The Gospel can be explained - Michael Ramsden

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

.

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+