I was looking at the reading from this morning and thinking about what was going on in the life of my family and I realized that in the midst of the questions about "Why?" that God isn't fair. God doesn't ask us whether we want what's behind door number two. We follow God or we don't. If we follow God it will take us places that we can't imagine, and some that we would prefer not to go. As a friend said, God doesn't tell us "This is what I want you to do, are you in?" Rather she asks "Will you follow me?"
The parable from this morning's readings tells of a landowner who hired people through the day to work in his vineyard. In the end they were all paid the same and some complained. The landowner rebuked the complainers for being envious of his generosity. We are all to much like those workers. We demand that we get rewarded for the extra work we put in. We want a bonus for pain and suffering.
The truth is that God has only one currency. That is God's love and grace, and when it comes to God's love and grace God knows no arithmetic. There is no subtraction, no division. Everyone gets the same thing because it is all that God can give.
The funny thing is that when we follow, when we trust, when we cast ourselves into that ocean of love and grace, it is enough. We may walk day by day, or even minute by minute, but we get through because God gets through with us.
God isn't about being fair. Instead God gives us far more than we deserve.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Where's a burning bush when you really need one?
We all know the story - Moses encounters God at the burning bush, then goes on to free the Hebrews from Egypt, with a little help from God. What we don't talk about much is that Moses was a runaway, a murderer. He didn't want the job. Whatever he was doing at the time (keeping sheep) had to be better than working for God.
Yet God can be convincing and Moses finds himself heading off to Egypt for an epic showdown with the Pharoah. The movies have us thinking that this was a quick and relatively painless happening, at least for the Hebrews, but the battle between God and the Pharoah lasted for years, and both sides suffered. The Hebrews begged Moses to stop; he was only making things worse.
The truth is that liberation is messy. It hurts. Some people are going to end up with less than what they started with, and they will resent it. Others don't want to deal with the fight to make things fair. Short term losses have them crying "enough already". Everybody blames the poor guy with the staff.
The news these days is full of stories of rebellion and unrest. Not all of it is in "those" countries where we expect people to throw off their chains and become just like us. Even the riots in Britain can be blamed on "the British tendency to violence" because that's easier than saying that the tinder for the riots was created by policies that shelter the rich while criminalizing the poor. I expect when the riots start here in North America there will be a lot of the same kind of posturing and blaming of the poor.
Our society is ripe for liberation, the tinder dry and waiting for the spark. The have's are protecting their wealth while the poor get poorer and the government appears to work for the rich. The only question really is what kind of spark is going to set off the fire?
I'm rather hoping that it is a spark from a burning bush. I think that the churches and the faithful have a call to speak the truth and call for liberation. None of us want the job. Too many of us are close enough to the wealthy (or think we are) to be comfortable with the idea of becoming prophets of God's egalitarian Dominion. Yet isn't that likely exactly what Jesus had in mind when he talked about us picking up our crosses? After all, Jesus talked more about money and poverty than about anything else. The whole Dominion of God is based on a reversal of rich and poor, ruler and servant.
The bush is burning, friends, whether we want to see it or not.
Yet God can be convincing and Moses finds himself heading off to Egypt for an epic showdown with the Pharoah. The movies have us thinking that this was a quick and relatively painless happening, at least for the Hebrews, but the battle between God and the Pharoah lasted for years, and both sides suffered. The Hebrews begged Moses to stop; he was only making things worse.
The truth is that liberation is messy. It hurts. Some people are going to end up with less than what they started with, and they will resent it. Others don't want to deal with the fight to make things fair. Short term losses have them crying "enough already". Everybody blames the poor guy with the staff.
The news these days is full of stories of rebellion and unrest. Not all of it is in "those" countries where we expect people to throw off their chains and become just like us. Even the riots in Britain can be blamed on "the British tendency to violence" because that's easier than saying that the tinder for the riots was created by policies that shelter the rich while criminalizing the poor. I expect when the riots start here in North America there will be a lot of the same kind of posturing and blaming of the poor.
Our society is ripe for liberation, the tinder dry and waiting for the spark. The have's are protecting their wealth while the poor get poorer and the government appears to work for the rich. The only question really is what kind of spark is going to set off the fire?
I'm rather hoping that it is a spark from a burning bush. I think that the churches and the faithful have a call to speak the truth and call for liberation. None of us want the job. Too many of us are close enough to the wealthy (or think we are) to be comfortable with the idea of becoming prophets of God's egalitarian Dominion. Yet isn't that likely exactly what Jesus had in mind when he talked about us picking up our crosses? After all, Jesus talked more about money and poverty than about anything else. The whole Dominion of God is based on a reversal of rich and poor, ruler and servant.
The bush is burning, friends, whether we want to see it or not.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Summertime and the living is easy
It's summer, at least here in the northern hemisphere where I am writing this it is.Summer is the time when we try to kick back, enjoy the warmth and extra daylight, and maybe finally get to that top book on the pile we've been meaning to read all year.
This year the news isn't good. There are record floods across the country, and where there aren't floods there are fires. Scientists are now saying that we have left the period when we predicted dire consequences for global warming and are entering the time when we will experience the dire consequences of global warming.
In economic news we are waiting for the fall out of yet another country being forced to the wall by debt and given the choice of radical restructuring or paying up. It is a little like a visit from the arm and leg men of your local loan shark. Once again the workers are being told they must bear the brunt of the austerity measures while the people who caused the trouble sail on with their obscene wealth. Just in case you think it's only a problem in other countries, look at how the postal workers were demonized by Canada Post during the lock out, and the fact that the government arbitrator gave the union LESS than what Canada Post's last offer was.
We live in times when the rich will get richer while blaming the poor for the crisis. It's a global thing.
So what do we do?
Jesus calls to those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We could just flock to Jesus and turn our backs on the world. Take care of ourselves and our own and wait for the promised End Times.
Only that's not what Jesus had in mind. He talks about living in a realm in which no preference is given to the rich, where humility and wonder are primary virtues, where people take care of everyone, not just their own.
Jesus' mission statement in Luke 4:
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD's favor has come."
This isn't a mission of retreat and stay safe. This is a battle cry. We are called to live in the world as the incarnation of the Jesus who took these words from Isaiah as his mission. We are called to do what we can as individuals to make the world a better place. We don't need to save the world, just live our lives to make it a little better.
Oh, and that call to the weary and heavy laden? I heard a sermon preached, and I wish I could remember by whom, that the burden we carry for Jesus is light, not light as in not heavy, but light as in the light of God.
Enjoy your summer, walk, sit, fish or what ever in the presence of God, and let your light shine.
This year the news isn't good. There are record floods across the country, and where there aren't floods there are fires. Scientists are now saying that we have left the period when we predicted dire consequences for global warming and are entering the time when we will experience the dire consequences of global warming.
In economic news we are waiting for the fall out of yet another country being forced to the wall by debt and given the choice of radical restructuring or paying up. It is a little like a visit from the arm and leg men of your local loan shark. Once again the workers are being told they must bear the brunt of the austerity measures while the people who caused the trouble sail on with their obscene wealth. Just in case you think it's only a problem in other countries, look at how the postal workers were demonized by Canada Post during the lock out, and the fact that the government arbitrator gave the union LESS than what Canada Post's last offer was.
We live in times when the rich will get richer while blaming the poor for the crisis. It's a global thing.
So what do we do?
Jesus calls to those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We could just flock to Jesus and turn our backs on the world. Take care of ourselves and our own and wait for the promised End Times.
Only that's not what Jesus had in mind. He talks about living in a realm in which no preference is given to the rich, where humility and wonder are primary virtues, where people take care of everyone, not just their own.
Jesus' mission statement in Luke 4:
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD's favor has come."
This isn't a mission of retreat and stay safe. This is a battle cry. We are called to live in the world as the incarnation of the Jesus who took these words from Isaiah as his mission. We are called to do what we can as individuals to make the world a better place. We don't need to save the world, just live our lives to make it a little better.
Oh, and that call to the weary and heavy laden? I heard a sermon preached, and I wish I could remember by whom, that the burden we carry for Jesus is light, not light as in not heavy, but light as in the light of God.
Enjoy your summer, walk, sit, fish or what ever in the presence of God, and let your light shine.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Let's stop "Christianizing" the world.
This week's Gospel Reading is the Great Commission. Jesus tells his followers to go make disciples of every nation. For centuries the Church has functioned on the understanding that this means making everyone in the world just like us. After all, if we are good Christians, then that must mean that a good Christian must look just like us, right?
This attitude has done incalculable damage to the world as well as to the Gospel. Peoples who would have made a unique contribution to what God is speaking to the world were told to wear clothes, or hats, to learn English, or some other European language, so they could properly understand the scriptures. Translation of the scripture was often slow and piecemeal.
I have read the Gospels and nowhere do I find Jesus telling his disciples to make the world one mass homogenous lump of believers. Instead he sends them out to preach the Dominion of God. That place that is made up of radical grace. A place that is near at hand and yet as far away as the end of the world. We wait for its coming with bated breath and yet we breathe it in with the fire and hope of Pentecost.
The Great Commission as I read it is a command to go and live as God's disciples in every place on earth. To live so that people will want to find their own relationship with God and be part of that fascinating, unsettling, joyous, place that is God's Dominion.
This attitude has done incalculable damage to the world as well as to the Gospel. Peoples who would have made a unique contribution to what God is speaking to the world were told to wear clothes, or hats, to learn English, or some other European language, so they could properly understand the scriptures. Translation of the scripture was often slow and piecemeal.
I have read the Gospels and nowhere do I find Jesus telling his disciples to make the world one mass homogenous lump of believers. Instead he sends them out to preach the Dominion of God. That place that is made up of radical grace. A place that is near at hand and yet as far away as the end of the world. We wait for its coming with bated breath and yet we breathe it in with the fire and hope of Pentecost.
The Great Commission as I read it is a command to go and live as God's disciples in every place on earth. To live so that people will want to find their own relationship with God and be part of that fascinating, unsettling, joyous, place that is God's Dominion.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Is Jesus exclusive?
John 14:6 states "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
This verse has long been quoted as the definitive proof that the only way to salvation is to become Christian. Of course if becoming Christian is the exclusive path to salvation, then we have a moral obligation to convince everyone to become Christian by any means possible. This understanding has been the underpinning of Church outreach for centuries. Never mind that for those same centuries Church mission most often went hand in hand with conquest by the Western country that sponsored the mission.
When the British missionaries arrived in India, they discovered that there was already a thriving church there. It had been founded, according to tradition, by St. Thomas. Since it didn't look like the Christianity the missionaries were used to they at best ignored it and at worst tried to shut it down and replace it with the more acceptable British version.
We still do this. Indigenous people apparently have no ability to worship correctly, so we need to send out our own people to keep them in line and make sure they are orthodox. When we do this we are being hypocrites of the highest order. The modern church is the accretion of centuries of people bringing their own cultures and beliefs to the faith. Just because we are happy with where we are doesn't mean that the process will or should stop.
There are groups that are doing great things in the name of Christ, but I cringe whenever I hear the motivation for mission as "All those millions of people are going to Hell if we don't convert them." I don't worship a God who would send anyone to Hell unless the person truly desired to go there. The Gospels are pretty clear that Jesus died for all people. They don't say "all people who have a right and correct belief and say the proper version of the sinner's prayer". That's our stuff not God's.
So what is Jesus saying when he says "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me."? Let's back up a bit to see who John says Jesus is. John 1 says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Later the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. That Word made flesh is called Jesus. It is the Word that created who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In John, when Jesus makes the "I am" pronouncements he is speaking as the Word. I am Bread, I am Light, I am the Gate, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Resurrection, I am the Way, I am the Vine. In each of these statements he is highlighting a way in which he reconciles the world to God.
These are not statements of exclusion, but rather radical inclusion. He is bread to any who hunger, light to those who need to see, the safe gate to refuge, the one who cares for the lost, hope for the dead, and the path to God, the one in whom we are connected to life. None of these things depend on us. We can't make Jesus and more or less Bread.
So what is our mission? We are to live our relationship with God through Jesus. We are, in our frailties, to incarnate the love of God in our lives. Following Jesus we too become bread, light, freedom, care, hope, guidance, and life. If people want to join us. Great. If the don't, they still belong to God.
We can listen with respect to the stories of other faiths, and tell our story with respect in turn. But our real task isn't in the talking, but the living.
This verse has long been quoted as the definitive proof that the only way to salvation is to become Christian. Of course if becoming Christian is the exclusive path to salvation, then we have a moral obligation to convince everyone to become Christian by any means possible. This understanding has been the underpinning of Church outreach for centuries. Never mind that for those same centuries Church mission most often went hand in hand with conquest by the Western country that sponsored the mission.
When the British missionaries arrived in India, they discovered that there was already a thriving church there. It had been founded, according to tradition, by St. Thomas. Since it didn't look like the Christianity the missionaries were used to they at best ignored it and at worst tried to shut it down and replace it with the more acceptable British version.
We still do this. Indigenous people apparently have no ability to worship correctly, so we need to send out our own people to keep them in line and make sure they are orthodox. When we do this we are being hypocrites of the highest order. The modern church is the accretion of centuries of people bringing their own cultures and beliefs to the faith. Just because we are happy with where we are doesn't mean that the process will or should stop.
There are groups that are doing great things in the name of Christ, but I cringe whenever I hear the motivation for mission as "All those millions of people are going to Hell if we don't convert them." I don't worship a God who would send anyone to Hell unless the person truly desired to go there. The Gospels are pretty clear that Jesus died for all people. They don't say "all people who have a right and correct belief and say the proper version of the sinner's prayer". That's our stuff not God's.
So what is Jesus saying when he says "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me."? Let's back up a bit to see who John says Jesus is. John 1 says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Later the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. That Word made flesh is called Jesus. It is the Word that created who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In John, when Jesus makes the "I am" pronouncements he is speaking as the Word. I am Bread, I am Light, I am the Gate, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Resurrection, I am the Way, I am the Vine. In each of these statements he is highlighting a way in which he reconciles the world to God.
These are not statements of exclusion, but rather radical inclusion. He is bread to any who hunger, light to those who need to see, the safe gate to refuge, the one who cares for the lost, hope for the dead, and the path to God, the one in whom we are connected to life. None of these things depend on us. We can't make Jesus and more or less Bread.
So what is our mission? We are to live our relationship with God through Jesus. We are, in our frailties, to incarnate the love of God in our lives. Following Jesus we too become bread, light, freedom, care, hope, guidance, and life. If people want to join us. Great. If the don't, they still belong to God.
We can listen with respect to the stories of other faiths, and tell our story with respect in turn. But our real task isn't in the talking, but the living.
Friday, May 13, 2011
I don't want to be a sheeple...
In a recent debate around government and freedom, one of the people used the word “Sheeple”. He meant it to imply the kind of people who are easily led and kept happy by paternalistic government. The difficulty with saying that people who are like sheep are easily led is that sheep are not particularly easy to lead.
The Bible is full of stories about sheep and shepherds, and those stories are most often about the trials and tribulations of being a shepherd. Whether it is David wrestling a bear or the shepherd looking for the lost sheep, shepherding is a challenging occupation. Yet the challenge is not due to the sheep’s overwhelming intelligence, but more a result of its preoccupation with meeting the present need.
Most people are like sheep in that way. Our largest focus is on meeting our immediate desire. Want a bigger TV? There’s one on sale. Can’t afford it? There is just enough space on the credit card? Can’t pay the balance on the card? Pay the minimum payment, even if our statement tells us that our mortgage will be paid off first if we only pay the minimum.
Our life style is unsustainable because we are never content with what we have. We always want what’s next. It is hard for us to imagine just stopping because we have enough.
God calls us sheep, because truthfully we act very much like sheep. That’s why we need a shepherd; someone who will guide us to pastures when we need food and to clean water when we need to drink. Jesus calls himself the good shepherd. Not because he intends to lead us around by the nose, but because his goal is our freedom. If we rest in him, then we can be content. If we are content then we can stop the frantic search for more.
We don’t want to be sheeple. We don’t want a government telling us what to think or do. But we do want to be God’s sheep, because what God wants is for us to be fully ourselves.
Friday, May 6, 2011
An Easter People
It has been said so many times that it is in the realm of cliche that we Christians are an Easter people. We are a people of the Resurrection. Christ is Risen, Hallelujah!
What does that mean by the way? If I came up to you on a Friday night at the pub, or Saturday morning at your kid's soccer practice and asked you about this resurrection thing, what would you say? Can you tell me, or any one for that matter, how the resurrection has changed your life?
We Christians define ourselves by the resurrection, but a lot of us struggle with how it works. Was it a bodily resurrection, a vision, a hallucination, a massive conspiracy? Do we experience the power of this moment in the moments of our days?
I think that it is less important to nail down what exactly happened on Easter morning than it is to look at it's result. Disciples who were afraid to step outside saw Jesus come among them. They touched him, and even Thomas who doubted had his moment. Two grieving followers met him unknowing on a road and were both rebuked and built up. So much so that they ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the others.
Perhaps being an Easter people means that we struggle with what it all means, that we lock ourselves away, or leave to go home and encounter our Christ in a way that changes us forever. Perhaps it means that we don't need answers at that soccer practice as much as the openness to the possibility that we might meet God on the field.
The stories of the resurrection are not tidy stories of Jesus coming back to pass on the torch before he retires to the big chair in the sky. They are messy tales of fear and doubt, wonder and love. For me being an Easter person doesn't mean having all the answers in a box, but rather having a heart brimming with questions, and those questions leading me to live differently, whether in church on Sunday or at soccer, or even the pub.
Christ is Risen
He is Risen indeed, Hallelujah.
What does that mean by the way? If I came up to you on a Friday night at the pub, or Saturday morning at your kid's soccer practice and asked you about this resurrection thing, what would you say? Can you tell me, or any one for that matter, how the resurrection has changed your life?
We Christians define ourselves by the resurrection, but a lot of us struggle with how it works. Was it a bodily resurrection, a vision, a hallucination, a massive conspiracy? Do we experience the power of this moment in the moments of our days?
I think that it is less important to nail down what exactly happened on Easter morning than it is to look at it's result. Disciples who were afraid to step outside saw Jesus come among them. They touched him, and even Thomas who doubted had his moment. Two grieving followers met him unknowing on a road and were both rebuked and built up. So much so that they ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the others.
Perhaps being an Easter people means that we struggle with what it all means, that we lock ourselves away, or leave to go home and encounter our Christ in a way that changes us forever. Perhaps it means that we don't need answers at that soccer practice as much as the openness to the possibility that we might meet God on the field.
The stories of the resurrection are not tidy stories of Jesus coming back to pass on the torch before he retires to the big chair in the sky. They are messy tales of fear and doubt, wonder and love. For me being an Easter person doesn't mean having all the answers in a box, but rather having a heart brimming with questions, and those questions leading me to live differently, whether in church on Sunday or at soccer, or even the pub.
Christ is Risen
He is Risen indeed, Hallelujah.
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