Wednesday, September 28, 2016

            Driving around Peterborough can be a bit of a challenge these days. It seems wherever you go there is roadwork of some sort or another. In once place it is water-main replacement. In another Bell is working on installing new lines for their Fibe system. In another the City is repairing manhole covers and sewer drains. There is a nearby street that has been under re-construction for months and is still unfinished. Little orange cones are popping up everywhere, like a forest of carrot-y gnome hats blown askew by the wind.

            My question is why do they start something and then not finish the project as expediently as possible? It seems that they are always starting the next thing before they finish what they have been working on.  The City began repairing the curb and sidewalk in front of one of the driveways to my wife’s workplace. It’s not a big job. But it has been over a week and they just got the cement poured for the curb, but not the sidewalk. Who knows when the pavers will arrive!

            We’ve had beautiful weather for working. No more delays, please. Don’t start anything new. Just finish what you’ve started already! This, coming from the Great Procrastinator – namely me.

Jesus told a parable about a man who was building a tower, (Luke 14: 28 -30). It would seem that he may have had quite ambitious plans for a very elaborate tower. He began to build and soon discovered he couldn’t afford the cost to complete the tower. Jesus comments that the man’s predicament is just a little embarrassing. “When he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish it all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”

Jesus is making a point about Christian discipleship (followership) through this parable. Don’t start down the road with Jesus if you aren’t willing to pay the whole price. Perhaps, one might argue that you and I are always “under construction” in our walk with Jesus and there is indeed truth in that. I am always discovering new and challenging aspects in my Christian faith and practice.

But Jesus was always very honest and forthright about the cost of following him, never shirking from the truth of sacrifice, true grit and even suffering, which to me are the key characteristics of Christian compassion towards others.

It’s fantastic to have the right foundation – faith, prayer, biblical principles, creedal assurances, etc. -  but we are called by Jesus to keep on building up our Christian works (individually and communally) and to strive towards finishing the project(s) of a complete Christian lifestyle and being. “Not that I have already reached this,” Paul wrote, “or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own,” (Philippians 3:12).

Some Christians seem to think that their salvation is secure because they have accepted Jesus, and need not do much else after that.  But, in fact, there is much, much more to do so as to increase our loving and grateful response to Jesus Christ’s redemption. “Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means,” (2 Corinthians 8:11).

 

Dale

Thursday, September 22, 2016

            It was a random Bible reading, something to which I had flipped open as I did my devotional time.  I have never preached from it, but I wish had, now that I have discovered it. It is Acts 28, verses 1 - 10. There are all sorts of miraculous events in the whole story of Paul’s venture on the Mediterranean Sea –  surviving a dramatic and devastating ship wreck in the middle of a storm on their way to Rome (Ch. 27), Paul’s almost casual indifference to a poisonous snake that bit him while gathering firewood, and finally a healing miracle, too.  All very exciting and theatrical, making for a great and wondrous story.

But it was not the stirring bits that caught my eye this time, but the common touch of human compassion. Paul and his companions had marooned themselves on the island of Malta. Luke writes, “The natives showed us unusual kindness,” (28:2). They built a fire and “welcomed us around it.”  Hot dogs and s’mores for everyone!

This is an interesting twist on the admonition that Christians are the ones who are to be diligent practitioners of compassion, hospitality and kindness towards others. E.g. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it,” (Hebrews 13:2). But here, it is Paul along with his fellow travellers, some of whom were Christian, who found themselves on the receiving end of a stranger's benevolence, even though the natives were not probably Christians. Later we are told that the “leading man of the island… entertained us hospitably for three days,” (7).  Luke thought it important enough to include these remarks in his diary.

One of our favourite shows in Still Standing (CBC). Host Jonny Harris visits small struggling towns across Canada and using his humour helps celebrate their perseverance, hopes and aspirations. This week he was in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.  A few years ago the people had to survive a catastrophic, unprecedented flood. One of the buildings that was severely damaged was the historic hotel in the town. The building was slated for demolition, but a band of immigrant Philippinos took over the building and have fully restored it, better than ever. Strangers helping others, even though they didn’t, perhaps, share the same attachments, heritage, culture, religion, as everyone else. They simply cared about their neighbours.

Compassion can always break down barriers between us. Showing kindness can often make enemies into friends. A helping hand is far superior than a closed fist.  Empathy is a conversation starter, leading to understanding and better communication. 

It is hard work being to be unconditionally hospitable. Maybe that is what Luke meant by describing the Malta natives’ hospitality as “unusual”.  The writer of 1 Peter tells us to show hospitality without grumbling and griping (1 Peter 4:9), some advice that I wish a few churchy Christians would heed when pressed to engage the “otherness” of people. If pagans and nonbelievers can do this - and they do, all the time – then we, the Church, need to be more like Paul and pitch in and gather some firewood even if it sometimes bites us.  Or listen to the writer of one of the letters from John: “We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth,” (3 John 1:8).

Work together –  now there’s a concept!

Dale

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

            Before September arrived I had been wondering whether I would miss the “thrill” of starting up another new church year now that I have retired. I used to love the Fall when everything began to kick back into gear. There was a sense of anticipation and a spirit of eagerness. Sometimes, new programs would begin, or a new project, or some fresh venture. It often took the church folk a few weeks to catch up to my enthusiasm; maybe by Thanksgiving when everybody was finally back and ready to go. Nevertheless, by and large, I enjoyed the start-up season of September.

            But, to be honest and a little to my surprise, I haven’t missed it as much as I thought I might. It feels different in some ways, but I am very okay with this. I’m not bored yet. I am not looking very hard for the next Big Thing. I feel no burning itch to hitch myself up to some new wagon.  I have heard of pastors who have hated retirement and sometimes it makes me wonder what’s wrong with me that I am so comfortable in this season that I am in. Then I understand what the writer of Ecclesiastes meant: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

            This is not to say that if and when God taps me on the shoulder and has a new assignment of some kind that I will turn it down.  In fact, I pray that it will be something that I have never done before, just for the challenge of it. It doesn’t have to be pastoral ministry – in fact, I hope it isn’t. But whatever it may be, I hope I will welcome it with enthusiasm, and commit myself wholeheartedly to the effort.  I can remember too often when sometimes, a few of our most capable, gifted, retired folk in my churches would turn down taking on tasks or challenges. I don’t want to be that person, if I can help it. Although maybe the real issue was that we weren’t offering something challenging enough, stirring enough, daring enough to warrant their time and they had already done everything else that could be done in the church, you know, the same old same old. Boring! Unrewarding! Fruitless!

            Abraham and Sarah had a good laugh when God said they were going have a son in their nineties(!). Even taking in account the possible and even intentionally humorous hyperbole of the text, it still effectively stresses the point that God does not see old age as an excuse for opting out of his unusual work. Indeed, Abraham and Sarah set out on this sacred adventure when they were said to be in their seventies, leaving behind everyone they knew and everything that was familiar.  There are mornings when my knees ache, my shoulder throbs, my arthritis acts up that I don’t even want to get out of bed, never mind set out on a mission trip to God knows where.  

            Moses was in his eighties when God asked him to lead his people out of Egypt, for 40 years! When I am eighty I plan to sit on my front porch, with my favourite beverage, a good cigar, and wave my cane at the kids going by and tell them to keep off the grass. Just kidding – about the last part anyway!

            So try something new this Fall. Have you ever been to a Bible study? Have you ever sung in a choir?  Have you ever volunteered at the meal for the homeless, poor and hungry? Have you ever volunteered to help the pastor with hospital visitation?  You get the idea. Or as it is written, “Be prepared in season and out of season…” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Dale

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

             According to one of the calendars in our house, this Sunday, September 11^th is grandparents Day. Let me repeat, in case any of our children are reading this; September 11^th is Grandparents Day! A couple of them are going to say “So what, we haven’t given you any grandkids.” Yeah, but you’ve got dogs – close enough.

            Apart from the getting older part, being a grandparent has been great. You get to ooh and aah at how cute they are, hold and cuddle them, laugh at their antics, spoil them rotten, feed them treats, play with them, read them stories, and then hand them back to their parents when they become fussy, overstimulated or need changing. As grandpa and grandma pull out of the driveway to drive home, you can’t wipe the smile off our faces.

            Not a lot is said about grandparents in the Bible. You have to figure who’s who via the various storylines and genealogies that are scattered throughout the Bible. Susan has been working on both our families’ genealogies lately. She has worked one lineage as far back as the 1500’s, and to England and Ireland. I have a multiple-times, great grandfather who came over on the Mayflower.  This process does more than just prove that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. It has given us an appreciation for our heritage, genetics and legacies that our forebears have handed down over the centuries.

            The genealogies of Jesus’ family, one found in the Gospel of Luke (Ch.3) and the other in the Gospel of Matthew (ch.1), are seldom potent sermon fodder. They are tedious to read for the most part; a lot of “begats”. Closer examination will reveal that they are also quite different. Luke begins with Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, and works all the way back to Adam, “the son of God.” Matthew begins with Abraham and works the other way up to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born…” Many of the names are different. Matthew included a few women, one of ill repute (Tamar) and one a foreigner (Ruth). Timelines are a little wibbly-wobbly.

            Don’t get all bent out of shape by the differences. Each Gospel writer had a very specific theological point to make by their respective lists and were probably not aiming for exactness anyway. (They didn’t have Ancestry.com to consult.)  But both wanted to emphasize that Jesus the Messiah was rooted in history, more specifically in Jewish history; that Jesus had a very specific place in time. As the Savior he was building God’s Kingdom out of the heritage of the relationship between God and his Chosen People. There was consistency and coherency to God’s Master Plan to redeem and transform his Creation.  Jesus is not some mysterious, alien being from outer space, arriving on earth; he has a proud history, an enduring lineage, a lasting heritage, and a sacred purpose which all has been passed down to him for generations. Jesus is very grounded by the forebears who preceded him and that, too, shaped what he said, what he did and how he did it.

            There have been so many times that I have wished I had recorded the stories that my grandparents and parents, even great aunts and uncles recalled, or had taped the conversations of many of the seniors of my churches who remembered growing up in the church and what it had been like, “back then”.  There is some ‘begatting’ in these stories which are legendary - the birth of faith, commitment, trust, love; stories which I love to hear.  “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come,” (Psalm 71:18).

Dale