There are two kingdoms. Which will you chose?

As I sit to write this week, I am aware that Sunday, May 3^rd is a major anniversary for me. I was speaking with a long time friend and brother priest who reminded me that May 3^rd was coming and that the day marks the start of our 30^th year in full-time ministry. He asked me if I was aware of it and what I thought about it. Sheepishly I admitted that it had not really crossed my mind because of all that had been going on in the day to day stuff in recent weeks. As I have pondered these things and looked at a journal I keep of my ministry, I came to realize just how faithful God has been to my family and to me over and over again through the years. So I want to tie this together with some thoughts I have about the life and ministry over the past 30 years and what still needs to happen because, in the immortal phrase of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “I’m not dead yet.”

This Sunday is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because the lessons reveal Jesus and the Father to be such. In fact, in the Old Testament, God is extolled as the Shepherd of Israel. So it is not a surprise for Jesus to reveal himself as the Good Shepherd. He connects his life and ministry both to his Father and to the life and faith of the People of Israel. The Gospel Lesson is a statement that Jesus makes to leaders of the faith in Jerusalem after the healing of a man who was born blind (John 10:1-10). The basic tenor of the speech is about choosing whether you want to live in the Empire or if you would rather seek a better kingdom. That is why the man born blind lives out his faith and is tossed by the religious leaders – he chose to follow Jesus rather than be led by pretenders. Which do you choose, the status quo of the Empire or the freedom of the kingdom?

Human beings because of who and what we are, like to have things that stay the same. The lack of change leaves us thinking that we are in control. Consider carefully who things went for the people of Israel before they were freed by the acts of God on their behalf and what happened between the people and God once, they were across the Red Sea and away from Egypt. Even in the aftermath of the plagues and the moment of being rescued through the Red Sea, the People of Israel started complaining about there being no water, no bread and no meat. They complained and complained and yet God comes through, providing water in the desert, manna in the evenings and birds for meat (Exodus 16 and 17). Yet they kept on complaining saying things like, “Were there no graves in Egypt that you brought us out into the wilderness to die?” we would rather live in chains and be slaves to taskmasters because that life is easier and more predictable than learning to trust that God is going to provide and that we have to depend on him for our daily bread.

That is the biggest lesson I have had to learn and in fact, am continuing to learn. That I need to seek Christ to find my daily bread, my life in him. He is the gate over which I come and go from the sheep pen. He knows my name and calls me to come and follow him each day. He knows my needs, my hopes and fears, and through them draws me, calls me and encourages me. Thus the call on my life is about being willing to give away to others and to serve other people, giving where I can, making sacrifices when necessary.

Let’s go into a better kingdom, you and I.

Jason+

SAME ROAD, DIFFERENT LIFE

In the past few weeks, I have heard a lot of strange phrases uttered, like “the new age of COVID-19” and learning to “live in the new normal”. Well okay, the second one I have used my own self to talk to people about dealing with loss and death. I do it to help them understand that there is a path that needs to be walked and that they can walk it because they are not alone. But there is a list of things that we need to be aware of that can help us to live that new life.

For example, we are to “self-isolate” or to quarantine ourselves to protect lives – including our own. We need to work out our economic troubles and worries. Some demand that the Government support their way of living so that it does not cost them anything. In my own life and ministry, we are dealing with the pandemic and now we are dealing with a flooded church hall. The Church has been broken into and there are looks and doors to fix. There are other important church building issues that need attention but are going to have to wait until things are back to whatever normal looks like. This is when I realized that we need to remember that we must not lose sight of the fact that this is not about us but about God and his Church.

If we consider the words of this week’s Gospel lesson and the Walk on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) There is a great phrase I heard, listen to a bunch of videos as I worked away – Mary Lower, a Christian musician and comedian said, “When the dead sit up, the funeral is over!” The walk to Emmaus then is about three simple things: (1) get the story in, (2) get the story straight and lastly (3) we need to get the story out. (Becky Pippert, “Out of the Saltshaker”) In asking the question, “What things?” Jesus invited the people he was walking with to share what they knew and saw of the events in Jerusalem. They had taken the events of Holy Week in and thought that things were at an end. Things had been really bad on Friday on that hilltop when hope died.  In walking with them and talking with them, Jesus opened up the Scriptures and showed them how Christ had to suffer and die and rise again – helping them to get the story straight. Then at the table together, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to them. This caused the people who had been with Jesus to get up from the table and run the seven miles back to the City of Jerusalem and report what they had seen and heard to get their story out.

In doing so they were sharing with others, including Peter, who had seen the risen Jesus the same day.

Remember now, when the dead sit up, the funeral is over. And we have our story to tell. It is not just that Jesus lives, but that because he is alive, Jesus reigns. We need in this time of plaque (and that is what this is) to get the story in, get it straight and then get it out into the community because we have a message that will help people live in hope and with courage. We can help people to turn to God and to begin build relationships with God and with those who God is redeeming. But we must become reenchanted with our story – the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. That he has been crucified and raised from the dead for you and for me. He lives and he reigns.

Do we have the courage to become re-enchanted with our message and through the message to rediscover our first love? We cannot afford to preach a lukewarm, mediocre gospel because if it is true. And because it is true is life-giving. And if our message is lifegiving, it is the most important message in the entire world. This message can make and does make all kinds of real difference in the world and that, beloved, matters to the world who is looking for and in need of some good news and hope in this age of COVID.

Love people perfectly. Live life totally. Be what people need you to be in this moment and serve where you are sent. Be ready to be a help in another person’s trouble and remember, it is Christ himself we serve. In this way, we will get his story out.

Jason+

What God is going to do about it.

On Palm Sunday five-year-old Jason had a very sore throat and had to stay home from church with a sitter. When his family returned from the Church service, they carried several palm fronds. Jason asked them what they were for. "People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by," his father told him. "Wouldn't you know it," Jason fumed, "the one Sunday I don't go, and He shows up!"

This will for certain be one of the oddest Palm Sundays of my nearly 30-year ministry. It will be odd because it will be almost totally silent. Palm Sunday s one of those services where we let our liturgy out for a walk. Literally. This is the Sunday where we go for a walk around the Church in procession singing hymns like “Ride on, ride on in majesty”.  There would be tambourines and noisemakers and lots of voices signing as they strode along. That will be happening this year. This year, there will be silence and I suspect I will be straining to hear the rest of creation cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

In the Gospel for Palm Sunday, Jesus rides in on a donkey to the City of Jerusalem. As he and the others go along a people gather into a crowd calling on Jesus “Son of David have mercy on us!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” People were looking for healing and mercy so that their lives could be better and they could do better things, do more things and have a better life. They wanted safety. They wanted to be rescued. They wanted to be blessed. Most of all they called for God to be merciful.

You know what mercy is? That is when one person stands between another person and the second person’s disaster, and first-person calls the second to himself to avoid the disaster. That is why Jesus and his death on the cross is crucial. He is lifted up so that we can see him and be drawn to him. God is providing mercy through executing judgment so that we can have that mercy and that rescue, that salvation. Through the cross, Jesus takes our judgment and our punishment. We, in turn, receive the mercy, the grace and the peace of God that passes all our human understanding. We are healed by the stripes he took for us. The cross teaches us about who we are and how far we are going to take this to make sure that we are in control. The cross also points out what God is going to do about it.

We are to follow, even chase if necessary, Jesus up the hill as he makes his way up the hill at Golgotha. We are to seek out the opportunities to build and reconcile relationships. We are to call out for healing and for rescue in the midst of the storm. We are prevailed upon to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus up the hill. We need to count the costs of following and not following Jesus. We need to guard our message and our integrity. We need to be wise in the ways that we walk and act, including our service of God.

Take time to look for Jesus. He is here and he has shown up. Cling to him!

Jason+

Responding to life's crisis

In this time of minimalized ministry, I have been taking time to watch and listen to various clergy and preachers to see what is being said about the Covid-19 pandemic and how we should respond to it. There seems to be a common theme of “Choose faith not fear” amongst us. We all have two dogs in this fight: one called faith and the other called fear. Fear at this moment is only natural and total human. We are in a state of fear, of chaos, of sickness and of death. People ask me which is stronger faith of fear? Want to know which one is the strongest? It’s the one you feed. In point of fact, only a fool would have no fear in all that is going on. But there is the other side of things. Where is your faith? Do you remind yourself of what Jesus said, “Who among you can add a single hour to your life by worrying?” What do you believe at this moment? Who do you trust in times of trouble and of fear? Do you choose Jesus?

There is a reality setting in for many of us that we are not in control. This present crisis has highlighted this fact. We are tempted to think about ourselves and do want we want because what doctors, nurses and the governments are supposed to do, is look after us if we get into trouble. I suspect that this is why we are seeing governments at various levels restrict and curtail liberties that we are used to enjoying. Work is shutting down. Schools, gyms, restaurants, even Churches are closed. We are not to be within 6 feet of each other. And yet there are still some who think that this is someone else’s issue, someone else’s problem. It does not affect me. I am not sick. I am going to continue on as usual until I have to change. This is not helpful and is not caring for yourself nor for the people around you.

On the upside, there are some things that we can do and should do in this time of restrictions that are not against the law. These are things that can build us up and allow us to be caring of others and even to effectively proclaim the Good News of God in Christ. (h/t to Nicky Gumbel from Holy Trinity Church, Brompton in the UK as I draw from his inspiration)

Stay Prayerful

Many will know the story of Jesus getting in the boat with his disciples to go across the lake and they end up getting caught up in a storm that is powerful enough to sink the boat. Keep in mind many of these men in this boat are experienced fishermen. They were watching the waves, rain and bracing themselves against the winds. They grew afraid. Where is Jesus? He is in the stern fast asleep on the pilot’s cushion. (Luke 8.22-25). In frustration and fear, they wake Jesus and ask him, “Don’t you care if we die?” Jesus gets up from his nap, and speaks to the storm and says, “Be at peace, be still.” Jesus then turns to his disciples and  asks them, “Where is your faith?”

In moments like this, we are tempted to look at the storm, the things that are going on around us. Such things can cause us to despair and event to fall into depression. Notice what the disciples did, they went to Jesus with their fears and frustrations and asked him to do something about it. Jesus spoke to the storm and calm the situation because his disciples asked him to. It is a simple prayer and of course, God cares for each and for all of us. We need to make our petitions known to God and do so with thanksgiving that God is already there in the situation working for us and for good. We need to be prayerful which not just words, but also keep an attitude of altitude. This means that we know that Jesus in the boat and we are with him. Because we are tempted to fix our eyes on the storm, we need to work at fixing our eyes on Jesus. We can ask for Jesus to stop this illness and to bring health and whole back to us.

Stay wise

One of my favourite verses of Scripture that I use in my own life is “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2^nd Timothy 1.6-7 ESV) So, it makes sense for me to say to you, have faith and use soap. When you wash your hands, instead of singing Happy Birthday, sing the Doxology and give thanks to God. We can choose to have faith over fear. We can choose to limit the amount of cable news we get, the amount radio news we listen to and we can choose to fill ourselves to listen to music, make time to pray and to worship which will take our eyes from the storm and help us to focus on Jesus. We can choose faith and put fear in its place.

Stay kind!

Maybe this is a no brainer but there is no need to hoard when we go to the grocery store. People are hoarding hand sanitizer, wipes, toilet paper, flour, meat and other things. We need to consider carefully the examples of the selflessness of others and then try, as best we can to follow in that way. I think of a priest in Italy who came down with this horrible virus and his parish went out and bought him a ventilator so that he could survive and continue to serve his people. Then he heard of a young boy who needed the ventilator and he demanded that he be removed from his and the machine be taken to the boy. Shortly after the priest died of the illness but the boy he gave the machine to, lives. Be kind to others. It is life-giving. Be generous and let us make sure that we care for the vulnerable.

Stay united

Remember to stay united with one another. We are fighting a virus, not one another. Never waste an opportunity to extend forgiveness or for reconciliation. Invite people to the online services and there might be opportunities to share the Good News with those who need it.

Stay Connected

Be wary of isolating yourself to the point where you cut yourself off from everyone else. There may need to be physical distance, but we need to stay connected. There are lots of ways to do this through phones, emails, texting, video chatting, even old fashion note and letter writing.

Stay Confident

Finally, I know that when I discovered what might be coming in terms of illness and that as a person with an “underlying health condition” I was going to increasingly isolate myself for my protection I found myself angry because I could not control what was happening and going to happen. It was a reminder, that as much as I like to think I am in control, I am not. But then I know that Jesus is and that he has called me into the boat to be with him in this storm. Jesus is in control. Jesus reigns. He came to us in flesh and blood. He suffered and knew pain. He has been through it all including death and the grave and yet he lives. And because he lives, he is in the boat and he is in control right now.

Let us put our eyes on Jesus. Let us cast our burdens on Jesus for he cares for us. Let us choose faith over fear. And let us remember we are in the palm of his hand. He has us so much more than we have him. Thanks be to God for that.

Jason+

Are you blind?

The furore of the last few days and the decisions of the last 24 hours have left a few people relieved and some others reeling just because of the speed and magnitude of the decisions. I have no doubt that when (and not if) we come through the other side of this latest crisis and latest virus, that a scene, not all that different from what happens in John 9 is going to take place.

I discovered that people with powerful testimonies of God’s rescue and restoration had to endure much pain and suffering to obtain them. We don’t and we didn’t consider much less get that as human beings. I know I didn’t. I used to sit as a student in the Church Army College/Headquarters in prayer meetings on Thursday nights with a cast of characters, including my classmates. Many of them had wonderful and occasionally very funny stories to tell about God reached out to them when they thought life was coming to an end. There was a logical progression of things – who you were before, what Christ did to transform you and how your life is different now from the first.

We are told of a man (in John 9) born blind. He was clearly known to Jesus and to his disciples because they could look at him and know at least a few things about him. The disciples assumed that there must have been spiritual wrong in this man’s life: why else would he have been blinded. So, it is a natural question: “Who sinned? Did he? Did his parents? Who is responsible for this tragedy? Who needs to be blamed?”

Is it not incredible, that Jesus points out that it is not about the man or his parents but about God and the kingdom? This man’s life is about putting on full display, the grace and glory of God for the world around him to see. Then, interestingly, Jesus ducks out and goes away. He disappears almost completely along with the disciples. What gives? Where did he go? Why did he leave? Did anyone see where Jesus went?

If there is a single lesson that I have learned about being healed, it must be this: there is life at the end of the miracle that needs to be lived out like a light in the darkness. As believers, we are called on to reflect his light through our lives so that even though Christ seems absent. And that takes work to be reflective of his light, his love, his life. And doing so we bring Jesus to the community and make him visible. It is why the man with new eyes says to those question him about Jesus asks the question, “Do you want to be his disciples too?”

The goal of John’s Gospel is a simple one: that having encountered Jesus that you would believe in him and through him, have eternal life. Those who look to accuse Jesus of being a false healer and teacher, of breaking the rules of the Sabbath are then told by Jesus that because they claim to know God and his ways are actually blind. They are blind to who God is and to what God is doing. It is interesting that unlike the man with new eyes, the religious people are willing to sit there with mud on their faces and refuse to go and wash, remaining blind to the reality of what God is working amongst them. Being blind, leave them guilty of not recognizing the presence of God amongst them and therefore are sinning by calling it the power of evil.

It is his light in us and it is up to us to make that next move. He has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Ought we not to be 'pumped' about God being present here, in this place, at this moment and to be with him? Should we not take that next step to bring light to the darkness, hope to the helpless and courage to those who are frightened. Should we not feed the hungry, clothe the naked and befriend the lonely and the stranger? Should we not offer them Jesus, that might have life in his name?

Jason+

Come and see then go and tell

You need to come and see and then you can go and tell… did you know that? I think you might have. The Gospel this week is about the day after Jesus is baptised and revealed to be the Messiah (John 1.29-42). He walks by John who baptized him the day before. You remember. John had objected to the idea that he should baptize Jesus – he wanted Jesus to baptize him. Why was it important for John to baptize Jesus? In a word, revelation. John did not know for certain that Jesus was the Son of God until this fact was revealed to him by the Father and the Spirit. There was the bird coming down to him and a voice that John could hear. At that moment, John knew that he knew that it was Jesus that he needed to tell other people about.

Hence, this is why he loudly declared the next day that Jesus was “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world… behold him!”. We use it in our eucharistic worship to declare that we too see Jesus and recognize him for who he truly is. We come forward to receive the bread and the wine so that we can participate in and declare ourselves to be a part of his body in the world. From there, we are sent out into the world (having been broken up like the bread and dismissed from the presence of the Lord) to see and serve Jesus in the world. In fact, we are living out our own baptisms, is spite of the fact that most if not all of us don’t remember the act of being baptised our own selves.

We are compelled to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbour as ourselves.” It is something that is promised in act of baptism and continues in the living out of that baptism: that we are going to actively search for Christ and wherever and whenever we find him,  serve him in the places and spaces and in the people we discover we are neighbours with. It is not upon us to fix them, agree with them, like or even like them. We need to leave the notion that we remain trapped in high school behind and disabuse ourselves of such notions.

It is incumbent upon us to serve Christ wherever and whenever we find him, seeking to love him through our service and love of those who we find to be our neighbours. We do this not as individuals but as a community of believers. We see and receive Jesus together and then we through out the rest of the week seek Jesus, to find him wherever we ourselves go. There is a pattern to the ways in which we witness to Christ’s presence in this community.  We look for Jesus and when we find him, we receive him that we might know him. In knowing him, we can tell others about our encounters with Jesus and how we saw him. This will encourage others to seek him where they are and where they go, so that they can see Jesus and know him for themselves.

If there is to be another generation of the Anglican Church of Canada across this country then there is a necessity in people, believers and followers of Christ to draw people who have not seen into their lives, their homes, their schools and workplaces, their churches. We need to invite and draw them in so that they can see and receive him and then go out and tell others what they have seen.

Jason+