Easter 07 - B

To Be In the World and Not Of It

We have arrived at the end of the Easter season in the church calendar.

Throughout the last seven weeks we have once again heard the stories recounting the resurrection and appearances of Jesus, and we read about how the apostles, disciples, and followers of Jesus adjusted to the idea of Scripture fulfilled.

Like the apostles, we have been given time, through the stories, to understand how this journey and especially how the resurrection helps us to be what we have been called to be. The point of 40 days is that this is meant to be a period of discernment as we redefine what Easter means and how it changes who we are and how we live.

Today’s gospel takes it to the next level. This is the point in our journey where we ask ourselves how God is calling us and what God is calling us to be and to do.

So... do you have it? Has this last 40 days helped? Do you now know what God wants from your life? Have you even been thinking about it?

Sorry, I am not trying to be too sarcastic – Just thinking it through – the point of being a follower of Jesus is that we are supposed to be reflecting on our faith. We are supposed to be trying to find a way to follow Jesus “way of life” in our time, and our context.

At some level a question that should always be at the back of our minds is this – what is God’s will for our life?

Aware that these are his final hours, Jesus admits to God, "I am no longer in this world, but they are." This must have sounded horrible to the disciples – what did he mean? Does it really mean that Jesus is leaving and we are left alone?

That’s one of our big problems too isn’t it? Don’t we feel abandoned by God? Is there not a sense that we have no idea what to do next?

Teresa of Avila said "Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out on a hurting world, yours are the feet with which he goes about doing good; yours are the hands with which he is to bless now."

I am certainly not sure that I can live up to that on a day to day basis – In fact, there are lots of days when I think Jesus should have left his future presence down here in more capable hands than ours! We're just not all that special. We feel no miraculous power coursing through our veins, our brains get blurry, we're tired, we're stressed, we're just so very...ordinary, flat--footed, mortal...human.

See- that is my problem with following Jesus; here he is praying the last prayer the disciples will ever hear him say and these are the words: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world..."

He keeps going on about how we are to be in the world but not of the world... Ever hear that before? It has almost become the slogan for holiness... a good Christian is “in the world, but not of the world.”

To quote that most popular of psychotherapists, Dr. Phil, “How’s that working out for you?”

I believe in all the things that Jesus did – but I also want to be rich and famous, I need a Harley Davidson and A Dodge Challenger, I own all sorts of electronic gadgets and love good food, good wine, and good times... in other words, I live pretty much in the world.

I would wager that most of you do too.

Do you ever find yourself wondering if you are good enough to be a Christian?

Someone reminded me the other day that Jesus spent a whole lot of time hanging around criminals and prostitutes, making more wine for parties, travelling from town to town, rebelling against authority… in other words, maybe I am more like him than I imagine…

But the main point was never about holiness, it was about the way we treat people – the way we “are” with others who we share this world with. What Jesus means when he says we have to be in and not of is that we are supposed to work to promote peace, justice, love and harmony; we are supposed to live in hope. To be a Christian is to be at odds with this world, which always seems to be forgetting how to live humanly.

Let’s step out of theology for a second and talk about science – the brain is a very interesting tool; but sometimes we let it take over too many routine tasks. The mind has its own “background processes” that are sort of pre-programmed by the way we live “in” the world.

For example, if you spend a lot of time worrying about everything, or watching everyone else and making judgements about them, you are actually programming your mind. Our brain loves short cuts; so the “search requests” we make on our brain most frequently become 'wired' into the brain and the life of our psyche. If we call upon our brains several times a week or a day to figure out what's wrong with those around us and the world in which they work, it's natural for our minds to start performing these tasks in the "background," constantly creating categories and placing people in them.

To live in the world is to expect and actually create a world that is just like everyone fears it is – filled with pain, and anxiety, and worry. In fact, we become programmed to look for that.

Jesus came to show us a different way of ‘viewing’ the world around us. Jesus came to help us reprogram our mindset.

Jesus' prayer was that we would be in the world in a different way - with hearts that are truly open to every last experience around us; with love in our hearts for all of creation and for each other. And with enough joy to break through the dark negativity we encounter.

So what if we took this basic goal as our starting point – Jesus wants us to think about things differently.

What would be different about what you do this afternoon, or how you do it?
It just might challenge us to search for avenues of compassion toward others; to look on the bright side, to be open to the possibility of goodness, to try a little harder with those around us and forgive a little more freely.

In other words, that one bit of advice, think about doing it differently – might just make us more like Jesus.

And it just might give us what we need to change the world, bring healing to the sick, sufficiency to the destitute, freedom to the captives, because our way of seeing the world really might catch on. May God grant that it be so.

Easter 6 - B

Karos leading to Kara

If I were to hand you a piece of paper and ask you to write down five things about Jesus what would they be?

Depending on your mood right now, or whether you are channelling Christmas, or Easter, I can imagine some things that pop into your head: Born in Bethlehem, died on the cross, miracle worker, teacher, son of God, came back from the dead... did I get any of yours?

What do you think our answers would be if we were the disciples? What opinion of him would we have had if we spent day in, day out with him?

I had a roommate at Mount Allison. Cream of the crop type of guy, became the head of the English department in some private university in Boston – but Mark could never, ever, shut the darn bread bag when he made toast. I almost killed him in his sleep because of it.

Linnea Good was talking about Jesus on Thursday night and made a good point. She said that people usually wrote down all the things he was good at; preaching on mountainsides, changing water into wine, healing people, arguing with Pharisees... but no one ever mentions his singing voice. Clearly Jesus could not sing.

Which is why, according to Linnea, John and James sat on either side of him, to try and keep him on pitch.

What I am getting at is that 2,000 years later our opinions of Jesus might not be the same as those who knew him personally. I say this because I would bet money that when I ask for a list of even the top ten things about Jesus, “joy” is not on the list.

And yet... in the Gospels Jesus comes across as a person of deep joy.

Of course, we think we know an awful lot about Jesus – but in truth we don’t. And to prove me wrong I will give you a chance to redeem yourselves. Think about it for a minute before you answer... what did Jesus teach about the most? What did he want us to change?

I will do this family feud style with the top two: Number two thing – that Jesus preached about no less than 2000 times in the gospel, telling us we have to learn to do it better – Money.

Did you know that? Did you have any idea? “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.” “Go, give all you have to the poor and follow me.” Sound familiar? 2,000 times Jesus told us that our attitude to money will be our downfall; that our use of money reflects our values; that we can’t take it with us so we should give it away. 2,000 times. I am repeating myself, but wow, we really have not listened much huh?

Number one answer – the only thing Jesus talked about more than money – the Kingdom of God.

Which is not, by the way, heaven; the Kingdom of God is the very real world we live in; but restored/changed/altered, to be the way God wanted it to be.

And in more than 2,000 ways Jesus tries to tell us how to get from here to there.

Usually through small, but systemic changes, and often using, you guessed it, money.

The kingdom of God is a place where widows and orphans have their food bought for them. The kingdom of God is a place where a very small act of kindness, perhaps no bigger than a mustard seed, grows into an incredible huge bush that offers something for everyone. The kingdom of God is like good seed in good soil that grows in unexpected ways.

In fact, most of us are pretty close to the kingdom, our only real stumbling block being money. Think back to the story of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and asks how to follow God. Jesus says, what do you think? And the man replies, I already know the Old Testament, I keep the ten commandments, I pray... Jesus looks him up and down and says – “you are not far from the kingdom.” Hear that – this is pretty close to what we are supposed to be living like.

One thing you lack... go, give everything you have to the poor.... Ah... but there’s the rub. He is afraid to get rid of the false security blanket money provides.

Over and over and over for 3 years as they wandered the dusty Roman highways of Palestine this is what the disciples heard. Get over your addiction to wealth, and build the kingdom. Use money right, and make the world what it should be. Give to the poor, and love everyone. Love and self sacrifice generosity and equality... over and over and over.

It was a simple enough message – which all boiled down to “love to your greatest ability!” which although simple, is hard to implement. Even the best of us wants to do something horrible to the person that can never once, think about closing the bag so the next person does not have to eat stale bread.

3 years this went on where Jesus talked to the disciples. But today is different.

The gospel story we have today comes from the further down the road. This is, to mix metaphors, the home stretch and Jesus knows he is leaving for good this time.

Ever left anyone? Ever taken a child to college? Ever tried to explain to them all the things you did? So Jesus looks at the ragtag bunch and says, listen, I have talked a lot about love, and a lot about money... I have dragged you all over Israel, and Galilee, and even into the Gentile territories... but I did all this so that my joy might be in you.

I shared my passion for life, for God, for love with you, so that my joy might be in you.

Now, joy can be an ambiguous term. Most of us want to link it with happiness, health, success, fame, wealth, pleasure, fun, or good fortune. We do this even though whenever something brings us joy from the outside, it never lasts long. I was happy because it was warm and sunny yesterday... but now? That is not real joy.

Jesus is talking about more than this. Listen again to the Psalm ... an ancient poem of joy:

Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.

He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
with trumpets, and the blast of the ram's horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Genuine joy is more elusive, more subtle and more nuanced than happiness, pleasure or good fortune. CS Lewis describes joy as "an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. ... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world."

Whereas we can manipulate circumstances to our own advantage to obtain what we think will bring happiness, or expend great efforts in pleasure-seeking, joy is entirely gratuitous. You cannot earn it, buy it, or deserve it. It is a divine gift to receive rather than a selfish goal to pursue. Joy is Grace

In ancient Greek there is a word which sound like Karos: which means “grace” while there is another word which is Karas: which means joy.

The two are so interconnected that they share not only the same route, but they are also the exact same word except for one letter.

Psalm 98's invitation to joy is based upon what God has done and will do.

In a world plagued with wars, starvation, HIV-AIDS, inequities of all sorts, and preventable suffering, with leaders who manipulate us with the politics of fear, perhaps nothing is more radical or counter-cultural than to live with joy and confidence.

That was, in fact, Jesus only wish for us. May we use it well.

Fifty Years Hence

The 50th Anniversary Sermon of Mount Royal

The first preacher in the opening service of the official congregation of Mount Royal, in his thick Scottish brogue, asked this question:

“Suppose you do build a church in this place, suppose you continue, what will its purpose be? What will you have to offer? What does the world need from you today?”

Imagine that – fifty years ago the first sermon asked the same question that we could ask today – what next?

Statistically, fifty years is halfway through the average life cycle of an institution. When a company hits 100, or a church, it either lives forever, or dies out quickly. We are halfway there. Today we stand on the precipice of the history of this congregation and we do something very human, we look backwards while thinking about moving forwards.

This is really an incredible thing – for this reason – we would not be able to look ahead to a future of any consequence if it were not for how wonderful and meaningful the past has been.

Our first reading today, the one from Nehemiah, is actually the reading chosen by the preacher fifty years ago. He chose it to talk about the possibility of actually building a church on a vacant lot, in a newly developed but unknown area of town.

In essence this is what the Rev. Dr. W.S. Godfrey first said to you:

There was a time when Jerusalem was destroyed. Well to be honest, there have been times when Jerusalem has been destroyed. Some of the time the people also ended up exiled, strangers in a strange land.

Once upon a time there was an Israelite named Nehemiah who happened to have become a beloved civil servant of the Babylonian government. When he had earned enough respect, he approached the emperor and said, “Can we go home? We have been exiled for so long...” and lo and behold, he said yes.

What they found when they returned was a vacant lot on the corner. They found a destroyed and desolate city. Standing in the rubble they could have lost hope, they could have returned to Babylon where at least they had houses; but instead, they remembered.

They remembered what it used to be like... all that had happened in this city they call home.

Do you know that twenty five years ago John Logan used the anniversary of the church to scheme his way onto the choir and into asking Claudia out?

Yesterday John Eatmon ran 50 km’s to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.

Just two examples of our own memories, both past and recent; each of you could probably come up with your own top ten memories about Mount Royal.

There have been CGIT’s and Boy Scouts, Camps and Sunday Schools, Musicians trained and first loves lost, marriages and baptisms, tragedies and celebrations – all within the last 50 years that we have been on this corner.

And what if it had never happened? What if it was all destroyed. What if I asked the same question that Bill Godfrey asked you fifty years ago: “Suppose you do keep this church in this place, suppose you continue, what will its purpose be? What will you have to offer? What does the world need from you today?”

When the people returned to Israel they saw their capitol city in ruins, everything was abandoned and destroyed, the temple had been torn down.

It was as if they had returned to the site of an earthquake, and they turned on the news and discovered that global warming was melting the ice caps, that there was a worldwide war being waged in fifty different countries, that the entire world economy had collapsed, and a pandemic was on the doorstep.

And into the middle of the crowd waded Nehemiah and asked a simple question, “What do you want to do?”

And almost with one voice they answered: “LET US RISE UP AND BUILD”

See, they had a vision of what they wanted done, a city restored, and not just a city like all the rest, or even a city like had been there before, but a wider wall, a more glorious temple, a city of God. And that vision existed because in their hearts they remembered who they were; whose they were, and what mattered most.

Fifty years ago the people of the new west end of Moncton had a vision. From what I have seen since I have joined you, that vision has not dimmed one little bit.

This church is and always has been a family. Sure there are crazy aunts and uncles, there are days when we can’t stand our siblings, and there are times when we don’t all want to do the same thing. Just like any family. But I have seen what happens when we need each other. I have seen love and concern and compassion. I have seen faith, and doubt, and questioning.

In other words, I know you to be real, to be alive, to be on a journey in which you really are trying to be what we are supposed to be.

There are not many places left in the world that allow us to be who we are, and yet challenge us to be something better; while at the same time loving us just the same.

Mount Royal is that type of place, and can continue to be that type of place, but we need to ask those same questions Nehemiah asked, we need to be sure we have a vision of what we are being called to be, and we need to faithfully tread into the fearful waters of the unknown future.

It is the vision that counts, and when we catch the vision, when we see what can be possible, we can build. This was the message of the very first sermon preached for you and it is my message today.