Sunday, June 23, 2019

June 23, 2019 - One Heart, not One Mind

Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39

What’s the biggest church argument you can remember? Maybe it was here, or maybe it was somewhere else; maybe it was just between a few people, or maybe it pulled in the entire congregation. Every Christian, at some point in their life, is exposed to a church argument, and it changes their relationship with the church, and with organized religion, in a lasting way. If you’ve ever seen or been involved in one, you’ll remember it. When church people argue, emotions run deep, our vulnerabilities are exposed, and things escalate quickly. People get hurt and out of that hurt, hurt in return.

Church arguments are so awful because often, it’s with people who have cared for us, and so when arguments happen, there’s this emotional shock. How can this person, who came to visit me when I was sick, who has prayed for me, who has shared the peace with me, who has met at God’s table for Communion with me, be in such violent disagreement with me? How can they raise their voice at me? Or, how can they be giving me the silent treatment? Church arguments can expose a profound disconnect between the love we profess to have for one another, and indeed that we have shown each other, and the behaviour that we see emerging. This disconnect is deeply unsettling, all the more so because it’s happening in the church.

Our second reading for today, Paul’s letter to the Galatians, is rooted in a deep argument in the early church, one that changed the religious landscape of the entire world. The argument was whether or not Gentile Christians (non-Jewish Christians) were under the same obligations as Jewish Christians when it came to understanding their relationship with God. Remember, the very first Christians were all Jewish––even in Pentecost, all those thousands of people baptized in Christ were either Jews or non-Jews who followed Jewish ways of living under God. But within decades, non-Jews were learning about Christ, and gathering together to hear more about Jesus, and so the question very quickly arose about whether they could come to synagogue and learn about Jesus, and even be baptized in the name of Jesus, if they did not follow the obligations given to the Jewish people under Moses: if they did not follow the laws of the Torah, and if the men were not circumcised. In short, could people become Christians without becoming Jews? Paul said yes, while other Jewish leaders said no. This was a church argument on a level we have never seen since, not even in the Reformation. This argument split the Jews, and inaugurated a new religion (Christianity). Only now are we even beginning to heal from that argument and to accept that Christians first started as Jews, and it’s taken us two thousand years.

In any case, the Christians in Galatia were non-Jews. They did not gather in synagogue and the men were not circumcised. But they had Jewish Christians from Jerusalem coming into their midst telling them that they had to become Jewish, either literally or in practice. And so in our passage, Paul is reminding them that no, they do not need to be Jewish. He is reminding them that in God’s eyes, there is no difference between Jewish Christian and Greek (or Gentile) Christian. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

And here’s where I start wondering: the church has had these words for almost two thousand years, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” So why do we still get into these hurtful, divisive church arguments? And I’m not trying to blame anybody, or say that it’s because we’re bad Christians, or not faithful enough, or shame anyone. I’ve been part of these arguments, I’ve tried never to hurt anyone but it’s possible, even likely, that I have, and so I’m not going to stand here and say, “Shame on you, we need to do better!” I believe that we’re all trying our best. And yet these hurts and divisions keep happening. So what is it about the way we’re applying these words, or interpreting them, that’s preventing us from truly being one in Christ?

It seems to me that it all hinges on how we understand being one. In one of our Thanksgivings for Communion, it says, “Pour out upon us the Spirit of your love, O Lord, and unite the wills of all who share this heavenly food.” It’s a curious phrase, “unite the wills of all.” The assumption here, operating on a particular interpretation of “one in Christ,” is that in order to be one, we all have to have the same will. We have to want the same thing. Makes sense. We can’t get anything done if we’re all going off in different directions. Stampede is coming, and we’ve all seen chuckwagon races where one horse is trying to cut around the barrel away from all the others––the driver is lucky if the rig even makes it to the finish line.

So how do we get to one will? We often think of our will as something that comes from rational thought, from arriving at agreement on the same understanding and, really, on the same thoughts. In our Hellenist-influenced word, we assume that one will comes from one way of thinking. We have long believed that differing thoughts, or ideas, or positions on an argument, cannot possibly bring us to one will.

But what if it doesn’t work that way? What if one will doesn’t come from one way of thinking, but from having one heart, regardless of how one thinks? You see, in Paul’s verse, he isn’t actually saying we all have to be the same. He isn’t advocating that people give up being Jewish or Greek. His whole background argument is that Jewish Christians should stay Jewish, and Greek or Gentile Christians should stay Gentile. No longer slave or free doesn’t mean he thinks there should be no more slavery––sadly for him, he argues in 1 Corinthians that slaves should stay slaves. No longer male and female doesn’t mean that men should stop being men or women should stop being women. He’s no feminist, as we know from his opinion in 1 Timothy that women shouldn’t speak up in church. Paul is not saying that one in Christ means the erasure of differences or that we all become the same thing. Instead, Paul seems to be saying that in Christ, God does not treat us differently based on the way we think, but treats us as one people because it is Christ who makes us one. 

Which is really interesting. It’s not us deciding to agree on everything, to all think the same way, that make us one. You’ve probably experienced that people can say they all agree, there can be nothing but complete agreement in church with no arguments ever, but that everyone still isn’t “one.” In fact, sometimes “agreement” can mask deep division, and “unity” can deny deep hurts. It’s having one heart that makes us one people.

Christ is the one who makes us one in heart, and we see him modeling that for us. In several places, including in our Gospel reading for today, we see Christ reaching out to those who are very different from him, with compassion and love, healing them, and letting them continue on their own way. Today, for example, we see him healing the man from Gerasene, which was a Gentile community, embedded in the Roman Empire. (That’s why the demon is called Legion, after Roman troops, and they rush into the pigs, a Roman food source.) Jesus intentionally goes into this non-Jewish territory, heals a man who doesn’t agree with him about the God of Israel, and then, when the man asks to follow Jesus, tells him no, go home again. Jesus turns down the man’s request to, essentially, become the same as him religiously and culturally speaking, to think the same way as he does. Jesus does not demand that the man start thinking or behaving the same way he does. He accepts the man’s differences, and heals him.

  He does that because heart is just as important as head, if not more so. Jesus finds God in love, rather than in logic. He doesn’t need someone to agree with him in order to love them, and therefore he doesn’t need someone to agree with him in order for he and them to be one. In the Gospel of John, Jesus doesn’t tell us to agree with one another. He tells us to love one another. He says that he and the Father are one in love, and that we are one in love with each other and with God. Love is a heart thing, not a head thing. We are to be one in heart, not necessarily one in mind.

Biblical interpretation is a tricky thing, and Paul’s words and intentions are harder to translate than most. “Neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female,” is actually difficult to translate, because of the “neither” language. But given Paul’s context, and given what we have experienced ourselves in Christ, perhaps we might understand Paul as saying that, in the eyes of God, there is neither only Jew or Greek, neither only male and female, neither only pro-environment or pro-pipeline, neither only Democrat or Republican or Liberal or Conservative or NDP. We do not need to trust in having one mind, but in having one heart, “for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”


This doesn’t mean we never disagree. There is a difference between disagreeing and arguing. Church arguments happen when we try to enforce one mind, and that’s why they bring such hurt and pain. Church disagreements are a sign of passionate, engaged discipleship. Church disagreements acknowledge––and even welcome––difference because they recognize that we are all gathered in the heart of Christ who makes us one. Of course, this is easier said than done, and so two Sundays from now, we will talk more about how we can have one heart with those who disagree with us. But for now, do not be afraid of church disagreements. Christ has a heart for all of us, Christ is one with us, and so unites us––with all our differences––in one. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Trinity Sunday - Blessed Father's Day

Proverbs 8:1, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

So, in addition to being Trinity Sunday, today is also Father’s Day. It seems to me that fatherhood must be quite stressful––there are a lot of expectations on what fathers should do and who they should be, lots of emphasis on work-life balance, lots of pressure to ensure that your children grow up to be competent adults who are economically self-sufficient. And these days, the expectations seem to have expanded; the model of fatherhood has shifted radically in this generation, and even if you’re not actively parenting your children, you might see it as grandfathers watching your own sons be fathers. You’re now expected to be emotionally available to your children, to teach them how to see vulnerability as a strength, to teach them compassion rather than competition, even though maybe you were taught the opposite as a child. There are lots of expectations and lots of chances to get it wrong. 

And so I’ve always wondered how fathers relate to our traditional imagery of God the Father. I mean, it seems like it might be kind of intense, having God as this role model of what a father should be. After all, God the Father is the Creator of the whole world, setting everything into its place, making sure everything is in order so life can happen. When I imagine a traditional God-the-Father, I imagine someone whose lawn is perfect, without any stray leaves, someone whose workshop is impeccably organized, with every screw in its perfectly labelled jar, (baby food jar if you’re old school), ready for the next project. I imagine God the Father as being so organized that his email inbox is actually empty, the way it’s supposed to be.

God the Father also handles power and authority perfectly, wielding it when appropriate and withholding it when necessary. God the Father made the ultimate sacrifice, allowing his Son to live his life and then die at the hands of soldiers. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that would be, to bring a Son into the world, to love that child with everything, to call that Son beloved, and then to watch that Son voluntarily walk the road to Jerusalem and the cross for the sake of those who didn’t deserve it. And to hear that Son say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” in his moment of death. To hold back one’s own power in order to let things unfold, and then to hear a cry of abandonment. 

How challenging it must be to be a father and to try to live up to this role model in God. Mothers have traditionally had Mary as a biblical role model but fathers have God. Inspiring, yes, but also intimidating, with so many ways to fail to measure up. It seems to me that to be a father is to worry––to worry about your children, to worry about how you’re doing as a father, to worry about whether or not you are living up to the divine standard.

But here’s what I want to say to you fathers and father figures, whether that is as big brothers, as uncles, as mentors, or as grandfathers, (and if you aren’t a father but you have a father, maybe this is for you, too.)

First of all, God is with you. By that I mean that God sympathizes with all of your worries and cares and struggles. In Psalm 8, we said that God cares for mortals, but the hebrew actually says that God cares for the children of a’dam. Just as you are concerned for those in your care, God is concerned for all the children of the earth. God knows what it is to want your children to do well, God knows what it is to see them hurt each other. God knows the pain of watching them struggle, and even fail. God knows the feeling of being rejected by your children, or estranged from them. God is with you in this.

Likewise, God shares the joys and celebrations you have in your children. In the reading from Proverbs we heard this morning, we heard that the Spirit of God delights in the human race. When you pump your fists with pride at a goal or an award or a stellar performance, God, too, celebrates with you. The joy you felt in your child’s first step, or first laugh, or first job, or the birth of their first child, that joy was felt––is felt––by God. In God, you have a father who truly understands everything you are going through, who understands all the secret struggles and joys in your heart that you might not be able to express. God gets what this whole fatherhood thing is about.

The second thing I want to say is that you are not expected to be a father all on your own. Our reading from Romans this morning, which reminds us that it is through Christ that we receive grace and are justified or forgiven, also says that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” God’s love has been poured into your hearts through the Holy Spirit. You are not expected to navigate fatherhood on your own. You are not left to develop the tools to do it on your own. God, like the good father he is, equips you for success by sending you the Holy Spirit to give you strength, to give you love, to give you everything you need to raise the children God has sent to you. God does not leave you to do this alone.

The last thing I want to say is that, even with God’s presence, things happen, and when they do God forgives you. God knows that fathers aren’t perfect, God knows the damage that fathers can do, intentionally or unintentionally. Fathers especially, with the weight of society’s expectations, feel particularly tasked with raising sons (daughters, for some reason, get assigned to their moms), and so fathers and sons have a special relationship, and when a son fails, the father feels it the hardest, and feels the most responsible, plagued by the thought that a son’s failure comes from a failure of the father. So let me say it clearly, through Jesus Christ, your failures, your mistakes, your sins, are forgiven. God, your own heavenly Father, forgives you for all the things done and left undone, all the words said and left unsaid, to both your sons and your daughters. God forgives you for trying to make your kids strong, and for not making them strong enough. God forgives you for not spending enough time with the kids when they were young, for losing your temper when they were teenagers. God forgives you all of it.

More than that, God delights in you as a father. God is so proud when you ace that emotionally-laden father-daughter, or father-son, conversation. God rejoices when you reach out after an argument that someone else started. When you let your child go, even though you think they’re going in the wrong direction––when you let them chart their own path, God pumps God’s fists. Just as you delight in your children, God delights in you.


And so today, not just Happy Father’s Day, but Blessed Father’s Day. In this year to come, may God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, bless you and be a source of strength and inspiration for you. Know that God loves and cares about your children as much as you do, even more, and that while God has given you the responsibility and calling of fatherhood, God empowers and blesses you to do it. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sunday, June 09, 2019

Pentecost - Today's Youth

Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17

I often feel like sermons on this section of the Gospel of John bury the lead. We focus on seeing Jesus as sent by the Father, we focus on prayer and if we ask anything in Jesus’ name, he will do it. We focus on Jesus’ words to keep the commandments out of love for Jesus, and that God abides with us and is with us. But we don’t spend a lot of time on what I think is a very profound statement of Jesus, one that, if we took it seriously, might very well change the church and the world.

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Greater works than these... greater works than Jesus! This is really astounding, don’t you think? Jesus healed people, Jesus welcomed strangers, Jesus took God’s love for the world so seriously that he stood up to the power of the world and died for it. Jesus was raised from the dead. And we who believe are going to do greater works than he? That’s a bold claim that Jesus is making. If it weren’t Jesus saying it, we might be tempted to either laugh or just shrug it off.

Except that we are a bit desperate these days for people to do great things. We need God’s Spirit to be flowing through people like in the days of the early church, like on the Day of Pentecost. We are thirsting for the Spirit to be poured out on all flesh. We need people who can dream dreams––people who can show us how to stop climate change and heal the earth and the environment and restore it to life, as it was in the beginning. We need people who can prophesy, which means speak to God’s justice––people who can show us how to develop fair economic systems that reward hard work but don’t build empires on the backs of the workers. We need people who can inspire us collectively to do with less so others can have more. We need another day of Pentecost, when God’s Spirit brought together people of all different languages and diversity, helping them to connect with each other through Christ, even though they didn’t share a culture or language. We need people who can lead us out of our prejudices and hatreds, to show us how to make equality and inclusion a reality. We are desperately in need of people who can do greater works than Jesus!

After Jesus proclaims that those who believe in him will do greater works than he, he mentions several times that the Holy Spirit will come to the disciples, bringing them the gifts of God and inspiring them to create the world God would have us live in. And, indeed, we see that God uses the disciples to actually do works greater than Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit rushes upon the people––as a violent wind mind you, not some nice gentle breeze––and thousands of people are touched by Peter’s words and devote themselves to following God through Christ. The entire book of Acts chronicles all of the ways in which the disciples do far greater works than Jesus––they go to countries he had never been, they also raise the dead, they heal the sick, they confront the Empire. They proclaim God’s love for all, and some of them even die for it.

This active presence of the Holy Spirit in the world, this holy inspiring of people to do greater works than Jesus doesn’t end in Acts, though. Today, as you know, is not just Pentecost Sunday, but it’s also Confirmation Sunday. Now, when these six young people in front of us were baptized, the pastor prayed for God to “sustain them with the gift of the Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence.” And the parents and godparents or sponsors promised to “live with them among God’s faithful people, bring them to the word of God and the holy supper, teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, place in their hands the holy scriptures, and nurture them in faith and prayer, so that they might learn to trust God, proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.” And the congregation promised to help. In other words, on the six different days that these individuals were baptized, God sent the Holy Spirit into them to inspire them to do works even greater than Jesus. God did the same for every young person in the world who was ever baptized. 

And today is the day when these six stand up and affirm that yes, they were baptized, yes they approve of that decision being made for them before they could assent, and yes they will continue to live as baptized children of God. In fact, they will be asked if they “intend to continue in the covenant God made with [them] in holy baptism: [which is] to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” To do greater works than Jesus.

Now I have checked with them, and double-checked, and triple-checked, and unless there are any last minute changes of heart, they are all going to say yes to this. Can you imagine? Saying yes to such a thing? To serving all people, to striving for justice and peace in all the earth? I know this is what we need in the world, but wow, this is a big commitment. They are being asked if they really intend to follow the example of Jesus and to live their lives doing even greater works than he.
But here’s the thing. Each one of them is going to say that they do intend to do this, with God’s help and guidance. This is the most important thing. They are not being asked to lead us on their own. They are not being asked to strive for justice and peace on their own. They are being asked to do it with the power of God working in them, with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, filling them at every step. And in fact, I know that God already is.

Some of you have heard me say this before, but in case you haven’t, I will say it again. The young people of today, and these young people in particular, are already doing God’s work in the world. They are passionate about climate change, about LGBTQ rights, about racial justice, about economic equality. As we heard in the reading from Acts, which itself quotes from the Old Testament prophet Joel, they are the sons and daughters who prophesy, and the young people who shall see visions. They are the ones on whom the Holy Spirit has been poured out as they participate in student walkouts, in protests, in indigenous reconciliation (I bet each young person here can tell you what treaty land we’re on), as they are actively engaged in standing up against bullies, as they argue about politics, as they refuse to be bystanders. These young people, along with millions of young people around the world, are the ones whom God is drenching with the Holy Spirit. They might not be doing it in traditional church ways, or even within churches at all. They might not be claiming their work in the name of Jesus, or even claiming to be Christians at all. But God is at work in them, the Holy Spirit is blowing on them with a rushing wind and moving them to create a world the way God intends it to be, a world of justice and peace.


Together, the young people of the world, along with these six, are doing greater works than Jesus. And so today, even as we celebrate this day of Pentecost and this day of Confirmation, we give thanks and praise God for the gift of the Holy Spirit in our midst. God is at work, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, here and everywhere, blessing us and empowering us to carry out the work of Jesus, in all its various forms. We are so blessed to witness it in the lives of young people everywhere, and especially in these six today. Thanks be to God. Amen.