Thursday, November 24, 2011

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!

Monday, November 21, 2011

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?"

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

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.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

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.

Friday, November 4, 2011

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.