The Second Sunday after Pentecost ---- 22 June 2014

Matthew 10:24-39

24 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.

• Today's passage from Matthew's Gospel could be used for a whole season of sermons. Each sentence is worth a sermon in itself. On days like this, I hardly know where to start. I'm drawn to the verses that tell us that we are more valuable to our God than any number of sparrows. As far as buying two sparrows for a penny, I wonder where Jesus shops. We may return to that.
• The verse about how it is sufficient for the disciple to be like the teacher is a good one. It reminds us that we as disciples of Jesus Christ are to take him as our model. It also reminds us that we will be treated as he was treated; we can expect opposition and even persecution. We can expect that our witness to the Good News will often fall on deaf ears... just as it did for Jesus. And we remember again that whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
• Discipleship in this world has a cost and we don't always know what that cost will be. We might imagine stories of persecution and bloody martyrdom, but do we imagine isolation? Do we imagine that people around us will think we're weird? Do we imagine having less money because of our discipleship support of congregations and ministries? What would this do to our families? Do we imagine our own disappointment when those we love dearly do not follow the same path we have found ourselves called to follow?
• So is the cost worth it? That's a question each one of us can only answer for ourselves. We might also ask if Jesus had such opposition as has just been mentioned. The Gospels provide the answer to that question. Jesus family wanted to take him home because they thought his behaviour to be out of line. Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends, tried to talk him out of all the talk of the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded to be relieved of the burden of what was to come. So if we have such questions and experiences, we are in the best of company, for it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.
• All this talk of opposition from within and without is tiring. Where is the discussion of how good disciples will have it and the great rewards that will come their way? That discussion is not to be found in this passage. Still there is comfort here. Remember the sparrows? Two for a penny at No Frills, right? These little birds were part of the diet of the poor in Jesus time and we can all imagine how much meat would be on those little bones. In the great scheme of things, these little birds, whether on the wing on on the plate, were pretty insignificant. We all know what sparrows look like and how many of them there are around. Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
• Our call to discipleship is a grace, a grace we might not have chosen on our own, but a grace that has chosen us. It is a costly grace, not a cheap grace of a discipleship that does not include the cross. The cross is always at the centre for A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master...
• Still this call to discipleship is a special one, a graced one, and a serious one. We are to proclaim the Kingdom of God and speak the Good News of Jesus, but there is more than that. As Jesus tells us: it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. Jesus is our teacher, our master, our model, our Lord and our saviour. In an even more profound way, we are to be “little Christs.” This week, I found a short prayer or reflection that speaks to this. It comes from a Spanish saint, Teresa of Ávila and it sums up Christian discipleship in a wonderful way.
• Christ has no body but yours,
  No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
  Yours are the eyes with which he looks
  Compassion on this world,
  Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
  Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
  Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
  Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
  Christ has no body now but yours,
  No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
  Yours are the eyes with which he looks
  compassion on this world.
  Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

— Teresa of Ávila

Trinity Sunday --- June 15, 2014

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

And it was so.

• Trinity Sunday is not an easy on to preach on. The mystery of the Trinity is beyond our understanding. It might be remembered that there is more we DON'T know about God than what we know. What we know of God is what has been revealed to us, especially since what our senses and intellect tell us is incomplete and can be warped.
• Still the Lectionary's readings, tell us much about God. It seems that the three readings – from Genesis, from 2 Corinthians, and from Matthew – take us from one end of creation to the other... Beginning, middle, and end – Creation, life now, and 'the end of the age'
• The reading from Genesis tells us that God is in charge of the creation right from the beginning. God creates without assistance, raw materials, or struggle – unlike the creation stories from other cultures where the gods make the universe from other things or create from a struggle with other beings. In the Genesis story of creation, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. In this nothingness, God creates by the power of His Word: Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Nothing more needed to be done. This story says nothing about God's continued sustaining of creation, but we're safe to say that it is implied. God's word is all that was needed and is needed.
• In our second reading, Paul tells the Corinthian Church how to live in the present day by admonishing them before he closes his letter. He closes the letter with what we often call the “Apostolic Greeting.” It is more than a greeting; it is a sort of blessing. He had been taking the church in Corinth to task for their problems, most of which were internal. Their behaviour to one another was problematic and the community was coming apart. So Paul wrote to them – more than once actually – to remind them of his teaching and to encourage them to live according to the Gospel. He says Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Things had not be well or peaceful, so he encourages them to do the things that could bring peace to the community – order, listening, agreement, strive to live in peace – and ends with an assurance of the presence of God with them despite all they have endured from within and without. Paul's words hold for us in our time. We don't live in the times of the apostles, but we are the church, as the Corinthians were. What Paul recommends to the Corinthian congregation would be good advice to almost every congregation in Christ's church in our own day.
• Finally, in the third reading from Matthew's Gospel, the evangelist assures the church and the reader that Jesus has all authority and that he is with them to the end of the age. This is how Matthew ends his Gospel, with the assurance to all the churches that read his words that Jesus has received all authority over whatever exists. In him, earth and heaven, that had been so long estranged and separated, are now rejoined and the relationship restored. The disciples are sent out to proclaim that salvation has come and that the broken creation has been restored. As part of this commissioning and to encourage and comfort the disciples on their mission, Jesus assures them that he will be with them to the end of the age.
• The term, “Age” implies to us a certain length of time, like the “Age of Steam” or “the Space Age.” Here it means all time or all eternity. The church's prayers in worship reflect this. “As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.” is the English. The German says “und von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit.” The Latin has it this way: “et in saecula saeculorum.” “From eternity to eternity” or “in the ages of ages” saying that there will be no end. Christ's presence in and to the Church will never end.
• Rather than try to explain the Trinity this Sunday – as if I could! - I've attempted to say again that God's presence and power is with us no matter what. God's grace and presence will not leave us. The One who creates and sustains us, the One who leads, guides, and teaches us, the One who is beyond our understanding yet always close to us, is our Creator, Redeemer, and Advocate. Our God is as close as our own thoughts, yet is removed from our sight and our conception. Our God remains a mystery that we will have all eternity to explore and remains a loving presence in all the areas of our lives. This might be more important to how we live than hours of explanation of the Trinity.
• In thinking of the Trinity, it might be best to turn to the words of Genesis. We are told that God is one-in-three and three-in-one... And it was so.

Come, join the dance of Trinity, 

before all worlds begun 

the interweaving of the Three, 

the Father, Spirit, Son.

The universe of space and time 

did not arise by chance,

but as the Three, in love and hope, 

made room within their dance.

Come, see the face of Trinity, new-born in Bethlehem;

then bloodied by a crown of thornes outside Jerusalem.

The dance of Trinity is meant for human flesh and bone;

when fear confines the dance in death, god rolls away the stone.

Come, speak aloud of Trinity, as wind and tongues of flame

set people free at Pentecost to tell the Savior's name.

We know the yoke of sin and death, our necks have worn it smooth:

got tell the world of weight and woe that we are free to move.

Within the dance of Trinity, before all words begun,

we sing the praises of the Three, the Father, Spirit, Son.

Let voices rise and interweave, by love and hope set free,

to shape in song this joy, this life: the dance of Trinity.

 

Pentecost Sunday ----- 8 June 2014

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

3b And no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

• On this festival of Pentecost, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples as well as the continued presence of the Holy Spirit with the entire church. In remembering the event so many years ago, we sometimes forget about the presence of the Spirit in our own time and in our own experience.
• For the Jewish people, Pentecost has been a celebration of the giving of the Law, the Law with sets the people of Israel apart from the rest of the nations and the Law the Jewish people take as the Word of God and a joy to have. Both the Jewish and Christian understandings of Pentecost have an interesting correlation: the Jewish people live by the Law that they see as a manifestation of God with them and Christians live by the Spirit which is God manifested among us.
• We hear the story of Pentecost and remark how strange it sounds to our ears. The tongues of fire; the speaking of various languages from provinces and nations that evoke wonder since we don't always don't know where they are... or were; the spontaneous sermon by Peter that both explains their situation (“We're not drunk and you're hearing the prophets fulfilled.”); all these things might cause us to wonder what exactly went on at the festival of Pentecost back at the beginning of the church. It might also make us wonder what's going on in our own day.
• In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he lists many of the gifts of the Spirit. He found these manifested withing the Corinthian church and does compliment them on their presence and their use. He doesn't make any reference to these gifts being uncommon or rare; he notes that they are present and that they are to be used for the good of the entire church.
• That those gifts were to be used for the good of the entire church is the key. How the Spirit works with the Christian Church and with each Christian is often a mysterious thing. We don't always understand it. We may wonder why we don't speak in tongues, why we don't experience healings, why we don't we experience miracles and prophecy. The answer to that is not easy to come by.
• But even if those spectacular gifts are not often seen, the Spirit remains with the church nonetheless and the gifts that are given are given for the good of the church.
• Even if we don't know of any situations where we might be involved in the gift of tongues, or healing, miracles, or prophecy, the Spirit is here. There are those among us who are teachers, a role in the Church that has long been held in high esteem. We have leaders and administrators, those who keep the church going from day to day and provide direction for congregations. We see people among us who call us to deeper prayer, to the works of justice and peace, as well as those who call us to closer and more solid relationships within our congregation; these people could be called prophets in our own day. Remember prophets speak to the present as they find it, not simply of a future that is yet to come.
• It is all these gifts working together for the good of all that shows the working of the Spirit in our day. Shortly after the passage from Paul that we've read today, Paul goes on to tell his readers of “a more perfect way.” The passage that follows speaks of the perfect way of love, the passage we all know so well. Paul says “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.” It would seem that the witness of the church that the Spirit still calls us to – the witness that echoes and supports Jesus' commandment to “Love one another.” - is the witness that will make a difference in the world. Tongues and prophecies are for the church; love is for the church and the world.
• There's another gift in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles that is a bit tougher to see, probably because it is too obvious. In response to the bewilderment of the crowd over the evidence of the Pentecost event, Peter gets up to speak; But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, Here a man with no rabbinical training, who had denied knowing his friend Jesus a little more than a month before, now speaks out to a large, cosmopolitan crowd and tells them of presence of the Spirit and the salvation received through Jesus Christ. Just a short time before, he had acted in a cowardly way; now he speaks out without showing fear. We don't know if he was fearful or not, but despite anything else, Peter spoke out and never stopped! The Spirit was present and allowed him to speak despite criticism, shyness, or personal fear.
• That Spirit is with us today. All of our gifts together are given for the good of all the church. The gifts are given to the church for the good of the world. The love we are to share is a glimpse of the Kingdom of God that is with us and is yet to come. As the Spirit gives us ability, we have within us both the courage and the words to tell all those around us of the presence of God in our world and in our lives.
• Let us pray that the same Holy Spirit whose descent on the apostles we remember today will come to us in fresh, new, and powerful ways today and every day.
• For it is now at it was then - To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter --- 1 June 2014

{Just before the sermon started, we all had a brief discussion of the place of the celebration of the Ascension for many people. It seems in Germany, it's a sort of "Father's Day" celebration. It's also know as "Himmelfahrt."}

Acts 1:6-14

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. 

He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

• This passage is full of power and weakness at the same time. Jesus assures his disciples that the Holy Spirit will confer power on them when the Spirit comes. He tells his disciples that they will be his witnesses everywhere, from the city of Jerusalem to every corner of the entire earth. Yet Jesus also tells the disciples that they will not know what exactly is to come or when the fullness of the Kingdom will come to pass.
• Maybe this was frustrating to the Eleven. To have a mission but a mission without a time of completion could be confusing.
• The mission of the disciples then was “you will be my witnesses.” Jesus mentions Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and finally “the ends of the earth.” The progression mentioned here is important. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was the centre of the world. Because it was the place of the Temple, it was figuratively the highest place in the world; after all, one always went “up to Jerusalem” when one went there. From there, the disciples were to witness to Judea and to Samaria, the areas that had at one time been the Kingdom of Israel. This was also the areas that lay near Jerusalem and it would make sense geographically to spread first to these districts. We should also note that these places would be the home of the Chosen People, the place all Jewish folk would look to for their identity.
• From there the disciples would witness to “the ends of the earth.” This term is inclusive of the entire world without exception. Jesus never said “Witness to the entire world, except for...” He also never said “Witness to the people of the entire world, except for these people from this place/ who look like this/ who act like this.” The mission of the first disciples excluded no one and no place.
• The disciples were called to be witnesses of what Jesus had done. To be a witness can mean a lot of things. The word used here is the Greek word for witness: martyrion, the root of our word “martyr” and “martyrdom.” Originally this idea had to do with bearing witness, even in the legal sense and did not necessarily include going as far as the shedding of blood. Our understanding of “witness” had come to encompass the loss of life or a form of exile, even if the later were self-imposed. In any event, even if it were not actively sought out, witness or “martyrion” includes some idea of giving up or self-denial.
• Our lives as Christians can be called a form of witness even if we do not serve as formal missionaries to a certain group. Our life of witness by how we live, by what values we hold to be important, and even by what we say are all witnesses to the power of the Gospel and the grace of God. In many cases, how we act is a more powerful witness that what we might say. It reminds me of a saying attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel always; use words if necessary.”
• Just as Jesus called his disciples to be “...my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.", we too are called to be his witnesses in Aylmer, London, Tillsonburg, St. Thomas, Manitoba, Lithuania,Transylvania, and all corners of the earth... and maybe sometime in the future, beyond the earth.
• Just as we are to be Jesus' witnesses to all nations, we are also to be witnesses to the Kingdom of God and the grace of God to the generations to come, to the future. Just as we cannot control how our witness will be received by the so-called “nations”, we cannot control how the generations that follow us will receive our witness. How it is received is not our concern; that we witness is our concern.
• In short, we can listen to Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church where he says What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:5-7)
• We are to be witnesses to Jesus, his story, this grace, and his salvation. The Spirit supports us and helps us in this. The mission is ours, but the Word is the Lord's. Success or failure is far less important then our ministry and call to witness, with our words and with our lives.