The Second Sunday after Pentecost ---- 18 June 2017

Romans 5:1-8

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we^* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access^* to this grace in which we stand; and we^* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we^* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

·       It has become very “uncool” or at least uncomfortable to discuss sin, even in church. Maybe, especially in church. Any mention of sin brings on a load of guilt, of regret, of blame, and maybe punishment. It points fingers and call behavior into question, possibly even our own behavior.

·       A few ways to respond:

·       Give up and wallow in sinfulness, forgetting salvation.

·       Try really, really hard to be better and deserve God’s love and salvation.

·       Deny the existence of sin and call it all “character flaws” or other such dodges.

·       Accept the freely-offered love of God (God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.)

·       The last one might be the hardest to do. As humans, we want to achieve. We want to deserve. We want to have trophies.

·       What we don’t like is gifts. Gifts create obligations, in particular the obligation to reciprocate. At Christmas, we watch and see if our gifts to others are of equal value to their gifts to us. A visit or an invitation requires a return visit or a similar invitation. This is what makes the seating at weddings and funerals so troublesome.

·       We also like making deals. We like to negotiate for equal value or better. Whether this is in the stock market or at a yard sale, we like to deal. I’m not good at this. As a young boy, I collected baseball cards and they fell into three categories – ones to keep, ones to trade, and ones to use in games on the playground. I made lousy deals – really bad ones – to obtain cards of players from my favourite team.

·       What Paul talks about in this passage from the letter to the Romans is NOT a deal. Neither is it a denial of the reality of sin, whether that term is taken as personal actions that hurt the relationship we have with God or with others or as an expression of the brokenness of the world that leads us to act in certain unhealthy ways.

·       Paul would not have us wallow in sin. Nor would he have us strive and strive to better ourselves by obeying the Law in each and every way. Neither would he have us deny the reality of sin and place the blame for everything on something else.

·       No, he says it simply and bluntly: God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

·       Before we could redeem ourselves (an impossibility), or despair of being saved (a lie at best), or refuse to acknowledge our own reality (another lie), God loved us exactly as we WERE and ARE and WILL BE.

·       I find this to be “good news.” It reassures me that salvation comes in the freely given grace of God rather than from my own actions or my own decisions and commitments.

·       In fact, at best, all of our actions, decisions, and commitments flow from the grace God show to us in Jesus.

·       One of the things this grace-filled revelation lays before us is the question as to whether the church is a museum for saints or a hospital for sinners. As a contemporary writer said “The church should be seen as a hospital; a rehab clinic; a place of refuge. The church is NOT a country club.” The church at its best is a place of acceptance and not a place of judgement where people “‘need to get their act together’ in order to attend…”

·       Every last one of us has a history; there are no exceptions. AND every last one of us has a future, a future based on the love of God shown to us in Jesus Christ and lived out now in the Spirit. Because of this, we live our lives, not in fear and uncertainty, but in gratitude.

Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Trinity Sunday ---- 11 June 2017

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 remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

·       Why would we hear the creation account from the Book of Genesis and then hear the last words of the Gospel of Matthew on the same day? Both are worth hearing without a doubt, yet we might wonder why these two reading were chosen for the same day, particularly for the festival of the Holy Trinity.

·       Let’s look at Genesis first. The Book of Genesis (which means “origins” or “beginnings”) outlines creation stories (two of them!) as well as the earliest history of the Hebrew people. The beginnings of humanity’s separation from God are outlined as well – the sin of Adam and Eve, the tower of Babel, the flood associated with Noah and the ark are a few examples. Genesis tells of an original innocence when In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth… and all things were in sync with God’s will and desire for all of creation.

·       The history of Israel outlines what the people did, in line with God’s will and not. The books of the prophets show God’s continued concern for God’s people, sending people to bring God’s voice of comfort to those who would listen… and of judgement to those who would not listen.

·       We know that the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, is in line with the arc of the history of grace for the people God had chosen. The Gospel also reveals Jesus to be the fulfillment of that history. What has been promised by our Creator has been fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled in our Redeemer.

·       The heavens and the earth, meant to be without boundaries, were broken apart. That is what the story of the disobedience of our first parents is about. The continued mercy and providence of God throughout the ages in history and prophecy show God’s desire and longing to heal the separation of the heavens and the earth. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, this breach had been healed. The brokenness of the world is healing.

·       Matthew’s Gospel ends with Jesus telling his disciple All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me… And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. The phrase in heaven and on earth echo the words of Genesis in narrating the creation of all, done simply by the Word and will of God.

·       The end of Matthew’s Gospel also contains the command to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… This is not a doctrinal note alone. It is also an acknowledgement of the ongoing work of the Trinity and the never-ending presence of Jesus in the life of the Spirit within the whole Church, made up of disciples from every nation.

·       The end of Matthew’s Gospel is an end of a literary work, namely his Gospel as a written work. It is NOT the end of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. For Jesus to say And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age, there is more to it than a closing sentence. It is a vision of the beginning of a new creation and the end of the brokenness of the created world. The heavens and the earth will no longer be separated. God and creation will no longer be separated.

·       Shortly we will pray together and use the prayer that Jesus taught us. Take note that we pray the the will of God might be done on earth as it is in heaven. We continue to pray for the healing of the whole of creation – heaven and earth. We continue to pray for the healing of the breach between the heavens and the earth for we know that things are not as yet as God meant them to be, both in all of creation and within ourselves.

·       In Jesus, the rift in creation is healing. Where he is present, there will be the Father and the Spirit. There will be grace and mercy and the very life of God.

·       Considering that, it is a good thing that Jesus has told us remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Pentecost Sunday --- 4 June 2017

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. 

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit

·        I have a confession to make. When it comes to the Holy Spirit and the Pentecost event, I’ve had trouble with the whole thing. We can see from the reading from Acts that things changed radically for the disciples on that day. At the time of the crucifixion, almost all of the disciples ran and hid. After Jesus’ Resurrection, they were overjoyed and amazed. Yet they still stayed close. With Jesus’ Ascension, they prayed together and gathered together as a more-or-less closed group.

·        Now comes Pentecost. The frightened and closed group of disciples of Jesus now preach fearlessly and are able to make themselves understood in just about any language – a full reversal of what happened at the Tower of Babel! Where humanity’s attempt to reach up to God and to heaven resulted in the splintering of the human race and its languages, now the Spirit of God has reached down and healed that… at least for that day.

·        These amazing things are often mirrored in our own time. Some churches worship in a more exuberant manner than we might be used to. Gifts of prophecy and “the gift of tongues” are said to be signs of the Spirit’s presence in the Church. They can be quite dramatic and even frightening. The first time I heard what was called the gift of tongues, my hair stood up and I got chills up and down my spine. For some people, myself included, it can be a confusing experience.

·        It can also be intimidating. In light of that, we need to take another look at what the Spirit gives.

·        In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we hear this about the Holy Spirit: …there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good

·        Paul is saying that first off, no matter what the gift, it comes from God. Second, the Spirit is given to all Christians, not just a chosen few. And third, the gifts are given to all Christians for the good of all. So in short, through the Holy Spirit, God has given us all gifts of that Spirit for the “common good.”

·        Paul mentions wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. This list is not exhaustive, since in a few of his other letters, Paul mentions different gifts, among them leadership, teaching, administration, and service. I don’t think that even all the gifts Paul listed in all of his letters exhausts the work of the Spirit.

·        Are these gifts present in the Church today? Yes, indeed! Our bishops show vision and the gifts of administration in a rather rocky time. Our pastors minister with the gifts they receive, even understanding that pastors don’t all have the same gifts. Church councils are a wealth of the Spirit’s gifts. The congregations these councils serve are loaded with gifts, many of which are not recognized even by those who have them.

·        The gifts of the Spirit are evident here at St. John’s. Some might say “Where?” and I’d respond “Look around!” and then “Look in a mirror.” Who here has taught anything? Not just Sunday School or academic subjects, but cooking, and kindness, and hospitality… and your children and grandchildren. Who here has been responsible for the running of something – a home, a business, a program, a farm? Just think for a moment; the Spirit’s gifts are present and active, evidence that the Spirit is present.

·        When we gather to celebrate God’s presence and the salvation given to us in Jesus, we do so in the Spirit. When we hear the Word of God, it is the Spirit that speaks to our hearts. When we eat the Lord’s Supper, it is the Spirit that fires our hunger and then fills it. When we go from here, it is the Holy Spirit that fills our lives.

·        It is good to celebrate this festival of the Holy Spirit, for it is the Spirit that enlivens the Church in this and every age. It is that same Spirit that enlivens us, no matter what the future may hold. Remember, “inspired” means “filled with the Spirit.” And so we are.

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. 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.