last bit of food the family had, and took a string from his own ratty jacket and fashioned a crude candle from them. As he lit the candle Hugo objected and said to his father, “That butter was the last bit of food we have. How are we going to live now?” in reply his father said to him, “We can live for many days without food... we cannot live one minute without hope. This is the fire of hope. Never let it go out. Not here. Not anywhere.”

For me, that is what John the Witness does for the people of Israel. He holds out the light; he reflects the light of the One who is the Light. He is like a roadside sign posts that light up in the darkness as the headlights of a vehicle fall upon it. The light is not his; it does not belong to him. He works to reflect what is not his so that the One can be seen and known. He reflects the hope and the joy and the confidence in God that all of us want and need in our own walks with God. This is a moment to be of good courage and full of joy because the One who is the Light is coming.

And one of things that I take from the story of Hugo and his father is that there is a real need to hold out that light, not just for self but more so to help others. We need the light the path by holding out the hope that is ours in Christ so that others can see and know it. Jesus came not only so that we can have love and peace and joy and all those other good things that we want for ourselves and for others. Jesus came that we might know him and through him know our heavenly Father. Jesus came that we might see and experience the heart of the Father and thus Jesus is the visible, audible Word and presence to us so that we might know the invisible, transcendent Father.

Such an upholding of light and hold out of faith for others requires patience on our part. The Church is not meant to be a refrigerator, keeping the faithful perfectly chilled for that moment of redemption. It is meant to be a womb which gives life and birth to new believers. It is messy, painful, and even a bit bloody and dangerous at times. Yet it is all worth it. We have something in our lives with Christ that they world is seeking and wants, even if they cannot describe it. They know that they need hope. They know that they need God even though they often don’t know how to express it. This season is the moment when the world is most opening to hearing about Jesus and the kingdom that he brings. Let us take this moment, this week and hold out our candles for all to see it. Let’s go light God's world. 

The Message is simple

The message, the good news is simple. It is three simple words “He is risen”. And by making that statement, you might think that I have gotten my date mixed up thinking that it is Easter or Holy Cross Day; or that I have lost all my marbles and taken and leave of my senses. The fact that Jesus is risen. And we should consider that when we come to the Gospel lesson this week (Mark 1.1-8) that is what is meant by the good news – He is risen. It is why he came and it is why he is coming again in a second advent.

And in this vain we need to start at the beginning to understand what it is that Mark proclaims in his gospel. It is not a nicely wrapped up whodunit like “NCIS” or “Diagnosis Murder” Episode. There are no birth narratives with angels or shepherds to look at. There is no manger scene with mother child and distant father to peruse.  Not even a lamb or a cow to consider.

What this beginning is, is uncomplicated. It is not a well thought out dissertation on the finer points of eschatology. It is not meant to be a creedal statement in the same way that the creeds are. It is a pointed and simple recognition that God is coming to his people to bring them back. He is coming to bring them home. He is coming to restore the order of creation as it was before things fell apart through our fault and wanting it all our own ways. So through the prophets, we are told that God and his kingdom are coming. In the midst of the wreckage and ruin of our lives, in the middle of the refuse and rubble of our kingdom building, at the heart of the destruction and desolation of our communities, Viola! Ta-da! Here is God. God is building a way home for us to follow and it is through his Son. Here is God ever present to his people, still victorious over the things that enslave us and God still reigns.

And to make sure that we are aware of this God sends a prophet. God sent someone who was willing and able to speak things out of his heart into the hearts of men and women so that they could respond and so that they might find joy in the message of their own salvation. Someone who is willing make God’s message and plan plain and known. John was such a man. With John there was a change and a new beginning. He was indifferent from the teachers of his day. He did dress like them. He didn’t eat what they ate. He did not live in the comfort of a city. He made his home in the wilderness. And people came to John, to hear him preach. Those same people who crowded the riverbanks found themselves responding to that teaching in their lives through baptism. Through John and his active proclaiming of the good news of God people were aware of the presence of God amongst them and began to make themselves ready for a mightier gift, a greater guest: the Messiah.

This change of mind, this repentance leads each and all of us into a new identity. We in effect die to one life and begin to live another – represented in the waters of baptism. We go in one person and come out another. And we gain this new life not just because we have the right creeds, know all the right doctrines or go to the right church, we have this life this new way of living and of being because God has made this way our way and this life our life in Jesus. God is being faithful to honour the promises he has made over the centuries to men and women of faith that three be redemption and there will be salvation and heaven and earth will be one, as they were meant and created to be.

So where does this leave us? We are the sentinels of this kingdom. Like John, we are called to draw others to the water’s edge and to declare clearly and forthrightly the good news that “he is risen”. We are the beginning of God’s work in this city, appealing to all who listen to come and be comforted by God and to be drawn into friendship with God and into his eternity.

Anticipate this...

I want to begin by telling you a story. A story about a couple named Max and Madge. They were walking along a street in their town admiring all the shops with their decorations and dressed up window displays when they happen upon a church with a dimly lit crèche outside the front entrance to the building. ``LOOK! Just look at that!`` said Madge to Max, ``Even the churches are trying to `horn in ‘ on Christmas!``

So as we begin another journey into Advent and make our way to the celebrate Christmas, I want you to stop for a moment, quiet yourselves by closing your eyes, putting everything down and putting your hand in your lap... Take a couple of slow and deliberate breaths with me, in through the nose and then slowly out through the mouth... Can you smell it? The mountain air? And you feel the cool breeze? Can you see the sky above and the earth below? Can you sense the presence of God in this “thin” place? Breathe in and breathe out. Now invite you to open your eyes and ask you to look around – can you see the kingdom of God in this place? Can you expect to see Jesus in the next hour? Will you live as if tomorrow the great city of Jerusalem is going to be here from heaven and God’s presence and will fully known on the face of the earth?

When you came to this sacred place and this sacred time, what and more importantly who did you expect to see? I cannot help but think of that disciple, standing beside the great structure that was the Temple, looking at all the massive stones that had been painstakingly placed and had been consecrate by continuous prayer and worship of the faithful for hundreds of years. It was a `Little Red Riding Hood moment` as Jesus boldly points out that all this will come to an end. That there will be no more pilgrims, no more festivals, no more sacrifices and bloodletting. There will not be one stone left on another and no stone will be left in place. The disciples could hardly believe what they were hearing – the destruction of everything that makes the nation who and what they are. There is wonderment among his followers as they listen to him speak... how will we know where to meet God, to come and pray and to offer parts of our lives and to give thanks... how will we find God? He will not be in palaces or in places of prayer but in the wilderness and on a low hill outside the city walls, nailed to a wooden cross.

This is why we need to be at this moment, back on that mountain top with Jesus we need to see him for who he is and then to see what it is that God is doing. It is vital that be take this moment and see what God is doing because we need to align our hopes and our expectations both of God and of ourselves to what God is doing and calling us to do. All of us keep and have expectations – every last one of us. All of us have hopes for today and for the future. Keep in mind that God has a plan and he is working that plan in us and through us.

In sitting down on that mountain top with Jesus we can hear what he is saying to us, showing us what is going to take place and how we need to work in the midst of the trials and tribulations of our day. We can then with confidence wait on Jesus and for his return to this earth. We can wait with hope that he will establish his Father’s kingdom and that we will live in the city that God himself builds. In that we expect God to act and we can pin our hopes on him because of Jesus. Thanks be to God for that!

what heaven is really like....

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble.. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?' 'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked. 'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open.'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked. 'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.' The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.... 'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?' 'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.' 'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog. 'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man. They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked. 'This is Heaven,' he answered. 'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.' 'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.' 'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?' 'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

What is coming toward us?

There was once a spider who lived in a cornfield. . He liked his home and planned to stay there for the rest of his life. One day the spider caught a little bug in his web, and just as the spider was about to eat him, the bug said, "If you let me go I will tell you something important that will save your life." The spider paused for a moment and listened because he was amused. "You better get out of this cornfield," the little bug said, "The harvest is coming!" All the stalks will be knocked down and the corn will be gathered up. You will be killed by the giant machines if you stay here." 


The spider said, "I don't believe in harvests and giant machines that knock down corn stalks. How can you prove this?" The spider grinned and said to the little bug, "I don't believe you," and then the spider ate the bug for lunch.  


A few days later, the spider was laughing about the story the little bug had told him. He thought to himself, "A harvest! What a silly idea. I have lived here all of my life and nothing has ever disturbed me. I have been here since these stalks were just a foot off the ground, and I'll be here for the rest of my life, because nothing is ever going to change in this field. Life is good, and I have it made." 


The next day was a beautiful sunny day in the cornfield. The sky above was clear and there was no wind at all. That afternoon as the spider was about to take a nap, he noticed some thick dusty clouds moving toward him. He could hear the roar of a great engine and he said to himself, "I wonder what that could be?"

Ministry to the Minors

This particular Sunday is probably one that is not well known in the North American Church and when it is, it is a day that is not celebrated with a whole lot of relish. It is the Reign of Christ the King Sunday. And that means we have come to the end of yet another liturgical year. Next Sunday is the start of Advent and the preparations for another Christmas are going to be well underway. But I hope that before we get into the glitz and the glamour of Christmas and everything that is the modern and secular part of December and Christmas and the turning of another year, that you would come aside with me for a moment on this mountain top to have a look at what is truly coming.

Before you get all “psyched out” let’s remember something important. I heard Bishop Tom Wright recently remind a group of people in a video that, “Christmas is important... but it is not the end of the world.” In fact I would say that it is not the end but only the beginning of the new one. That’s what is worth looking at from this mountain top the city, the world that God is recreating through the work and life of Christ. You and I are privileged to live in a time where we are preparing for the coming of the kingdom that God is building here on earth. In this one life we are called and challenged by the Gospel not to be sacred fence sitters. Maybe you know that kind of believer; the one who has made a commitment to Christ, believes and says all the right things but never actually lives out one’s faith. The sacred fence sitter sits on the sidelines and waits for the end of the game, never taking the chance to play much less get dirty doing so. They sit and soak up all they can about the religious life but never lift a hand or move their feet to help a person in need.

That is the hope that people around us need and it is the expectation that both Scripture and God place upon us. we are called to serve and to do ministry for the minors And if this is a “heavy” for you, keep something in mind: those who will not follow will not enter and those who do follow will still have to be shown how they did it. And for people like me who are ordained and commissioned to be shepherds in the flock, leading the people of God will not only be judged for what we have done our own selves, we will be judged for how we have led and cared for the flock. I will be doubly judged for my part. Thus, I think that it is important for me as a priest and a pastor, to let people in the Church know that we cannot simple rest in the past or on our laurels. We are called buy Christ to seek him out by serving those we find around us. So let us seek out the least, the last and the lost that we might not only see Jesus in this moment, but also be ready to see his kingdom and his rule as king become permanent in the life of this city for his sake.

Go light God's world!

Have you ever stopped to consider what kind of flame your life is? Is it a tiny little candle with a very small flame because the wick is too short? Is it a lamp with little oil and you wish to conserve what you have for those moments that are darkest and worrisome? Or is your life a candle in the wind, waiting to go out when it final blows hard enough to extinguish your light. And what about our faith community... what kind of light are we as a Church in this city? Why are we always so ready to husband such a tiny flame when what God calls the Church to is a roaring signal fire. Why can't the Church be a place where people can come to be rescued and can be made safe and warm? Why shouldn't the church be a people that shed light for those who have fallen into the darkness and need some light in their lives and find a bit of light for their own lives too?

Maybe part of the answer lays in a story about a young man who was dating a young woman. They had been out on a first date and were standing underneath the light of the front porch of her parents’ home. The youthful squire inquiry of his young lady, “May I kiss you?” the young woman smiled broadly at the young man but spoke not a word. Being inexperienced in such matters, the silence somewhat unnerved our hero and so he plucked up the courage and asked, more slowly, more deliberately a second time¸ “May I kiss you?” And again the maiden smiled invitingly but said nothing. The squire still uncertain and now a bit exasperated by the seemingly unresponsive girl blurts out “Can I kiss you??” To this the young lady replies, “I don’t know... are you paralyzed?”

So then how does the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25.14-37) benefit us? If we are to consider who God is for us then we need to seriously consider who God is. Many in this day and age will consider God to be the harsh person that the owner is at the end of the story – taking what was not his and reaping the benefits of work that God not performed. That is how many people look at God and expect God to act. I find at least one problem with that kind of thinking... if that is how you see God and expect God to act then is that what you see and what you get? It is what you are looking for, is it not?

The servant who knew the nature of his master and did not do anything with what he was given knew what the outcome of his inaction would be: harsh words and rough treatment. And yet, he still did nothing. This makes one wonder about the other two servants. They were given more, entrusted with more than the one who failed to act: were they worried about get rough up by the master or did something else motivate them? I can remember being told that in Chinese, the written word for “crisis” contains two words: danger and opportunity. All of us will be acquainted with danger in the ways of life, but how often do we see the opportunities that confront us? And how often do we step up and take the chance that something good can and will come from taking risks.

It is easy to read this week’s lessons and come away with the feeling that of we are good and do as we are told that we will be fine where God is concern. If we do then we have missed the point that Scripture is trying to make for us. We are all called to obedience, to first listen to what the Spirit is saying to us and then in the strength and peace that Christ affords us, to live as we are called. We are to actively seek out God wherever God is in the world, follow and do as God does. Faith and faithfulness are not just in the head and lips. Faith is also resident in our hearts, hands and feet. The Scriptures and the Spirit are calling the Church to be more than wet firewood that cannot be set ablaze. We are drawn by God to the fire that we might dry out and be used as fuel for the fire. We are already wait for that moment when heaven is revealed. Everybody expects heaven to come but nobody knows when it will arrive. This is why we are called to live in such a way that we can draw others nearer to the flame of the kingdom.  The kingdom will come at a moment when things are going well, when there are no major conflicts in the world, no banking crisis, no wars, no famines, no diseases that need to be stamped out. The kingdom will come when we think that we have mastered this realm and there is no real need of another and that we have control of everything our own selves.

It seems that the parable makes clear that we have a choice: we can choose to serve God and risk what it is we think we have, or more appropriately, what we have been bless to be stewards of. Or we can do nothing and hide in fear, hoping that maybe God will not notice that we have not taken the risk. Is it not possible that such fear and inactivity is more like to break the heart of God, of the One who risk the cross and the grave to help us live with and for him? Is it not foolish to act in light of the generosity and grace that we have seen and been shown? God has made available everything available for his Church to do what needs to be done to make the world aware that the kingdom is coming to them. Is it possible that our vision of God is too small and that we like it that way. It makes it possible for us to box God in and not allow God to be anything else but we allow ourselves to see? Then we had better start living our liturgy so that we can begin to more in his strength, in his way and with his imagination for his kingdom and his glory.

So let’s choose this week how we will shine for the kingdom of God and how we will let God’s light and life shine out of us that others will be drawn to the kingdom and the life of God.

What are we waiting for... Christmas?

What does the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25.14-37) tell us? If we are to consider who God is and is for us then we need to seriously consider who God is. Many in this day and age will consider God to be the harsh person that the owner is at the end of the story – taking what was not his and reaping the benefits of work that God not performed. That is how many people look at God and expect God to act. I find at least one problem with that kind of thinking... if that is how you see God and expect God to act then is that what you see and what you get? It is what you are looking for, is it not?

The servant who knew the nature of his master and did not do anything with what he was given knew what the outcome of his inaction would be: harsh words and rough treatment. And yet, he still did nothing. This makes one wonder about the other two servants. They were given more, entrusted with more than the one who failed to act: were they worried about get rough up by the master or did something else motivate them? I can remember being told that in Chinese, the written word for “crisis” contains two words: danger and opportunity. All of us will be acquainted with danger in the ways of life, but how often do we see the opportunities that confront us? And how often do we step up and take the chance that something good can and will come from taking risks.

It is easy to read this week’s lessons and come away with the feeling that of we are good and do as we are told that we will be fine where God is concern. If we do then we have missed the point that Scripture is trying to make for us. We are all called to obedience, to first listen to what the Spirit is saying to us and then in the strength and peace that Christ affords us, to live as we are called. We are to actively seek out God wherever God is in the world, follow and do as God does. Faith and faithfulness are not just in the head and lips. Faith is also resident in our hearts, hands and feet. The Scriptures and the Spirit are calling the Church to be more than wet firewood that cannot be set ablaze. We are drawn by God to the fire that we might dry out and be used as fuel for the fire. We are already wait for that moment when heaven is revealed. Everybody expects heaven to come but nobody knows when it will arrive. This is why we are called to live in such a way that we can draw others nearer to the flame of the kingdom.  The kingdom will come at a moment when things are going well, when there are no major conflicts in the world, no banking crisis, no wars, no famines, no diseases that need to be stamped out. The kingdom will come when we think that we have mastered this realm and there is no real need of another and that we have control of everything our own selves.

It seems that the parable makes clear that we have a choice: we can choose to serve God and risk what it is we think we have, or more appropriately, what we have been bless to be stewards of. Or we can do nothing and hide in fear, hoping that maybe God will not notice that we have not taken the risk. Is it not possible that such fear and inactivity is more like to break the heart of God, of the One who risk the cross and the grave to help us live with and for him? Is it not foolish to act in light of the generosity and grace that we have seen and been shown?

God has made available everything available for his Church to do what needs to be done to make the world aware that the kingdom is coming to them. Is it possible that our vision of God is too small and that we like it that way. It makes it possible for us to box God in and not allow God to be anything else but we allow ourselves to see? Then we had better start living our liturgy so that we can begin to more in his strength, in his way and with his imagination for his kingdom and his glory.

Walking well

When I served in the far north, the kids of the community used to point at me and say to each other, “Look, there goes Jesu Krist! (Jesus Christ)” the first couple times that I heard this I was puzzled but said nothing. After hearing this a few times I went to an elder and asked why the children were calling me by the name of Jesus. She smiled widely and said, “oh, that’s because they know how Jesus walks – he walks like you do.” It is a lesson I have had to learn well in the years that have followed.

We tend to think of saints as those who are up in stain glass windows. They are well above us, to be revered by us. They are shown to us that they might be an example to us. Who aspired to be a saint last week? Who got dressed up like John the Baptiser or Elijah or even Jonah for Halloween? After all they are dead and there is nothing remarkable about that for the world to imitate – it’s not scary, not gross or something (or someone) to be feared. In fact it is seen as boring and dead by most in the world today.

What makes the world afraid is the person living out his and her life in faith, devoted to be a person who will live the upside down values of the kingdom in spite of everything the world has to throw at them.

And that is what makes us a part of the “blessed” community: the Church is a group of people that know the world is upside down and that is going to be righted by the blessings and by the transforming love of God. We are the makairos (the happy ones) who are happy and blessed and joyful not because of what is going on in the world but because they are in relationship and sustained through everything by God.   The makairos are the people who live out the values of the kingdom moving through all the things that confront them in this world: poverty, grief and mourning, hunger and thirst, meekness and war, tribulations and even personal persecutions as they walk into the blessing and care of God. And just how are the happy ones going to manage that? Because they know that God is living and active in this moment has God will be in eternity. They are living now something of what is to come and of what God has promised to them. The Christian faith is not about getting out of this world into a better one. It is about helping God to transform this one into the world that it was meant to be when it was created by God. 

And that brings us to a simple challenge: how do we walk? Do we walk in such a way as to make it known that the kingdom of heaven, that the kingdom of God has come near to this city? I know that early in my ordained ministry, I waited for some amazing moment when I would suddenly this great and awesome priest and I would know everything and start doing everything right... and then after a few weeks I realized that what mattered was not what I knew but rather how I walked. People could see me and how I walked and for them – that was how Jesus walked. So as a consequence, I have started concentrating on making sure I walk well so that others can imitate me and so follow Christ. And this kind of behaviour is not for the ordained person solely, but for every member of the Body of Christ. No one is to wait for a perceived holiness or blessing – we become as we walk, having been blessed by God in the past, are being blessed in this moment and look forward with hope to how we will be blessed  in the future.

And let us remember that there is no greater way to transform this world than by others seeing that we are willing and ready to lay down our lives for them. As Jesus said, ``No greater love has anyone than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.`` (John 15.13)  Come, follow me as we follow the Christ together, in his strength and in his love for the sake of his name. 

Being still and getting ready to fly

As I sit here in my new office and reflect on the week that has been with the arrival of our things, the problems with getting our car here from down South, the business and the busy-ness of ministry... it is a wonder that we can hear anything, especially the voice of the Master.

Last fall, some clergy friends and I took the time to read a book together about clergy pastoral self care and there was an image out of that book that I want to share with you. When things are crazy and you find that you are at the end of the proverbial rope, what do you do and where do you go. For myself I need a bit of personal sacred space. And for reasons that I don’t always understand it seems to be at my desk. That is my sacred space, my little altar. It is not a very public space like the one up stairs in the sanctuary or even the one in the Chapel. My desk is where so many things begin and end. It is the space where I plan ministry, it is where I prepare to preach, it is where in some sense I lead from in terms of administry of the parish. It where I fill out the registers that note who has been baptized and who has been married and even those who have been buried and move to their reward. This little place is one of the most sacred places I know.

And in a space like this, I can also be still... be still and know that God is God. I can take in the words of scripture and the Spirit reminds me not only of their power but also of their grace and ability to draw me near and to heal me. In the hurried life we live, we can hear God say, I give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and the young stumble and fall; but those who place their hope in me will renew their strength – they will mount up with eagle’s wings – they will run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint.           (Is.40.29-31)

So take some time and learn to find your sacred space and then pray and connect yourself with God that you would move and live have your life in God's transforming and altered strength

Bearing the message of the Christ

A word from Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi from the Anglican Diocese of Jos, in Nigeria - from a speech he made at the Lausane Congress in Capetown, South Africa, Thanks, your Grace!

The Gospel can be explained - Michael Ramsden

here is a video worth watching -  Many thanks for the good word Michael!

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Learn to love

As I read and considered the lessons for Sunday coming (Matthew 22.34-46) I could not help but find myself humming the words to a song that I taught the Sunday School a couple of weeks before: “He came down, that we might have love.” Now perhaps to the modern mind that might sound silly. We most certainly recognize that within each person there is at least a certain amount of love and that we have love to offer and share with other people. What seems to not be recognized in our modern society is where love comes from. Most people would shudder at the notion that God has already shown them love and wants to teach them how to love others. And this is so in large part because of what was once taught about God and how God was... well was “the God of Maude” The title character of the 1970’s sitcom was constantly saying to her husband, “God will get you for that Walter!”

And such memory brought out another. I remember encountering a priest in my early years of ministry who was convinced that there where different Gods – the God of the Old Testament who was spiteful and vengeful, allowing the Israel to overtake and overcome the nations in the promised land; a god who was bent on murder and pillage. Then there was the transcendent God that gave the Ten Commandments and was far removed from the picture and from what was going on amongst the people and just wanted people to behave rightly. And last but not least there is one last god – the one who sent Jesus, the one who is kind and gentle and posses very little threat of any kind. The hymn “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” comes to mind.

It seems to me that there is more to loving a person than just having the “warm fuzzies”. Truly loving another person takes time and commitment. Even the Old Testament recognizes that it is important to care for the other by not violating or hurting them in any way. Here’s what I mean (and many thanks to Lindy Black over at Sermon Fodder for the help!): Leviticus 19:9-18 spells out what is involved in loving one's neighbour.  The person who loves his or her neighbour:

        • will not reap the fields bare, but will leave some for the poor (vv. 9-10).

        • will not steal (v. 11).

        • will not deal falsely (v. 11).

        • will not lie (v. 11).

        • will not swear falsely by God's name (v. 12).

        • will not defraud a neighbour (v. 13).

        • will not keep a labourer’s wages overnight (v. 13).

        • will not "revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind" (v. 14).

        • will not render an unjust judgment (v. 15).

        • will not be partial to the poor or defer to the great (v. 15).

        • will judge the neighbour with justice (v. 15).

        • will not engage in slander (v. 16).

        • will not profit by the blood of the neighbour (v. 16).

        • will not hate your neighbour (v. 17).

·  will not take vengeance or bear a grudge (v. 18).

Moreover, Leviticus also says "you shall reprove your neighbour" (v. 17), suggesting that love is tough where toughness is needed –– confrontational so that wrongs might be righted and obstacles to relationships removed. 

And if that is the case, then it should be easy should it not? Well not for us as human beings. We need to know just who our neighbour is, just in case we discover that we have loved the wrong person. That’s why Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan – that we might discover and truly love that person with everything that we have, looking after the needs of that person. We are challenged by Jesus to give and to love and to care for people, even when we are laid down in the dust or are hanging and dying in pain. If we can begin to learn to live a love like that then we can celebrate and feverently pray to God in worship together that we might be filled up more and more with unceasing, untiring love. Love of God and of neighbour must balance out so that we can truly love and know love. Let that be our goal this and every week in Jesus’ name.

Go out and render!

What is there in this world that we really have? Cars? Homes? Clothes? Food, perhaps? In recent days I have realized that there are lots of things that I call my own but in reality, they are not mine. My possessions are here in this world and they are of this world but they are not mine. Over the years, I have worked and money was given in compensation for that work and with that money bought things like food, clothes, and cars and shared them with wife and family. But none of these things has ever been truly mine for my own possession and consumption.
 

Jesus challenges us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to give to God what belongs to God. I believe that this is more than a statement of how to use our money. It is a call to set our priorities straight so that we can do what we can through giving to the world through government while remaining faithful to God in all the things that God calls us to. The problem that we each of us must face is what we really value? And it is more than likely that we are going to value that which we hold dear – the very things I have already described. What is there in your life or in mine that God did not give? We have forgotten to some extent that God knows what we need and what we are going to need. And that is why we so often pray, “give us this day, our daily bread”. It is not just to make sure that the deep fridge is full of the multigrain substance we like to have with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning. It is to stop and acknowledge everything that we have is there by grace and that we are thankful for it.

Moreover, everything that we see that is not ours seems to hold a better value than whatever we have in our grasp. That beautiful movie screen size projector television looks great in the store but what does it really do at home? And it’s not just the physical things like homes, cars and the like. Its also relationships like marriages, with children and neighbours and with important people in the community like political leaders and even Caesar. If we let it, life becomes a constant race to be one up on each other. Doesn’t such ways and life pull us away from what really matters?

Letting go of those things that we think we have in our possession enables us to better stewards of what we have because we know that those same things are not ours but that all belongs to God. So let us remember some simple things that will help us to do just that:

·         Remember that we will not be forsaken and forgotten – we are promised this in scripture over and over again.

·         Remember that we always belong to God and because we belong to God we have each other.

·         Remember to surrender ourselves to God because we are his that his power and grace would be evident in our lives and in the world.

Let us go and let us render, in Jesus’ name.

Many are chilled - a few are frozen.

It has been said that, “many are chilled, only a few are frozen.” I discovered this simple little truth in my time in ministry in a small village in northeast Yukon. It had been a beautiful day the day before. Only – 3 degrees. Overnight, as is common in that part of the world in December, the temperature dropped and the mercury nearly fell out of the thermometer. When we woke, it was a bone chilling -45 degrees. I walked to the to the school to help clean up from the previous night’s Christmas concert and the pancake supper. Coming home I wanted to start the van to let it warm up as we wanted to take Joshua to the nursing station. It was a mistake to start the van which had not been plugged overnight. In doing so I “blew up” the power steering pump and could not drive the van.

It was an interesting experience walking like most others in the community did that time of year. It would take some time to get anywhere because you had to be dressed properly to go outside in weather like that. And to get properly dressed took time. There were layers of clothing to put on and no skin could be left exposed because it would freeze in seconds. And I quickly discovered that I was know not just for my large parka, I was known in the community by how I walked how fast, how far and by what or even who I was pulling on a bright red sled.

Getting ready for Sundays during his period. It was a particular challenge as I walked back and forth the church every five hours starting at suppertime Saturday night and to meet the challenge and stay healthy, I had to remove some of the outer wear so that I did not sweat and then go back out into the winter weather. Five times a day around the clock I would dress, walk feed the fire and return home.

I share this with you to help reflect on the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14). “Many are called,” Jesus said, “but few are chosen.” To me this is an ongoing dialogue that is been happening between religious leaders and Jesus (and his disciples in including the early Church) over what Jesus is teaching now that he is teaching in the Temple and in Jerusalem.

Jesus compares the religious people of his day to those who have originally been invited to the wedding feast which has now finally come time. Everyone who was invited is told that it is time to actually come and participate. The time for waiting is over and the time for doing and acting is now. Who actually responds? Is it those who are well aware of what time it is? Is it those who are well versed in Scriptures and are aware of what God asks of them? In large part, it is not. It is those who have not known or not heard the message, who are invited and because they have been invited they choose to come. The servants - the prophets – call the everyday individual who will heed God’s call and are drawn into relationship with God because of what God provides for them.

And in this is a particular point that the Church and the leadership in particular should heed: many are called, only a few are chosen. Chosen leaders are not their own. They are chosen, selected particular individuals upon God is pouring out his grace and mercy for so that each leader can minister fully and effectively to those he and she finds around him and her. Ministry is not just about the one person who wears the signs and symbols of the faith – it is about all of the community. The inability of such a person to fail recognize this will fail and find themselves out in the dark searching for their teeth so that they could begin nashing them all the while wondering what it was that went wrong.

Remember that while we wait, we work for him who is Lord of this vineyard and in him we live and move and have our being. Let us move into what God provides and be good stewards of it.

Hiatus

Dear Gentlereader,
I want to let those who have been reading along over the past while that there are some changes that are about to happen for me and my family. I am in the process of moving to a new parish and thus a new home in a new diocese. I will try to check in and share a thought or two over the month of October but it might be a bit. I plan to be back to my writing full time by November 1st, 2011.

In the meantime I would ask you to pray with me for the move and all that needs to happen through the new few weeks for us, for the parish and friends we leave because they are near and dear to us, and for those whom we go to serve in our new home, that we all would mightily blessed.

I look forward to writing again soon!

Jason+
aka "The Skypilot"

Change is not only going to happen - it is an opportunity!

It has been said that change is inevitable – except from pay phones and vending machines. We face change in our lives all the time. It is a daily thing, having to adjust from moment to the next. In my life for example, I was grateful for the ability to see who is calling on the phone. Phone calls in the life of a clergy can be literally life changing. Sure there are moments when the phone rings and a warden doesn’t want you on icy, snowy roads to do a service. There are moments when the phone rings and someone is in need of help of one kind or another. There are moments of administration in talking to fellow clergy of one stripe or another. And then are the really big calls when one has to go somewhere, namely to the hospital to be there for big moments in someone else’s life.

But have you used a payphone lately… I cannot remember the last time that I used a payphone. I am doubtful that I could easily locate one in my community and I more than likely would have the change on me to operate it if I did. We carry cell phones now and pay and awful lot more for the mobile phone than looking for a payphone and coming up with “Two bits” or 25 cents. And here is a change for you, there is no “cents” symbol for me to use on my keyboard – I can remember there being one on my first typewriter! Isn’t that change?

Now you might wonder what that would have to do with Jesus being questioned about his authority (Matthew 21:23-32). Jesus was causing a stir in Jerusalem. He had entered the holy city as a king with the people cheering and crying out for God to save them and the nation. The religious leaders had heard about the young, powerful rabbi from up north. They had heard about how he was teaching and doing outside the traditions they upheld – and worse – encouraging others to go beyond those same traditions. Therefore he must be some kind of subversive and he must be dealt with… rubbed out! After all he might have the ability to start a war with the Romans and have the religious elite in Jerusalem stripped of their power. That would not do at all!

So they went to him and they ask him a question. “By what authority do you teach these new things? Who taught you? Where did you go to school? Who laid hands on you?” Jesus smiled and asked them a question, “Can you see God at work in John the Baptiser? Where did the power to see lives transformed come from? Did it come from heaven or was it made up in a man’s mind? Those who had come were clearly distressed. They gathered together and discussed and argued over their response. It was clear they were not going to answer, “From heaven” and acknowledge that God was at work in John and thus in Jesus. But on the other hand, if they said that it was by human mind and power that John preached they would lose all credibility with the people because the people clearly believed that John was God’s prophet. So they answered Jesus with, “We dunno.” And to that Jesus replied, “Well then I won’t tell you and embarrass you further.”

In a way, Jesus is having some fun with the religious elite. He is pointing out that they are very good with the externals of what they believe. But he also points out that they have not paid much attention to the weightier matters. They have not totally connected what they believe with what they do. And in failing to do that, they have not obey God in fulfilling God’s will for their lives of the mission of God in the world. Jesus’ question exposes the hypocrisy of say that one believes in God and then does nothing to bring one’s life into line with what God asks of that person.

Maybe that is how we can connect with what Paul tells the Philippians – which they (and therefore we) are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is not a call to personal faith and deeds to show that you believe and therefore are worthy of God and the Church. Working out our salvation, is a plural and thus a corporate thing. We are to live as the Church in this world, showing the world that we are in the process of being saved by God. We are called on to live in such a way that people in the rest of the world will see the quality of our community and be drawn to us and to God who is within. 


From within the Church there ought to be encouragement, consolation, sharing, compassion and sympathy. And because there is then people should be attracted to our common life. As a result then, we need to connect what we believe with what we do. And because we desire to put our minds on the things of God, our priorities and goals are going to change as we move forward with God. The things we care about are going to change and thus the way in which are going to live our lives is going to change. There is still the opportunity to change our minds and go with God. And just like the ol’ pay phone, some of the old things will still exist but they won’t attract us like they once did. Thanks be to God for that!            

Farewell does not mean Goodbye forever

I was once taught that some of the first things that we do as human beings is to learn how to say various long and short forms of “hello” and “goodbye”. And as children we learn to say hello, learning to welcome those people we do not know and the things we have not yet experienced. We also  become skilled at letting go of those people and those things which we have known and have done in thanksgiving and in favour of being able to welcome someone or something new into our lives.  As adults we come to realize that the times between “hello” and “goodbye” are sometimes long and sometimes are short. But here is the Good news in all that. “Farewell” does not mean “Goodbye forever”.

In the four and a half years that I have been privileged to be your clergy, we have shared a lot together. We have celebrated the birth of children and grandchildren as we have welcomed them into not only our lives but also the lives of the communities in which they live and the places and places into which God will lead them because in baptism they belong to our community of the Church. We have celebrated the marriages of many of the adult children who, living their lives either here or there in other places and spaces come with family to reconnect and to renew the life in which they walk within the family through marriage. We have then celebrated the lives of those who have gone before us into the nearer presence of the Lord and we now wait for that Day, that moment when we will be with them again and will not need to know the pain of separation. We look forward to that Day of hope when all the tears will be wiped and way and “farewells of all kinds” will not be uttered again.

It has been our honour and our privilege to have shared in all these things with you. You have welcomed us into your midst and we have been able to share with you in the life that we live. Now it is time to bid farewell, trusting that God is guiding us all in the ways that we should go. We treasure the things that we have shared with you: the joys and the sorrows, the tragedies and the triumphs. And we take the lessons that have been shared to help steer us the in the paths that we must walk in the days ahead as we all look to the undiscovered adventure that is our future. We will pray with you for the person that God will call to be your next clergy and pastor, that as you wait, you prepare welcome someone new into this parish, that God will mightily bless and prosper the work that you will do together.

Also, I ask you to keep in mind that we will one day be united and together again in the presence of Him who risked and offered Himself so that we might be with him, and with each other forever. And that is why I say to you that farewells are not forever – they are temporary and only last until Jesus makes an end of them on that Day.

In the meantime, may the grace of God that upholds us in ways we cannot number, bless you in your work and ministry together. And let the love of Christ flow fully from your hearts into this community that everyone will know that God is here and that we are following Him wherever we may be.

                                                                           Pax Dominum, (The Peace of the Lord be with you)  

                                                                                                                                Jason+