The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 30 July 2017

Romans 8:26-39

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

For I am convinced…

·       This week, I sat for a brief time with a man who was dying. He was highly medicated for his pain and could only say a little. At times like this, I’ve felt quite helpless.

·       This week I spoke to a man who couldn’t speak and so couldn’t tell me how he felt or what was wrong. I asked him how he was and he gave me a double “thumbs-down” gesture and the tears began to flow. There was nothing I could say to him.

·       These are hard moments and privileged moments. It’s hard because it’s difficult to watch a person suffer and such suffering can even remind me that I will someday be in the same situation, a reality I don’t like to face, even though I’m well aware of the reality of my own death. On the other hand, it’s privileged because it is a hard time and a private time and pastors often receive the privilege of being with people in such a deeply personal and troubling time… even if we don’t know what to say.

·       In the face of such suffering and even death, I wonder about the love and mercy of God. When I do, Paul’s words from his letter to the Romans come to mind. They don’t always help, but they are always there.

·       Paul tells the Roman Christians, those he intended to visit, that I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

·       The key this statement is the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s almost too easy to get hung up on the things that Paul says cannot separate us from God’s love.

·       We might spend time checking them off like a grocery list. Paul also mentions persecution, distress and hardship, famine and nakedness, and even the sword, which of course is a way of saying death because of the faith. These are all things that the Christians of Paul’s time and after experienced and understood. Paul also adds some cosmic ideas to that list of very earthly problems – angels, rulers (as in one of the ranks of angels), the past, the present, the future, height and depth (as in the dimensions of the world and the universe), and even death and life. That is a very wide-ranging list.

·       We could add things to it, things that would make sense to us today. What about poverty? What about failure, whether in business or personal relationships? How about long illness, the type that makes us wonder about the mercy of God? What about dependence on medications or on another person for any number of things? How about loss and longing due to a person lost to us by distance, time, or death? Addiction? Exile? Disappointment?

·       What about guilt? Guilt can be a result of actual faults and sins. It can also be a result of things that have happened to others which we feel should have happened to us as well. And there are times when we just feel guilty. We might as well say “sin” as part of our extended list.

·       Do any of these things remove us from the love of God that Paul speaks about? The answer is simple and powerful.

·       No.

·       Just that… No.

·       Paul doesn’t pull his punches. He does not say that everything will be wonderful and nothing will go wrong. He tells the Romans to hold on and believe despite all that could go wrong and has gone wrong. Nothing that has happened can separate them from God’s love.

·       We like to think we’re special and somehow that answer doesn’t apply to us. That we’re such a great sinner that God can’t forgive us. Maybe “won’t”, maybe “can’t.” Well, the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is still with us, even at those times and especially at those times. That’s what the cross is all about. That’s why the cross is a terrifying thing… an amazing thing… an annoying thing. That’s why what Paul says sounds too good to be true. The rule of thumb that we all know is this: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is just that, too good to be true.

·       Our rules don’t apply here. God’s rule takes precedence. If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Here is a truth to build your life on and a truth to tell others about, especially if all might seem lost.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

• I usually end my sermons with 'Amen', but in this case, I must say "Thanks be to God!"

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ----- 23 July 2017

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' 28 He answered, "An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he replied, "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.' "

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

 The slaves said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?'

·       Years ago, I worked with a woman who was quite friendly and pleasant to be around. She was also quite heavy. She moved on to a different job in a different workplace and we lost track of each other for a while. Years later, I changed jobs and we again worked for the same company. Our paths crossed and I was surprised. She had lost a tremendous amount of weight. She had also lost her warm and friendly demeanor. She had become sour and snappy. Now I don’t know the whole story, but I’ve thought about this and wondered if this was a result of her weight loss. I also wondered if it was worth it. She gained something, but lost something as well.

·       The Gospel story relates a parable that talks about the cost of pulling weeds. The quote at the beginning of this sermon is the slaves’ question to their master when faced with the weeds among the wheat. We also hear that what has happened is not a natural thing although weeds are quite natural in farming and gardening. In this case however, the master says ‘An enemy has done this.'

·       What he does next is not good farming practice. The weeds – actually a plant called “darnel” – looks like wheat but is actually poisonous and makes you ill if it is eaten. Such an illness can even be fatal. This is a toxic plant, not simply an annoying one.

·       Despite this, the master tells the slaves to let it stay in the field with the wheat and only separate them at harvest time.

·       Lay aside what you know of proper farming procedures for a bit. After all, the Gospel is not a text on agriculture. It’s about the kingdom of God.

·       This is actually a parable about judgement. The master expresses concern that pulling up the weeds would uproot the wheat as well… and it is his judgement that counts.

·       This is applicable to Christians and to the church on a number of levels, particularly the personal and the communal.

·       We know personally that we have both the good and the bad within us. How much damage would we be willing to do to uproot (not just control, but uproot) the less-than-perfect portions of our lives and personalities? What violence are we willing to do and to accept to perfect ourselves? Can we even perfect ourselves? We all know the answer to that last question. If we could, would we need a saviour? This brings us face-to-face with our own inability to achieve salvation on our own.

·       The Church throughout history has wrestled with this problem – the problem of weeds among the wheat, as it were. In any number of cases, the Church has not been able to resist the temptation to yank up everything perceived to be sinful, which has led to oppression and even violence.

·       On both the personal and communal levels, the temptation is to judge for ourselves in God’s name and to act on that judgement. As it is in many other situations, the real temptation is to make ourselves God. To judge and to act can be to put ourselves in what is properly God’s place.

·       Should evil be opposed? Yes, indeed. It should be remembered as well that those who strive for “the good” are not perfect and that very few people are completely evil.

·       There is a quote attributed to the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer that speaks to this. (I’ve discovered that he did not write it, but it was written about him.): Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than courageously and actively doing God’s will.

·       Judgement – even the judgement of ourselves – is God’s business. Our role is to trust in the promises of God and to follow Jesus, even if that following is slow and limping, because even slow following is following. There is no speed limit and we will most likely fail at times. Still, the promise of grace takes us as we are, weeds and all.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ----- 16 July 2017

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." 

Listen! A sower went out to sow.

• -        I must confess right now that I am uncomfortable preaching on the Gospel reading this week. Among you today are people who know so much more than I do about planting, seeds, crops, and harvesting. Me… I grew an African violet once. I’ve bailed hay and I’ve cut grass. I even set a tractor on fire once, but that’s a story for another time… or maybe never.
• -        Well, anyway. In telling this parable, Jesus used images familiar to a farming society. Sowing, reaping, weeds, and birds are still with us today; that’s why this parable still makes sense.
• -        There are problems however. Really now, what farmer of sense would sow seeds everywhere like our parable’s farmer? On the footpath? On the rocks? Among the weeds and thorns? Makes you wonder if the guy can see what he’s doing. After all seed costs money and who would waste it?
• -        Jesus does explain the parable to his disciples, telling them what the birds, the hot sun, and the weeds and thorns mean. That’s all pretty straight-forward and we can all translate these figures into our lives as they are today.
• -        For better or worse, the birds stand in for “the evil one” and all the direct challenges to the Gospel that we hear daily fill that role just fine, as could our human desire for novelty. The rocky ground and the growth without roots sound a lot like people who don’t find what they think they need in the Gospel and wander off, often to sprout and grow and fade again and again in other places. The growth choked out by weeds plays the part of those whose concern is focused on success and (dare I say?) greed or maybe on the more ordinary cares that any of us might find in life – health and the catch-all of “things-we-gotta-do.”
• -        What remains is the image of God as a rather foolish sower who throws seed indiscriminately on whatever soil presents itself. That strange image alone is a recurring image of grace. We might forget that seed is planted every year. Who knows what the ground might be like by next planting time? Since we’re using this image for the grace of God, we are assured that there will be a “next time.”
• -        We can say that it is only the power and grace of God that can overcome all the obstacles the world introduces into our lives, whether those obstacles are despair and cynicism, our hunger for new things or easy answers, the ease of becoming very, very busy (and congratulating ourselves for it) or the curse of greed for so many things – whether worthwhile or not – that we can fill our lives with.
• -        Through all this, the farmer continues to throw seed at places we might see as unlikely or ridiculous or against the odds. We’d best remember that we’re not talking about farming or gardening, but the word of the Kingdom. When it come to the Word of the Kingdom, Jesus has it in abundance and has no need to store it up or save it.
• -        The parable shows that Jesus understands what the Word and the Kingdom are up against and how difficult it can be for people to hear and take the Word to heart.
• -        What we continually talk about here in this place is grace and when talking about grace, it isn’t the difficulties or the odds against it that are the topics. It’s about the abundance of grace and the persistence of the one who rains grace upon everyone, the good and the bad. Grace rains without stopping and if it’s a flood, then it is a flood of the love of God and it is by grace that we are saved.
• -        The seed is sown again and again and it will bear fruit. It isn’t for us to decide where the seed will fall or how much fruit it will bear. All we can do is be grateful.
• But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost --- 9 July 2017

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ¹⁷"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He has a demon'; ¹⁹ the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." ²⁵ At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷ All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸ "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants…

·        What would life be like without surprises? It’d surely be simple to plan things, especially if we knew the outcome ahead of time. Crop planting, investing, studying, taking a trip would all be so routine. I wonder if it would be boring.

·        We all know that there are pleasant surprises and… other types of surprises. That’s life as it is and it’s unavoidable for the most part.

·        Our story of salvation as it’s found in the Scripture is a rather surprising one. The people in the Hebrew Scripture, the Old Testament, are not often the sort of people we’d expect God to choose as his hand or voice in the world. Abraham and Sarah were quite old according to the story. Jacob was a trickster. John the Baptizer either fasted or dined on locusts and wild honey and was thought to be possessed by a demon. Jesus ate and drank and was called a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! The list goes on… even in Church history. Luther drank beer often and got very angry with a number of people often. Francis of Assisi was a deserter from the army.

·        If God acted as we might expect God to act, we’d look to the rich and powerful of the world to lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Sad to say, such a thing would lead us to disappointment as often as not.

·        So where do we look? We might best look to the unexpected place and people, to the burdened and the weary, to the “infants” to whom Jesus’ Father has revealed these things.

·        We say “infants” when Matthew uses a word that can mean an infant child or an unlearned or simple-minded person. In any event, this is a surprise, I’d say. This is not what we’d expect. Theologians with advanced degrees can tell us a lot about the Scripture and about God’s revelation, but the person next door or down the block might tell us what to do with all that and how to be a disciple of Christ. And a good theologian would listen to them.

·        When Jesus spoke of “this generation” and how they were like children arguing in the marketplace, he is saying that the powerful call the tune for others to dance to and they become angry when this doesn’t happen. When things don’t fit into their preconceived notions –such as what a prophet should look like and say or what the Messiah would be like – they react badly. ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' They would decide who was holy or worthy or blessed, all things that are God’s to detemine.

·        The sinners Jesus befriended, the weary, the burdened, the troubled, even the so-called ‘infants’ know they don’t have the final say. They are not so powerful as to believe that. It is God they will have to depend on. That is what Jesus is telling his disciples in this passage and what he is telling us today.

·        His yoke is easy and his burden is light. What’s more, his yoke is surprising. Disciples might be yoked together, but they are yoked with Jesus as well, all pulling together for the Kingdom of God.

·        We may feel unworthy, unholy, and unblessed, and those things are best left to God to determine. We may feel left out but we are all called to be in the same yoke with Jesus.

(These aren't my words, but something I ran across in preparing this sermon...)

·          The next time you feel like God can't use you, just remember . . .

NOAH- was a drunk.

ABRAHAM- was too old.

ISAAC- was a daydreamer.

JACOB- was a liar.

LEAH- was considered ugly.

JOSEPH- was abused.

MOSES- had a stuttering problem.

GIDEON- was afraid.

SAMSON- had long hair and was a 

    womanizer!

RAHAB- was a prostitute!

JEREMIAH and TIMOTHY - were too young.

DAVID- was an adulterer and a murderer.

ELIJAH- was suicidal.

JONAH- ran from God.

NAOMI- was a widow.

JOB- went bankrupt.

JOHN- the Baptist ate bugs.

PETER- denied Christ.

THE DISCIPLES- fell asleep while praying.

MARTHA- worried about everything.

MARY MAGDALENE- has been given an

     undeserved reputation.

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN- was divorced ...

     more than once!

ZACCHEUS- was too small.

PAUL- was too religious.

TIMOTHY- had an ulcer ... AND

LAZARUS - WAS DEAD!

NOW, what is YOUR EXCUSE?

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost --- 1 July 2017

Happy Canada Day !

Romans 6:12-23

12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³No longer present your members to sin as instruments^* of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments^* of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.^* For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

… you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness

·       When we hear the word “slavery”, it brings up any number of horrible ideas in our minds. We might think of forced labour, of long hours in a field with all the fruit of the labour going to a master. We might think of people reduced to the level of things – things to be used and discarded, abandoned, or sold at a whim.

·       Slavery is truly a horrible crime against humanity. As an institution, it has been done away with everywhere we can think of. As a reality however, it exists and it exists around us. In many places, people work long hours for tiny wages under threat of the loss of everything. In this country, as rightly proud as we might be of our freedoms, slavery exists. The corridor from Windsor to Toronto – the 401 – is a known conduit for sex workers, young people brutally enslaved in all but name, many of whom sought an escape from an oppressive home life and found another, deeper oppression.

·       The slavery Paul refers to is rather different. The enslaved person often had a place of trust in a family (as a teacher or manager) or a kingdom (as a minister of state or a high military officer.) Some of these slaves owned property and even owned slaves themselves. The relationship was a two-way street; the slave owed loyalty and work while the master was obligated to take care of the person enslaved to them.

·       When Paul calls for the Roman Christians to be “slaves of righteousness”, it is this sort of reciprocal arrangement he appears to have in mind. He compares slavery to sin and slavery to God and appears to state that slavery to sin brings death while slavery to God and to God’s righteousness carries with it the gift of eternal life through grace and the sanctification it brings.

·       For 21^st Century people in this society, the idea of being a slave is odious; it goes against the grain. We’re free people! We’ve never been slaves to anyone! (If that sounds familiar, see John 8.)

·       In truth, we’ve never experienced life without grace. Most of us here were baptized at an early age and in that, were under the reign of grace even though we have sinned and do sin.

·       What we often confuse is the occurrence of sin in our lives and the slavery to sin that Paul speaks about. We wrestle with ourselves and our nature all our lives long. We remain both justified and sinful for as long as we live. Were it otherwise, we might take credit for it and believe we could save ourselves.

·       What then would be the value of Jesus Christ?

·       Although we struggle with sin, we live under the reign of grace and have become – to use Paul’s words – slaves of righteousness. Paul goes on to say that The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·       This is what we’ve been promised and this is what we’ve received by faith through grace. Paul says eternal life is the free gift of God, which of course is another way of saying grace.

·       Let’s leave aside the talk of slavery for now. It’s confusing and possibly aggravating. Let’s talk about “service” instead. If we serve ourselves, we know where that will lead. It may look like a good deal, but it leads to death. If we serve God in the best sense – “Love one another as I have loved you.” – that service leads to life and to eternal life in the grace of God. It leads to a life that reaches out to others rather than a life that is turned in on itself. It will lead to opposition and misunderstanding, but it leads ultimately to life. And life is what we all hope for and desire.

·       The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.