Wednesday, July 17, 2019

“A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. ‘If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said…Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.” (Mark 1: 40, 42, New Living Translation)

[We will be on a summer hiatus for three weeks. Be back on August 14.]

                What is it with the human proclivity, especially those with political or religious power, to “leper-ize” those who are different? To make then wear bells as a warning in they are in the vicinity. To force them to keep to their own kind? To declare them to be unclean and unfit for ordinary society?

                But it is as old as time. Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews because they were deemed “more numerous and powerful than we” (Exodus 1:9) and fearing they would the join Egypt’s enemies and fight for them. It didn’t matter whether it was true or not but the propaganda worked.

The Biblical Jews, at times, were no slouches either in demonizing other cultures and often exercised their own strict rules and even progroms to maintain racial and religious purity.

                But we never learn from history. Modern examples leap to mind. Indigenous people hived into reservations and residential schools. Japanese internment camps in Canada during WWII. The slaughter of minorities in many East European, Asian and African countries. The stigmatization and persecution of the LGBTQ community. And worst of all, the terrible and undeniable horror of Nazi concentration camps for Jews.

                So, when the American government started rounding up immigrants this past week I am, sadly, not particularly surprised as much as I am disheartened and dismayed.  The stories of the horrendous conditions of their detention camps are alarming, including separation of children from their parents, little food and poor sanitation, little medical treatment, and the nauseating list goes on. But hey, they came to the USA uninvited and are now officially deemed as unclean, unfit to reside in America, a threat, a menace, a blight, an expensive influx of “those people”. The official words of explanation sound so sensible, reasonable and practical but scratch not far from the surface and one finds that all-so-human trait of disliking anyone who is really different from us and our kind. They are not welcome!

                I am not picking on just the States as I have little to no doubt that there are many in Canada who would welcome a more stringent, exclusionary, prejudicial action taken against new immigrants and refugees here. Populism which has an anti-immigrant component is rampant across many countries.

                Therefore, I am always struck by Jesus’ very personal, hands-on approach to real lepers of his time. He did not shun them. He did not avoid them.  He met them, talked to them, and by the grace of his power and love Jesus brought many of them back into community, restoring fellowship and family, and gave them back their dignity, self-respect and well-being. He included them in his life when everyone else had tried to fence them in and keep them at a safe distance. Lepers, gentiles, women, Romans soldiers, Samaritans, prostitutes and tax collectors – all the people on Jewish society’s “no-fly” list - were embraced by Jesus in word and deed.  Jesus opened up the borders that so often divide us from one another.

                If we were really willing, we could do a lot to help heal and make acceptable those who are fleeing one bad situation only now to end up in another one.  We can speak up for them. We can sponsor them. We can challenge unfair policies.  At the very least (?) we can be more inclusive, welcoming and gracious when meeting them. If we were willing, we could make a difference both here at home and in these other places where the need is so overwhelming.

                If only we were willing…

Dale

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

“The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands” (1 Corinthians 8: 10 – 12, The Message Bible)

                Then first time I met Percy Lane, a rotund, elvish man, really smart and witty, he was handing out circular wooden tokens, about the size of a loonie, which had the letters TUIT inscribed on them. The tokens were for people who are always saying that they will get around to it (a round TUIT).

                This old memory surfaced as I have been driving around Peterborough lately. I don’t know about your city or town but there seems to be a glut of road construction projects here this year, both very large road reconstruction and many small ones, not much more than patch jobs. There are machinery, dirt and holes in the streets just about everywhere one goes. But it also seems to me that a work crew starts something and then leaves the work site and it stays that way for several days before they will get around to it, i.e. finishing the job. There is one street which has some serious water main work going on and I haven’t seen a work crew there in a more than a couple of weeks.  Another street was ripped apart over a year ago and they still haven’t finished the job.

                There are probably good reasons for the delays and interruptions but I wish, instead of starting another new job, they would just finish what they have started first.

                Mind you, the city politicians have been discussing the building of The Parkway road for the last 50 years or more, so maybe there is something in the water here.

                I should talk - a master of delay, procrastination, starting things (e.g. novels I have begun) and losing interest in projects, sometimes becoming bored and just down right lazy and not getting around to finishing the job. Now that I have very few deadlines, it has become much easier to put off until tomorrow what I should have done today. It’s a wonder that this blog gets done every week.

                Somebody, hand me a round TUIT!

                Paul was on at the people of the church at Corinth to complete a promise they had made to raise money for the poor, struggling Christian church in Jerusalem. He uses a little guilt, embarrassment, threat and finally some praise to get them to finish what they had started a year earlier.

                I think we all have had the experience of meaning to phone someone or send a card or do something for someone and we don’t and then something happens and it is too late. As it is said, the road to heaven is paved with good intentions.

The epistle of James reminds us to be doers of the word and not merely hearers of the word. Faith without works is dead. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. “For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, ‘Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!’ and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup - where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” (James 2: 15 -17, The Message Bible)

Don’t delay in telling someone that you love him or her. Don’t put off words of praise or appreciation.  Don’t neglect a promise to someone. Don’t postpone time spent with family or friends. Don’t overlook your commitments. Don’t make excuses about those things which don’t get done. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.  Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't.

I need to practice what I preach… Maybe tomorrow!

             Quick, somebody, hand me a round TUIT!

Dale

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

“It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52, New Living Translation)

                Saxophones are never mentioned in the Bible – harps, lutes, flutes, trumpets, tambourines but no saxophones, mainly because, of course, the saxophone wasn’t invented until around 1841 by Adolphe Sax.

                But now there is a worthy musician who has joined the reed sections of whatever heavenly jazz band is playing in whatever celestial club.  

Our good friend, John Oosterbroek, passed away last week, the cherished husband of his wife, Tish. He was a much beloved musician in our city and a member of our church. He played the saxophone, clarinet and flute with wonderful  panache and skilful expertise – jazz, classical, religious, you name it. John played with our worship team. But he conducted orchestras, played in clubs, played for various bands, and was an active member of the music community here in Peterborough.

As good and excellent as all that is, better yet, he was a friend of mine. He had a droll wit, an appreciative spirit, an inquisitive mind and beneath what some interpreted as a gruff manner was a big and caring heart. He always was interested in our family. He was someone with whom I could share my concerns around the church and he kept it in confidence.

What might surprise some people is the high regard he has from his students whom he taught in high school for a few years. Most, if not all, give him credit for their deep love of music and in some cases going on to major in music in university and make careers out of music. One woman who had received her doctorate in music gives John the credit. John had inspired and awoken something in these students and they haven’t forgotten.

I had a taste of that skill a few years back when I tried to revive my saxophone playing which I had first learned in high school. I took weekly lessons. I could have taken daily lessons and it wouldn’t have made a difference. I was really awful. But John was patient, encouraging, helpful and instructive but I must have been torturing him with the cacophonous noise coming from my rented saxophone.

Saxophones are not ‘horns” technically.  Nevertheless, allow me to take a small liberty and include them in the horn section of heaven. A ram’s horn, for instance, was a popular OT instrument for the people of God. A blast of the ram’s horn could mean that God’s Holy Presence was close at hand. “On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled.” (Exodus 19:16, NLT)

It always signaled that something special was happening “Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and melodious song, with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn. Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!” (Psalm 98: 5 -6) It was the horn for sounding the battle call.  It could rally the people or inspire them or call them to action or even repentance. “Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.” (Joel 2:15, NLT)

When John wailed away on his axe (slang for a saxophone) it could evoke in me feelings that made me appreciate how sacred and mysterious music can be. Music has a way of connecting us to the creative side of life. Music can express in ways that words cannot those deep inner feelings of thought and spirit. Music captures our moods and often enables us to get out of our funks and melancholia. Music can express the spiritual natures of our beings.

So perhaps if Gabriel ever gets tired of trumpet practice in preparation for the big Resurrection Day, maybe he can let John have a few notes of his own, even on the saxophone.  He won’t regret it!

Dale