10 - 02 - 07 Sermon - Year C - Epiphany #5 - Verse Luke 5_1-11

Luke 5:1-11

1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

It was a long night of fishing... a long night with no results... tired and worn... frustrated from a night useless struggle... the fisherman put in to shore to do the repairs and preparation for another day... But this day will be different than all others.

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Does the call of God bring relief or increase terror and instability?

We hear this story and have to wonder... is Jesus bringing relief to the fisherman or increasing the terror of the people?

Simon Peter, a first hand hearer of the events of the day says: Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.

Jesus says: “I’ve got a great project to work on... we’re going to do some amazing things... change jobs and follow me.

God is on the move and Simon says: “Go away.” “I’m not worthy” I’m too sinful” “You’ve got the wrong guy” “I don’t really want to”. 

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Simon Peter would have fit well in Edson. You can see those burly fisherman shoulders and the calloused hands of a hard working manual laborer. You can see that great hospitality he has when he allows Jesus to use his boat... and not just use the boat, but take it out to deep, into the unsafe waters.

Simon is a professional fisherman and if you listen closely you can hear the snickers of the other fisherman as this carpenter turned Prophet tells them how to do their job...

This would make a great movie moment as some people are rolling their eyes, some people are softly snickering, and a few others don’t even help out.

Today we see how meeting Jesus turns out to have not made Simon Peter’s life any better... in fact... the safe shallow water where he could make a living were just fine. Oh sure, no fish some nights but... there is safety in the familiar shallow waters. There is safety in staying with what you know to be true. And in a place like Canada... where most of us have disposable incomes, and at the very least food, shelter, and water... changing and trying new things is a dangerous thing to do.

So when Jesus speaks of an abundant life... when small miracles nudge us to look at life from a new perspective... when the risk or success makes us hesitant to try new things... it is much easier to say “Get away from me Lord.”

Jesus increases the complexity of life.

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For some like Simon Peter this is the day when everything changes... he takes on a new vocation and his life becomes incredibly complicated. God uses him to found an entire church. His lack of faith at key moments become legendary, and God’s willingness to use him anyway becomes the foundational understanding of God’s Graceful acceptance for all.

God’s movement to declare people righteous even when they have failed in every way is shown in Simon Peter. Simon Peter will flee the cross and not stand with Jesus in the end. Simon Peter will eventually die a martyr on his own cross.

Most assuredly Jesus increased the complexity of His life.

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In December of 2006, at the age of 18 Katie Davis traveled to Uganda for the first time. On what was supposed to be a short term mission trip. She was immediately 

captivated and fell in love with the people and the culture. While in Uganda, Katie met Pastor Isaac Wagaba who implored her to come teach Kindergarten at his orphanage in Buziika, 

Uganda, called Canaan Children's Transit Center.

This is from her blog last December:

I am 20 years old and have 13 children and 400 more who all depend on me for their care. Who are all learning to love Jesus and be responsible adults and looking up to me. The reality of it all can be a bit overwhelming at times. However, it is always pure joy. There is a common misconception that I am courageous. I will be the first to tell you that this is not actually true. Most of the time, I am not brave. I just believe in a God who will use me even though I am not. Most mornings, before I even get out of bed I am overwhelmed with His goodness, with His plan for my life; I stand in awe of the fact that He could entrust me with so much. Most days, I don’t have much of a plan. I don’t always know where this is going. I can’t see the end of the road, but here is the great part: Courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. It is about Peter, getting out of the boat. I do not know my five year plan; even tomorrow will probably not go as I have planned. I am thrilled and I am terrified, in a good way. So some call it courage, some call it foolish, I call it Faith. I choose to get out of the boat. To take the next step. Sometimes I walk straight into His arms. More often, I get scared and look down and stumble. Sometimes I almost completely drown. And through it all, He never lets go of my hand.

These are deep waters to be fishing in...

So again, does God cause relief... or increase the terror?

The answer is truly that God brings both.

For Simon Peter, and all who heard Jesus and saw the fish that day,  they were shown a truth about how the world really is and what God wanted to do with it.

And each step of Simon Peter’s life from that day forward was lived with an awareness of God Kingdom breaking into the world. He was lead to deep waters and amazing catches of fish, he was lead to be part of the movement of God in the world.

For  Katie Davis, she seems to blog a lot about trust and fear both being increased.

And this is what we are doing here today. Hearing just a little more about what it is to be a follower of Christ. Being challenged to the Grace and the Fear of change and moving into deep waters. 

In Worship we often think that we are doing something for God but in fact... God is not that needy. 

As we Worship and heap praise on God, we are also being told who we are... we are being pointed away from ourselves in the Word and the meal we share... we are pointed back out into the world. 

Worship is a safe place to land... it is in this place that we hear the words of forgiveness spoken and we are fed...

and it is here that we don’t have to be afraid of our sin and failings because it is also here that we know that forgiveness and grace have the last word.

Jesus brings comfort.

But the same Word that comforts also points us to go to the deep waters and drop down our nets. To leave the familiar and safe shallows of our lives, and boldly sail out to where we are lead. To see what God would have this church do and become.

This is the place where we come to be told who we are...

Comforting? Not always... but from here... having been told who we are... we are sent out.

And so thanks be to God that we have witnessed the promise that God’s grace for us... for all...  May we have the courage to move into deep waters. AMEN

10 - Sermon - Year C - Epiphany # 3 - Luke 4:14-21

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

1 all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Luke 4:14-21

14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Today in your hearing... Jesus is sampling old rifts and making them new.

God gives a promise from old and it is made new and complete in Christ... Good news for the poor, the blind, the oppressed... good news for all - the year of the Lord’s favor.

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If there is anything that Warner Brothers and Disney has done... it has brought the awareness of classical music to entire generations of people. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s and watching all those amazing cartoons put out by those early animators --- I had no idea the depth of learning that was going on behind the scenes.

As Elmer Fudd sang out: “Kill the Wabbit, kill the wabbit”... I had no idea that the symphonic and harmonic moves of great composers of the past were being introduced to my brain... 

By taking the brilliance of musical history, and remixing it with ground breaking animation techniques... something new was created... a new way to experience the old music was found.

And I’m sure there some people that actually know what is going on in the music might have at first decried what is happening to such majestic music in the cartoons but... the music has taken on new life as people reuse it... reinterpret it... declare what it now means.

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This whole concept of old becoming new became no more clear to me then last fall on the trip to Mulhurst Lutheran Church camp for the confirmation retreat. It seemed that all of us had an ipod of some sort along and... upon plugging my ipod in and looking at all the music that I had brought I realized immediately that my music was not going to cut it... my songs lean towards an acoustic or folk feeling with a light sprinkling of some rockier heavier stuff... so instead of me dominating the music with my old man boring music, we took turns plugging in out different ipods and playing favorite songs...

2 songs really stuck out - both of them remixes. One was a terrible remix of sweet home Alabama. Terrible what they did to that song... the original was a classic with wonderful guitar licks and a grove that can’t be improved on...

The sampling they took was... strange... I’m not sure if it is what I would have done but... the old song is given new life and a healthy pay cheque is given to the original original artists of the song... it was hard for me to hear such a song remixed in such a way. But... after several times through the new song did start to grow on me... in a good way... but it took some time...

The second song that stuck out was a remix of “Africa” by toto. I was going to sing it but that is best left to professionals in this case. The high harmonies, the slow folk/jazzy pattern takes the mind to the plains by Mount Kilimanjaro drawing one to images of the vast and incredible African plains. 

And then there is the remix...

The remix of the song can only be described as pure energy... the remix just makes you want to move as the techno beat undergirds the song and the new indecipherable words are loudly shouted... they wash over the listener and... you have to listen to it loud... it’s a whole new experience of the song. 

Driving down the highway towards Mulhurst, 6 confirmation students and one pastor were making the the borrowed Tarves Suburban rock back and forth to the beat that was both energizing and amazing... and laid overtop of all the energy the old harmonies from toto sing out strong --- the old song is fuzed with a new beat.

The old is made new and... in a way... made more complete... and in 20 more years... who knows what we are going to do with all the remixes from today? Remix them again? 

What I can tell you is that... as I contemplated whether to play this remixed song today in the sermon... that many people here would not appreciate the new beats... it would be too revolutionary not to mention way too loud... I have no idea what the new words are or if they are good or evil... and for many in this room... it’s too hard to accept that what is old and familiar would be made new and complete in such a different way. 

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But this is the exact fusion of old and new that we see happening today.

The young 30 year old Jesus - son of the Carpenter and more recently, hit guest speaker has come home and... as he always has he goes to the synagogue. Now on the road to becoming celebrity, he is asked to read from the scroll of Isaiah... to begin the discussion.

He takes the scroll... reads from two different parts of Isaiah where God gives a promise... Good news for the poor, sight for the blind, the oppressed... good news for all - the year of the Lord’s favor.

Ahhh... these are comforting stories... old familiar words telling of that time 500 years earlier when all of Israel had been slaves to Babylon...

Immediately all who hear are taken back to the stories told for generations of how God was faithful... 

Do you remember how God proclaimed that the Boy King Cyrus would rise to power and set us free. Do you remember Ezra the Priest and Nehemia the governor? Nehemia who rebuilt the Jerusalem wall - who convinced Cyrus to let Israel be a nation again, and Ezra who read the Torah to all the people for the first time in over 150 years! What a comforting memory... thank you Jesus... good choice.

Happy memories that we too heard today:

Ezra read from Book of the Law facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

Can you hear it? The thoughts of all those gathered around in that synagogue saying “Good choice Jesus... we are all taken back to some wonderful memories... and who knows? Maybe God will do something for us now and once again set us free?

And then... like a shocking new techno beat laid under a familiar and classic song Jesus takes the old tune and gives it a new twist. Jesus says:

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

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I think that it is impossible to really relay the truly shocking impact of such a statement. It’s hard to know the shock but we can see in the way the story is recounted of Jesus first homecoming... , they immediately take Jesus out and try to stone him for blasphemy... 

The shock of Jesus words is much more than an old song being rewritten, we see Jesus taking what is accepted and comfortable... and speaking something new and powerful.

Like all reviews of remixes - opinions will vary. Reports will range from brilliance to outright rage. 

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And so the past and present, and the only imagined future come together today. Meaning and power are not lodged in the past, but are found in the encounter of each of us and the story of God in Christ. A new encounter then and today. 

The same God who promised freedom for the Israilites from Babylon now speaks in the Christ - and all the old stories now do something new. All of history and creation now hinges on this event in the past that connects the present and the future... 

And today in your hearing it is fulfilled again. 

---Forgiveness from Christ is proclaimed as we repent and admit our broken and sinful nature.

---New possibilities for life and ways of being in the world are proclaimed to us as we are told of our forgiveness, new possibilities are opened.

---Today... HERE... the words of Jesus invite us to his table as we the called together Body of Christ gather for a communion of forgiveness - a physical connection to the words spoken in the past and a promise of the feast that will be our salvation in the future.

 What is dirty is made clean, what is old is made new. 

Where we are separated from God, the ever new remix of Grace and Forgiveness is experienced in our praying, our singing, our eating and TODAY... NOW... in our hearing... we know that we are rejoined to Christ. It is fulfilled.

Christ continues to come with a living word that makes new all that is old. 

---That makes whole all that is broken. 

---That points to a future that belongs to God.

Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your presence. 

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And so let us gather and eat at the Lord’s table.

Let us come together as a community that is apart for a week, and then rejoined in worshiping God and as we share our lives in a potluck after our service.

Let us meet at our Annual General Meeting and truly believe that Christ’s mission is made new and alive... and this mission is our mission. Let us hear again Jesus’ reading from Isaiah:

God makes a promise... Good news for the poor, the blind, the oppressed... good news for all - the year of the Lord’s favor. This moment... this year... this church called to be the Body of Christ active in Edson and in the world.

May it be so with us... that God’s words are heard... that today in our presence we trust that this scripture is being fulfilled for each of us and for our church in all we imagine that it can be.

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And now may the Peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

10 - Sermon - Year C - Epiphany 2 - Verse: John 2:1-11

John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen

Again the world is rocked with a natural disaster this week.

Haiti has been badly shaken and brings into focus the squalid conditions that much of the world lives in as we stare at a city that has been knocked down.

Death toll numbers are still being estimated but 140,000 people might not be too high.

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Isaiah 62: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.”

On first reading this I made the assumption that the “I” --- that is the person speaking ---was God... and this can be seen as God speaking to the people through the prophet Isaiah... and God will not keep silent while the suffering of the people persists. 

But then it was pointed out by one of the commentators that the “I” here could also be the prophet himself. The prophet is the one who speaks on behalf of God but also carries the lament of the people to God - Sometimes demanding of God. 

I’m reminded of Jeremiah’s plea “For how long Lord...” where Jeremiah demands an answer to suffering. Here it is clear that the prophet pleads with God for salvation - wholeness - to come.

So we are left with a conundrum... is it God who will not remain silent for the people in suffering? Or is it the prophet who will not remain silent?

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I’ve been asking myself this week “what if Haiti had better infrastructure?”

The same earthquake hitting any 'modern' city would not have done nearly the damage. And those buildings that did fall down would be quickly picked up and searched by advanced heavy duty equipment and hospitals would have received the wounded quickly and easily on solid and well developed roads.

If Haiti had even a descent airport the aid could all be flown in... and if they had advanced docks the ships with the aid that are floating off the coast right now could come in and unload their much needed cargo.

It would be a completely different story if Haiti wasn’t the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

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Isaiah further states: “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called “My Delight Is in Her” and your land “Married.” For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

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It is wonderful to see the outpouring of money and concern that the world and the church have shown. Mennonite central committee, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, World Vision, the Red Cross... even the government of Peru has sent 100 tonnes of food. The world is reacting quickly with compassion. 

This is the same way we treat medicine and health care... we wait till there is a major problem and then try to fix the symptoms without getting to the root.

But what if we took our ELCIC statement of being a church in "mission for others" to mean that we had to react quickly in times of disaster. 

To quickly fundraise and give to CLWR and other aid agencies in times of disaster is good and “go team us” 

but... 

what if we also took our mission to mean that we had to ensure every place in the world was prepared for such eventualities. We could call it “Primary Economic and Infrastructure care” and instead of treating the symptoms when the major natural disaster hits, we also work diligently to ensure that all places in the world are ready for such occurrences. 

This would surely be a prophetic role and we as a church would be joining with the prophet Isaiah in declaring to the world a new way of being, and pleading with God to help us make it so... 

Joining Isaiah we would say “For Haiti’s sake we will not keep silent, and for Haiti’s sake we will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn and her salvation like a burning torch”

This is prophetic imagination... to dream with people and God, and to demand of people and God an end to suffering and death caused by economic conditions and our own turning a blind eye to the ongoing suffering of the world. The voice of the prophet offers new identity and to those in Haiti, our response now, and after the news story fades and they rebuild must be that they are not forgotten, and that the church on earth remembers and will help in proclaiming a newness... demanding a newness from each other, and from God. 

This new identity that we proclaim is rooted in the one who gives it... God.

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And I don’t intend for any to leave feeling condemned today. No... I hope that these challenging words can be heard in the Spirit of the Gospel... the good news that God has not and will not ever abandon us. God longs to give us the new identity, and walk with us towards a new reality of life abundantly. 

I want us to look at our role in the world not with guilt, but with minds and eyes of a people that have been called by God to have prophetic imagination. Gathered by God and declared righteous by God in the signs of water and bread and wine we are instruments of God’s mission in the world.

We are a small church here in Edson. We are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (the ELCIC) which is not that large church either - about 160,000 but, not on every Sunday.

If Grace Lutheran were to disappear tomorrow that number would go from 160,000 to 159,900. We’re small and the feeling of not making a difference in the world can paralyze us to do nothing in the world. Or... joining the prophetic imagination of Isaiah we can see that we are the kind of people in the kind of place that God acts... God is often found in the small things that point to a larger reality.

Israel was a tiny nation surrounded by great nations, and God chose them to be a light to all the nations.

Haiti is a tiny island just off the coast of the worlds only superpower and yet, it is the focus of all the news and the out pouring of all compassion and humanitarian effort.

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Next week, we’ll gather for our AGM and make the big decisions for the year... set the budget... elect the council... give some direction to the council as to what we think God wants us to be this coming year. 

And so we are left with the task of listening and reacting this week. 

Listening to the news about ways to help in Haiti as starvation and lack of water continue to cause suffering and death.

We listen to each other in conversation for our needs in this community.

We listen to God in Prayer. Seeking the direction we should go.

See the signs, look at our gifts and abilities, and then act. Repeat. See the signs, look at our gifts and abilities, and then act.

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Jesus attends a wedding in Cana. The land of of thieves and gentiles and, in this small out of the way place performs his first sign. John always calls what Jesus does “signs”. They all point to a larger reality. 

In this case, in a small wedding where the wine is giving out, he is asked to help out. He states he has no particular reason to care about this where he says “what concern is that to you and to me?” that the wine is running out... but then at the insistence of his Mother he gives a sign to the wedding and too all of us who hear of this sign. 150 gallons of wine is created on the spot. That would be roughly 150 milk jugs of good wine brought to a small wedding so that the abundance of God can be shown. 

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This is who God is... the one who cares deeply about the creation and the suffering in it as well as our autonomy to make our own decisions...

God is the one who motivates us to give when we see suffering in our world...

God is the one who gives promises and makes good on them...

God is the one who enters into human flesh and shows signs to a world that needs to know of God’s abundance...

God is the God who spoke through the prophets and now speaks to us through the Christ... using small places to make a big difference in the world.

May it be so with us... that we hear the Word, that we see the signs, that we respond with what has first been given to us.

Amen. 

09-01-10 - Sermon - Year C - Epiphany #1 - Verse Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Luke 3:15-22

 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ .

Sermon

Who are you? 

This is a great question to be asking on a day like today... we call this Sunday the “Baptism of our Lord”... the day we hear the story of heavens opened and Jesus Baptized. Jesus is named “the beloved.”

But... Who are you?

The answer to this question has many many answers. Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Boss, employee, teacher, that “german” lady, the gossip, the lover, the grumpy old man, dead beat, Alcoholic, superstar, nerd... the list goes on an on...

There are many labels that we could self apply to our lives but... today I want you to try on a label and see how it feels.

Precious...

This is a word that has been more recently tossed around and abused by people carrying small dogs and in sappy voices saying “oh my precious.” 

Here precious simply means gushy cute...

We get a little closer to what the word means by people gushing over babies and looking in and saying, “Oh how precious”.

Here we get both the gushy and cute mixed in with the firm understanding of beloved... the baby is of great worth.

If we talk of Precious metals we get a little closer to the dictionary definition. Simply meaning “of great worth.”

And lastly... no analysis of the word precious would be complete without at least mentioning the Lord of the Rings fantasy novel where smeagle holds and caresses and ultimately dies trying to chase, keep, and have the own the ring. His precious. 

Precious...

Who are you?

Precious...

In Isaiah we read today: Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6 I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.".

God makes a bold pronouncement to the people --- chosen to be a light for all --- that they are precious.

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Are we of this line? Can we apply these words spoken to a nation in exile 2500 years ago to ourselves?

Yes we can...

John... a prophet in the wilderness in a long line of prophets in the has a ministry of washing and repentance. He proclaims a Baptism of repentance. 

So what is our understanding of Baptism?

This is an easy question to answer that takes a lifetime to understand... turn in your hymnals with me to page 1160.

This is a reproduction of the small catechism, so we turn to page. 1164 (Read section “The Sacrament of Baptism.”)

THE NATURE OF BAPTISM

What is Baptism?

Baptism is not just water, but it is the water used according to God’s command and connected with His Word.

What is that Word and command of God concerning Baptism?

Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20.

THE BLESSINGS OF BAPTISM

What does Baptism give or profit?

Baptism effects forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, just as the words and promises of God declare.

Which are these words and promises of God?

Christ our Lord says, Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

THE POWER OF BAPTISM

How can water do such great things?

It is not the water that does these things, but the Word of God which is in and with the water, and faith which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without the Word of God the water is simply water, and no baptism; but with the Word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and washing of regeneration in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says, Titus 3:5-8: “According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.”

THE MEANING OF BAPTISM

What does such baptizing with water mean?

Such baptizing with water means that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts; and that a new man daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Where is this written?

St. Paul writes, Romans 6:4: “We are buried with Christ by baptism into death, that just as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

---

God’s action to us... Faith, also a gift of God, trusting that God’s words are true. Trusting that God has claimed is. 

God naming us precious and beloved... even if you are from Samaria. 

---

Today we are also reading Acts 8 which tells us “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John.”

This is no small thing... First of all... Peter and John? Peter the rock and John the beloved disciple. These are the big wigs from central command.

And... Samaritans? The ancient rival and enemy of God and Israel? The Word is being accepted in Samaria? Seems improbable at best but... as Peter and John arrive it is true... God seems to be choosing even samaritans, the Holy Spirit gets works and blows where it wants to. 

These Samaritans were no less Samaritans after baptism but now they are Christians... God claiming and choosing where God chooses. The Spirit at work wherever the Word is preached... and even ahead of the preaching sometimes. 

---

There is another element that is part of this today...

Precious... of great value... deeply loved...

And so the image of the dove descending upon Jesus is given to us... 

Jesus is Baptized and then the heaven is opened. This is something very new...

The Heavens will be opened again in this story but not till the very moment of Jesus death.

This is something very new...

And now the naming: “This is my beloved with whom I am well pleased.”

Beloved... precious... Jesus is named and claimed in baptism. And Jesus... after living for 3 decades on the planet... having now been named the beloved one of the Father... fresh from the waters of baptism, clearly hearing the call of God... 

Jesus now begins his ministry. 

Something new is born in baptism. Same Jesus... but also completely new. Heaven and earth are overlapped. 

And Heaven (God’s Kingdom) and Earth are exposed to one another in a brand new way. Heaven is not some distant place with angels and harps... but heaven and earth are brought together. And in the prayer that Jesus taught us we plead that it will be more so: 

Your Kingdom come... your will be done. God’s kingdom being made visible and present right in the middle of our existence.

---

It is in a way unfortunate that most Christians in the world are baptized as infants. It makes perfect theological sense and I don’t advocate change in our practice but... for the reason alone of being aware of the event and remembering it clearly, this might be awesome.

However... I was baptized at the age of 14 (Shock and awe)... 

My father was from the Evangelical Free tradition and didn’t want to make this ‘choice’ for me so... at the end of my confirmation I not only had to make the decision about joining the church membership, I had to allow that I would be baptized.

And I wish it could say that the heavens ripped open and I saw a dove... or maybe something cooler like an eagle descending upon me...

I wish that I could say that I saw the heavens open and a great voice calling down “You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased”. 

Well... Nothing that flashy happened.

But what did happen was, reading from the green LBW, Pastor Weatherington poured water on my head 3 times in the midst of the people and the liturgy. 3 times in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And on my head, made a mark of the sign of the cross saying “Sean, child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”

No Dove, no thunder, no eagle, no voice from heaven. 

But my baptism was no small thing. 

The fact that I was baptized has become the turning point in which I can firmly say that I am a beloved child of God. How do I know?

There was the promise spoken that has been passed down from Jesus to the present - that in Baptism God has chosen me using the body of Christ on earth - the church to speak a promise.

There was the Body of Christ - the church - saying “We welcome you in the Lord’s family. We receive you as a fellow member of the body Christ, child of the same heavenly Father, and worker with us in the kingdom of God.

And so when my self esteem is crushed, when my sinful nature leads me to do what I know I should not... I can look back and say... When the voice of the accuser is telling me I am unworthy I can simply respond... I am baptized. 

---

So I ask again...

Who are you?

As a way of passing on the faith with my children, I try to remember to put the mark on the cross on their foreheads when taking a bath or going to bed, and I ask “What was that for?” and they are now learning more about God’s love through baptism. Often they say “That means God loves me.”

In the bath the other day, my daughter reached up and marked my wife’s head with the sign of the cross and said,

“That’s so you know God loves you Mom, that’s what happened at Mattea’s BATH-tism.”

---

Washed clean in bath-tism, named as precious and beloved by the God who breaks down all barriers to be with us, to claim us.

This is who you are... precious... beloved.

Amen.

09 - Sermon - Year C - Christmas 1 - Verse Luke 2:41-52

In the movie “The Nativity” there is this great moment where Mary and Joseph stop on their journey to Bethlehem... and the very pregnant Mary asks Joseph “How do you think we are going to know? Will he say something or do something?” 

That is... how will Mary and Joseph know that this is the Son of God?

These are good questions to ask when you are pregnant with the Son of God. 

...And just how do you mother God?...

And now today we hear Jesus has disappeared for days...

What do you do when you are trusted with the son of God and then lose the son of God? The entire world has been waiting for the light to enter the world and... you’ve lost him. 

Panic... cry... go crazy... stop worrying so much? I can almost hear the careless 12 year old tone in Jesus voice as he says "Mom... why were you worried?... 

For 4 weeks we have been in the season of Advent and finally the light enters the world on Christmas and we explore God with us.  And as we sit here the Christmas leftovers are still not digested and already we are confronted with a story of losing the light that has entered into the world. 

We’re challenged to think about how Jesus was raised in a working class family, loyal to his Jewish roots, exploring life as a member of a persecuted people... and now, at the age of 12 he is starting to have glimmerings of just who he is going to become - starting to understand.

Well they find him and then it says... “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” 

HA! Not my first reaction. And I can look over at my own mother and see that this is not the reaction that she had when I disappeared a few times in shopping malls growing up. Not the reaction that any parent has.

To have lost what you have been given is not a good feeling. To be lost is never a good feeling at all.

But then... Jesus and Mary must have had a different relationship than most parents. This was humanity and God in the flesh living under the same roof.

---

I’ve handed out a picture I want you to ponder with me today...

This is a picture of a stole that was made for my good friend Pastor Robert Grewe in Hanna. His wife had the stole made for him as an ordination gift. And this picture... this cross connected to the cradle is poignant and disturbing... It’s painful to think about death and babies in the same picture. 

More interestingly we see the wheat growing out of the manger. Wheat that contains kernels of grain that will be mashed up, ground up, kneaded, and then baked to become bread for the world....

The Cradle and the Cross are always connected. 

It’s a joyous and yet painful procession... light and life enter the world on Christmas... and we begin again the journey towards the cross and death of Good Friday... and then beyond to new life and Easter, new hope and resurrection.

The season of Advent begins in a deep blue... the blue of the sky before the sunrise... before the light enters into the world. In Christmas the colour is white.

And here in this place we have hung blue bolts of cloth... and they stretched out to the side to make a stable... and in the stable we have the Christ child born to us on Christmas day. But connected to this up here is the cross... and over to the corner where the elements for the Lord’s supper that we will share are stored... it’s all connected... what happens today in the meal we are invited to, what happened in the stable where the light entered the world, and what happened on the cross on good friday.

---

A friend of mine is a missionary in El Salvador. I was showing this picture to him by posting it on the online forum of the Alberta synod and he wrote back that the connection was very appropriate - cradle and cross. 

In El Salvador, the people know what it is to live crucified, and live under the terror of death.

In most of South America it is not uncommon for civil rights leader and inconvenient people to be assassinated for protesting the actions of multinational companies... like mining companies... and not just any mining companies... but sometimes it is Canadian Mining companies... 

This isn’t to say that all companies are bad... that all foreign investment and mining is wrong... but it does show us that in our culture of high returns, of investing in foreign markets without knowing what is happening... in outsourcing security and military power to people we don’t really know or control... in the great mess that is international commerce... there are people that are dying... people from little places in the world being ground up and destroyed by the machine that is our economic system.

This is hard news to hear... Canadian companies implicated and involved in political assassinations....

Hard news to hear at best... and yet... not surprising at all in the world that we find ourselves living in. If you check the headlines of major newspapers and blogs and missionary dispatches in South America, the stories of assassination and death squads are not hard to find and unfortunately they are all to common.

I doubt it’s as simple as some guy in Calgary picking up a phone and calling in an assassination... in fact I bet that the executives in Canada have very little understanding of the way that the people they hire get other people out of the way for the mines to go in... living in Canada, we are a world away from where this work of displacement is actually getting done. 

Or maybe some executives do know and don’t care... it wouldn’t be the first time in history that rich and powerful people have turned a blind eye to the suffering of the poor and those who are far away and powerless. The suffering in this case is a world away, and perhaps getting return on investment is the more pressing issue.

---

Well, as I was showing this picture to the Alberta Synod online forum of Pastors, and doing some work to tie the theological statement of cross and cradle together the missionary from El Salvador, wrote in saying ,

“Amen, Sean . . . as I'm sure you've witnessed and reflected in Latin America, for a people who continues to be crucified, the cross is never apart from the manger.  Jesus' crucifixion is the culmination of Jesus' incarnation.  Good Friday is the fulfillment of Christmas . . . the Gospel of God's downward mobility, God joining God's people in their stable mangers and on their Golgotha crosses.  The Resurrection is God's Good News of hope and life beyond these painful, otherwise hopeless realities. 

Merry Christmas . . . as we prepare for "Pascua". 

Paz,

B

Pascua is Holy Week... that is... the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The same 12 year old boy that our Gospel text speaks of.

Do we really have to look that far ahead in the story? Can’t we just be happy with our new little baby and the lights and the Christmas carols? 

Yes we can... And as we take Joy in the light that is entering into the world with us... the light that is bringing light to our darkness, we also need to live side by side with the realities of life on this planet. We need to notice that the same light that enters the world for our benefit also displaces the shadows covering the places that we have been ignoring...

We aren’t called to sit in the light... we are called to enter into God’s mission of Peace and new life for all the earth. We are called to let ourselves be transformed to live effective and new lives in the world. We are called to examine what is given to us, where our passions lie, and then to get active. 

We are called to follow in the footsteps of the one that brought light to our darkness... and to work where the light leads.

---

The next email from my friend came a day later on the forum and let us know about yet another killing in El Salvador that would appear to have economic and political motives written all over it but... will likely never be properly investigated. He concluded the email writing:

Merry Good Friday.  

Paz,

B

---

Merry Good Friday...

That is... death has struck another blow...

So let us look again at this picture... and see a cradle... the hope of new life... 

Let us see a cross... the symbol of torture, shame and death... 

And let us look at the wheat... bread of life growing out the combination of both. New life given out of death. Death conquered and new life rising.

And let us give thanks to the God that came down... into our stables, into our history, into our reality, and onto our crosses of death and shame.

Let us give thanks to the God who overcomes all of these things and continues to come down... to feed all of us at his table, to wash us clean and transform us into wise servants, to send us out and journey with us from Christmas light to Good Friday death..., to Easter resurrection. 

Today we worship and are invited to the meal of the God who came as a light to the world for all people... for all creation... 

We are not left alone by the God who keeps coming to us. 

Here, in El Salvador, in our rising and sleeping, in our dying and, in the end, our rising. 

There is Joy in Christmas because Christ has come... God with us... and through death and resurrection, the doors to the Fathers house are flung wide open... there is no mystery to where Christ is... 

Christ is in bread and wine of forgiveness and new life offered to us at this table. 

Christ is in the dying breath of an El Salvadorian human rights activist struggling against oppression. 

Christ is in all our eyes that see the light of his coming in the manger at Bethlehem, in the stories of a life proclaiming the Kingdom of God, in the Spirits ongoing presence with us.

Thanks be to God for coming down. Emmanuel... God is with us.

Amen.

09 - Sermon - Year C - Advent 3 - Verse Luke 3_7-18

"So with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people..."

This is one of those readings where it ends and I say the Gospel of the Lord and you say... “Thanks be to God?”

What appears to be a very scary story ends with Luke’s commentary... Luke says that this is good news. So we need to look closely at what John is saying... and if Luke is right, we should find good news. Brood of vipers that we are... there must be some good news in here. 

---

To illustrate the good news, I wanted to sing you a song that is equally scary as the bible verse today:

You better watch out 

You better not cry 

Better not pout 

I'm telling you why ...

Santa Claus is coming to town 

So far... not so scary... but the terrifying part is coming:

He's making a list 

And checking it twice;  

(together now)

Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice 

Santa Claus is coming to town 

Hmmmm... you’ve heard this one... And I wonder if we aren’t all a little guilty of confusing the kindly old man image of Santa with the Kindly old man image of God. 

The song does in fact grant to Santa some pretty God like qualities. Apparently Santa can be pretty much everywhere at once. Apparently Santa pretty much knows everything about everyone which... is a little creepy... and as the song shows... as much as Santa is coming to give some gifts... Santa is also coming to judge! 

He sees you when you're sleeping 

He knows when you're awake 

He knows if you've been bad or good 

(all together now...)

So be good for goodness sake! 

O! You better watch out! 

You better not cry 

Better not pout 

I'm telling you why 

Santa Claus is coming to town 

Santa Claus is coming to town 

I hope that you have all been good little girls and boys. I want you each to get lots of presents and good things.

I hope that you all find big presents under the tree on Christmas.

In fact... I never got skipped over... maybe it happens but even in the years where I was not particularly good... I never really worried about missing out on Christmas presents. In fact... it seems that you don’t have to be particularliy ‘good’... and perhaps you would have to be astonishingly bad in order to miss out...

Still... I hope that you all get presents.

But this is sortof a strange hope... if I’m hoping that you have all performed well enough this year... that magically you have crossed some sortof ‘goodness’ line where you are “worthy” enough to receive something good - it is a strange hope.

This is the kindof hope that a young man or woman has when they start courting the one that they hope they can fall in love with. I hope she thinks I’m funny enough. I hope that he likes how I look. I hope that I’m judged as good enough.

This is the kindof hope that hockey players feel when they try out for a team... hope that they have made the cut... Hope that they skated fast enough... scored enough. Hope that I’m judged as good enough.

This is the kindof hope parents and grandparents have for the home coming of kids. I hope they call. I hope they come. I hope they send a letter. I hope that I’m judged as good enough.

---

This is Santa hope. If I fix myself, wash myself, workout enough, work hard enough, sacrifice enough... If I perform well THEN the goodness will come. THEN the reward will be given. THEN the God- like Santa vending machine judge will give ME MY reward. Santa always has his bag of toys for good little girls and boys.

This is a hope that makes us slaves to chance and an uncertain future. When God is confused with Santa we find ourselves stuck under some heavenly winnowing fork, quivering and hoping that we have made the cut. Hoping that we will judged good enough. 

But at the same time... those who suffer are offered no hope... because if God is only looking for some sort of average life of Good enough for all of us then... well... that’s not much of a change that so many people need... God isn’t really doing Justice... God is just... average.

This kind of hope is one of bondage... it leaves us trapped and unsure of the kind of God that we serve. Unsure if God is going to be for us... or maybe we worry that God is waiting for the judgement so he can pounce... great fork in hand... 

There is a name for this kind of hope... this is a whole different system... this is a karma system. Good things for the good, and if you’ve ever made a mistake... it’s coming back at you. If you’re suffering... well... maybe next time you’ll get more.

I hope this is not the kindof hope that you have this advent season.

---

John gives us a scary picture today. But before we can unpack John’s story... we have to fix one of the words. Our translation says “His winnowing fork is in his hand...” A closer reading of the greek a quick email from my German friend confirmed that it should actually read something closer to “Winnowing Spoon” or in Alberta...  “Grain Shovel”.  This makes the rest of the sentence make sense... it would be very difficult to gather up all the grain on the floor and put it into a granary using a fork. 

And even more appropriately we might read “The combine will gather the harvest and separate the grain out from the stock of wheat that it grows on... the one who is to come will drive his grain truck to bring the harvest to the bin”

Jesus is coming with a grain shovel.

---

Now John really pulls the rug out from his audience. Last week we heard the promise that God is coming and making a straight path right out of the Wilderness into our lives. All flesh will see the salvation of the Lord we are told. 

It turns out that being Jewish or having the right parents or any of the securities that have been clung to are not going to help. In fact, the ax lies at the root of the tree waiting to cut it off if it doesn’t produce.

And the crowds hearing this... being afraid... nobody wants to be cut down or off and tossed aside... naturally they ask “What can we do?”

And now it gets really confusing because John gives some advice that is outside of religion. 

To be a good religious person John should have said, “Go to the temple and make an offering and do what is demanded of you and then you’re good to go...”

But no... John says, “Give away our excess stuff.” “Feed the poor” “Be honest in your job” “Don’t extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations”.

To sum up... be good people - take care of other people.

This is not the advice you expect to hear from a holy man or religion. It’s all so... normal... so mundane. 

And that is exactly the point.

It’s in the normal everyday parts of life that the Messiah is coming. It is among the poor that he will live, born in the food trough of farm animals. Born... in the flesh... in the everyday miracle of a babies birth. He will eat food, breath the air. And in him everything will change. For God will walk among us as one of us. 

This changes everything...

God is not distant... God is in the flesh.

God doesn’t live in a temple or church somewhere... God is with us in Spirit.

God’s judgement will be one of the chaff of death and pain and sin being removed and burnt away from each one of us, and Christ will gather us in with his shovel. 

The fruits of all creation will be purified, cleansed by fire... and gathered by the Christ.

This does not and Cannot mean business as usual... this means that things are going to change... that we will be changed. This means that God is not OK with average or good enough. It’s not OK that people suffer. It’s not OK. 

And as it’s not OK... we’re now in a process.

As we go about our week bearing our fruits of repentance... that is to say... being the good people we are called to be... we have hope.

Not that our being good is going to please God and lure the Santa Claus type God close to us to give us good things from his magic bag of toys.

No.

We have hope that the Messiah has come in Jesus. 

We have hope that the Spirit is continuing to move with us... pulling at the chaff of life that clings to us. Removing it and tossing it into the fire. Transforming us into the pure and golden pile of wheat that we are meant to be. 

This is what it is to be Christian - we live our lives to the best of ability... we have been set free by Christ to do this - the same Christ who desires to gather us all in. We are set free to live a life of joining in the work of the incarnate Christ in the world. 

And we look to the future where Christ stands on the horizon as all of creation is being harvested... his well worn grain shovel in his scarred hard working hands... waiting to bring us and all of creation home.

I love Santa Claus and the spirit of giving that Santa brings.

But more so... let us love the Christ who calls, redeems, sanctifies, and sends us out to live freely in the world.

All thanks and praise be to God - The Lord of the Harvest.

Amen.

The Apocalypse of Gilliosa Mccorkle - Sermon - Advent 1

09 -11-29 - Sermon - Year C - Advent 1 -

Text: Luke 21.25-38

Waiting... and watching for the signs... you’ll know something going to happen. Watch for the signs.... and wait.

We don’t like to wait...

Waiting to get flu shots is national news...

Waiting to receive justice for crimes committed... that’s not fun, we want justice now...

Waiting for shift to end...

Waiting to get service at a restaurant...

Waiting for that stock you bought to get back to where it was when you bought it...

Waiting... waiting to finally be healthy again...

Waiting is not something we like... especially when we are uncomfortable in the waiting.

Maybe this is why our whole culture has moved to become an instant gratification culture. We’ve collectively put ourselves into so much debt that it’s shocking. And I’m not talking about the good debt that pays off somehow... I’m talking about the bad debt that buries you in payments long after the joy of the acquisition is gone. 

Maybe this is why there is Christmas music playing in all the stores already. They whole materialistic experience of Christmas has changed the nature of the promise from “God with us” to “Maybe you can find joy and family togetherness in some of this stuff”. And if we focus on the good feelings we might summon up at Christmas... maybe we won’t notice the debt slipping onto our credit cards...

Maybe, our fear of waiting has to do with being so uncomfortable with where we are at right now. A longing to be somewhere different. It is possible to live in some hypothetical future where the right lights, the right drugs, the right program, the right immunization, the right economic package, the right prayer life, the right book, the right visualization will somehow fill us up and make us complete now. 

----

Gilliosa Maccorkle sat once again in the school guidance counselors office on a warm spring day in Edmonton. The school was quiet as most of the kids had cleared out and he sat waiting for his parents to come pick him up. His fists were throbbing less now and he could tell that he hadn’t been hit too hard. All in all, he’d given more than he’d taken in the fight.

Gilliosa Maccorkle had moved to Edmonton just 3 months earlier, and between his thick Newfoundland accent, and his easy to mock scottish name... Maccorkle... he had become an instant target for school bullies. His mark were average but he was not fitting in. 

Part of Gilliosa’s problem was that he couldn’t control his mouth. The youngest of 6 brothers he knew what it was to be the underdog and, when he wasn’t being picked on for his name or accent, he was throwing himself into other battles whenever he saw another being attacked... He was like a magnet for abuse and conflict... but he was unwavering in his commitment to justice.

Robert, the schools guidance counselor came in and slid a piece of paper across the table. It was a pencil drawing that Gilliosa had done in art class that day. 

The drawing showed on one side a small stick figure trapped in a cage. Stallagtites and stalagmites jutted out from the top and the bottom of the cave and, dancing in the middle were some hideous creatures. Trolls grotesque people with knives... they all danced around a huge bonfire... and on the far right there was a ramp that lead up to a small opening with a clock and sticks of dynamite all around it... and through the small opening there was a lake and a tree.

“This dynamite has people worried” Robert said.

---

Like Gilliosa Mccorkle’s picture, it’s important to get behind the story to understand what it means.

Jesus tells us a parable...

Look at the fig tree and all the trees...

as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer already near.

See and know.

See the leaves, know that summer is coming.

In our world the parable might go:

“Look at the Yellowhead and all the highways...

as soon as they are busy with trucks you can see for yourselves and know that economic prosperity is returning.”

See the sign... and know that the good times are coming...

The fig tree is synonymous with peace and prosperity. When you see that the figs are starting to sprout... you know that peace and prosperity are not far behind.

This is a very comfortable waiting... a fig tree growing... waiting for the weather to be just right to sprout peace and prosperity.

But there is a huge challenge with our fig tree story...

This lovely story of figs and summer comes nestled between 2 apocalyptic stories.

We learned at the Lutheran course this last week that the bible reads like a newspaper... it has different sections like Headlines, editorials, comics, business reports etc... And we have 2 types of writings today.

That story of the fig tree is a parable... a story that contains truth but doesn’t give us a literal telling... maybe it’s like one of the political cartoons... See the signs... know what is coming. Keep watch. This is the story that we can relate to easily.

But now the two really scary stories.

The scary stories we have are apocalypse stories. This means ‘revelation’ or ‘the lifting of the veil.”

To write an apocalypse is show what is happening now in fantastical terms... in this case... the grand scheme of all of creation. It attaches a heavenly meaning to an earthly reality. This is what the picture that Gilliosa had drawn is.

The people who would first have read this Gospel were a people under siege and occupation.

There was a Jewish rebellion around the year 70 which lead to the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Roman authorities... and life would not have been pleasant after that. Pax Romana... the Peace of Rome was a peace that was enforced with military might and great violence. Peace my submission

So note closely... those that hear this apocalyptic story are living the experience described. They live in a world of persecution, people are fainting from fear, people are suffering, and the only hope they can look for, as it says, “The Son of Man coming in a cloud.” 

“This generation will not pass away until all things have taken place”  This is to say... this sinful reality of war and persecution will not radically change till all these things have taken place.... that is... the son of man returns.

These abused, broken, trampled on people are proclaimed hope through an apocalypse. And so... given that the reality of life isn’t changing radically... they are given a hope of what will be the future

To people suffering oppression, this scary apocalypse becomes a good news story where the end of suffering is guaranteed. 

So in these stories there is a call to discipleship.

When you see the signs, lift your head high.

So when you see the signs of oppression and war and violence and sickness and death... lift your head high.

Human history has shown that the generation of violence that characterized the world in Jesus time has not yet passed away. Human suffering abounds in our world. 1 in 10 Canadians suffers from food shortage... our American neighbors have it worse and... still in this modern world, a child dies every 5 seconds from hunger related issues as wars continue all around... The world, the people, the whole of creation cries out in waiting for the promised redemption.

So we are a waiting people for all these things to be fulfilled.

But we are not called to sit still in our waiting... 

Jesus life and death and resurrection ... combined with the reality of the day of justice and final judgement at the end now function as book ends for our human experience.

We know what was... we know what will be... and now in between... we live with one foot in both worlds.

Life is to be lived with an Active Alertness.

It is a watching, hoping and waiting. 

And in watching we see where we can join in what Christ would have us do and become.

In watching we see Christ in the stories, in each other, in our lives... we see the Spirit inspiring and transforming bits of creation as God comes down and lifts all of creation up.

So don’t be weighed down as if we have or can fix it all... we are each called to our part.

Don’t be weighed down trying to be all things to all people... give yourself a break and be you... the person that is fully loved and known and held by God as you are now... a child of God with a future that is redeeming.

But also, don’t be sitting around. There is a world that needs to hear the message that is first given to us. Christ was, is, and will be ever with us, redeeming all of creation. Giving hope from the past and the future for us to struggle with the now. We do not struggle alone.

Like Gilliosa Maccorkle life isn’t easy... but hope and passion to live now comes from what was, is, and will be.

---

“Gilliosa, do you want to talk about the drawing?” Robert asked.

Gilliosa liked Robert... Robert was ex-military... he understood life... he could be trusted.

“Well... That’s me in the corner rattling the cage.” Gilliosa began.

“Looks rough” Robert said pointing to Gilliosa’s bruised knuckles.

“I get by... and I’m rattling the cage... I’m holding my head high even though for now I’m trapped.”

“What’s this in the middle?” Robert asked.

“That’s everyone and everything that is trapped in this cave with me. The trolls are the bullies, the people with knives are the people who pretend to be your friend but stab you in the back.”

“And about the ramp.”

Gilliosa Maccorkle got a huge smile on his face. “The ramp is graduation day, this whole cave is going to explode and then, on graduation day, I’m going to walk out of here... I’ve got a job lined up in Jasper for the summer... the day I get out is coming closer and closer. The posters for final dances and grad parities are going up so the time is coming near when I will be out of here.”

Robert looked into the wistful face of Gilliosa Maccorkle and said “May that day come soon for you.”

“I’m holding my head high.”

Amen