Wednesday, November 30, 2016

                I usually wait until it is 18 degrees below zero and a howling snowstorm to put up my outdoor Christmas lights. But yesterday, I was feeling especially wimpy and used the nice weather to get the job done.

                There is a beautiful, pine tree in our front yard and I cover it with lights. That pine tree has a story.

                Over eleven years or so ago, my sister-in-law, Jennifer, handed out little, live pine trees to each member of our families on the occasion of the Neal’s 50^th wedding anniversary. It was barely a sprig, maybe 12 inches or so. I planted it in a large flower pot, knowing it wouldn’t last out of doors just yet. It was too small, too tender, and hardly had any roots. It came with us, pot and all, when we moved to Peterborough.

                By then, it had just sprouted it first, few, tiny branches. So, I risked planting it in our front yard. We actually had two small trees, although to call them trees was a bit of an exaggeration. One of them died over that first winter, but the second somehow managed to survive and even began to thrive.

                Now, it is over 8 feet tall, and its branches span over 6 feet. Last year, I could decorate it while standing on the ground. This year, I had to get a step ladder to reach the top of the tree.  It had, despite the drought this summer, put on over 2 feet of new tree. Next year, I am going to have to get a bigger ladder, more lights or change my Christmas decorating plans.

                Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move…,” (Matthew 17:20). I have sometimes struggled with this metaphor when people I love and care about, be it in my church or in my own family, have struggled, seemingly vainly, with illnesses, hardships, setbacks, and death. Mountains are no easy things to move.

Jesus was too sophisticated in his theology and thinking to be so naïve that some magical dose of faith was by itself going to eradicate or fix what ails us. So, what might he have meant?

                I look at my pine tree. It started out very small, vulnerable, defenceless, susceptible to its environment, needed tending and a good dose of fertilizer every now and then.  It has survived through the vagaries of the weather including freezing rain, drought, wind, deep snow and anything else nature could throw at it. Now it stands tall, straight, sturdy, and strong.

                My point is that if one has even so much as a germ of faith it can be nurtured into a dynamic force of life.  As our faith grows and matures, it becomes our defence against the mountains in life. Our trust in Love, Grace, Justice, Hope, are the branches that spread from our faith.  It does not mean that we won’t face the elements of life or that we can snap our spiritual fingers and life’s droughts and winds dissipate. But it does mean that we have nurtured a spirit within, with God’s help and direction, which withstands, endures, prevails and overcomes. "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!" (Mark 9:24, The Message)

                Have you got some little sapling growing in you? A sprout of love, a seedling of compassion, a sprig of kindness, a branch of forgiveness? Please, don’t let it die away. Encourage it to grow.  Cultivate its development. Provide nourishment for its progress.

                "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over,” (John 12:24, The Message).

                You just might have to get your step-ladder out!

Dale

First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2016

 (During Advent there will be an additional,  new post for each Sunday each week.)

                Let’s get serious now. It’s Advent, a time for quiet, contemplative, spiritual reflection.  Everybody, heads bowed, on your knees, look humble, even penitent if you can pull it off!

                It is NOT yet Christmas as the liturgical purists will insist. There will be no singing “Joy to the world! The Lord is come” because the Lord does not show up until Christmas Eve at the earliest.

Hey you, no peeking in the manger just yet!  Mary and Joseph haven’t even hit the road yet, never mind gotten to Bethlehem. There will be no “joyful and triumphant” before its time.  Advent is sounded in the minor key of “O come, O come Emmanuel”.

There will be no premature Christmas. We know how fortunate humanity is to have Jesus in the world? But Jesus is ours; he belongs to us;  we, liturgical professionals,  know best when and how to bring him in the world. So, close your eyes to all that pre-Christmas stuff on TV; plug your ears in stores when you hear Silent Night or O Holy Night. We just can’t trust the world to get it right. Liturgical philistines. Ritual barbarians. Irreverent boors.

OK, who put the Three Wise Men in the nativity scene? Good grief, that is for Epiphany, not until January. What’s next? People wishing each other Happy Easter in the middle of Lent, before Good Friday? Sacramental heathens. Worship hooligans. Heretical pagans.

John the Baptist, Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph and of course, Mary – these are the stories of Advent.

Once upon a time, I, too, cared about all the proper etiquette of Advent. But after a while, I came to realize that it was really, really hard to keep Christmas out of the Advent Season. The ordinary person  was, and is, hungry for Christmas, longing for its light, colour and joy. They wanted to break in jubilant song whether it was November 27^th or December 25^th. They wanted to embrace Jesus sooner than later, knowing full well that on December 26^th Christmas quickly begins to fade. They wanted to celebrate the coming of hope, peace, hope and love (worthy themes of Advent) even if it means putting Jesus in the manger right from the get-go. They wanted to get to Bethlehem and see that which has come to pass as soon as possible. They would then linger, sing the same carols over and over again, ponder this in their hearts, wish each other a very Merry Christmas, and do it all over the next week, if possible.

So, go ahead, deck those halls. Dust off the nativity set. Sing a lively Christmas carol or two or three. Get in the Christmas spirit, today. Don’t wait. I don’t think that Jesus will mind if you start celebrating his birthday a little early.

“The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world,” (John 1:9).  This implies some sort of continuous action, an ongoing process, a constant progression.

All together now: “Joy to the world; the Lord is come.”

Dale

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

                There used to be a saying which went, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Apparently, there is a word that now describes this point-of-view: “post-truth”.  The Oxford Dictionary folk have chosen this word, “post-truth”, as its international word of the year. It is technically defined as relating to objective facts which are less influential in shaping public opinion rather than appeals to emotion and personal belief. Less technically, friends, some of what I am talking about used to be called BS, balderdash, baloney,  claptrap,  hogwash,  and utter nonsense.

                Nevertheless, a lot of people seem very uninterested in the truth. Truth is relative and subjective. Truth is gathered mostly by reading whatever is on the Internet and accepting without question that it must be true simply because it is on the Internet, especially if it confirms your fears, prejudices, biases, assumptions and values.

How can Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a million hits on some topic possibly be wrong? I have had people check the veracity of my sermons by researching my  biblical texts on-line. Frankly, I am sure that one could find some Google article which would back-up just about anything one wanted, no matter how diametrically opposed the opinions might be.

Fake news, fake science, fake medicine, fake theories, fake conspiracies, fake love advice, fake religions, and fake accusations are nothing new to humankind but it is becoming epidemic. Everybody feels, and that is the operative word here, FEELS that they are experts and thereby know the truth.  Just don’t confuse me with the facts! Or as good, old Isaiah claimed centuries ago, “Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey,” (Isaiah 59:15). See, I told you that this was nothing new.

One of the better-known statements from Jesus are the words, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (John 8:32). Jesus was confidently connecting truth with his way of love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, and healing as the way to God and to each other – what he calls discipleship. Living this way will set us free from the traps, snares and chains of living a life that is tethered to lies, falseness, self-deceit, conceit, dishonesty and fraudulence about ourselves, others and the world.

Under the care of God’s grace, we can be honest about ourselves, about our relationships, our opinions, our weaknesses, our fears, our desires and wishes. As we open up to God the real persons under our masks and facades, there is forgiveness, healing and redemption.

In the truth of God’s Love comes the freedom to see and welcome the truth that is in the other person. In Jesus’ truth one acts toward the other with empathy, compassion, acceptance, judgeless-ness, and one moves toward the other with an open hand and an open heart.

We let go of the untruths that weigh us down and leap forward in a new, fresh truth that sets us free. It is a resurrection moment!

Most of us have heard that classic line, “You can’t handle the truth!” from the movie A Few Good Men. But I think we are given the critical capacity to handle the truth. We are given the human talent to be wise, to be discerning, to be perceptive, to be judicious, to be intelligent and smart, to be careful, to be authentic and lean into the truth which creates a better you and me, a better neighbourhood and a better world.

And that’s the truth!

Dale

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 

                When his maternal grandmother asked our three and half year-old grandson William about how Day Care had gone that day, he very insightfully  opined that it had been a pretty good day, “There was no hitting.” A day with no hitting sounds pretty good to me. We all should be so lucky to have a day with no hitting!

                It got me to thinking how any of us might define a good day.

                Perhaps then…

                There were no aches and pains.

                There were no arguments.

                There were no complications.

                There was no stress.

                There was no bad news.

                There was no pressure.

                There were no complaints.

                There was no criticism.

                There were no hassles.

                There was no negativity.

Well, you get the idea, I’m sure. What is your equivalent of “no hitting”?

On a grander scale, we might add it would be  a good day because we didn’t read or see on TV any news about racism, poverty, sexism, hunger, wars, violence, or the messy aftermath of  the Donald Trump (bless his little heart) election, etc. And by that, I mean we didn’t hear about these things because they had become non-existent.  That would be a really good day! And I know what you are thinking – I have a vivid imagination and it ain’t goin’ to happen.

                So, I am ready to settle for the “lesser” things that make a day good. Maybe the issue is how we verbalize what makes a day good. The above descriptions are expressed in the negative tense of living. It can certainly be about what the day is not but it can and should be also about what is good or positive about the day.

                It was a good day…

                Because my spouse took me out for supper and it isn’t even my birthday.

                Because my boss thanked me for a piece of hard work I had done.

                Because that person smiled at me.

                Because someone complimented me on how I looked today.

                Because somebody helped me.

                Because she forgave me.

                Because we shared a wonderful memory that I had nearly forgotten.

                Because my grandson has learned the value of “no hitting”.

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” (Psalm 118: 24). It is a good day whenever we do not get sucked into the negativity that others try to lay upon us. It is a good day when we give back to the world the grace and kindness that God has shown us through Jesus Christ. It is a good day when we avoid hurting others. It is a good day when we love others. It is a good day when we decline the opportunities for sinning and doing wrong. It is a good day when we imbibe the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” (Colossians 3:12).

                We’re all in “day care” i.e. taking care of the day the best we can.  I am with you, William. It has been a very good day; there was no hitting! Let’s make tomorrow even better!

Dale

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

                It is incredible that Donald Trump has won the American presidential election. Hilary Clinton simply did not have the right stuff to address the deep anxiety and hard anger that seems to be lurking in the American soul and spirt. Trump tapped into it brilliantly, albeit crudely, brashly and insolently. The decline of the American Empire has taken a nasty turn for the worse. It is no longer “Gold bless America” but “God help America”.

                Speaking of God, I wonder what our God is thinking about all this, if anything. I really don’t believe that God necessarily interferes, intrudes and manipulates politics as much as some do. I fear that God leaves us to make these sorts of decisions for ourselves and make our own political messes. But I will confess that this morning I am wondering what God is planning to do with this.

There was an American group of conservative, evangelical Christians who worked with the Trump campaign, advising and praying for him. When some of the sexual misconduct allegations came out they were challenged by the press whether they would continue to support Trump. After some soul searching, they responded that they would because in the Bible God was seen supporting some unscrupulous rulers for divine ends and purposes. As one example, they cited King Darrius who helped the exiled Israelites to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild the city and the temple.

Personally, I think that the “Moral Majority” has compromised their morality for the sake of politics. But maybe that’s just me. But they make a valid enough point. Even Pharaoh was “used” by God to demonstrate his sacred relationship with the Hebrew people. We could certainly point out that there have been some horrific leaders in the modern world, far worse than Trump may ever be (we hope!). God has not stopped every tyrant, dictator or despot, so why would God worry too much about a pompous megalomaniac as dangerous as he might be?

This is not to say that God is indifferent to our mismanagement and abuse of politics, power, and governments. I think it can also be said, even more strongly than the point the evangelicals make, that God has little love for and little patience for bad, evil, cruel political leadership, either from external forces or especially those who rose to power within the Israelite nation itself. God anticipates and expects all world leaders to take the high ground, to lead with mercy, to show compassion for others, to defend justice, and to protect the best principles of God’s reign over the world. “Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness,” (Psalm 72:1). “Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure,” (Proverbs 20:28).

It is impossible yet to see into the future to know what kind of president Trump will make. My hope and prayer is that he will drop the celebrity character and there will be a hidden, if rough, gem inside. But I wouldn’t want to count on that happening or bet my house on its probability. I fear that what we see is what we get and is all we can continue to expect to one degree or another. But that does not stop any of us from looking for the gracious, loving signs of God working in the gaps, the shadows, or the brokenness if that is what prevails.

Meanwhile we pray and trust.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God,” (Psalm 20:7).

Dale

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

                 “Of types of smiles, the insincere smile uses the least energy and the fewest muscles.” It must be true because I found that interesting tidbit of information in the 2013 Uncle John’s Canoramic Bathroom Reader, right on page 388. If you can’t trust good ol’ Uncle John, who can you trust? But you are saying yourself, “Hey buddy, you just did a blog on smiles…”  See my face?  I am smiling. (Please refer to above quotation.)

                Besides, this is about insincerity, not smiling anyway.

                Insincerity is the open door into hypocrisy.  And if there is anything which we Christians get deservedly criticized more for than our insincerity and hypocrisy, I don’t know what it might be.

                Case in point. Recently I drove past two Christian churches whose big church signs read respectively:  “Everyone is welcome” and “The Church for People Just Like You”. Now, both of these churches, bless them, would be known for their very conservative theology and Christian practice. That’s their business and privilege, but I doubt that either of them would ordain a woman pastor or have female deacons, or condone alternative lifestyles, etc., typical of uncomfortable themes within conservative Christianity, including, I must add, many a Baptist church. Again, I say that those positions are their prerogative.

                My point is that neither of the two church signs is as sincere as they think they are in its open-door, welcoming, affirming message.  This is not to say that the people in these churches are unfriendly, uncaring, indifferent, insensitive, inhospitable Christians.  But they will have their strict limits as to whom they will totally welcome, affirm and include. Their definitions of sin might exclude an ordinary individual from participation in the fellowship. They may even try to love the sinner and hate the sin, but I have never really trusted that old bromide. They may scrupulously preach a gospel of Love but it becomes a conditional Love just the same.  Act like us. Believe like us. Behave like us. Obey the rules. Then you are welcome.

                There would be many an ordinary person who would not feel welcome or just like one them in these churches. Probably, all churches act like this to some extent – even the so-called liberal or progressive ones. Nobody has a corner on insincere sanctimony. It uses the least energy and fewest muscles, indeed!

                Jesus said once, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” (Mark 2:10).  Jesus had strong points of view about what was wrong with humanity, but he never excluded anyone from the richest and most powerful to the most weak, sick and vulnerable.  He was comfortable in the presence of tax collectors, lepers, Roman centurions and even the Pharisees. He enjoyed the company of women and children.  His disciples were a rough, rag-tag band of blue-collar men but he included women among his followers just as easily. The cure for humankind’s Fall from Grace was the love of God for everyone. This is not to say that Jesus condoned or even tolerated Sin, but rather looked beyond and past the sins of people and generated a Love that was healing, gracious, forgiving, wholesome, and unconditional. He gave away his Love generously, compassionately and open-handedly. Then he waited to see what change he had wrought.

                I actually really like the motto, “A Church For People Just Like You.”  I could be part of a church which really practiced that style of faith.  Although, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, I am not sure I really would want to become a  member of a church who would take me in as a member. But then again, I think that is exactly my point.

Dale