Bread from heaven, birds falling from the sky – God provides, even when people complain against their leaders, and against God. God still provides.

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who decides to pay all of the workers the same daily wage – whether they worked all day, or just an hour – even when the workers complain against the landowner. God provides.

This next part I learned from Bill Cliff at Huron College – and that is this: in those days, the days when Jesus was walking around and preaching, and teaching and healing – the usual daily wage was enough. It was enough for a worker to take home the wage and feed his family and “pay the bills.” It was not poverty, it was better than that, but it was not riches – it was enough. Not a lot left over for saving, not a lot left over for much of anything else, but it was enough to live and provide a living for one’s family. It was usual to work a day’s work to receive the usual daily wage, but everyone knew what the wage was, and what was expected.

So here is Jesus telling this story – about people who get picked up to work later and later and later until the day is almost over. The ones hired last got paid first – and they were paid the usual daily wage – which they were probably not expecting. So then the guys at the back of the line start thinking – JACKPOT! YESSSSSSS! Only to find out that they too receive the usual daily wage – which is what they agreed to in the first place. What ensues is disappointment, frustration, envy …. Its not fair – he only worked one hour, and we (read I) slaved away all day, and he gets the same as I do? That is not fair. There is the landowner’s response, chastising that attitude – but it goes beyond the surface level of what we take “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

The daily wage, in terms of the kingdom of God, is not money – it is God’s love, and what Jesus tries to teach over and over again is – you can’t earn it. It doesn’t matter if you work all day and all night, or if you work for just one hour – it doesn’t matter if you have been receiving the love of God your whole life, or if you have received it for just one minute, if you are receiving God’s love, you are receiving God’s love. God’s love is infinite. I am no math wiz, but I do not that if you apply the rules of division to infinity, you still end up with infinity, no matter what way you try to crunch the numbers. So whether you have a ‘small’ part or a ‘large’ part of infinity, it is still infinite, and really the small and large in that case don’t make sense – they are infinite. What this means in relation to God’s love and the usual daily wage is, that it is enough. God’s love is enough. It is not less than you need, but it is enough. If God decides to give to those who come last the same as to those who have known God’s love for their entire lives, then that is something to be joyful for, something to sing songs about, to tell stories about. “O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.”

In some ways we could look at it as probably more than you need and in that sense there is this element of it being meant for passing on. Amen.

77 = 7×11…. 70×7=490…. how about 70×7= infinity. Forgiveness is not just a number. Jesus’ parable, and Peter’s question were not about some kind of a magic number – some kind of a limit for forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean condoning, approving or allowing to continue something that is needing to be forgiven. Forgiveness is part of healing, change, repentance and bringing restoration. It means that we actually care enough about something to commit to work to change cycles of harm, fix mistakes, situations of distress. Last week I showed a short video at St. Peter’s – it starts out with the words on the screen – In Rwanda, In 1994, In 100 days, 850,000+ people were killed In the Rwandan genocide. This is Emmanuel’s story. The next scene shows us a man standing and he starts to say how very sorry he is that he murdered your husband, your son, your daughter. How he is filled with sorrow and cannot pay his debt. …and yet somehow God has forgiven me. I don’t understand it, I don’t think I ever will. Somehow God has given me a second chance. There are flashes of the man at various sites and memorials as well as looking out over the countryside. There are a couple of shots of machetes, and of children running in trees. Then the scene cuts to this man, Emmanuel standing in front of a woman, we assume the woman who’s family he killed, and he says, “Please forgive me.” 15 years from 1994 to 2011. Forgiveness is not a slow or easy journey sometimes. It takes work, and commitment, and time. This is what Jesus called the disciples to do, not just understand but to do, to live. This is what we are called to do, and to live. To embody that forgiveness and the love that goes with it. The final scene of the short two minute video is of the woman, who looks up and says, “God forgives you and so do I.” Amen.

PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE: EMMANUEL’S STORY from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.

Creator God, you have gifted us with mysterious potential. Within each of us are the seeds of so much promise. Help us open to those who help us believe in ourselves and to answer your call to serve with all that we are. In the name of Christ we ask, Amen.
(from here )

What are you looking for? Those words of Jesus to two of John’s disciples who had started to follow him – both in the literal sense and in the figurative sense. They were looking to follow Jesus – to learn from him, and to follow in his footsteps. They wanted him for a teacher, to teach them how to live, how to pray, how to be.

That is what we want, at least I think that’s what we want? I think that we want to learn how to live, how to pray and how to be. I think that like them, we want a teacher, we want to follow in the footsteps of the Messiah – the Lamb of God, the Son of God. We want to be close to God and to know that God is close to us. Like the psalmist in psalm 40 we want to sing a new song, a song of praise, a story of good news and rescue.

But sometimes when we look at the world around us, when we read and hear the news, stories of floods, mudslides and other disasters, of violence and unrest, of disease, of sorrow, sometimes our songs and our elation and our inspiration get caught, or stop. And we think – now what? But in Scripture, in the psalms, in the gospels, in the letters, in the prophets and the other books, there are stories like those we read and hear in the news. But there is always the constant reminder to follow, and to sing a new song – a song that does not dismiss what is happening around us, but actually sees God at work in what is going on around us, and reminds us to hear and to read the stories of promise, and rescue and return. In the midst of whatever is happening, we do have joy to offer! We do have good news to tell. We are not the lone voice in the emptiness, but we are a chorus, trying to bring joy to our own lives, and to the lives of those around us – to be part of the building up of God’s kingdom! Let us follow, let us see where our Saviour is going, so that we may stay with him, stay with God and learn, and sing! Amen!

Matthew 3.13-17

13-14Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”

15But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.

(the Message)

16-17The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

I wonder how Jesus felt when God said that about him? I wonder how it made him feel knowing that everyone else heard it too? I wonder how you feel when your parents say things like that to you, or about you? I wonder how you feel when everyone else hears your parents say that? I wonder how you feel when you say that kind of thing about someone else? I wonder how the other people feel when they hear you say those kinds of things?

We say things like that at baptisms! Who here has been baptised? Do you remember when someone said that you were chosen and marked by God’s love, and the delight of God’s life? Now is a good time to be reminded of that! When we are baptised we are celebrating that we are chosen and marked by God’s love! So what do we do with that?

Who knows what’s inside their head? That’s right! A brain! And who knows what a brain looks like? What does the brain do? Without our brain would we be able to hear? Would we be able to speak? What if we weren’t able to hear when someone said something about us, like what God said about Jesus? What if we couldn’t say anything that would make somebody else feel special? Without a brain, there would be no possibility or potential for us to hear or to speak. But because we have brains, there are lots of possibilities – so many different possibilities of all the nice things that we could say, and the nice things that we could do for people, so much potential for everything in our lives and in the world!

What were some of the possibilities that came from John baptizing people? What were some possibilities that came from Jesus baptism? One that Jesus said was that “ God’s work, putting things right all these centuries is coming together right now in this baptism.” What are some possibilities that come from our baptism?

John and Jesus were passionate about changing the world around them. There were so many possibilities, there was so much potential! I wonder if you have felt excited about your potential, and about the things that you could do in your own life, or for someone else?

We can all feel excited about baptism, about Jesus’ baptism and our own baptism!

“Prayer
Loving God, we have been created by you and in baptism we are reminded of how much we belong to you. May we be filled with curiosity and imagination as we seek to follow in the way of Jesus. In the name of Christ we ask, Amen. ” (from Spirit Sightings…and the idea!)

…Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise… (Jer.)

… I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow… (Jer.)

…He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat… (Ps.)

… blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,… destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, …

… From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace… (Jn.)

Happy New Year. I am praying for you all to have a very blessed 2011! A whole year ahead. Who is familiar with the expression or idea of the clean slate, the blank page? ( I assume you all, but then you know what they say about assuming?!) There is another perspective I learned a few years ago, one that goes like this – another opportunity to write a new ending to the story.
Part of the reason I like that so much, is because it comes from a place of deep faith and trust in God, or at least that’s my perspective. A new year – not time to forget the past, forget about the good times and the bad times and try and create new times, but a chance to write a new ending to the story that has included good times and bad times.

The reading from Jeremiah today – Israel, once a great and strong kingdom, split in two – Israel in the North and Judah in the South. Conquered, taken over, exiled, lost…. and yet, rather than ignoring all that and starting again, God writes a new end to that story, and Jeremiah describes it – a homecoming, a celebration, and thanksgiving. The words of the Psalm, praising God for continually writing the story, not stopping, but continuing, and maintaining and being faithful. Paul in his letter to the Church in Ephesus is writing about how God, yet again, wrote a whole new ending to the story with Christ – a different ending that no one was expecting, but one that was beyond our wildest expectations. And John in the Gospel, talking about the Word, how the Word was around before the beginning, how the Word has been writing and written since the beginning, and how it continues to write, and on into the future, continually writing a new ending to the story. God is continually writing a new ending to the story of our lives, and history…. that is why God does not give up on us humans, and never has. This year, I am going to try and live into that reality more, and let that that knowledge that we continue to receive grace upon grace, fill me with that much more praise so that my words and actions are showing that more and more. I will keep trying to do this. That is how I will try and write a new ending to the story. That is my New Year’s resolution.

The age old question – what is the meaning of Christmas?

Christmas = celebration of The incarnation.

Dictionary Definition:
1. an incarnate being or form
2. a living being embodying a deity or spirit.
3. assumption of human form or nature.
4. the Incarnation, (sometimes lowercase ) Theology . the doctrine that the second person of the trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and is completely both god and human.
5. a person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like

….the celebration of the Incarnation of God in the midst of Creation. That’s not to say that God was not or is not present in the midst of creation – all you have to do is to look around you to see evidence of that – people, animals, plants, water, mountains….. but that God in-vested, or entered into creation in a way that was new to us. That incarnation came out of an act of love. So we could say that Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of love in the midst of creation.
Hopefully not too confusing.
What does that mean for you and for me? It means we do not have to be afraid. It means that it is ok to feel, it means that it is ok to hurt, and most importantly that it is ok to love. Maybe not even that it is ok, but that we must love, with every part of our being. That kind of love leads us to risk.

Story (click here to see)

We do not have to be afraid – all we have to do is to love – and in doing so it will change our hearts, and minds, and the world around us! Yes – you too can do this, and you don’t have to do it alone, because as the old saying goes – many hands make light work – what if we were all not afraid to love in that way, and even if we can’t all be like Stephen Lewis, or Ghandi, or Jesus – even if we were to do just a bit of that, if we were all to do that, to let that flow through us together, then what could we do? Anything! Christmas is the time to celebrate that – to believe that, and to live that love. You’ve probably all heard someone quote John 3:16 to you before ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘ …. there is also that next verse – ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’ – and why, and how? To teach us to risk, to teach us to love – not in some sappy Holywood fashion, not that that is necessarily bad, but to teach us to risk sharing the kind of love that helps others and us in the midst of pain and suffering, no matter what kind or what the cost – and that is the kind of love that heals old and new wounds, the kind of love that feeds the hungry, the kind of love that houses the homeless, the kind of love that includes the excluded, the kind of love that ends wars, the kind of love that brings justice and peace…. the kind of love that transforms hearts and minds and spirits. Celebrate the gift of love, celebrate that love became incarnate in the world, and lives all around us, and in us. Celebrate that you are loved always and forever, more than we can possibly ask for or imagine. Celebrate God’s gift to you.

Not feeling as though this is the best…. but here it is!

* Isaiah 11:1-10 •
* Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 •
* Romans 15:4-13 •
* Matthew 3:1-12

Hope in the face of ruin. Assyria has invaded and taken over. Isaiah is prophesying about a time to come when things will be restored.

Hope for a king – the root of Jesse – Jesse was David’s father – of the same lineage, a king like David, but better than David – that is what ‘you’ have to look forward to, when God restores the kingdom.

“Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.” – literally underwear – that those things will be that close to the king, that every day, that normal, that routine…. Not something put on like a fancy robe worn only once in a while, but the base of everything that the king wears and will wear, everyday, for every occasion – righteousness and faithfulness – the marks of a king who will be looking out for the well-being of all the inhabitants of the land. The psalm is a song of praise, of celebration of the coronation of just such a king.

If that wasn’t enough, Isaiah really lays it on – not just by talking about the restored kingdom, and how great it will be to have a king who makes sure that things run well so that no one goes without….. but then goes on to describe a place and time that involves not just humans, but all of creation moving into a balance and harmony.

“The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.”

Who would not want to live in that time and place? Who would not be inspired with hope for the peace of that vision? In the face of ruin, who’s morale would not be lifted by that prophecy?

And then there is John – John who is calling all to repent. John who gets angry when he sees certain people coming down to the river. The Sadducees and the Pharisees – they get used as foils in Scripture, to represent those who are so caught up in what they are doing that they miss the world around them, or they are ignoring it. they miss the Holy Spirit moving in and around and through, and they miss seeing God doing a new thing. The thing is, that they were the good church going folk of their day. So as we read this reading and learn what happened then, we also see ourselves. Maybe some were there to repent and have their hearts and minds transformed and changed, but others were probably just there to bank an insurance policy – you know, the whole ‘well maybe there is something to all this that we’ve been hearing about John preaching,” and just in case there they all were, and here we all are. And John calls them on it. And as we read and hear Scripture, John calls us on it too.
Part of what I think John was trying to say in his anger is – this is IT – this is not games, this is not a test, dry run, this is the real deal, and part of that, your part of the deal, is that when you leave, you live it. And that is what we struggle with, and that is why John got so angry. Because he knew how hard it is to live it – how hard it was back then. Well here we are all these years later, and its still hard to live it. So, ….
what now?

…and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

So, what now?

So even as screwed up and as messed up and as much like those who ignore and look away and don’t get involved as we are and can be, there is still hope.

Hope! Hope is what will drive us, and hope is what will keep us going, and hope is what helps us live in faith. Not just a hope for a coming king, not just hope for when balance is brought to all creation, but hope in the transforming power of our everyday lives – hope that God IS working though us, hope that our lives are shining with the light of God’s love, even just a little bit.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

O God, if we are to wait, let us wait in purpose;
O God, if we are to watch, let us watch in wisdom;
O God, if we are to expect, let us expect in hope.
May we be prepared. May we be ready.

(prayer from Seasons of the Spirit)

Isaiah’s words are looking towards a better future – anything had to be better than what they were facing: war, conflict, strife, more war and exile. Isaiah’s message, as crazy as it must have sounded was much needed by a people who’s morale was at the very bottom, and about to go lower.
Isaiah was talking about going to the centre – getting to the place where they understood the heart of God to be. In that place there would be no more war, strife, conflict or exile. Things once used to kill, would be used to help feed – spears to pruning hooks, swords to ploughshares. Perhaps important to note that in an agrarian society, with more farmers and country, than cities and urban folk – many ‘soldiers’ would have been farmers to start with, and may have originally beat their pruning hooks into spears, and their ploughshares into swords – there is something significant about turning them back. Almost more so than just a sword and a spear.

Because both the psalm and the reading from Isaiah are talking about Jerusalem there is a sense of deep roots. Because of how they describe getting there, the psalmist and Isaiah, we are left with a sense of direction, journeying, moving up. The direction of morale when the vision Isaiah describes gets into the soul, and the visions they present – a people restored, a culture renewed, life in balance. And to maintain and protect that balance, there is this heartfelt prayer for peace in the psalm.

Can you feel that? Can you get a sense of it? Can you feel it start to fill your head? Your heart? Your soul?

Because along comes Paul who says – WAKE UP! Remember that all of those things the psalmist and Isaiah and all the prophets of God have been talking about is not an earthly kingdom that can be destroyed and torn down. Paul says to put aside darkness, put on armour of light – not physical armour, but armour of light. He says to live honourably, not giving into sin – putting on Christ. Not being complacent, not sitting around waiting, but being ready.
Jesus’ own words , that no one knows day or hour, … the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
Be awake – be ready!

So we have the next four weeks to celebrate Being Ready! And to figure out what that means?

Being shopping ready? Being ready to drop dead? Being ready to fall asleep at any second? Being ready to scream? To cry? To fall over? Being ready to what? What is it that we are to be ready for?

Being ready for that thing that we might miss – a smile, a tear, a wave, a cry, an opportunity to shake a hand, an opportunity to lend a hand, a breath, a moment – that thing that is the hallmark of the coming of the One who comes in the name of God.

We’ve missed it before….. Jesus’ own words – you don’t know when, so be ready. Paul saying, that you – we – know what time it is. Its time to pay attention, to be in-tentional, to know what we are doing and why – and what we are doing is waiting, a continual waiting for the coming of God, and the coming of God’s kingdom. So don’t turn away, don’t avert your eyes, don’t not care, don’t ignore, don’t pretend – see and look, and watch as you wait….. prepare as you wait for the Incarnation of God’s love – in YOU!

Bill Cliff’s 3 rules:

1. The Gospel is always astonishing, and if its not then you are not reading it correctly.
2. The Gospel is not about fair, its about God’s Grace – which is when you get what you don’t deserve, and mercy which is when you don’t get what you do deserve. The Gospel is obsessed with Justice – God’s justice.
3. God always acts first.

(Jeremiah 31:27-34)
Jeremiah is a prophet at a time when he has seen everything he knows fall apart, and is prophesying in a time when it is understood that God didn’t just allow things to fall apart, but made things fall apart because God’s chosen people had turned away. Jeremiah talks about the coming of a new covenant with God, not one written on tablets like before, but instead one that is written on the hearts and minds of everyone. Written on their hearts and minds so that it will be ever-present, close, unforgettable, impossible to ignore. The sense that it will be personal as well as corporate, and therefore it is not just a group responsibility to live by and maintain the covenant, but also it will be individual responsibility.
(Psalm 119:97-104)
As the Psalmist says though, this covenant, learning to live it is life-long, and it is not to be a burden, but it is supposed to be a life giving, keeping it is supposed to fill us with joy. Studying this covenant will give wisdom in how to live life,
(Luke 18:1-8)
Jesus’ story of the widow and the unjust judge. This parable story comes in the context of Jesus having been asked when the kingdom of God will come. As part of his answer, he says that it is already among you. To the disciples he says that it will come quickly and unexpectedly, and that it will be missed by many too caught up in worldly affairs, What Jeremiah is referring to, and what the psalmist is referring to is the coming kingdom of God that is in our midst – when we follow God’s Law – the covenant, the way – then the kingdom of God is there, in our hearts and minds and relationships in our midst.
Then we have this story of a widow – a woman, who would have had few rights,; no legal status, not a citizen, not allowed to own property, not having public voice or presence, and she is coming to a judge seeking justice in her case. Remember Bill’s 3 rules! Who acts first? God! In this parable, the first description of someone acting is the woman. We tend to think our ourselves as the woman, or other people as the woman. What happens to this story if God is the widow? In our tradition we are used to looking at parables as having only one right way to interpret them – but they are rich stories that have much to offer and much to teach us. They are like those kids toys – the inflatable ones with the weighted bottom, that you keep knocking down and they keep coming back up – every time they come back up they challenge us again – hopefully in a new and different way. This might challenge you, but what if the story Jesus told ended with the statement about the unjust judge granting justice and the rest was commentary added in later by the writer of the Gospel? It certainly makes it easier to see God as the widow then. And to place God with those who cry out for justice again and again and again until they are heard. And then justice comes. Not even an unjust judge can stop it – even if that judge is only giving in because he is annoyed. When the kingdom of God comes, it will come suddenly and unexpectedly, and will be missed by the unjust judges who are too annoyed to perceive it. We are called to be like the widow – we are called to be like God, and we can take heart with a God like the widow in the parable, one who does not wield the power of the world, but instead holds the power of grace, and mercy and justice….God’s justice. God is continually fighting for our cases…. and when we can become like the widow and fight for our cases, but more importantly the cases of others we will find ourselves quickly and unexpectedly in the midst of the kingdom of God. We will find there much joy, much understanding, much wisdom – much life and much love.

Sitting in a pub/restaurant and drinking your beverage of choice: water, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, beer, wine etc. A comfortable atmosphere and conversation about spirituality, religion, politics and sex, or maybe at least one of or some combination thereof – and this is a spiritual practice? (no pun intended… no, really!) Yes!
Connecting our spirituality with our leisure time, connecting our spirituality with our every day life, connecting our spirituality with our friends, and maybe even connecting our spirituality with strangers…. yes this is a spiritual practice. And yes, dare I say it, this is part of church.

Why? How? Because it puts us outside the four walls of the church building, it puts us in places where we might run into and speak with other Christians, people who are not Christians, people who are seeking something, but they don’t know what. Being ‘out there’ allows us to put into practice what we claim to be learning through studying scripture and paying attention in church – to the prayers we pray, and to the teaching we participate in.

Being in a more relaxed atmosphere we are more likely to ask and engage with questions and talk about things that we all to often mistakenly think are not appropriate conversations for church. And yet these same questions that we don’t bring up at church are the ones that help us figure out our thoughts and opinions on issues related to morals, ethics, and daily life (including what we think about Religion, Politics, Sex and who knows what else!).

So why is this even important at all? Well a number of good reasons can be found in two articles the first one here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/26ht3hs and the second one here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/24zcqpl . The second article is longer than the first, but the crux of what they are getting at is this – largely (in the US) people who claim to be Christian believe “1. “A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.” 2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.” 3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.” 4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.” 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”"

“As [Christian] Smith, (a researcher with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) explains, this amorphous faith “is about belief in a particular kind of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in one’s affairs–especially affairs in which one would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance.”"

Being able to look at statements like those and engage with them in a safe environment – that is what theleogy pub / pub church type of events are about.

So… not making any comments on that right now, but inviting you to come and engage in the discussion….

The first 3 Saints Theology Pub is at Beklens, 5166 Cordova Bay Road, Wednesday October 13th and starts at 7 pm! (ish)