Dec. 7, 2010

“Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution”

Tuesday, December 7^th, 2010

                This week’s readings are the stuff of revolution, and Mary the mother of Jesus is the most radical of them all. We are making our way through Advent and sinking deeply into the visions of change that are found in both the Hebrew prophets and the gospels. It is all about change.             

Background on this weeks readings:

Isaiah 35:1-10

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Isaiah+35:1-10&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                Here is another of Isaiah’s great visions of the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian Exile. Isaiah is in three sections and although this is part of the second section, scholars suggest that it was probably originally within the last section, which is filled with hopeful visions of the restoration of the nation.

                But this vision does not begin in the nation. Rather it begins in the wilderness. The desert sands are the first to feel the relief of God’s blessing. Water in the wilderness was such a strong image of relief for a desert dwelling people. But then the prophet moves to the personal: those with weak hands, feeble knees, fearful hearts. There will be relief for the returning exiles. And finally after another poetic description of relief for the land, he turns to the nation. A highway, the Holy Way will be built, and it will be a safe way for everyone to stream to Zion.

James 5:7-10

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=James+5:7-10&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                In Advent, the readings often flip from waiting for the ancient vision of restoration to be fulfilled, to the early Christians waiting for the return of Jesus. Here, in James we have the latter, in a message of patience. Unlike some of the more wild apocalyptic approaches, James takes a much more evolutionary approach to waiting. As a farmer waits for the crop to be ready to harvest, so it is as we wait for Christ. There is a slow, evolving process going on- one of maturing, growing, ripening. And then, according to James, the time will come when Christ shall return. But in the meantime, use the farmer’s kind of patience.

Luke 1:47-55

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke+1:39-56&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                And in our gospel reading, I have chosen the optional reading from Luke which includes Mary’s Song, the Magnificat. As the story is told, Mary has received an angelic visitation during which she was told that she is pregnant, and that this child would be especially blessed by God. Her cousin Elizabeth has also become pregnant in a miraculous way, and Mary goes to visit her sister. When she arrives, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps and Elizabeth, in a moment of ecstasy, pronounces Mary blessed among women. The reading for today is a revolutionary poem Mary is said to have spoken.

                It may feel odd that these people seem to speak in poetry and ecstatic pronouncements, but remember, this is epic story telling, and this particular reading is very reminiscent, if not quoting from Hannah’s song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) when she has discovered she is miraculously pregnant.

                But hear also the content of the song. This is political stuff, and the stuff of revolution. The poor are lifted the powerful dethroned and (my favourite line) the proud are scattered in the imaginations of their hearts. The hungry are given good things and the rich are sent away empty handed.

                 

Some thoughts

These readings have always been come of the most inspirational texts in the Bible for me. I am a big picture person and I like change, so I am inspired by these visions of change. Frankly I struggle to imagine Mary waxing so poetically when she greets her sister, but as the gospel writers told the story, the visions inspired by the coming of Jesus harkened back to the ancient visions both of returning exiles and of ancient mothers of the faith like Hannah. Clearly Jesus, his teaching, his presence, and the way his life bore witness to God’s liberation and life for us all touched a deep chord  of longing for change in everyone, and continues to touch that chord in us. Imagine how things could be different.

I am particularly drawn to the way Isaiah grounds the vision for change in the earth. The very creation will be different. Imagine if you were a returning exile coming home from the north, and you see the desert blooming. What would that do to your heart and mind? What kind of hope and joy would that evoke in you? What kind of hope and joy does it evoke in you today?

               

Starter questions:

1.       All these readings speak to our longing for things to be different. What changes do you long for? In your life? In your community? In the world?

2.       Mary’s vision is one of revolution in which the hungry, poor, broken find restoration, and the rich, well fed and whole are taken down a few pegs. How does this vision strike you? Do you believe in revolution?

3.       James talks about change in a more gentle way, using the image of farming. The evolutionary way. How has God worked in your life so far? Through revolution or evolution?

Further Exploration

Just for kicks, here is the latest link for the Advent Conspiracy.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Nov. 30, 2010

“An Antidote for Nostalgia”

Tuesday,  November 30, 2010

                We move into the readings for the second Sunday of Advent. We light the candle of peace. Then we hear another reading from the prophet Isaiah, and catch our first glimpse of the prophet John the Baptist. If the hope is to gentle us towards the warm and fuzzy Christmas feeling, we are heading in the wrong direction. These readings have sharp edges. Handle them with care or they will bite you. We want to get to the place of peace and serenity, but to get there this week we need to pass through some harsh biblical territory.

Background on this weeks readings:

Isaiah 11:1-10

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Isaiah+11:1-10&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                Here we have the biblical basis for what the Quakers called “the peaceable kingdom”- a vision of a world in which natural enemies would be friends, wolves and lambs, lions and fatlings, children and snakes. The prophet envisions a day when we are not in the grip of our least redeemable instincts, but rather can rise above our impulses and live in harmony, peace, compassion. And for Christians it has been easy to imagine the child in this passage as a reference to the child of Bethlehem. Read Jesus into this passage and it is a short jump from Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom to Jesus’ Kingdom of God, and the motley community that gathers around the table of grace.

Romans 15:4-13

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Romans+15:4-13&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                This harmonious community is hard to achieve and the early church was no closer to the it than we are today. Wherever there are differences in ability, gift, power, intellect, interest, political convictions, religious beliefs and inclination, there will be differences of opinion and conflict. Paul, in an attempt to call people to draw on their deeper character, and rise above these differences between the Jews and gentiles of the church in Rome, sees Christ as the image of this beloved community way of being.

Matthew 3:1-12

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+3:1-12&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                And then there is John the Baptizer- the wild man of the wild land, living on locusts and wild honey, preaching that you can’t get to beloved community, to a peaceable kingdom unless you let go of a few things. “Repent!” Change your ways. And those who expect that whatever beloved community God is creating has a place for them in it by heredity and not by heart have another thing coming.

                Matthew believes that the one to usher in the new realm of peace had someone ahead of him “preparing the way.” The seeds of this new way needed fertile ground, and John was the tiller of the ground. There is great debate about the relationship between John and Jesus, and whether or not they actually had the same vision, but clearly, as Matthew and others looked back on it, John’s stirring call for “metanoia” (turning around),  repentance, having a thorough change of heart and mind tilled the ground for Jesus’ arrival.

Some thoughts

                John’s was not a gentle approach. He was not a diplomat. He was the disruptive presence at the dinner party, the one nobody wants to sit beside because he is likely to say things that are embarrassingly true, and say them in a way that makes everyone uncomfortable. He comes across like a sour tonic, good for you but hard to swallow. As I think about what the peaceable kingdom requires in the real world, I am beginning to question the value of my gentle approach and my good liberal upbringing. Some churches are dying of this very way of being. I think they call it terminal niceness. Maybe there is a time when the only way to the peaceable kingdom is through a rough and tumble turning around.

                I am also thinking about metanoia, the greek word used here for repentance, turning around. In what ways do we as individuals, as churches, as communities, and as a global community, need to turn around, do an about face, change our ways?

               

Starter questions:

1.       What is your response to the vision of Isaiah? Do you believe that we can rise above our more predatory impulses and find the way of peace? Where have you seen it happen? What does it take?

2.       What do you think of John’s approach? Have you known any disruptive people who have brought a prophetic word of truth that was uncomfortable? How do you respond? Have you ever done that yourself?

3.       What needs to “turn around” in your life in order to make the peaceable kingdom a reality?

"Waky Waky!"

Tuesday, November 24,  2010

The First Sunday of Advent

“Keep Awake”

                Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent, and the beginning of our journey towards Bethlehem. We begin a movement that has a destination, a birth, something new on the horizon.  At Northwood the theme for the season is “Journey toward Bethlehem.” Like most journeys we go on, there is the going there and the getting there. The going there is all about the process, the way. The getting there is all about the arrival, the destination.           My hope is that through this season we can be a people on the way, paying attention to moments in the journey in which we encounter the Holy. I also hope that our journey is shaped by our destination- that the fact that the presence of God is found in a child, born in the backwaters of Judea shapes us.

                The lectionary has us begin this journey not so much with visions of that first coming but with hopes of a second one.

Background on this weeks readings:

Isaiah 2:1-5

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Isaiah+2:1-5&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                The prophets’ hope is ever-present in the season of Advent, so we begin with Isaiah. This is first Isaiah speaking from a time before the fall of Jerusalem but after Assyria has taken over control of the northern kingdom of Israel. So clearly they were living in the shadow of potential impending disaster.

                Isaiah speaks to the dreams of the people for restoration. But it is not exactly harkening back to glory days here, but rather a dream of a time when God will teach the people, and adjudicate their differences. Jerusalem will not as much be a seat of power for Israel but a seat of justice and reconciliation for God. And because people will submit their quarrels to God’s judgements, the instruments of war will become the instruments of re-building (swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks).  Not a bad place to begin the Advent journey.

               

Romans 13 :8-14

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Romans+13:8-14&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                Paul is speaking clearly from a place of expectation that Christ will return at any moment. So it makes total sense that if the end of the present age is about to take place and a new age is about to dawn in which everything will be changed, then be in the moment. Be ready. Be awake. This was no philosophical or spiritual practise of “living in the moment.” No this was rooted in the expectation that something really big was about to change everything.

                I am struck by his use of “stay awake!” Wakefulness is a very active posture of expectation. There is a sense of alertness here that I believe leads us into Advent well. Are we really awake to God’s imminent presence, an in-breaking of love and hope at any moment? Or are we more asleep than awake?

Matthew 24 :36-44

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+24:36-44&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                Picking up on the awake theme, we have Matthew’s version of the apocalyptic expectation that God is about to bring in the new age. Be awake. Be ready. The new age is about to dawn.

                These are startling images in understanding how God makes God’s way from the background to the foreground of our lives. There is no gentle dawning here. This is Noah waiting for the clouds to tear open and all heaven to fall. God is pulling a break and enter on our lives. I am thinking that perhaps these less gentle approaches to jostling us out of our habitual busyness and over-consumption may be exactly what is needed today. Happy advent folks! Are you catching the good news in this?

               

Some thoughts

                I have never found the apocalyptic expectations within the gospels to be very compelling during Advent. Expecting the incarnation, the birth of God in this world, and expecting the second coming, whatever you think that might mean, are very different things. However, the eagerness and even edginess of the call to wakefulness is compelling to me. I think we in the comfortable western church don’t actually expect much. We might even hope not much will happen. Another  Christmas. Same old same old. So we start to fall asleep to the wonder of God in the world. I was talking to someone today who finds the church really frustrating because people don’t engage. People have such low expectations of the church and the faith.

                What would it look like for us to wake up? What would be different if we honestly woke up to the very real presence of God? And what would it take to wake us up?

Further explorations:

Here’s a youtube clip for the Advent Conspiracy for this year.  These always jostle us awake a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Wllpq0wBU&feature=fvst

No pot luck conversation today

For those of you interested in coming to the face-to-face gathering over supper tonight, it has been cancelled. I am home sick today. I'd love to hear your thoughts though, so post away.
Peace, Will

Nov. 18, 2010

Wednesday,  November 17, 2010

                It would appear that preparing a post for Monday or even Tuesday is a challenge. Sorry for the lateness this week. We are preparing at Northwood to wind up our 5 week focus on Stewardship with our Celebration Sunday. We have not followed the Ecumenical Lectionary this week but instead have chosen two readings that draw our attention to the way we receive and the way we give.

Background on this weeks readings:

Micah 6:6-8

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Micah+6:1-8&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                The prophet Micah lived in that prophetically rich time period after the fall of the Northern kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians, and before the fall of the Southern kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians. He had watched as the previously rich Israel crumbled. His is a voice speaking from the margins of Judean power in the rural area southwest of Jerusalem, speaking to the centre of power in Jerusalem. He, along with Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah, fiercely challenges the steady drift of the social and economic order within the nation mostly revolving around the temple. In today’s reading the prophet lays out an argument between God and the people. “Look back and see all I have done for you, and you simply offer burnt offerings in the temple but miss-treat and neglect the poor. Then we hear what is acceptable worship to God: “Seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”

Matthew 5:13-16

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+5:13-20&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                The Sermon on the mount is what John Wesley, founder of called “The Little Canon.” Here Matthew gathers core teachings of Jesus. This is the first of the five sections of teaching in Matthew which are said to parallel the five books of Moses. Jesus, in Matthew, is the new Moses, the new Covenant making prophet.

                We are just reading the first part of the sermon on the mount, the section in which, after the blessings within the beatitude, Jesus turns to his core circle of friends and disciples and says, “You are the salt of the earth…” This feels very personal, very direct, and very challenging. These words echo down the years within the Christian community and call out for a response from us.

Some thoughts and questions

                This being celebration Sunday, the main question is, after five weeks of reflection on the ways that we pour ourselves out for the sake of the gospel both within the church and beyond its walls, how are we salt? How are we light for the world? In what ways do we practise radical gratitude, courageous giving. How do we shape our lives around these words: Seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. If indeed this is the kind of worship God really wants, what needs to shift in our lives to make it so?

November 9, 2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

               

                This week marks the 4^th week of our “Celebrate Stewardship” congregational program. Although I haven’t said much about this here, it has been somewhat of a lens I have brought to my thoughts on Sunday. This week will be no different. We are also coming close to the end of the Christian year, this being the second to last Sunday. The lectionary takes none of this into account. Instead, as we near the end of the year, the lectionary has us contemplating thoughts of the end of things.

Background on this weeks readings:

Isaiah 65:17-25

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Isaiah+65:17-25&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                The biblical text of Isaiah was likely written over about 150 years starting from before the exile in Babylon (700ish BCE), through the time of exile and into the time when the people of Israel returned in around 520 BCE. Scholars talk about three sections with three different corresponding voices within the text. Today’s reading is the latest part (Third Isaiah) written after the people had returned. It is hopeful  as it imagines God performing a great restorations of the fortunes of the people and a time of deep and lasting peace with the nation of Israel leading the way.

                Today we hear the oft-quoted section including “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent, its food shall be dust.” This echoes an even more familiar section of Isaiah, chapter 11. I love the vision, although a practical side of me resonates with Woody Allen who once said, “It’s one thing for the lion and the lamb to lie down together. It’s another thing to get the lamb to stop shaking.” Still, a hopeful vision for a people trying to rebuild their lives and their nation.

2 Thessalonians 3 :6-13

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2+Thessalonians+3:6-13&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                Speaking of the practical side, in 2 Thessalonians we hear a very stern Paul talking to the practical realities of the church. The theological side of the question is, “If Jesus is coming back momentarily, then why do we have to weary ourselves with work? Sit back and relax. The end is coming. Yet, somebody has to do the dishes. Somebody has to put food on the table. I am guessing Paul got some complaints from those who were keeping things going on a practical level, that others were sitting back expecting it all to be over soon. Paul’s response: Yes, Christ is coming soon, but you also have to keep living in the meantime.     

Luke 21:5-19

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke+21:5-19&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

                We have been following Luke’s version of the story of many weeks now and we are nearing the end. In this little section of Luke, referred to as “The Little Apocalypse,” Jesus is moving through the streets of Jerusalem predicting its ultimate end. Written as Luke was, after the fall of the second temple in 70 CE, the original readers of Luke would have found some comfort in these words based so thoroughly on Mark’s gospel (Mk. 24:1-3).

                The apocalyptic view of the world expects the end of the present age and the creation of a new world order in which the corrupt present rulers are overthrown and God takes charge. But once again, in practical terms, that process of the end of one age and the beginning of another is a messy one. When empires crumble, it is messy. Jesus’s words reflect this, and the faithful are called to hold on, bear witness to the good news and know that “by your endurance you will gain your souls.” When all hell breaks loose, it is not cleverness, creativity, popularity, strength, but endurance that matters.

Some thoughts

                I am not totally Trinitarian about things, but three themes emerge for me in these readings. First, I think about the interplay of a vision for life, and the practicalities in which we live. In Isaiah it was a glorious vision of peace, but like in Haggai last week, the reality was somewhat less than glorious. The temple just didn’t compare to the previous version. Crops were hard to grow after all this time. The people were not cohesive like they used to be. It was tough to hold on to the vision while bearing the realities. In the early church, you had the great hope of Christ’s return and the practical realities of living. And in the gospel reading, the foundations were shaking. How to hold on to hope in the midst of Roman rule.

                Which brings me to the foundation shaking that goes on in Isaiah, Thessalonians, and in Luke. Actually in today’s world. I believe we live in a time of huge foundation shaking. Institutions like the church are shaken to the core these days, but in a bigger way too. Global warming, the end of fossil fuel abundance, the ever growing disparity between rich and poor, the rise of the information economy, she shakiness of global capitalism among other things.  I heard one scholar say that Jesus did not try to bring down the Roman empire. He was all about trying to live faithfully in the midst and despite it. Maybe that is our task as foundations shake. Living faithfully while the foundations shake.

                Finally all three readings give the sense that the vision of God (peace, community, the Kingdom of God) has already come but is also not yet here, and we live with both realities. Here in Surrey, I see both the green shoots of inter-racial, inter-cultural community all around me and the joy of that reality. I also see gangs, drugs, poverty, homelessness, and racial and cultural divides that have yet to be bridged. The endurance Jesus calls for is both an endurance of vision (keep your eye on the prise) and a practical endurance (put one step in front of the other).

               

Starter questions:

1.       Am I right about the foundations shaking? Where do you see this?

2.       I am curious if my read on Jesus not taking aim at the Roman Empire is actually right, or whether I come to that after 47 years of not making headway against the empires of this world. Thoughts?

3.       Where is the crossing points of vision and practice in your life?

November 2, 2010

“Hope Behond History”

Background on this week’s readings:

Haggai 1:15(b)-2:9

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Haggai+1:15-+2:9&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            After the time of exile in Babylon, and after the King of Babylon, Cyrus, allowed the Jewish people to return to their land, they returned. Cyrus had also encouraged them to re-build the temple, and following on the words of prophets like Isaiah, they had great hopes for a complete renewal.

            They returned, and their land, their capital, Jerusalem, and their nation were in ruins. The rebuilding did not go easily. It was hard work, and the results were not what they had dreamed. They was discouraged.

            To them, Haggai speaks a word of encouragement.

2Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2+Thessalonians+2:1-17&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            A main theme within of both first and second Thessalonians is the question, “why is it taking so long for Christ to return?” The early Christians believed that a new day was to dawn upon them with the return of Christ in which the present powers (namely Rome) and the religious underpinnings of it would be banished. This was expressed in a variety of ways, and in Thessalonians, it has an apocalyptic flavour. Christ will return after great suffering and a new just and peaceful day will begin.

            So the church was stuck in between. Christ had not yet returned but they believed it was imminent. So how do you live a “normal” life in the meantime? And why is it taking so long? Paul had explained that Christ would return and given then some tips on how to live in the meantime, but as time went on, they doubted, and they listened to others saying he had already returned and they had missed it. In this part of 2 Thessalonians, Paul reiterates his main point, Christ will return, and urges them to hold fast to this hope, and live well in the meantime.

Luke 20:27-38

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke+20:27-38&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            Over the last number of weeks we have been following Jesus as he makes his way toward Jerusalem, teaching and interacting with people along the way. Now he has arrived and is teaching in  the temple in Jerusalem- the religious, social and political centre of Jewish life and teaching. He has just driven the sellers and money changers out of the temple area and the religious and political leaders are looking for a way to dispose of him. The air is charged.

In today’s reading the Sadducees (pronounced “sad-you-sieze”) take a run at him around teachings of resurrection. They offer an absurd scenario about a woman whose husbands die successively seven times. The question they pose is “in the resurrection, whose wife is she.”

To be clear, the resurrection is not the same as the modern idea of the afterlife. In Jewish mythology, we live in the present age, and at some divinely appointed day, a new age would be ushered in, and the dead would be raised. As with the modern ideas of afterlife, not all Jews imagined this the same way, and the Sadducees didn’t believe in it at all. But clearly, they are trying to trip Jesus up. This is partly about the teachings around resurrection, which Jesus addresses. More importantly in Jesus’ mind, this is about who is in charge when we enter the mystery of life beyond this life. Here Jesus speaks clearly: “God is God not of the dead but of the living, and for God, they are all alive.”

Some thoughts

                My mind goes down two paths as I reflect on these readings together. Firstly, when things are not what we had hoped they would be, when “things just ain’t what they used to be, or ain’t what they ought to be”, where do we find strength, courage and hope. For the returning exiles, the glory days of the previous temple are clearly over and they don’t have the resources to rebuild to the same extent. The early Christians were hanging on hoping for Christ to return and a new age would dawn. But it was taking so long!

            Our neighbours to the south head to the polls today in mid-term elections and the great hopes that Obama would usher in a new day are flagging along with the economy. There is disappointment, sometimes bordering on disillusionment. Things ain’t what they used to be nor are they what they ought to be. These readings speak to this situation in life. What do they say to you?

            I also have in mind that Remembrance day is coming up and in church on Sunday we will remember those past and present who have offered, risked and given their lives so that their families, friends and nations could have a lasting peace. They went into the chaos and fear of battle trusting that it was for a greater cause. Along with their gear they were issued bibles. There is a sense in which they all knew that they faced uncertainty and they would be relying a greater help to get them through. When the foundations are shaking, when life is in the balance, where do you reach for something spiritually solid?

            I struggle with notions of an interventionist God, one who will swoop in and change my life arbitrarily, especially if I have asked for it. That feels like a Santa Claus notion of God. Yet I also believe God cares about what happens in life, in the course of history. God to me is both in history and beyond it, somehow.

               

Starter questions:

1.      Where have you found sources of strength when things have not worked out the way you had hoped? What has helped you to “stand firm and hold fast?”

2.      When the foundations are shaking, when life is in the balance, where do you reach for something spiritually solid?

3.      How do you make sense of a God who cares about life and the course of history when things are not unfolding in life-giving ways?

A note from Will

Hi folks,
Thanks for logging into "A Word in the World." As you know, I am in ministry at Northwood United Church in Surrey and as pastoral minister, things come up. Last week you will have noticed that I was at a leadership training event, and so I posted some material from that. This week we are grieving the loss of one of our long time members, and are holding another family through the loss of their 30 year old son and brother.
This is all to say that I have not had a chance to prepare the blog this week, and I won't get to it. Sorry. One of those weeks.
However, they say farmers are "next year" people, ever hopeful for a new crop and a better year. Ministers are "next week" people, ever hopeful for a saner week.
Grace and Peace to you,
Will

October 19, 2010, Poems from a Leadership Course

Tuesday October 19, 2010

Greetings friends ,

                This is a different week this week. I will not be posting the regular readings for the coming Sunday as I will not be leading worship on Sunday. Rather I am spending the week with a group of 40 clergy who have gathered with the Very Reverend Peter Short, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada. We are spending 5 days together renewing our practise of leadership in the church we love so much- the church we believe God loves so much. We have been here since Sunday evening and will be here til Friday. It is an honour to spend that much time with the wise counsel of Peter Short and the wise and compassionate presence of colleagues who have committed their lives to this crazy and beautiful endeavour of ministry in the church.

                So instead, I offer you two poems I have gleaned from our sessions. The first comes from a session in which Peter was suggesting that courageous leadership comes from us when we are deeply and courageously who we are called to be. Unfortunately we humans spend a significant portion of our lives seeking to be someone God never created us to be. So our task really is to unleash ourselves in the world. He offered this poem by Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States, as a playful place to start:

Litany

“You are the bread and the knife,

The Crystal goblet and the wine...”

-Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,

The crystal goblet and the wine.

You are the dew on the morning grass

And the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker,

And the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,

The plums on the counter,

Or the house of cards.

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.

There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,

maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,

But you are not even close

To being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show

That you are neither the boots in the corner

Nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,

Speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,

That I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star.

The evening paper blowing down as alley

And the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees

And the blind woman’s tea cup.

But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

Not to mention the crystal goblet and—somehow—the wine.

                The work of ministry is both the interior work of the soul and the exterior work of being that living soul, compassionately, courageously, helpfully, truthfully in the world. There is spade work, homework, planning work, gathering work, all kinds of work. But there is also listening work, listening to the stirrings of the spirit within the soul, hearing the voices we are given to guide us. Here is another Billy Collins poem called “The Night House”:

Every day the body works in the fields of the world
Mending a stone wall
Or swinging a sickle through the tall grass-
The grass of civics, the grass of money-
And every night the body curls around itself
And listens for the soft bells of sleep.

But the heart is restless and rises
From the body in the middle of the night,
Leaves the trapezoidal bedroom
With its thick, picture-less walls
To sit by herself at the kitchen table
And heat some milk in a pan.

And the mind gets up too, puts on a robe
And goes downstairs, lights a cigarette,
And opens a book on engineering.
Even the conscience awakens
And roams from room to room in the dark,
Darting away from every mirror like a strange fish.

And the soul is up on the roof
In her nightdress, straddling the ridge,
Singing a song about the wildness of the sea
Until the first rip of pink appears in the sky.
Then, they all will return to the sleeping body
The way a flock of birds settles back into a tree,

Resuming their daily colloquy,
Talking to each other or themselves
Even through the heat of the long afternoons.
Which is why the body-the house of voices-
Sometimes puts down its metal tongs, its needle, or its pen
To stare into the distance,

To listen to all its names being called
Before bending again to its labour.

            I am grateful for the opportunity to both learn and lead in this event, and will return refreshed and renewed next week. Meanwhile, grace and peace. Will

Oct. 11-17, 2010- "Never Give Up"

Tuesday October 12, 2010               

            I love this cartoon. This week we hear of Jacob wrestling with... not sure who. Do we go with that message or that of Jeremiah who encourages the faithful with rich images of a covenant, written on the heart? We also hear the writer of Timothy shouting across the centuries, “stay on message!” And we experience one of Luke’s classic parables of Jesus, the persistent widow and the unjust judge. Let’s take a look.

Background on this weeks readings:

Genesis 32:22-31

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Genesis+32:3-31&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            This is one of the classic stories of Genesis with the classic manipulator, Jacob. He is still on the run trying to avoid Esau, whose blessing and birth-right he had stolen. The night before he will be forced to face his past, Jacob sends his family and belongings on ahead and stays behind to spend the night “wrestling ‘til daybreak.” This feels like a story of archetypal proportions. Think about the features: main character on the run from his past, his brother, wrestling with a stranger who brings a blessing in the end, battling with no clear winner and no clear loser, from which he emerges both blessed and wounded, limping forward to face what he must face. Let go of history folks. This is all of us in every time and place. It is about you.

Jeremiah 31:27-34

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Jeremiah+31:27-34&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            We have been working our way through Jeremiah these last weeks. The hard tones of earlier give way now to softer, more hopeful tones. Where in Chapter 1 Jeremiah was talking about foreign nations being set over Israel to “pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow,” now it is time to “build and to plant.” In the past injustice, oppression and brokenness cycle down the generations. “Parents eat sour grapes and children’s teeth are set on edge.” How is that for an image of brokenness passed on.

            But the hope lies in the covenant, newly written not on stone but on the human heart. Here we find Jeremiah pointing to the way, in mature faith, the covenant relationship with God becomes no longer something externally imposed and legally understood, but accepted from within and understood intuitively. People will live by the covenant because it has become so a part of them that they can do no other.

2 Tiimothy 3:14- 4:5

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2+Timothy+3:14+-+4:5&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            Do you sense the urgency in this letter? Although there is some dispute about who actually wrote this letter, it has a clear personal tone, and feels like a letter of advise from a veteran Paul to a younger worker. How about the image of “people having itchy ears,” following the latest new fad-doctrine that comes their way. Sound familiar to anyone? If the theme is, “never give up,” the call here is, “stay on message, hold fast to the core of the faith!” Presumably this would not be difficult for those with the covenant written on their hearts.

Luke 18:1-8

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke+18:1-8&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            Here is a classic parable from Luke that comes from the same storehouse of great story from which we get “The Prodigal Son,” “The Good Samaritan,” and others. In this one, “The Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge,” Luke hands us interesting introduction and conclusion words that are worth paying attention to.

            The parable is basic. A widow needs justice, and calls for it persistently from a judge who doesn’t give a rip about her or God. Yet for the sake of peace and quiet, he gives her her due. If that’s how he acts in his unfaithfulness, how much more ready do you think God, who cares deeply for us all will hear and respond. The introductory words tell us what to look for. This is about the need to pray and never give up. But the concluding words are striking. If God showed up today, would there be faith on the earth?

            The temptation is to look at this as a parable about the faithfulness of God. But the introductory and concluding words point us back upon ourselves.

                               

Some thoughts

            I am sure you have experienced a disagreement in which you, or someone else, likely because they have decided that the outcome is not worth the argument, say “whatever.” Often there is a tone that goes with the word. “Whatever!” It usually means, I care about it but I am just not going to argue about it any longer. Often it means someone has just let go of something that was precious to them. Sometimes, if it becomes a regular way of dealing with disappointment, “whatever” can become an indication that someone has lost their heart. What used to matter doesn’t matter anymore.

            That is a sad state. The world needs us to care, to persist in the things that matter. This way of faith is not easy and can involve no small measure of disappointment. How do we deal with our disappointment? Do we swallow it and carry on? Do we, like the widow, push back and insist. Do we cave in, say “whatever,” and walk away. None of the great human achievements have taken place without disappointment along the way, and if you are Jacob, without coming away with a wound and a limp. How is it for you?

           

Starter questions:

1.      Have you ever had a wrestling night as you have come face to face with your life? What came out of that night for you? Wounds? Blessings? Were you limping? Stronger?

2.      In Timothy, Paul seems to be clear what is core and what is fluff- the stuff of itchy ears. For you, what is the core faith (written on your heart) that is worth holding fast to, and what experience do you have of itchy ears?

3.      The picture of the persistent widow banging on the judges door sticks with me. Do you see this in the world? Where? Do you ever feel like you are banging on God’s door and not getting a response? What would Luke say to this?

Oct. 4 - 10, 2010 "Remember and be thankful"

Monday, Oct 4, 2010

            This week in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving. Of all the festivals of the year, this is one of my favourites. It comes at harvest time, the earth is winding down for another season and the colours are gorgeous on the mountains. You can feel the coolness of the coming winter, and the air has a freshness that you can taste. It all inclines the heart towards gratitude.

            This is also the festival that more than any other acknowledges our humanity, our limits, and our dependence on the creation and the creator. We have so much to be thankful for, and most of it had nothing to do with us.

Background on this week’s readings:

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Deuteronomy+26:1-11&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            So to get a good sense of this reading you need to imagine yourself with Moses on the east bank of the Jordon River. That is the setting for the entire book of Deuteronomy. It is written as his final speech to the people after they have wandered in the desert for 40 years and are about to cross over into the promised land. And Deuteronomy is cast as a final speech. Moses will not go with them, so these are his parting words. So as he opens, he says, when you get there, there are a few things you need to remember. And this particular section is about remembering to bring the first fruits of the gifts of the land to God, remembering your story of liberation, and kindling within a humble gratitude. The assumption is, it will be tempting to think that you did this on your own. Remember.

Psalm 100

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Psalm+100&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            Here we have a pretty standard simple ancient song of praise to God, set in the place of worship. As in Deuteronomy, we are told to remember God, behold who God is, know that God made us, and that we belong to God. I get the sense that both here and in Deuteronomy, these writers kind of expect that human beings will forget God and start to think that they made themselves. Hmmm.

Philippians 4:4-9

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Philippians+4:1-13&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            You need to know that this is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. I have many, but this is near the top. It is one of the most elegant, loving and gentle sections in the entire works of Paul that we have. Paul had a special relationship with the church in Philippi. He was there from their very beginning, they had cared for him, and in their struggles, he had returned the favour. He was their spiritual mentor and here we see why. He is appealing to the very best in them and he knows that they will respond. He sounds just so very confident as he proclaims that “The God of peace will be with you.” That’s a promise.

John 6:25-35

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=John+6:24-35&vnum=yes&version=nrsv

            The gospel reading for this Sunday is a real shift of gears from the other readings. This is vintage John, all multi-levelled and cryptic. Everything here has at least two meanings and you can never seem to get a straight answer out of Jesus. “When did you get here?” they ask, and he can’t even tell them that without talking about signs, and working for enduring food. They see that he is talking in riddles and they want some kind of verification that he knows what he is talking about. Give us a sign like Moses did with the manna? With this he launches into talk about bread. But bread means more than bread to him. Nothing is just what it seems but it packed with encoded meaning. Metaphors abound. Even he himself is not just himself, but is bread.

Some thoughts

            I had a load of top soil delivered this past weekend, and today was the day to shovel it into the various different garden beds. It was a cooler day today and as I got deeper into the pile of pungent rich soil, there was a smell that emerged from the pile that was nothing short of the smell of fertility. The soil steamed with every shovelful. This was not lifeless dirt I was dealing with but soil, alive with the process of breaking down and building up, of decomposing and re-composing. I am not much of a gardener, but I know that my shovel was messing with a process that was more powerful than me. Life is so much bigger than me.

            My parents gave be a rose bush last summer. I was not ready for it. I left it for a while because I didn’t know where to plant it. So finally, after neglecting it for too long, I took a guess, dug a hole, threw in some bone meal and some potting soil and planted it where I think it will go. It is a climbing rose, and I have nothing for it to climb on. I went out the other day, and it has exploded, heading off in all directions, literally covering ground. This thing has a plan to take over my little part of the world and it is surely not waiting for me to tell it what to do.

            Moses wants us never to forget where we have come from, the psalmist wants us to remember who made us and to whom we belong, Paul wants us to contemplate the goodness of things, and gives us a promise that if we do that, we will find peace, and in John’s gospel Jesus is pointing to the deeper meaning underneath everything.

            As you celebrate Thanksgiving, can you stop and behold what you have, and seek the deeper meaning God has placed in it?

           

Starter questions:

1.      In Deuteronomy, Moses is pointing us to the ancient story of liberation as the base upon which an offering of gratitude is made. What is the story of God in your life upon which your offering of gratitude rests?