Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’ (Luke 12: 16 -19, The Message Bible)

                 I keep building bigger barns and it is never enough!

                I have two computer games which I play regularly which have either a barn or storage buildings. I started out with very low capacities to store the materials which I need for other parts of the games. Over time though, I have been able to increase those limits and therefore store more stuff. I have come a long way from the early days when I started.  But nevertheless, I always quickly fill up the current  barns and end up needing bigger barns and more storage. It is an endless cycle. Bigger barn – more stuff. Need an even bigger barn – more stuff. Build a bigger barn yet again – acquire more stuff. Barn is still not big enough. Will this madness ever end?

                It is just a silly game, not life and death.

                But for the man in Jesus’ parable, it was life and death. Jesus has told this parable as a warning against greed, materialism and perhaps thinking that possessions are the be all and end all in living. When bigger barns become our raison d’etre, we are missing out on the full grace, blessings and gift God has to bestow, not to mention eternal life.

                The parable doesn’t tell us that the rich man wouldn’t get into the Kingdom but it does more than suggest that he had a lot to answer for. One translation puts in this way: “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” (12:20, NRSV) His earthly possessions mean nothing in the eyes of God; thus the expression "you can’t take it with you".  God rewards the person who has given generously, who used their possessions to help others, who gave as much as they received.  

                Perhaps you have seen on those TV shows about people who hoard. At first it probably seemed harmless. But by the time we encounter these folk, hoarding has taken over their lives and their homes. It has become an issue of damaged mental health as they can’t give up even the tiniest bit of garbage. Their homes literally fill up with anything and everything. Nothing gets thrown away. Most live in filth and squalor despite a house full of stuff. Sometimes one can’t walk through a room because of the piles of things. It takes a hard intervention to get them to begin to let go and allow others to help.

                We need some of our possessions but we can’t let our things own us and take over our lives. It is fine to enjoy our possessions but when these same possessions lead to selfishness, greed and a desire to have more and more, then we need to evaluate our priorities and get out from under the heavy burden of bigger barns.

                The man in the parable gets caught under the weight of having so much that it crashes on top of him.

                “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.” (12:21, The Message)

                Fill your barn with Self – when we fill ourselves up with pride, anger, hatred, prejudice, judgment, self-first, close mindedness, closed- heartedness, we are ourselves become the bigger barns. We keep hoarding that which is of no use and no benefit to ourselves or to others.

                There is an old expression: let go and let God.

                I think it could apply to this situation. Let go of the attitudes and things that keep us from God and others. Don’t place so much value and importance in grabbing all that we can. Take our eyes off the earthly things and instead see and experience the full graciousness of God. Appropriate not abundance of things but appropriate the Love of God and share in his goodness and fullness. Let God be your focus and guide. It’s for the best!

                 “Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.”  (Luke 12: 23 – 24, The Message)

                What are you going to do if your life is demanded of you?

 

Dale

Wednesday, April 20, 2022:  Post Easter - The Peter Principle

“When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea.”  (John 21:7, The Message Bible)

               What is it with Peter and jumping out of boats? How did that go the last time? If I remember rightly, Jesus had to pull him to safety. Well, in a way, in a much different way, Jesus is going to do the same again.

                Mind you, if I had an opportunity to encounter the Risen Lord, I might be tempted to jump out of the boat, too and I don’t even know how to swim.

                It is somewhat curious that Peter and the disciples had retreated to their fishing boats, post Resurrection. So routine, so practical, so familiar, so ordinary.  There was probably some reassurance being together again after all that had gone on.  Some hard work never hurt anyone and can be good therapy when the world is all upside down, as surely theirs was. He is risen. What does that really mean to such simple men?

                They were about to find out.

                Jesus stood on shore in risen form. But his appearance is not in some blaze of glory and fanfare. He, too, embraces the ordinary and simple; he has prepared for them a common fish breakfast. Having a meal has always been Jesus’ way of connecting with people, of building bridges between himself and others, of making relationships. There is a hint of communion in this breakfast, the breaking of the bread, the passing around the fish.  A new semblance of community and bonding is restored. It is the same as when Jesus was leading them, but not the same either. “Not one of the disciples dared ask, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Master.” (John 21:12, The Message)

                Then the story turns to a conversation specifically between Peter and the Risen Jesus. Perhaps Peter had always inwardly feared this moment when Jesus might ask him to account for his actions, especially his denials at Jesus’ trial. Would this be the moment when all his braggadocio and his shortcomings and his failures be dragged out into the open and Jesus would blame him and shame him?

                But no, the conversation turns into one about Love. “After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’” (John 21: 15, The Message) Did Jesus mean whether Peter loved Jesus more than Peter loved the other disciples or more than the other disciples loved Jesus? Either way, it is Peter’s answer which is critical: “Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

                Usually, it seems, that we define our relationship with how much Jesus unconditionally loves us. Jesus loves me, this I know. I am the recipient of Jesus’ love, grace, mercy and hope. But real Love is a two-way passage. Jesus also wants our unconditional Love. Do we love the Lord as he loves us?

                It must be an important question because Jesus asks two more times whether Peter loves him. In fact, Peter gets a little annoyed after the third time (some nerve, eh?) but strongly affirms, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.” (21: 17)

                Peter gets his priorities straight. He has been forgiven and his relationship with Jesus is stronger than ever. Jesus saves him again.

                I never paid attention to it before as often as I have read this story. It’s in verse 19. Jesus finishes off the conversation by saying to Peter, “Follow me.”

                Peter’s discipleship began when he left his nets at the command  to follow Jesus. We watched as all through the Gospels, Peter rode the rollercoaster of faith in his attempts to follow Jesus, the highs and the lows. I may have been too harsh on Peter. I don’t question that his heart was trying to be in the right place, that he sincerely wanted to do the right thing by Jesus, that he wanted to do his very best for Jesus. It just didn’t always work out as he had hoped or promised.

                But in the end, (or should I say New Beginning?), the direction was still the same, “Follow me.”  The command of faithful followership was the same - Love others. The focus was the same – Jesus himself.

                You may think I have been tough on Peter but I see him as the proto-type of my own followership of Jesus. I can’t speak for any of you but I can for myself. In Peter, I see my own reflection of faith and discipleship. Simply put when I was good, I was very good and when I was bad, I was horrid. But I pray that we let go of the past, and resolve to follow Jesus, the Risen Lord, and love him, love others, and oh yes, save a little love for yourself as well.    

                O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
                Be Thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
                I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side.
                Nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide. (John Ernest Bode)

 Dale

April 17, 2022: Resurrection Sunday – The Peter Principle

But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. (Luke 24:11 – 12, New Living Translation)

            Some things never change.

As we have seen before, Peter immediately reacts to the women’s story of an empty tomb and incredible words, and leaps up and runs to see for himself. It is hard to imagine what was going through Peter’s mind at that moment – disbelief, fear of  more disappointment, more despair that Jesus’ body was missing but maybe there was also a glimmer of hope, the possibility of getting  a second chance with Jesus, some new truth bursting on the horizon of this New Day.

According to John’s Gospel, Peter races John to the tomb, now empty. John gets there first but hesitates to go and just peers in, perhaps fearing what he would find. But not Peter, he boldly enters the tomb immediately. As I say, some things never change. The are both puzzled, perplexed, confused, mystified and amazed by the evidence.

And then they go home.

That somehow seems odd on such an auspicious day. Were they not curious about what was going on? Were they not wondering how the tomb became empty? Were they not the least bit curious about what has happened to Jesus? Were they suspicious that it was a trick and the safe place and the safe thing to do was to hide away in their homes?

But if I was going to an Easter Service this morning (we are still worshipping on-line at Yorkminster Park in TO), we would sing the hymns about Resurrection, hear the familiar Resurrection stories, say the words aloud that “He is risen” and then we would go back home, have a nice lunch and look forward to an Easter supper. But is that all Easter is?

I don’t just want to go back home after Easter.

On the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, the two men explain that the women and the disciples found an empty tomb but “they did not see him.” (Luke 24:24)

When the two men returned to Jerusalem to share the news that they had seen the Lord, the word was already out: “The Lord has risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon.” (24:34)

Not the Peter the Rock, not the pillar of the future church, not the holder of the keys of heaven; just good ol’ Simon, the ordinary fisherman, Simon of backwoods Galilee, and despite all his past shortcomings, he experiences the Resurrection, up close and personal. We are not told the intimate details of this first encounter between Peter and the Risen Lord but perhaps we can imagine its intensity, its emotion, its embracing Love.

Peter looked beyond just an empty tomb and encountered his Living Master. Jesus’ Resurrection broke the rules, stretched the boundaries, overcame the worst of obstacles, defeated the masterminds of evil, death and sin. On the global scale it is unequalled. But it is on the one-to-one personal scale that Jesus’ New Life takes shape. He has appeared to Simon.  He appeared to Mary Magdalene. Much later, the unlikely new convert Paul wrote, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” (1 Corinthians 15:8, New Revised Standard Version)

                Jesus appears to us today – in the hymns, the texts, the words, the celebrations but in very real ways I pray that he will appear to you and me through his living Spirit, through his ongoing vitality that shares his Life with us, through his ability to lift us up with him above anything and everything that would cancel life and throw us into darkness.

“And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” (Romans 6:4, NLT)

 

Dale

April 15, 2022 – Good Friday: The Peter Principle

Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there. (Mark 15: 40 41, New Living Translation)

                 Peter is conspicuous by his absence on Good Friday.

                We do not find his name anywhere in any of the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion. Jesus’ mother is there. John the disciple is there. Mary Magdalene is there. But no Peter.

                To be fair, we are told in Matthew’s Gospel that all of the disciples deserted Jesus and fled to the far corners of the city. But Peter who has had such a major role in the Gospel accounts, who once promised that he would not desert Jesus, has vanished on the most critical and last day of Jesus’ life.

                Who could blame him after his atrocious denials during the night? The crowing rooster has called out his shame in the morning.

                Who could blame him for not wanting to see his friend, his teacher, his Lord, die such an agonizing death on a Roman cross?

                Who could blame him for avoiding such a scene, experiencing his powerlessness, his helplessness, his despair and hopelessness?

                Maybe, just maybe, he actually was way far back in the crowd, hoping to remain faceless, inconspicuous, watching from a distance like the others, but wanting no one to recognize him or call out his name. But I highly doubt it. He was facing his demons alone somewhere, even as he knew the nails were being pounded into his friend’s hands and feet. He would not be closing the distance between Jesus and himself that hard day.

                There are many distances between us and the cross, not just our denials and betrayals.

                Many folk would like to avoid the agony of Good Friday. It is a horrific story. Although some tend to glorify the Cross, it was a cruel way to execute any one, least of all Jesus. Some are aghast that a loving God would demand his own Son’s death as a sacrifice for our sins. How grotesque. Atonement theories abound but all of them call for this death, Jesus’ death – as a remedy for human sin, our sin, yours and my sin. What kind of God demands such a cruel cost?

                We become conspicuous by our absences on Good Friday. Let us just skip this day and leap straight to Sunday ASAP!

                There are many distances between us and the Cross.

                But we need to face the Cross and the Man who died upon it, despite our horror, our weaknesses, our failings, our hopelessness. Maybe because of it all.

                “Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.” (Romans 5:6, The Message Bible)

                Oddly, this is Good News - for Peter, for all of us, for you, for me. It closes the distances between us and God.  

                “Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.” (Romans 5: 18 -19, The Message)

                Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 Dale

Thursday, April 14, 2022: Maundy Thursday - The Peter Principle

Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” (Luke 22: 33 -34, New Living Translation)

                 If you were to look up the word “bravado” in the dictionary, I can easily imagine that you might find a caricature of some sort of Peter. The Oxford dictionary defines bravado as “a confident way of behaving that is intended to impress people, sometimes as a way of hiding a lack of confidence.” We could argue that Peter never seemed to be short of self-confidence. He was always the first out of the boat both literally and figuratively. 

Peter never lacked for boldness to the point of brashness. I am not accusing him of being a phoney or insincere, but he often spoke without really thinking, made statements that he couldn’t back up with his actions and stumbled over his words and declarations. But bravado? Peter had that in spades!

At the Last Supper, Peter pledges to stick by Jesus no matter what. He’s got Jesus’ back.  They want to get to Jesus, they will have to get by him first. He is Jesus’ BFF and God help the person that tries to get between him and Jesus, even if it means prison and death – Luke’s version being the strongest of Peter’s words.

And we know how that turned out. Somewhere in a courtyard, just a few hours later, being accused of being a follower of Jesus, Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” (Matthew 26: 74)

                And immediately the rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered what he had promised and what Jesus predicted would happen. “And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.” (Luke 22:62)

                There is a poignant moment in Luke’s account of Peter’s denial. “At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” (22:61) I am not sure that I can even imagine what that look conveyed and I am not sure I want to. I do know that I would never want to be the recipient or cause for that look. Was it one of disappointment? Sadness? Accusatory?  Anger even? Regret? Judgement?  Pity?  An I-told-you-so sort of look?

                But it is more likely, so I hope, a look of compassion and grace. I can believe it was a look of forgiveness. I can have faith in that it was a look of Love, longing and needing Peter’s love for sure, but the familiar face of Jesus catching Peter’s eyes and, even then, holding Peters’ gaze in Love.

                It was a look that caused Peter to weep bitterly. Not just for what he done and denying Christ but perhaps also because it was a look that gave Peter far more than he deserved -  grace, forgiveness, mercy, redemption.

                That look spoke volumes! That eye-to-eye connection tore at Peter’s soul. That momentary bonding called into question all that Peter thought he stood for. Who wouldn’t weep bitterly?

                There are probably many ways we deny Christ in our day-to-day walk with him. They may not be as dramatic as Peter’s three denials and it may be a myriad of little things that betray and subvert our connection to Jesus.  Wrong words. Wrong actions. Wrong attitudes.  Lack of love and forgiveness. Hypocrisy. Forgetting our baptismal vows. These wear away at our pledges and promises to follow Jesus to the end until we are so far out on the limb which is breaking under the  sinful weight that it seems too late to eat our words and forestall our actions and we are falling like a stone, like a Rock.

                The let Jesus catch our eyes. Let us dare fall under his gaze. Let us receive the look that will pierce the soul but also mend the wound and the broken spirit.

                “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2, NLT)

Dale

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 – Holy Week: The Peter Principle

Jesus got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.” Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!” Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.” “Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!” (John 13: 6 9, The Message Bible)

 [To complete The Peter Principle, I am planning to write blogs for Maundy Thursday (tomorrow), Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, plus the final one on the following Wednesday.]

           

                Nice try, Peter, but no cigar. Again.

                Did you ever get tired of just missing the mark about Jesus and being challenged by him seemingly at every turn in your discipleship? Your passion to follow Jesus is worn on your sleeve for all to see and yet you are always stumbling over your desire to prove yourself to Jesus.

                There have been people in my life for whom I desperately wanted to prove myself and be affirmed by them in some fashion. Professors in Divinity College. Family. Colleagues. Certain church folk whom I cherished.  And sometimes, I was often disappointed when I didn‘t get their admiration. What could have I done better or what should I have said? It was not that they had even shown any disapproval – far from it - but simply expected me to do well in my endeavors and enough said. Sometimes, I didn’t recognize the approval I did get – a new responsibility, a new task, extra duties, simply because they thought I could handle it.

                So, Peter, I empathize you in this moment.

                You go all in. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

                Some might say that this is the only way to follow Jesus - all in. Don’t hold back. Dive in. Immerse yourself in his Love and Mercy.  Carry the watermarks of our baptism on our hearts. Don’t give up. Don’t quit.

                It is hard to argue against that position.

                But Peter reminds us how hard that can be even when our hearts are in the right place. Jesus told Peter that if he couldn’t do this simple act of washing Peter's feet, then it would be impossible to be a part of his Kingdom work. So, Peter, as always, jumps in with both feet and declares his total allegiance to Christ by asking for a full cleansing, head to toe.

                “Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.” (Psalm 19: 11 -14, The Message)

                But Jesus goes on to interpret his act of foot-washing as an example of his Kingdom work. He had previously declared that washing is not the guarantee of a person’s being right with God. It’s what is inside the human heart and will which break out in acts of service and love which are the true indicators of a wholesome life.  So, he says here in John 13: “My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.”

                Moreover, his submissive foot-washing is an example of what holiness looks like. “So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.” (v.16)

                This is the lesson Peter still had to absorb into his heart and soul. I know I need to learn it.  Our passionate exuberance to follow Jesus must result in the constant passion to serve others in love and in practical and hands-on ways. Not to earn Jesus’ approval; we already have that Love unconditionally. But to pick up towels and basins and humbly to embody Jesus’ Love back into the world.

                If Peter had only said – “Use my feet! Use my hands! Use my mind.”

Dale

Wednesday, April 6, 2022: Lent Six – The Peter Principle

Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. Peter took him in hand, protesting, “Impossible, Master! That can never be!” But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.” (Matthew 16:21 – 23, The Message Bible)

                 In the Gospel of Luke, at the beginning of Jesus’ story, when he was facing Satan’s temptations in the wilderness, we are told that when Jesus had finished every test, Satan “departed from him until an opportune time.”  (Luke 4:13)

                Well, guess what? Opportunity came a-knocking.

    Peter, let me introduce you to Satan; Satan, this is Peter.

                But you know what it says in scripture: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8, New Living Translation) Peter “speaks” from experience.

                Satan has found a fresh opportunity to do his worst. Jesus may be untouchable; but his disciples are weak, especially this Peter fellow, full of bravado, hot air and good intentions. Ripe for the picking.  And you know what they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

                Earlier in this chapter, Peter had reached the height of his discipleship by confessing that Jesus was indeed the true Messiah (16:16). It is a deeply heart-warming moment in the relationship between Jesus and Peter. Jesus bestows blessings and responsibilities upon Peter for his insight and understanding.

                Then – thud! The Rock sinks. He attempts to derail the Mission which Jesus is on – accepting the Cross and dying for the sins of the world. Perhaps, Peter’s thinking was that a Messiah doesn’t work this way. The Messiah is a warrior, a freedom fighter, a new king who will destroy Israel’s enemies and begin a new era of prosperity and liberation. He doesn’t willingly suffer and die.

                Peter has no idea how God works.

                Nor do we, a lot of the time, maybe most of the time.

                “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55: 8-9, NLT)

                Which doesn’t stop many of us from telling Jesus or God how we want the world to revolve. We define Jesus by our own terms. We put Jesus into some sort of small box of our personal expectations and assumptions. We try to shackle Jesus to our agendas and plans. We try to bend Jesus to fit our needs and wants. Good Friday seems so extreme. What kind of Father sacrifices his Son? That’s not right. That can never be.

                After Jesus puts Peter in his place by rebuke, Jesus teaches them how he defines discipleship: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Matthew 16: 24 26, The Message)

                It might be tempting to reiterate:  That can never be!

                Who wants their own personal cross?

                Who want to put others first?

                Who wants to sacrifice anything, least of all our own lives?

                Who wants to spend oneself in such Love and Compassion, even if it hurts?

                But that is how Jesus saw his own mission to save the world and it is also how he sees our mission to build his kingdom.

                Really? Had no idea…

Dale