Wednesday, April 24, 2019

“They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.” (John 20:4, New Living Translation)

                Getting ahead is always a challenge.

                But getting ahead seems somehow important. Some want to get ahead in their professions and  climb corporate ladders and scurry up the pay scale and perhaps retire early with some sort of  sizable pensions. Others want to get ahead on more simple things - in their finances, in their day to day schedules, in their relationships, in their lives.

Many of us would be satisfied if we could just catch up with the pace of life and the many busy demands which are laid out before us. We speed up and then fall back. We wish we could get ahead and maybe catch a breather – find some sense of accomplishment, a noble finish, some satisfaction of achievement, a boast that we have done it and done it our way.

                For whatever reasons, on Easter Sunday as I sat in church and listened to the Gospel being read, Peter’s and John’s race to the tomb caught my ear.  John outran and got to the tomb first, ahead of Peter. Yet he only looked in and did not actually go into the tomb.

                Curious! Why be in such a hurry to get there if he wasn’t going to finish the process and really go into the tomb? Was he afraid of what he would find, that the women had been mistaken and the body was still there? Or maybe he was afraid of what he wouldn’t find. Dead men don’t rise from the grave; but what if it was empty? Empty tombs don’t necessarily add up to a resurrection, but they are a step in the right direction when all the rest of the evidence is taken into consideration.

                But let us not get ahead of ourselves. Resurrection is a big thing to comprehend.  A lot us of sit on the edge of an empty tomb and never do more than take a quick peek in, curious but not believing, interested but not convinced, hopeful but not persuaded.

                Peter, in his typical brash boldness, barges in and takes a look around and sees all sorts of curious evidence that some mysterious event has taken place, more than just a grave robbery. It was then that John also went in to the tomb and we are told “he saw and believed” (v.8) although the very next bit of text says that they were still struggling with the whole idea that Jesus must rise from the dead.

Perhaps John believed only that the tomb was certainly empty or he was slowing warming up to the idea of a possible resurrection afterall. It puzzles me that they simply went back to their homes as if they were still trying to get their heads around what was happening. (Mind you, that’s all I did after the Easter service on Sunday – went back home, rather than shouting from the roof tops that this incredible miracle has taken place.)

                But slowness of comprehension seems to be a major thread running (!) through the post-Resurrection experience of discipleship.  Nobody was getting ahead of themselves. They go back home. They go back to their jobs. They go back to Emmaus.  They are confused, doubtful, skeptical, unsure, frightened, still grieving, failing to even recognize him; “startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost,” (Luke24:37). In Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus appears before the disciples we are told of the different reactions: some worshiped him and even yet, some still doubted (Matthew 28:17).

                Look, if you are running toward the tomb this week you are at least headed in the right direction. If you need to take your time as you contemplate the evidence, go ahead.   But understand this – God is offering you and me a wondrous opportunity to find new life, new hope, fresh possibilities, bold redemption, and be drawn into the sacred drama of Resurrection Possibility and Reality.  Jesus’ New Presence is a radical expression of life against death, of hope over despair, of shalom over chaos, of  fresh expectations over resignation.

                Don’t get left behind!

Dale

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20, New Living Translation)

                Opportunity knocks but once.

                What this means is that if one does not act expediently at the moment when the opportunity arises, then the opening for something important or momentous or critical is lost. We can’t it get it back.

                A small example. When we lived in Montreal it was our good fortune to know one of the Montreal Expos players, pitcher Andy McGaffigan and his wife, Jill. I am an avid baseball fan so this was  a very special relationship in many ways other than baseball alone. At the end of one of the seasons in early October Andy asked me to drive their packed car down to Philadelphia for their last series, stay with him in the team’s hotel and watch the last three games in Phillie and he’d pay for my flight back.  It was a trip of a life-time in many ways. But I had just got my church leaders finally to agree to a new type of church budget planning and had planned a church retreat on that same week-end. Duty over-ruled my heart and I turned down the week-end in Philadelphia. I have totally regretted it ever since. I was an idiot!!!

                Opportunity knocks but once.

                But someone has to open the door.

                Last night, I heard a story on PBS about a middle-aged woman who was shot in the face by two young gang members as part of their initiation in the gang. By God’s grace she survived. Many of us after such an experience might be angry, vengeful, bitter or unforgiving. Who would blame us?

                But instead, this woman saw it as an opportunity. She changed her life style so that she would be able to work with gangs. Her home became a drop-in centre and shelter for young gang members. When she asked why such a large number of gang members were hanging out with a 55-year old, one of them replied, “We knocked at your door. You opened it.”

                This sounds so simple. But a lot of us prefer hiding behind closed doors. We peek out from behind the curtains and never open our doors to anyone or anything.  Every stranger seems a threat. Every change is a danger. Every face is alien. Every request is a burden. Every one is an outsider whom we don’t want to let into our private corners of the world.  I could argue that we are becoming a suspicious, fearful, mistrustful, self-absorbed, isolated, inaccessible people. Close the doors, lock them tight, close the drapes and bunker down!

                But this coming Sunday is Easter, Resurrection Sunday.  The powers of Jesus’ day tried to lock Jesus up and seal him away forever. They found the biggest boulder they could find and sealed his tomb shut with it.  Nothing closes doors like death, especially the cruel death of dying on a Roman cross. You might as well throw away the “key”.

                God didn’t just unlock the “door” – God kicked it in!

                Jesus’ Life took on a new Reality. God saw the opportunity and demonstrated that Life was a gracious, fulfilling gift that not even death could lock away. Life was not over- it was just beginning anew!

                And all  those who use politics, religion, power, money, policies, dogma, fear to try to slam doors on the poor, the infirmed, the young, the hungry, the homeless, the different, the alien, the refugee, the sick and dying, the elderly, the broken, the mentally ill, the vulnerable, just might want to take a step back unless the swinging door hits you smack in the face.

                Because the Living Jesus is standing at the  closed doors of heart, mind, spirit, soul and  conscience and knocking empathetically for us to open up and let him in and those whom he loves.

                It is an opportunity which we shouldn’t pass up lightly.

Roll that big stone in your life away and let the Light shine in the corners and a fresh breeze of God’s Grace sweep away the cob-webs.

You know what they say – opportunity knocks but once!

Dale

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:11, New Living Translation) 

                “Use a picture. It’s worth ten thousand words.” I always thought that maybe Confucius said this but it turns out it was an American newspaper editor, Tess Flanders, in 1911. Who knew?

                But it could also be said that a few words at the right time could turn into a cornucopia of vocabulary. And I am not talking about a long-winded preacher.

                Susan alerted me to a study that says if one reads five books every day to a child under the age of five years old, that child will gain a million words’ advantage by the time they are adults. All our grandchildren are avid fans of being read to and at the risk of sounding like a proud grandpa they all have very good vocabulary and language skills already.

Certainly, our children grew up with books and even now there are stacks of books on tables and shelves that Susan and I have read. We find it very hard to discard a book. I culled half my theological library when I retired and still came home with a dozen boxes of books.

Christians are sometimes called the People of the Book because our sacred, scriptural texts, the Bible, have such an essential, critical and vibrant place in our faith tradition. Whether one is very radically conservative or very radically progressive in their understanding and interpretation of the Bible, our scriptures cannot be ignored or devalued. These 66 books of the Bible are the most indispensable core resource for the effective living of our faith.

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3: 16 -17, New Revised Standard)

Problems arise when we turn the Bible into an ancient, stale relic or we become so rigid one way or the other in our interpretations and understanding. Reading the Bible takes creative imagination and open mindedness. It is great stimulating and ingenious literature as well as spiritual inspiration and guidance.

It is an epic story of God’s interaction with the world which God created, with the people whom God set aside for working out for the world’s good and with the initiation for Kingdom building to whom he tasked Jesus.  God’s storied mission for the world is messy, violent, frustrating for God, full of human sinfulness, pride, selfishness, sinfulness. Largely it tells a story of God who won’t give up on his Creation nor the people who live within his Love and Grace.

God’s Word, although having a continuous stability and reliability, is also a fluid, ever-progressing, lively commentary on God’s purposes and intentions. Creation, itself was founded by God’s Word, by powerfully “speaking out” and it all being very good.  “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.” (Psalm 33:6)

God’s word is always contemporary, relevant, fresh and dynamic when we let the words breathe, allow them to escape our dogmas and clichés, when we let go of our inflexibilities and enshrined insistence that only our interpretations  hold water.  The Bible never ceases to surprise me, encounter me anew, thrill me, discipline me, excite me, comfort me, encourage me, ignite new ideas and lead me to scrap some old tired and weary ideas.

John the Gospel writer, was being very bold when he wrote that “the word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14) But it reinforces my argument that the Word is not inert and frozen in some ancient time but rather lives, moves, breathes, interacts with, engages, penetrates the real lives of women and men both now and then.  Jesus embodies God’s Word. John also tells us at the end of his Gospel that  his testimony is true (i.e. trustworthy)  and if all the things which Jesus did was written down “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

If you haven’t picked up the Bible lately and read it for yourself, then why wait?

Dale

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

“The Lord replies, ‘I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.’” (Psalm 12:5, New Living Translation) 

[Missed last week because Susan and I spent 4 wonderful days looking after our one-year old grandson Declan in Waterloo while his Mom and Dad went on a little trip. Fantastic time!] 

                “The following program has violence. Viewer discretion is advised.”

                You might think that I was watching a crime show or a horror movie or a war movie or the World Wrestling Federation.

                But I wasn’t.

                I was watching the first two episodes of a History Channel program about Jesus. You know – the Prince of Peace. The non-violent epitome of shalom and grace. The one who said to love your enemies and turn your other cheek.  The one who told Peter to put his sword away when his arresters came for him. The one who reached out to enemy Roman soldiers. The one whose whole demeanor was for peace, healing, love and understanding. These were some of the principles by which he lived his life, taught, and made passionate pleas for others to do the same. Peace, not violence, is written all over his ministry.

                But there it was – a warning about the violence that this story contained. Viewer, beware!

                There is no denying that the Bible has more than its fair share of violence, genocides, persecutions, wars, murders, and the like. But at first glance, it seems to me to be ironic, at least, that I need to be warned about violence in watching a show about Jesus.

                Each episode tells the integrated Gospels’ story of Jesus though a character who experienced Jesus in some way, e.g. Jesus’ father, Joseph, John the Baptist, Mary, etc. The story is dramatically re-enacted, interspersed by commentary from scholars and pastors.  The story is told simply but mostly without the usual pietistic and even saccharine overtones that often come with such portrayals of biblical characters. Of course, it does have its own interpretative values, slightly on the conservative or orthodoxic side, but it’s not intrusive by my measure.

                And every episode comes with its warning about violence.

                The actual scenes of violence are somewhat tame by modern standards of everything else we can see on TV, on the news or  at the movies.  But it is there nonetheless – Herod’s  jealous rage and massacre of the Bethlehem children, the brutality of Roman power, the beheading of John the Baptist and of, course, the Crucifixion itself including the torture, whippings and mockery that led up to the event of Jesus being nailed on the cross. Violent! Very violent!

                Sadly, the world is still a very violent place for many people. Recently, I have been watching news’ essays on the violence in Honduras, especially  by unchecked gang violence with their extortion and murders. It is a very violent country, among the worst in the world. Small wonder the people are fleeing to find safe places to live and raise families.

                But you don’t have to travel to Honduras to experience violence. It’s found on our own city streets far too often and far too much. Gun violence. Extremism. Terrorism. Domestic violence or murder. As much as we might like to, we can’t close our eyes to this violence or hide from it.

                Our text states that God has seen the violence that is destroying his good Creation and is not pleased. God’s heart goes out to those who are oppressed and affected by violence, especially the poor. God seeks to protect and rescue those who face this terrible violence. But I would argue that God also needs our participation in the peace -making processes which are needed to stem this tide of violence in  our world. “And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:18, NLT), echoing, of course, Jesus’ words, “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5: 9)

                Violence tried its best to destroy the mission of Jesus which was to inaugurate a whole new Creation full of Love, Peace, Mercy and Justice and to hold accountable those who used power to violently distort God’s world. Therefore, each of us needs to do our own peace-making in our little corners of the world and pray that it spreads.

                Shalom, everyone shalom!

Dale

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” (2 Timothy 2:16, New International Version)

                My favourite button on my TV remote control is the mute button.

                With it I can shut out all the chatter and noise which comes from my TV set. I can mute out the commercials, especially the ones which I have seen umpteen times in the same hour or two. (Please, Dr. Ho, I really don’t want your gizmos and gadgets.) I can silence the fundraisers who interrupt and spoil my PBS shows with their silly conversations and pleas for my money. I can mute blowhard politicians and their babble-speak. I can shut out all the chatter, the over-analysis, the pointless, the repetitive, the monotonous, the irrelevant, the babble, the worthless words that pour out like a never-ending waterfall of verbiage and redundancy (sort of like this sentence!) I’ll even watch live sports on mute because I get tired of the announcers’ repetitive chatter or stating the obvious or having a lack of any real insight to the game I am watching. Alas, poor Susan when I am in charge of the remote…

                Right now, I am listening to and somewhat watching a waterfall falling over a cliff. All I can hear is the rushing water. Sometimes the station offers bird songs or babbling brooks or winds through the pines, or waves washing up on shores.  I find the sounds very soothing and relaxing. Sometimes I do my devotional readings while this is on. It helps me focus on the words I am reading. But no disturbing words!

                Don’t get me wrong, I love words. They are my bread and butter in many ways.  Words are important and essential for good communication skills. When I write I am always searching for just the right, precise words.

The right sorts of words help build healthy relationships. Words are indispensable for expressing ideas, needs, expectations, for saying that one is sorry, for voicing joy, praise, love, and pride in another. Words can be imaginative, creative, expressive, mysterious, sacred, intense, passionate, moving and powerful.

                But our current culture is far too full of far too many of the wrong and useless types of words, especially under the influence of social media. Everybody gets to have their say - the good, the bad and the ugly. Hate speech. Cyber bullying. Unfriending people on Facebook. Election interference and collusion.  Ranting, insulting tweets on Twitter.  Sexist, racist, harassing, uncensored, crude, rude, unfiltered words.

                There needs to be some sort of a universal or cosmic mute button.

                People need to think before they speak. We need to revive the old saying that if you haven’t got something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer,” (Psalm 19:14. NLT).  

Write down your words but if they are not constructive words then throw the paper away. It has become so hard to take back our words; for once they are out there, they are out there for ever, “but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison,” (James 3:8, NLT). James may be overstating his case here, but I suspect the little congregation to which he is writing had been giving him good cause to be so vehement.

Paul makes a cogent point when he wrote, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen,” (Ephesians 4:29, New International Version). He is pretty clear about what he thinks about gossip, wrangling, slander, lies, malice, virile and toxic disagreements in the church and all “abusive language that comes from your mouth,” (Colossians 2:3:9, NIV).

“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech,” (1 Peter 3:10).

Words to live by!

Dale

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

“On the other hand, if we admit our sins - make a clean breast of them - he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.” (1John 1:9, The Message Bible) 

                Someone once said or wrote that confession is good for the soul.

                It seems that every time we turn on the TV, someone is admitting to some crime, felony, lie or misdemeanor or dirty trick or bad judgment or sexual misconduct or inappropriate tweets on Twitter or committing some indiscretion or doing something which he or she has tried to hide and cover-up. Only when faced with the evidence and scrutiny that now comes with social media, do some of these culprits come clean and confess their sins of commission. Usually reluctantly. Often after denying it for some time. A lot of them are men, sad to say.

                They may be priests, pastors, actors, celebrities, politicians, teachers, sport athletes, team owners – well, the list of offenders seems never-ending.  Institutions can also be included from banks to churches to governments to armies to police forces to hospitals to just bout any organization which rationalizes and defends its policies, procedures and practices in the name of profit, benefit and power.

                But let’s be honest here, nobody of us really likes to confess our mistakes, our poor decisions, our self-serving lies and exaggerations, our weaknesses, our bad habits, our character flaws and sins of commission or omission. It seems easier to deflect the ugly little truths about ourselves, to sweep under the rug our indiscretions and pretend that we have never done a wrong thing ever in our lives. But we are reminded that this act of denial is in itself a sin, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:9, New Living Translation)

                Speaking about truth, we hear echoes of Jesus’ words in our text as he talked about the grace and liberation of discipleship and of accepting Jesus’ leadership of our lives: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NLT)

                Yes, truth can be painful and costly, especially at first. But it can also be even more painful to hold on to a lie, to nurture falsehood, or to deny the real truth as these sorry endeavours will eat away at our souls and dry up our spirits.  We will live in fear and regret. We will harbor resentment and hide under a false sense of security.

                Truth-telling, i.e. confession, may be difficult but it is also liberating and offers a new lease on life and grants us shalom, a peace which surpasses all understanding, a peace which calms the conscience and restores a fresh balance in our lives.

                It is in truth-telling where we find grace, forgiveness, mercy, closure, peace, rightness – from others and from God.

                Please note that I am referring to the act of  admitting our own faults and  not pointing out the faults of others in a harsh spirit of so-called truth-telling, I have seen far too much damage done by people who think they are practicing the scripture verse that says we should “speak the truth” to one another and forget the speaking the truth “in love”  part of the verse. (Ephesians 4:15) Jesus has it right, of course, “It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.” (Matthew 7: 3, The Message Bible)

                Confession is personal (although there are occasions in which it should also be communal, a cooperate admission of collaborative error and bad choices). Confession is about our personal relationships, our lack of honest encounter with others and with God, our personal need for self-awareness, correction, discipline, and therefore reconciliation and restoration, the hopeful purging of the past and a fresh lean-into of the future, experiencing that which we call redemption.

                I have always found the season of Lent to be a time for such personal self-reflection and candid self- discovery.  May the Lord have mercy on my soul! 

Dale

Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - Ash Wednesday

“I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” (Job 42:6, New Living Translation) 

[Before I begin, everything which I said last week about anticipating a new grandchild in September now goes double.  Our daughter Katie and her husband Gary are also expecting in September. The more, the merrier!]

                Smudges!

                I don’t know about your childhood but I can remember my mother taking out a Kleenex from her purse, wetting it in her mouth with spit and giving me a spit-wash because there was a smudge on my face. It was yucky then and seems as much so today as I recall it.  But heaven forbid if I were to go into church with a smudge on my face – what would people think?

                Yet today, with it being Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, many a person will be leaving their churches with smudges on their foreheads. It is a symbolic action indicating one’s repentance and the beginning of spiritual preparation for Good Friday and then Easter or Resurrection Sunday. It may be accompanied by a day of fasting and prayer.  Some people will give something up for Lent – another symbolic gesture of self-sacrifice as one walks with Christ towards his Cross and the ensuing and unique gift of New Life and New Hope for all of us.

                What will people think if they see a person with a smudge on their foreheads today? I doubt that many will connect a little dirty smudge with faith or spirituality. This isn’t a part of my Baptist tradition but I have used ashes in many an Ash Wednesday service. For example, I have had people write down on slips of paper some hurt, grudge, personal problem, habit or sin which they would like to put away from themselves. Then we have burned those slips of paper with prayers of confession, along with prayers asking for forgiveness, and asking for God’s assistance for the future.  These actions can be very cathartic and liberating. They represent the “taking back” the things that smudge up our lives.

                Ashes are treated very carefully and respectfully in the Jewish rituals and ceremonies of sacrifice in the Old Testament. They are not just tossed to the side of the road and trampled upon and soon forgotten. The refuse of burnt offerings, the unseemly left-overs so to speak, need to be handled with utmost care and deposited in a special spot reserved just for this use, often near the altar. There were special ash buckets or pots used for the ashes’ removal. The priests had to change garments both before and after handling the ashes. In one instance a special purple cloth must cover those ashes. (Interestingly, purple is the liturgical colour of Lent.)

                At the beginning of the book of Job, our tragic hero sits on an ash-heap, ticked off at God and the world, facing his misery and torment with nothing like the patience of Job. From the ashes of his life he demands a trial or fair hearing in which God must state his case against Job and justify the reasons for Job’s pain and suffering. Job is a proud man and believes that he has done nothing to deserve such treatment. But out of his ashes Job never denies God nor abandon his faith. In the midst of his ashen protests he defiantly and faithfully speaks some of the most beautiful words in scripture, “For I know that my redeemer lives and that at the last he will stand upon the earth and after my skin has been thus destroyed then in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25, New Revised Standard Version)

                In the end he is still sitting on his ash heap but he recognizes that the ashes represent his repentance and he discovers a new-found reverence and need for this great big God in his life. He doesn’t get an easy, simple or perfect answer to all his questions but he gets all the answer he really ever needs.  Job gets a new beginning and a fresh start.  This is what repentance is all about.

God is not giving away spit-washes. We need to take our ashes seriously and bring them back to the altar of God’s Love, Grace and Mercy.  His loving action as in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a fully deep and thorough cleansing of our hearts, souls and spirits, as in the words of the Psalm, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7, NLT) 

Dale