What is the Meaning of Life?

During the summer, I have been choosing sermon topics out of a box that have been suggested by people in the congregation.  Last week, the topic chosen was “What is the Meaning of Life?’

My first thought was, “Seriously? Really?” Either someone thinks a lot more of me than they should or they’re pulling my leg. How do I answer a question like that, a question that has been asked throughout the ages and asked of much wiser people than I?

Then, after church, someone talked to me about my sermon that morning, which was about what music is appropriate for worship. In summary, I basically said that any style of music is appropriate if it praises God and encourages us to love our neighbour. This person asked me about his favourite band, Iron Maiden. Could their music be appropriate? I hesitated.  I wasn’t sure. So this person went home and found an Iron Maiden song called, “For the Greater Good of God” and sent me the lyrics. Serendipitously, the lyrics to this song inspired my sermon this week about the meaning of life.

Iron Maiden is a heavy metal band from England.  You decide if you would like to hear the song or just read the lyrics.

The meaning of life will be different for each and every person. We all have to come to our own conclusions and that’s why this question is difficult to answer. I do believe though that our faith and the bible offer us some direction on this meaning. I believe that the whole bible pushes the idea of creating a heaven on earth. From the very beginning of the bible, we have two people living in Eden, a kind of heaven on earth, but as we progress through the stories of the bible, humanity seems to move farther and farther from this Eden. The bible and our history books carry stories of jealousy, competitiveness, greed, and thirst for power that bring about murder, war, and all kinds of violence. Unfortunately, much of this has been carried out in the name of god, not just the Christian god, but Christians have carried a lot of power for the past 2000 years, so the damage has been that much more.

Steve Harris expresses this in his song for Iron Maiden. There is a repeated chorus that goes like this: “Please tell me now what life is. Please tell me now what love is. Well tell me

now what war is. Again tell me what life is.” Throughout the song, the violence of the world is questioned and he questions the presence of this almighty god. He writes, “They fire off many shots and many parting blows. Their actions beyond a reasoning, Only God would know. And as he lies in heaven Or it could be in hell, I feel he's somewhere here, Or looking from below, But I don't know, I don't know.” Iron Maiden is often accused of being a satanic band, but I hear someone who is struggling with a god and those that follow this god that would allow, and even cause, the pain and suffering of the world to happen.

“Please tell me what life is,” he cries out. What is the meaning of all this violence, war, innocent people suffering and dying? Amidst the carnage, amidst the bloodshed, what really is the meaning of this life?

Many have attempted to answer this question, including the prophets of our bible. The prophet Micah spoke some of the most well-known verses of the bible about, of a future where all nations will come together and:

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more;

but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,

and no one shall make them afraid. (Micah 4:3b-4b)

This is a vision of ‘shalom,’ of peace on earth. Is it only a vision though, a pipe dream?

And then from the Christian scriptures, from the book of 21st chapter of Revelation, we have another grand vision, not of people going up to heaven but of heaven coming down to earth, of God making a home among mortals. God with us; not us with God. It makes a difference. We are not meant to all go to heaven but for heaven to come to earth. Death will be no more, mourning and crying will be no more. It’s a new heaven and a new earth. All things will be made new.

I believe this is the direction our bible is taking us. Yes, there are some horrific stories of humanity in that book, just as there are in our history books, but I believe the bible and history are moving us, pushing us towards a just and merciful world, if we would but listen and learn.

Every Sunday, we recite the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. Every Sunday, we say,

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” People have been reciting this for 2000 years, but, unfortunately, there have been too many people working against this vision and doing it in the name of God. I think this is what Steve Harris from Iron Maiden is critiquing.

He ends his song with, “He gave his life for us. He fell upon the cross, to die for all of those who never mourn his loss. It wasn't meant for us to feel the pain again, tell me why, tell me why.”

2000 years later, we are still struggling to know the meaning of Jesus’ life, much less all life. What did Jesus die for? Steve Harris seems to wonder out loud if it was in vain. Has anything changed? He was put on a cross by an empire that was threatened by his teachings and his wisdom, threatened by the number of people who followed him. Only a few hundred years later, Christians were doing the same thing, silencing people that threatened them, ruthlessly gaining power, becoming more political than spiritual.

As Christians, I think we have to work doubly hard at promoting and advocating for peace, partly because we have to make amends for the hurt the church has caused over the years.

Maybe, as Christians, if our meaning of life could be to bring heaven to earth, to beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, the visions of the past, of the prophets, might be realized. We might bring about a new beginning to humanity, a new heaven and a new earth, bring us back to Eden, when God walked on the earth, amidst humanity, and where the death of Jesus was not in vain, but actually helped create a new heaven and a new earth. Pipe dream or a hopeful future if we work towards it?

In the meantime, we continue to wonder about the meaning of life in sermons, in books, in song. We ask questions. We push back against the norm, against the status quo. We read the bible and find new interpretations that help us to grow in our faith and love our neighbour and our enemies. It’s only a start but we can get the ball rolling, rolling towards that beautiful vision, where every tear is wiped away, death is no more; mourning and crying and pain is no more, for the first things have passed away.” May it be so.  Amen.

What Music is Appropriate in Worship?

Have you heard of EDM?  EDM stands for Electric Dance Music and I invite you to watch a video that will give you an idea of what EDM looks like in a church setting.  

Interested?  Do you think this kind of music is acceptable in a worship setting?  

A diaconal minister in the United Church of Canada (UCC), Charlotte Caron, wrote a book called, “Eager for Worship: Theologies, Practices, and Perspectives on Worship in the United Church of Canada.”  She offered a couple of quotes from other sources.  The first is out of the UCC’s “Voices United” hymnbook, in the introduction:

Hymns have always had a central place in the making of Christians.  For many, next to scripture, a hymnal is the church’s most important sourcebook.  It is from hymns that many receive their primary and most enduring theological education.

Music, for thousands of years, has been a way of teaching people, whether it be the stories of their people, a recipe, directions from one place to the next, morality and ethics, or theology.  Words set to music or poetry tend to stick in our brains, especially when we learn them at a young age.  The words in the music, the lyrics, are what keep us learning and growing in our faith and they are an expression of ourselves and our ministry.  But does it matter how these words are expressed, the style of music?  For example, is EDM acceptable as a way of teaching theology in our worship services?  

What’s acceptable in worship has changed a lot over the years.  There was a time when women were not allowed to speak in church, which included singing.  When missionaries were bringing Christianity to global communities, the indigenous instruments of the area were banned.  Indigenous people in North America were not allowed to include drums in their worship.  Every so often, a new style of music comes into the culture, folk music, country music, jazz music, and when the style is then introduced in a worship setting, there is usually pushback.  

It takes a long time for traditionalists in churches to deem new music acceptable in a church setting.   You can see that today in contemporary praise music.  When worship bands plays modern praise music in a more traditional setting, there are some who struggle with it.  The drums, guitar, and tambourine are sometimes seen as inappropriate in a church setting.  

The UCC has a supplement hymnbook called, “More Voices.”  This was meant to offer some more recent alternatives to what is in the “Voices United.”  You won’t find anything in there that was written before the 1990’s and 30% of it is global content, outside of the US and Canada.  Many of the pieces have a more contemporary rhythm and setting.  Many United Church congregations don’t find the hymns compatible because it’s not what they’re used to hearing.  For some, the rhythms are too complicated or the combination of notes just sound strange.

So why bother?  If we’re happy with our traditional hymns, why fix what isn’t broken?  Caron shares another quote from her book, from Ed Searcy, from his article, “Passing on the Tradition to our Children.”  He writes:

In his study of Canadian teens, Reginald Bibby has pointed out that, after peers, adolescents place music as the second most important influence in their life.  When asked, young adults who are active in the church consistently rank church music (and especially church organs) as one of their greatest frustrations.  Passing on the tradition to generations of children and young people whose lives are filled with the energy of popular music means finding creative ways to open our doors to their melodies and rhythms.

Caron writes that as a church we are challenged to find space for a variety of tastes of music that will enliven faith at every life stage.

Electric Dance Music may not work for everyone.  If you’ll notice in the video, it is all young people attending.  I doubt the service is happening at 10am on a Sunday morning.  This is aimed at young adults who go to clubs with this kind of music.  This is aimed at young people who have lots of energy and want to praise God with a beat, and a hard rhythm, and by moving their bodies.  This might not be how some want to worship, but it definitely feels right for them.

Most know that when a drum, a guitar, a strong beat, are brought into worship, it might cause people to move and maybe even dance.  Is it appropriate?  Sure!  They are dancing and praising God with their whole bodies.  They are hearing the music and they are absorbing the theology of the words that are sung.  By offering a variety of music, we allow our young people to hear music to which they can connect, and sometimes not just the young people, especially if we are still only using music from hundreds of years ago that we don’t hear in our every day lives anymore.  

I’m not saying that we stop playing traditional hymns.  I’m not saying everyone should start an electric dance club during worship.  I am saying we need to be able to offer a variety of sounds for a variety of people, especially if we want to be inclusive, welcoming, affirming, and open to the world around us.  An alternate worship service that offers EDM is definitely a possibility if someone feels called to do so, but in the meantime, acceptance and openness to all kinds of styles of music is necessary.

Psalm 150, the last of the psalms in the bible, mentions all kinds of instrumentation, from trumpet sounds, to tambourines, to loud clashing cymbals, and ends with “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!”  Everything that breathes.  Not just the professional musicians or long time church members.  Everything that breathes.  Which means a variety of styles and sounds.

I think we have to be very careful to label something as unacceptable or inappropriate if it inspires someone, moves them, and brings them closer to God.  So let’s have an organ and a drum.  Let’s have Beethoven and the Beatles.  Let’s be moved to tears by a stirring melody or inspired to dance by a driving beat.  If it’s inspiring us to praise God and love our neighbour, what could be better?  May it be so.  Amen.

God of the Old and New Testament

There are many in the Christian faith who wonder how to understand God in the Old Testament versus the God of the New Testament.  How do we understand a god who. in the Old Testament, could wipe out humanity and almost every creature on earth with a flood, a god who could ask a father to sacrifice his son as a test of obedience, or a god who could ask people to go to war and kill every man, woman, child, and beast versus a god in the New Testament who sent his son to die for us, who, through Jesus, taught about loving your neighbour as yourself and included, even the lowliest, to dine with him, or, who healed people and brought them back from the dead?  How do we understand how we can have such a violent god in the Old Testament and a loving god in the New Testament.

          Many will say they prefer the god of the Christian scriptures over the god of the Hebrew scriptures for this reason.  Some will even ask why we bother with the Hebrew scriptures at all?  Why don’t we just throw them out?  But if we throw out the Hebrew scriptures because of the violence, do we also throw out the Book of Revelation, from our Christian scriptures, which is more violent than much of the Hebrew scriptures?  What about the letters written to new Christian communities that seem misogynistic, calling upon women to be silent and obey their husbands?  Some might suggest we throw out everything but the gospels, only focus on the Jesus stories, but what about when Jesus shares stories with violence, telling stories of slaves being beaten, slaughtering enemies, or throwing a wicked and lazy slave into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?  Where do we stop cutting away scripture because it doesn’t fit our ethics?  I wonder if there would be much left after we were finished.

            The stories in the bible were written at a very different time.  The Hebrew scriptures were mostly likely written down after the Israelites  had returned from exile, a time when they were trying to rebuild after their temple had been destroyed and many had been taken from their homeland, some never to return.  The Christian scriptures were written while their land was occupied by the Roman Empire, and again, their temple destroyed, and many rebellions quashed violently by Roman soldiers.  It was a violent time and these writings reflect that.

            Not to say we don’t also live during a violent time.  People are being bombed all over the world.  There are still honour killings, and mismanaged politics cause famine and warfare.  There are still genocides.  Murder and abuse occur on the streets and in people’s homes.  Our writings and our forms of entertainment reflect this violence, in art, in video games, YouTube, and in the theatre.  Violent stories for a violent age.  But this, of course, is about people.  People are violent, but what about God?  Maybe the question is more about whether having a violent god perpetuates violence in our world.  Does belief in a violent god encourage violence among people?

To that question, I do not have an answer, but let me take you in a different direction.  We were all children at one time.  Did you ever view your parents as harsh, critical, judgemental or wrathful, or just completely crazy?   If you had written about your parents as a teenager, how might they be portrayed?  Would they be the the heroes or the villains in your story?  If you were writing about them as an adult, would it look different?  As we grow out of our teenage years and grow in experience and hopefully wisdom, and for some of us having raised children of our own, our perspective of our parents might change.  Many of you are grandparents.  Do your adult children sometimes ask you why you spoil your grandchildren, but you were never like that with them?  Have you changed or have your circumstances changed?  Or both?

Maybe the story depends on who’s telling it and when it’s being told.  If we look at the people of God, as a whole, we can see them growing in experience, sometimes wisdom, and sometimes we see their perspective of God changing also.  Maybe the people of God are progressing in their perception of God, from a God who demands you love your neighbour, to a God who weeps over the suffering and the sin of the people, to God in Jesus, who suggests we love our neighbour as well as our enemy. 

There are a number of passages in either testament that give examples of God’s love and there are also a number that show God’s wrath.  The truth is, throughout the bible, we will find passages that challenge us and passages that bring us comfort, but if we shy away from the ones that challenge us, we will lose some of the most beautiful stories in the bible and some of the stories that have the most to teach us.  

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about “confirmation bias.”  Confirmation bias is when we don’t read what makes us uncomfortable, we don’t listen to those with whom we disagree, we avoid what is distasteful or against what we believe.  Facebook and other social media sites work like this.  We don’t often see viewpoints with which we disagree because we only friend those who agree with us or we unfriend someone whose views are not ours.  It creates an echo chamber so that we only receive what is agreeable to us and confirms our already firmly planted biases.  In order to grow and learn and understand topics in more depth, we have to be open to being challenged, we have to be exposed to those viewpoints that are distasteful or disagreeable, we have to enter into worlds that might make us uncomfortable and test our firmly held opinions.

It’s why I love the bible.  It’s so full of stories that are strange, and challenging, and completely horrific and terrible.  It pushes my boundaries and causes me to ask questions.  Is this what really happened?  Why did it happen this way?  How does this help me to understand the people from long ago and how might it help me understand people today?  How are these stories still relevant and what can we learn from them?

The bible is the story of our faith ancestors and they have a lot to teach us.  Sometimes we need help navigating through the history, context, and culture and this is one of the reasons why we come together as a community, to help us get out of our echo chambers and learn from one another.  

Until we live in a world where there is no violence, we need to tell stories of violence.  Until people have stopped suffering from hunger, homelessness, and lack of health care, our stories will continue to speak of suffering.  Until there is no sin in this world, we will continue to tell stories of sin and the destruction it creates.  In other words, when God’s kingdom finally comes upon this earth, we can then put away our violent stories.  We can then only speak of a loving God.  What we write about God is a reflection of who we are but as long as we continue to work towards God’s kingdom that reflection will change.  May it be so.  Amen.

The Mercy of an Enemy

There is a familiar story in our bible, in the gospel of Luke, called “The Good Samaritan,” but calling the story “The Good Samaritan” is a little deceptive because it puts our focus on the Samaritan who helped, instead of on the person needing help on the side of the road.  It causes us to want to identify with the Samaritan and leads us to lessons about helping those less fortunate than ourselves.  It’s deceptive because Jesus was talking to his own people who were people of the Jewish faith.  The people to whom this Jewish audience would have related are the Jewish people in the story, everyone but the Samaritan. 

If you are unfamiliar with the story, I encourage you to read from Luke’s gospel (Luke 10:25-37).  The parable follows an interaction with a lawyer who is questioning Jesus.  The final question, before this parable is, “And who is my neighbour?”

I’ve been reading a book called, “Short Stories by Jesus.”  It’s written by Amy-Jill Levine who brings a very different perspective to the stories of Jesus as she is a Jewish scholar whose specialty is the Christian scriptures.  In her book, she applies her Jewish lens to some of the parables that Jesus shared that have, in some way, some anti-semitic tendencies.  Using this lens, she opens up this story and sheds a new light on it.  One of the stories on which she focuses is this story of the Good Samaritan.  

First, she writes about the words neighbour and evil and how, in the Hebrew language, they share the same consonants, but have different vowels.  In ancient Hebrew texts, words do not have vowels though, so both words would have been written identically.  So when we read in the Hebrew scriptures, especially in the Torah, (The Law or the first five books in the bible), that we should love our neighbour, maybe it’s much more than loving those people who love us or who are like us, but also includes those we see as enemy.  

Jesus tells this story of Jewish people, the man who was beaten and left for dead, the priest and the levite.  The priest and the levite, respected people in Jewish communities, pass by this man who needed help.  Why?  Their law is very clear about helping those who need help so why did they just pass him by?  Jesus doesn’t say why, but there have been many who have tried and many times the priest and levite come off in a very bad light.  

In Levine’s book, she shares a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that gives one explanation.  He preached: “I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me.  It’s possible these men were afraid…And so the first question that the priest [and] the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’…But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question, “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’  If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?”  The sanitation workers at the time, in 1968, were African-American and were striking, which had brought riots and a state of emergency to Memphis.  These words were spoken the day before MLK Jr.’s assassination.

The point is that these two people who pass by the man on the road might be any one of us.  There were many who did nothing during the civil rights struggles of the 1960’s.  They weren’t bad people, but they were scared, confused, and unwilling to take a risk.  Jesus did not say why these people passed by because any one of us might pass a person in need for a variety of reasons.  It may have been the wrong decision but how many of us always make the right decision.  Painting the priest and the levite as selfish and evil people makes the story simpler but takes away our own responsibility for passing by those in need.

So why did Jesus choose a Samaritan as the one to help this person?  The Jewish people and the Samaritan people had been enemies for a long time.  At one time they had been one people with one god, but split for variety of reasons, mostly political.  Although they followed the same god, they followed that god in different ways, and, of course, each thought their way was the right way.  It is the Samaritan though that approaches the Jew, when no one else would, comforts him, tends to his wounds, picks him up off the road, puts him on his donkey, and brings him to an inn, and then pays for his lodgings and any further upkeep.  He is generous and compassionate towards his enemy.

There is a story in our bible, from the 28th chapter of the second book of Chronicles, that tells of the Samaritans capturing and bringing to Samaria two hundred thousand Judean women, sons, and daughters and all their booty.  A prophet, Obed, speaks up, chastises them for their cruelty and encourages them to think again.  In response to these words by the prophet, we hear similar words to our parable.  “Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the booty they clothed all that were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kindred at Jericho.”

Amy-Jill Levine, writes, “The cycle of violence can be broken.”  She goes on to say, “For the person in the ditch or the listener who identifies with him, 2 Chronicles 28 offers a necessary lesson.  Those who want to kill you may be the only ones who will save you.”

Jesus ends the parable by asking the lawyer which of the three was the neighbour to the one on the road and of course, the lawyer responds with, “The one doing mercy for him.”  Jesus’ answer is, “Go and do likewise.”  If we can do for our enemy as well as our neighbour, there is hope for our world.  If we can see in our enemy, a neighbour, there is hope.  If one can get past the hate and past hurts to help an enemy in need, there is hope.  

Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”   This is what we teach our children.  This is what we learn throughout our lives, through our bible stories, through the wisdom of Jesus, and through sharing our own stories and risking community as we grow in wisdom and experience.  We are taught to love our neighbour as ourself, but are we taught to also do likewise with our enemies?  Maybe we could begin looking at this story through a new light, maybe title it, “The unlikely helper,” or “The Mercy of our Enemy.”  What kind of world might we live in if we were all taught to love the neighbour, the stranger, and the enemy?  May the Spirit walk with us and give us wisdom as we go and do likewise with our neighbour/enemy.  May it be so.  Amen.

Does God Love Me?

       Our summer preaching series is based on topics that you have suggested.  Last week, the question I pulled out of the box was, “Does God love me?”  Sounds easy.  Of course, God loves you.  Sermon done.

But maybe the question deserves a little more thought.  Maybe the question isn’t that.  Why would it be asked in the first place if the answer were that simple?   How does one feel God’s love?  How do we know in our minds and our hearts that God’s love is real?  It might be an easy question to answer for others, but if you ask yourself, “Does God love me?” is it more difficult to answer?

In the United Church we tend to talk about this love in a more corporate way.  God loves all of us.  No matter our race, economic status, gender or sexual identities, age, culture, background, your mistakes, God loves you.  We are all children of God and God loves all of creation.  This is a great way to share the gospel, but does this really reach the individual on a personal level?  I find that some of our big, more evangelical churches, are very good at helping people to know that God loves the individual, that God answers an individual’s prayers, that God has a plan for each person, that God is always there for each one of us.  Sometimes though, these churches aren’t so good at stressing corporate love, the all inclusive, non-judgemental love of all people, stressing justice and mercy for those in need of justice and mercy.  It’s obviously another part of life that needs some balance.

I have heard people talk about some of the music in the praise genre, Christian music you might on the radio.  Most of this music comes out of the evangelical tradition, so most of it is based on God’s love for the individual, the sacrifice of Jesus for each one of us, the love, care, and mercy of God that can be found by just believing.  This can be powerful stuff and some are very moved by it.  But others, specifically my colleagues in the United Church, feel that the music is without depth, that it can treat love as trite, that by just saying God loves you and that all you have to do is believe, is too simple and doesn’t touch on the complexity of human relationships, judgement and shame, and the value of feeling doubt and questioning the love of God, even when you believe.  This music isn’t bad; it just shouldn’t be all you hear.  Again, balance is needed.

I am a huge fan of a couple named Michael and Lisa Gungor.  Michael leads a favourite podcast of mine and they both were part

of a band called Gungor.  One of my favourite songs by them is called, “Light.”  It’s a song about their daughter who was born with Down Syndrome.  In this song and in books they have written they tell the story of the birth of their little girl, named Lucy, which means light, and the powerful effect her birth has had on their lives.  Michael often refers to Psalm 139.  This psalm starts by expressing wonder at God’s presence.  “O Lord, you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.  You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.”  It then speaks of the impossible task of abandoning God.  “Where can I go from your spirit?  Or where can I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.  If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.”

It then goes on to the most beloved part of the psalm; and for Michael Gungor it speaks of the purposefulness and beauty of his little girl.  Not an accident, not a regret, not a mistake, but a child created and loved by God.  “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.”  (vs 13-15)

We learn from a very young age that God loves us and that we are children of God.  We need to hear this, especially those who don’t hear it from home, from family, especially those who hear it from home but not from their community.  Even those who hear it all the time from family and friends, still need to be affirmed and still need to hear those words.  

God loves you.  You are a created child of God.  God is love, and you are filled with that love.  You are meant to share that love with the world.  

I invite you to listen to the song written by Michael and Lisa Gungor for their little girl, Lucy, called “Light.”  I invite you to immerse yourself in the love they shared with the world for their little girl and I want you to remember that God loves you this much and more, from your head to your toes, from birth to death, the good and the bad, no conditions, no strings.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Where Will We Be in Ten Years?

I’m reading a book right now; actually, it’s the second book of a two-part series.  It’s about the Emperor Nero, the emperor from 54AD to 68AD who has the very bad reputation of fiddling as Room burned and then blaming Christians for the catastrophe and executing them.  Despite this bad reputation, the author attempts to humanize him and look at his reign objectively, instead of through the many rumours that were spread by just three authors, writing at least fifty after Nero’s death. 

Currently, I’m reading the part following the great fire that occurred in  Rome in 64AD, where more than half of the city was destroyed.  Nero is working with architects, his advisors, and the Senate to bring about a grand vision of a new Rome, to be as grand as others of the time, which included a central space with gardens for all people.  With an artist’s eye, he envisions a space for people of all classes, a space of beauty and a space that offers a break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city.  

Well, you can imagine the reaction from the upper class of the city.  Nero wanted to take prime real estate, in the centre of the city, and claim it as his own?  Supposedly as common ground for everyone’s use?  Some had owned houses on this land.  Were they really being asked to relocate?  All of this was happening in the midst of rumours that Nero, himself, had set the fire.  People couldn’t imagine this plan of Nero’s would work.  It was too big a change.  They couldn’t imagine Nero’s vision years into the future.  They could only see what had been.

Two weeks ago, I pulled out a question from our suggested sermons box.  The question was, “Where Will We Be in Ten Years?”  I decided to ask this question of people I encountered this week, those who stopped by the church, those at meetings, family members; where did they see St. Paul’s or the church in general in ten years?  I wanted to hear what others were imagining.

I heard a variety of thoughts.  Some believe that our culture has changed too much and is too busy with other priorities besides the church.  While some think that changes we make now probably won’t make a lot of difference, others believe the changes will make all the difference in the world.  Some see us amalgamated or combined with other United Churches in Oakville and maybe even with other denominations.  But the changes to which most people referred were around how we connect with our community.  What was imagined by some is that St. Paul’s would be more like a community centre and less like a church, that worship wouldn’t be confined to Sunday mornings, and that the gospel would still be preached but in a way that is relevant and meaningful to this generation and to a wider community.  

This is a tall order.  Ten years from now might we be St. Paul’s Community Centre and Church,  Might we have worship on Wednesday evenings, or on weekday mornings?  Could St. Paul’s be a part of a larger Community of Care network that supports seniors, youth, families, and people in general with their physical, mental, and spiritual wellness?  Would we be willing to set aside the idea of this being a church with members and calling it “my church” and instead see it as a space for the whole community, an Affirming, loving, and caring place for any and for all?  

As one person said to me, we have to be asking these questions.  Churches all over have vision teams who are looking forward and visioning a future for their faith communities.  Those that are unwilling to imagine how to meet the needs of this brand new world will probably barely survive another ten years.  

In the Hebrew bible, the prophet Jeremiah spoke words to the Israelite people who were exiled from their home and transported to Babylon.  These words from Jeremiah were meant to reassure these exiles, to let them know that it’s OK to make a life in this new place, to build houses, plant gardens, marry and start families and to not act as if this is temporary or that if you settle in you’ll be betraying your God and country.  Live.  

We are not exiles.  We are still mostly a people with many privileges, but as people who come to church and are part of a faith community, we sometimes feel like aliens, different from the most of the community.  Our cultural landscape has changed tremendously and I think sometimes there is hope that it will go back to the way it was, that this is only a temporary change.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’re going back to that time ever again.  Therefore, I believe we need to build houses, plant gardens, and live into this new landscape, discover how our faith community might build and plant and grow with the people in our community who are so anxiously trying to survive in this new landscape.  We can hear for us too, the words from Jeremiah, speaking on behalf of the divine, for those Israelite exiles:  “For surely I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

In the meantime, as we learn to live in this in-between and imagine our future, we need to be strong, we need to be positive, and we need to walk together with compassion and grace.  We need to love each other and encourage one another to share that love with people in our community who are struggling to know they are loved.  We need to offer forgiveness and grace to one another and then to share that forgiveness and grace with people in our community who feel judged and unable to be themselves.  We need to become immersed in our faith, in our scriptures, in prayer, in stewardship, so that we have a solid foundation for our work, and we need to share that solid foundation with others who are searching for meaning and a sense of purpose.  

Hopefully, in ten years, we will be more fortunate than the Emperor Nero, who was overthrown and committed suicide, but, Nero can say that he tried.  He risked imagining and dreaming a new tomorrow.  The vast Golden House that he had envisioned and built was eventually filled with dirt to make way for baths, and the man-made lake was filled in to build the Colosseum.  The Golden House was rediscovered though during the Renaissance so that you can still see some of the dreams that Nero dreamed.

Our dreams may not be as opulent and as visually stunning as the Golden House of Nero, but they can be just as grand.  They will also meet with resistance; they may get buried and trampled on, but, just as Nero’s dreams had a lasting effect, our dreams will too, especially if they are grounded in our faith, modelled after the example of Jesus, and carried out with love and compassion.  

I’ll finish by offering words from the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:  I pray that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  May it be so.  Amen.

The Bible & Parenting

For the past couple of months, I’ve been preaching on movies suggested by the congregation.  There were so many wonderful requests and I’ve seen some beautiful and profound movies.  This will be the last reflection of that series and the movie is called “Eighth Grade.”

“Eighth Grade” is a moving story of a young woman, Kayla, who is in eighth grade.  It’s amazing how true to life it is, to the point of being awkward to watch, students, parents, and teachers stumbling through life, figuring it out as they go along.  The part of the movie I want to reflect upon portrays a very tender scene between Kayla and her father, a father who, throughout the film, really has no idea what to do with his teenage daughter.

Show Clip from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiQPsqlszAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuMrkqlAviE

Now, I’m going to read to you a quote from a book I’m currently reading, called, “How the Bible Actually Works,” by Peter Enns.

My wife, Sue, and I raised three amazing children, who have somehow managed to become semi-functioning adults with less than oppressive college debt and no significant brushes with the law.  In other words, on the Enns family intergenerational scale of emotional health, they are physiological triumphs.

I wasn’t perfect as a father, as I’m sure you’ve already concluded.  I made mistakes, but I also learned a lot as time went by - like the fact that, though there are general guidelines for how to parent well (lock up the cleaning products, don’t give your two-year-old a knife, Smarties are not a food group), no parenting script can take you from birth to adulthood.  It usually can’t get you past lunch.

Or, perhaps better, we write the script as we go, in tune with the moment, and subjecting that script to constant revision simply as a matter of survival and sanity.  Parents have to stay flexible and be ready to adjust on the fly, because situations change and children get older.  

I really can’t think of a better analogy for how the Bible works as a wisdom book.  And I do mean the bible as a whole. (Chapter 4, page 1)

Parenting.  Parenting is about constantly being on your toes, adjusting to present circumstances, knowing that what works for one child may not work for the other, and that we have to be flexible to constantly changing needs as our children grow.  So how does this analogy fit how we read the bible?  Near the end of that passage I read by Pete Enns, he wrote, “I really can’t think of a better analogy for how the Bible works as a wisdom book.”  What does he mean?  How is parenting a good analogy for how the Bible works?

It has been a recent practice, maybe the past couple of hundred years, to take the bible literally, to look at it as an historical document, true as fact, inerrant (meaning incapable of being wrong), and infallible (meaning incapable of having mistakes).  But this is not always how the bible has been read.  It was during the age of enlightenment, modernism, when people began reading texts, through the eyes of reason and logic, and this included the bible.  If you were to actually read the bible, cover to cover, study it, you would begin to wonder how people could see it as incapable of being wrong or incapable of having mistakes.  You would encounter a number of stories that are repeated, ands some of them with different key details, you would read about a God, whom we are taught is a loving God, commanding the Israelites to kill an entire nation, including women, children, and livestock, you would read commands to slaves to be subservient to the masters or commands to women to not teach the gospel, you would read a creation story that has light and dark being created three days before the sun and the moon, and all of this might make you scratch your head in confusion and possibly even question the validity of the bible.

For thousands of years, the bible has been seen as an ancient library of poems, letters, and stories.  It wasn’t until 3 or 400 years after Jesus, that this ancient library was brought together into one book we now call the bible.  The books in the bible were written at different times, by different people, in different contexts, and, of course, before the printing press in the 1600’s, it was rewritten over and over again by hand by scribes, who we hope, wrote it as accurately as possible over the years, but there would have been mistakes or editorial liberties.

I come to the bible, knowing all of this, and I still love it.  In fact, knowing all of this makes me love it more.  I find it fascinating.  I love learning how the meaning of a Hebrew word changes the meaning of an English text.  I love being surprised by a different interpretation of a story.  I love learning about people from long ago that loved and lost, that struggled and made big mistakes, that showed mercy and fought for justice.  

I think the point I’m making is that the bible can be awkward, like parenting.  Sometimes it can very much feel like we are stumbling through it, figuring it out as we go along, constantly being on your toes, adjusting to present circumstances, knowing that what works for one child, or one book of the bible, may not work for another, and that we have to be flexible to the constantly changing needs as a people, as we grow, as we evolve. And that through it all, we can love it, unconditionally.

Exploring the bible can take us on an adventure if we let it.  Being open to interpretations and ways of reading the bible can lead us to moments of surprise, awe, and sometimes confusion and wonder.  Seeing the bible as an ancient library of stories, letters, and poems might lead us to finding the wisdom that is there for us and let it become our teacher and guide on our journey of faith.  

So have I piqued your interest in the bible?  Want to learn more?  Next year, I'm going to focus a bit more on the bible.  For those who are interested in a challenge, we can read the whole bible in a year.  I’ll have a reading schedule available.  Within the congregation, I'll offer book studies, which might include some great books about the bible by Rob Bell, Peter Enns, and Rachel Held Evans.  We’ll have a Bible 101 for those who are just being introduced to the bible and meditation groups will meditate on scripture verses.  These are all opportunities to learn about the bible, develop faith practices around the bible, and join with others in discussion on the bible.  I’ll also offer some one on one time with the minister for those who want to ask questions.  And of course, for readers of my blog, I invite you to offer comments to further an online discussion.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” (15:4)  Psalm 119 is a long psalm and refers to God’s law and word throughout, but perhaps, the most popular verses are verse 103: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! and especially verse 105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

People of faith, Jewish and Christian, have been wrestling with scripture for thousands of years and we are continuing along that path, looking for words of wisdom for us today.  It’s an invitation to join with our faith ancestors and continue to find the relevance these words have for us today.  

May we continue to wrestle with the law and wisdom of the bible.  May we find relevance in it, a message that still speaks to us today,  May we find the Spirit present in the words, speaking to us, assuring us, challenging us, helping us to know we are not alone and that we are loved.  May it be so.  Amen.