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Trinity Sunday 2011

Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Psalm 8

 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Matthew 28:16-20

Jim couldn’t sleep. The last week had been very exciting. He never thought  the day would arrive, but it finally did, and in spectacular fashion. Yesterday Jim graduated from high school. Not only did he graduate, he did so with high honours. Not only did he make his parents proud, but also the entire school. When graduation awards were being handed out, he barely had a chance to sit down, as his name kept being called again and again. Scholarship after scholarship ensured that university would be covered—more than covered, as he would soon be traveling to take up residence in one of the most prestigious universities in the country.

            All of that excitement was surely keeping him up on that June night—but there was something else, something else inside him which he couldn’t quite define.

           He sat up, and as he did his head nearly scraped the top of the one-person tent which was his overnight home.

            Jim was on a camping trip, a special overnight trip organized by his grad buddies, buddies who liked to have a good time without doing anything really dumb—only somewhat dumb. And we’ll leave that up to your imagination.

            But while they were having fun, Jim was having a harder time getting into it. And now As Jim crawled out of his tent in the early hours of the morning, he had to admit to himself that he really wasn’t into it at all. He just couldn’t shake that feeling of restlessness  which had been dogging him for the last few days.

            He stretched in front of the flickering ambers of the campfire. Then he looked up at the clear night, at the stars high above.

            You see Jim was a science major, physics was going to be his specialty in university. His mission was to explore the deepest mysterious of the universe—black holes, quarks, strings, and hopefully make a contribution to the field of astro-physics.

         But in that moment, as he looked up, he was taken back. It wasn’t a good feeling. As he looked up at the enormity of the solar system, for the first time, he felt his smallness. Against all that there is, all that is out there, he felt pretty insignificant. Not only did he feel insignificant, but also felt that all the hard work which lay ahead of him would ultimately be done in vain.“ What difference will my life make? “Against the vastness and enormity of the universe, how can my life stand out?” These were the questions he asked himself on that star-lit night.

            Jim  wouldn’t be the first or certainly the last university student to contemplate these questions. Young men and women like Jim might think that they were the first to ask them. But they weren’t.

            That basic fundamental question, “Do I matter? How can I matter?” His been with humanity since antiquity. This question in one form or another is the basic question of human existence. It is the basic question which motivated Psalm 8, which we read together a few moments ago.

            Here the Psalmist considers creation--looks out at the very same sky which sits above our heads, and is taken aback by its enormity, and asks if the same God who made all of that, who set the moon and the stars on their course, could possibly care about human beings. And if God does care, how is this care expressed?

            The answer is given by the Psalmist, and that answer is also seen in Genesis 1:26-31. First of all, God created humans, created them to be different and elevated above other creatures, in the image of the creator. But, at the same time, not to be divine. God would not have created humans had He not cared about them. But God also created humans with intention. God created humans to fill a specific duty,  a vocational office, and the work of that office is described both in Genesis and in the psalm—and that office is to exercise dominion over creation. This does not mean to dominate and exploit creation, but to be good stewards—to tend God’s earthly garden.

            Humans were created with this special role in mind because God never intended that creation be static. God created a dynamic universe. God created the universe with the intention of being in deep relationship to it. The Biblical God is a relational God. This spiritual reality contrasts sharply with the god of deism, first proposed back in the eighteenth century. Deism says that God more or less got everything going and then stood back and watched creation unfold like a giant clockmaker looking at his clock.  But the god of eighteenth century deism  is not the God revealed to us in the pages of Holy Scripture., who is dynamically engaged with creation in relationship, and especially with humanity           

            So the answer to the question: Do I matter? Is an unequivocal “yes”. You along with all humans were created to matter, to make a positive and life giving difference in the world.

            God created humans to be in perfect relationship with himself, with each other, and with the rest of creation. The God of the Bible is a relational God. Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, in which we celebrate the God of relationship. The Holy Trinity is  doctrine which celebrates God’s relationship with God.  The trinity is  indeed a difficult and mysterious idea: God existing as three persons, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, yet at the same time being one God. That’s hard to wrap our heads around.  But one truth about the Trinity which we can know, is that God’s three persons exist in a dynamic, ongoing, and perfect relationship of creation, redemption, and sanctification.  It is a relationship of love.

            And  it was in the same spirit that God crated human beings to be in perfect relationship with them. But you don’t have to be a Christian to know that this perfect relationship does not exist. Something has intruded, something has thrown off the balance, and marred God’s good creation. That something is sin. The power of sin and death has marred our relationship with God and with each other.  

          Wednesday evening, following the loss of the Stanley Cup, the people of this city and around the world, in fact, got a first hand view of the power of sin at work. Vandals tore apart stores and  lit cars aflame. Bystanders were swarmed and assaulted, as vulgarians delighted in the chaos, and proceeded to brag about about their dastardly deeds on social networks.

            The power of sin at work was very obvious in that crowd, whose attitude was one of absolute defiance.

        It is quite easy to see that rebellious attitude in the lawless mob—much harder on an everyday basis,  much harder in the subtle idolatry which pervades the culture.  In Rogers Arena a banner hangs with the words, “ this is what we live for.”  Sadly, for too many people, that is literally true. Hockey teams, players, celebrities are put on a pedestal and worshipped. The Stanley Cup is revered as “hockey’s holy grail.”  The other day, Bobby Orr was referred to by a commentator as “the Messiah”.  While the world might delight in that kind of nonsense, Christians have no business being a part of it.  But temptation is powerful.

The power of sin is indeed pervasive  It has distorted humanity’s perspective on life, even on our beloved game of hockey. The power of sin  has given arise to the illusion that God is distant and cold. It has given rise to the lie that human beings are nothing more than apes whose only purpose is to consume,  reproduce, and then simply die. At the other end of the spectrum it has also given rise to the lie that humans are gods, capable of anything and everything, perhaps even immortality.   And a basic, fundamental, spiritual truth is that humans are utterly incapable of working themselves out of the mess of sin. Humans will never by their own power escape the power of death.

            There was and is only one way: it is through the Grace of God. God the Father gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that all may have the gift of eternal life, so that the relationship between God and humanity could be restored to its original intention.  Belief and Trust in this comes to us by way of the Holy Spirit. We see then that the blessed work of the Holy trinity is to draw humanity back into relationship with God, so that we too become part of God’s ongoing relationship of love.

            It is only through the work of the triune God that humans have been born anew—heave been recreated. By God’s Grace humans have been born again.  But doubt remains a human reality. People continue to doubt, even those who confess Christ as Lord. There is intellectual doubt. But more significantly perhaps is the kind of doubt which moved in the heart of the young man I described a few minutes ago. This doubt is a doubting of place and vocation. Do I have a place? What is my purpose? What should I do? We read that doubt moved in the hearts of the disciples even as they encountered the resurrected and living Christ. We might think that they doubted they were seeing Jesus. But perhaps there doubt concerned what to do, in what direction to move. So Jesus gives them clear instruction—humanity’s new vocation in the New creation, which is to make disciples, baptize, and instruct in the ways of Christ.

            For those who have been restored and drawn into the ongojng an dynamic relationship of the Trinity the vocational mandate is to draw others in, so that others would be part of this ongoing, dynamic relationship of love.

            I wouldn’t be going out on a limb by saying that a fundamental truth of the human condition is a need to belong, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. That hunger lives in each and every human being—it as a hunger to live in relationship with God. 

          The other evening, this city burned, and people were rightfully appalled at the behaviour which had once again brought disgrace upon Vancouver. At a spiritual level what we see is a perverse expression of the desire to belong and be part of something—even a violent mob.

            There is such a great need—the great need that the Truth of God’s word be spread near and far. Hearts need to be penetrated by God’s Holy Law,  and transformed by the Good News of the Gospel. This is what we have been given new life for. This is what the triune God has called us to do. It is what Christ has commanded us to do. And we can do it with confidence because Christ has promised to be with us, in relationship to us, even until the end of the age. Now, may the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

            

Pentecost 2011

                                              

Today is Pentecost Sunday, and we remember and celebrate  the day which the exalted and ascended  Christ poured out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples.  And in and through this pouring out Jesus Christ formed his church, his living body, equipping it with the means of grace and bestowing it with spiritual gifts. But this work of the Holy Spirit was not a one time action. The Spirit continues to do its work—for the Holy Spirit is at work wherever God’s Word is proclaimed in purity and in truth.

The Holy Spirit is as much God as is the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is an equal member of the Holy Trinity. Yet it seems that over the course of the history of the church, the Holy Spirit has not received the attention that it deserves—especially amongst Lutheran Christians, whose theology has been identified by other Christians as “Christocentric”. In other words, we tend to place most of our emphasis on Christ and his work.  It is true that Lutheran have historically emphasized Jesus Christ. And the reason is simple: it is through Jesus Christ that we humans can know God. Jesus Christ is God for us. It is through Jesus Christ that sin is forgiven and eternal life given.

But the work of Jesus cannot be viewed in isolation from the Holy Trinity. This would heresy, or wrong teaching. For Jesus Christ has a Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Father who sacrificed his only Son for the sake of the world, the Father who raised Jesus on the third day, the Father who exalted  Jesus by enthroning him on high and seating him at His right hand, the Father who will  bring in the New Age. The work of the Father is every bit as important as the work of Jesus, and the same holds true for the Holy Spirit. But while the work of the Father and of Jesus are concrete and evident in the pages of scripture, the work of the Holy Spirit is more mysterious, subtle, and seemingly occasional. But note that the Spirit was there at the beginning when it moved over the waters at creation as described in Genesis 1.

Indeed, the work of this “Shy member of the Trinity” (a  term coined by theologian Bill Hordern) is every bit as important as that of the Father and the Son—and not in ways that seem to be the most obvious.

When modern Christians think of the Holy Spirit, the inclination might be to think primarily in terms of spiritual gifts or charisms, and Christians who identify themselves as charismatic.  These obvious charisms include healing, prophesying, and speaking in tongues. These gifts and their expression remain a matter of controversy in the Christian church—especially concerning the gift of tongues. What does it mean to speak in tongues? Some argue that what you might witness in a charismatic church—speaking randomly in an unidentified manner-- is not what happened in the early church. Others stand by the legitimacy of this gift. Whatever the case, what cannot be denied is that on the occasion we read about today in Acts, that Holy Day of Pentecost, an extraordinary phenomena occurred. Disciples were able to speak in foreign languages. Those who heard their native languages spoken were amazed. Others were dismissive—attributing all of this to new wine. In First Corinthians, Paul speaks further about the gift of tongues, acknowledging its legitimacy, but, at the same time emphasizing that all  spiritual gifts are meaningless in the absence of love.

            But as Christians debate and discuss the validity of spiritual gifts, and focus on the unusual and ecstatic, it is easy to overlook the most important spiritual gift the Holy Spirit bestows upon the Church—the gift of faith, Faith in Jesus Christ. Indeed this gift if the gift through which all other gifts flow. And the gift of Faith comes in only one way—the hearing of the Word, the Living Word of Jesus Christ, the Word above all Words, the Word which doesn’t simply say something, but does something, to all who hear it.

            The Holy Spirit makes this hearing possible. The Holy Spirit takes the written words of the Bible and makes them the Holy Word of God.

            There is and has been a great temptation in the Christian Church to separate the work of the Holy Spirit from the proclamation and hearing of the Living Word.

             In Luther’s day, not long after the beginning of the Reformation, there were a group of theologians who argued that the Spirit simply fills a person, and such a spiritual indwelling can occur apart from hearing the  external word. Luther called these theologicans “enthusiastes”  and rightly identified their approach as heresy, as wrong teaching, for as St Paul tells us in Romans 10:14-10:17,

14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ ¹⁶But not all have obeyed the good news;^* for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ ¹⁷So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (NRSV online)

It is the external Living Word which transforms the heart. Martin Luther put it this way: “The Word must precede, or must be spoken first, and thereupon the Holy Spirit works through it. The order, then, must not be reversed and a Holy Spirit dreamed of Who comes without the Word and before the Word; but He comes with and through the Word and never goes beyond the Word.”(664).

            Never goes beyond the Word. This is an important truth to keep in mind when we evaluate preaching and teaching. Last month Harold Camping predicting the end of the world would come  on the 21st. But when we read Matthew 28, Jesus tells us clearly that the time of the day of judgment is not for us to know. In his teaching, Camping clearly sought to go beyond the word as it is plainly read. Just because he was quoting the Bible in his sermons doesn’t mean that he was guided by the Spirit. The enemy is good at quoting scripture. But quoting scripture--even studying scripture from an academic perspective--and proclaiming the Living Word are not the same. All truly inspired teaching begins with the truth outlined by Paul in Second Timothy: 3:14-3:15.Paul exhorts Timothy to, “ continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of the things which you are convinced, knowing from who you learned them. And how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the Sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus.”

            Creation of faith is the foundational work of the Spirit which began on the Holy Day of Pentecost.  And when Faith is created, those who once were sinners are made saints. But the sainthood of Christians, contends against the ongoing reality of sinfulness. Faith needs to be strengthened. The work God has begun in baptism and in the initial hearing of the external Word is ongoing—and that, also, is the work of the Spirit. The Spirit makes us aware of our sinfulness, our pride, our stubborn attachment to the worldly, our moral bankruptcy, our determination to do it our way even against God’s clearly written and spoken Word.

But despair is not the destiny for  a Christian. The spirit gifts us with the knowledge of what God has done for us through Christ, and that there is nothing we need to do or can do to earn our salvation. This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit bestows spiritual gifts for one purpose and one purpose only—to strengthen the body  of Christ so God’s Word can be heard within in and outside of it.

            The Holy Spirit brings faith to life in us, and always, always, points us to Christ, makes us aware of our sin, and our need of a Saviour who makes us whole, who heals us. The Holy Spirit is working here today, effecting faith, bringing comfort, and giving joy.

In a moment we will be celebrating Holy Communion, and there, especially, the Holy Spirit will be working--working wherever the words “Shed for you,” and “broken for you” are believed in head and heart. Here Christ’s visible and taste-able Word is proclaimed to your body and soul. Without God’s life giving word and spirit, what we eat is mere bread, what we drink is mere wine. But God’s Word and Spirit bring these elements alive, to enliven us in faith, to heal us and strengthen us. And we need strengthening,  both as individuals and as a community in faith, so that we would carry out what the Holy Spirit formed us to do—proclaim the gospel in Word and Action. Now may the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sermon: Easter Seven

            Easter Seven:

Acts 1:6-14

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

The Christian church has covered a lot of  liturgical ground in the last few months. The church year began on Advent, the season of anticipation, the four weeks before Christmas. On Christmas we celebrated the nativity of our Lord, the celebration of  the incarnation of Christ as the human baby Jesus.  After Christmas, we moved  through Epiphany, toward Lent contemplating what this incarnation means. The Church observed Lent by tracing the path to the cross.  Holy week saw us commemorate the crucifixtion and death of Jesus on Good Friday. And on Easter Morning we celebrated and continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the defeat of death, and the great and glorious gift of eternal life. 

The vitally important events remembered and celebrated during Holy Week are summarized in the Apostles’ Creed when we say that Jesus was “crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.” During Holy Week, the three important aspects of  what is called the exhaltation of Christ is observed: his suffering, death, and resurrection.

            Today we celebrate another  vital aspect of Christ’s exhaltation: his ascension. Today is Ascension Sunday—the Sunday which we celebrate the ascension of Christ. 

A moments reflection shows that as a church, we have spent a lot of time contemplating the death and crucifiction of Jesus, and , of course, celebrating his resurrection. Many of you attended our Good Friday service this year. And this year, we introduced an Easter Vigil into Holy Week, and enjoyed two baptisms on Easter morning, preceeded by a delicious pancake breakfast. The suffering, death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus are rightly given central attention in the Christian church—for they lie at the heart of the Christian faith. But what about the ascension of Jesus Christ, what about the lines in the Apostle’s Creed which read, “he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father.”? Why was this event so important, and what bearing does it have on our faith lives today?

            In today’s reading from the book of Acts, we are given a vivid description of Jesus’ ascent, his rising up, into heaven.  Unlike the resurrection, which is never described in detail,  the ascension of Jesus is described in some detail. The imagery is vivid, and almost impossible to conceive of—and certainly defies modern cosmological understanding.

           The passage begins with the resurrected Christ having a conversation with his disciples, being asked some very important questions. Then, suddenly, he ascends into the sky and disappears through the clouds to heaven, where he will sit at the right hand of his Father.

            If you find this description somewhat mind-boggling, rest assured you are not alone. You would not be the first person for whom this passage poses some difficulties. The first people who had difficulty with the ascent of Jesus were the disciples themselves—even as they were witnesses to the most astounding reality of all—the reality of Christ’s resurrection.

            Jesus came to them in a physical form, in human form—not in the form of a resurrected corpse but in a new physicality. But this new physical form would still have been clearly recognizable to them as Jesus, the man who taught them, ate with, travelled with them, and led them for more than three years through that ancient land.

            The disciples came to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour . They spent time with him before and after resurrection. And they came to know him in a way, few humans have—as a Galillean Jewish man who lived in the first century. Those first disciples came to know Jesus in a special local context. In that context, that time and place and culture, Jesus did amazing things. He taught, he healed, he performed miracles, he prophesized. And in that local context, did the most amazing thing of all—paid the price of humanity’s sin, so that the great gift of eternal life could be enjoyed my all. All of that happened in that very special local place. It was special,  but it was still local.

            And the Apostles understood the Messiahship, the kingship of Jesus in a very local way. That local understanding is reflected in the question: “Lord is this the time when you will restore the Kingdom to Israel.” This was a logical and natural question: for it had been prophesized that the messiah would bring in a new and glorious age for the kingdom of Israel—that in fact, the Messiah would restore Israel and through that restoration a great age of peace would be ushered in for all the world.

            The Apostles hungered for the new age. But their vision was limited, their perspective was narrow, and local. Even as the resurrected Christ stood before them, they did not comprehend the full implications of resurrection—what this event meant for all of humanity, and creation, and not just the Jewish people.

            But this kind of narrowness is very human. How many people today, when they think of Jesus Christ, think primarily of the first century Jewish man? How many people think of Jesus Christ primarily in the past tense?  

            The ascension of Jesus broke through the disciples limited, narrow, and local perspective like nothing else could—and it does the same thing for us.

            When we read the  Acts text from a 21^st century scientific perspective, it makes no sense, as a geographical reality. But attend carefully to what  the events describe.  What the events describe is a relational reality-how Christ relates to reality.

            What is described is Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord, moving from a local, geographical, historical place, to a cosmic place.

            The ascension of Jesus is vitally important because, through ascension Jesus Christ assumes his destined position as Lord of all. His authority would no longer be exercised locally, but cosmically. This is why Christians proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Living Lord, not just in memory. Jesus was the Messiah, but he is more than the Messiah, the prophesized liberator of Israel. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. Jesus is alive and active in your life.

And today’s reading from Acts reminds us again of exactly who Jesus is.

            We might be tempted to think that because Jesus has ascended to heaven, he is away from us—that he is sitting in some kind of cosmic executive office overseeing things until he comes again.

            But attend carefully to the words of the creed. Where does Jesus sit? He is seated at the right hand of the Father. And where is the right hand of the Father? It is everywhere. God’s authority extends through all of creation. So Christ is present through all of creation, just as he was present at the very moment of creation—indeed, before creation.

            Jesus Christ is Lord of all. But how can this be? You might ask. How can we say that Jesus is in charge, with all of the evil, suffering and death?

            Yes, it is true. Sin, death, and suffering remain realities. Christ is Lord, but his kingdom has yet to be established in its fullness. Satan, and the forces which defy God are actively countering God, even while they have been ultimately defeated.

            But Jesus is still Lord. Jesus is Lord over a kingdom which remains hidden to the eyes of the world, but which is seen through the eyes of faith. In very special ways and spaces, Christ, the Living Lord, presents himself to the world—where his Living Word is proclaimed, where his sacraments are administered, where there is life and breath, and all good thing. Even in the suffering of the world, there Christ is present. And guess what. You who are members of his Church are members, literally members, of his body.

            This may all sound like “high fallutin” theology so far. But the rubber  does meet the road. Christ does have a body, a living breathing body and you are part of it. and that body extends across time and space, way back to the Holy Day of Pentecost more than two thousand years ago. Again, this makes no sense if we think about Jesus just in historical terms.

           Jesus Christ is God for you—it is through him that you have been given eternal life, and faith. Jesus Christ is God the Living Word, who feeds you with faith. It is through Jesus Christ that all good things come. All depends on Christ. As Martin Luther put it, and never grew tired of repeating in one way or another: “ So completely does everything depend on the Son that no one can really know anything about God unless the Son, who thoroughly knows the Father’s heart, reveals it to him. All the World must be drawn under the Lord Christ and be made subject to Him, for without Him, no one can be saved.”

            And the salvation of all people is the mission of Christ—that all would hear the good news of forgiveness and new life. And guess what Christ uses to carry out that mission? His body.

            The last words of Jesus before he ascends are absolutely vital to understanding the mission of his church—the task of his body. “ You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.”  Jesus is of course saying those words to the apostles who were present on that day, but he is also saying it to us. And he is not making requests: “You will receive power,” “You will be my witnesses”. These are statements of fact, and we need not look far for an example. Dunbar Evangelical Lutheran Church would be about as far away from  first century Jerusalem as you could get. Yet here it stands as a witness to the Living Ascended Christ. The ascended Christ is as present here as he was to those disciples on that day on Mt Olivet.

            Some folks believe that we are closer to Jesus when we travel to the land where he walked as a human being. But this isn’t true. It isn’t true because his kingdom encompasses all of the earth, and he is present for you wherever his  word is proclaimed by his living body—of which we are a part.

            So here lies a great and wonderful paradox. While Christ has ascended above all to rule over all, he has also come down to be present with us—to  free us and feed us with his life giving word of forgiveness and new life. Christ ‘s presence with us is intimate and relational, just as the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is intimate and relational.

            In today’s gospel lesson we hear  Jesus’ high priestly prayer to his Father. He prays that he may be glorified so that he would glorify the Father. And he prays for  those whom the Father has given him, that they would have eternal life. What is eternal life? Jesus defines it very clearly: that they may know the Father, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. 

We tend to think of knowing in an intellectual, or “head “sense. But the knowledge of which Jesus speaks is much deeper than that. It is fundamental; it is intimate; it speaks beyond the mind to the very core of your being. It is a mystical knowing, if you like.

Such knowing will happen after the end times, but what is vitally important for you, is that such knowing  occur now.

How can we know God now? How can I know Jesus?

             You will find Jesus in his proclaimed word—the Living Word.  What does that Living Word say. It says that you are forgiven, to you new life has been given.

             We began today’s service with confession and forgiveness. The Living Word of forgiveness was proclaimed to you personally. This was not the pastor’s word, but Christ’s word, and that Word, if it is believed, is transformative. That same Word of forgiveness comes to us in the sacraments, the physical and spiritual manifestation of Christ for you.

            For those who are suffering, lonely, downtrodden heart broken—God’s life giving word of hope and new life are healing.  Indeed they are the only source of ultimate healing.

            Those who are members of Christ’s body are called to carry out Christ’s mission of healing and caring. This congregation, as a member of Christ’s body, are called to carry out the Living Lord’s mission of healing and caring.  This is why we are here—to be transformed by the Living Christ, and to do the work of his body, as his physical presence in the world.

            Next Week is Pentecost Sunday—the day which celebrates  Jesus sending the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, the day which Christ formed his church, the day  the exhalted Christ formed his body to carry out his work.

            All who believe are part of that Living Body,  the peaceable kingdom. Now may the peace of that Kingdom, the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sermon: Easter 6

                                                                                         

 Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:8-2o

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14: 15-21

Last week an American radio preacher Harold Camping, garnered a significant amount of attention by predicting the end of the world. He said that May 21^st would be the day. Well May 21^st has come and gone and we are all still here, and things carry on as they normally do.  Camping has revised his prediction a bit, has said that a spiritual judgment has occurred and now the world will end in October. While the date of his prediction may have been incorrect, the pastor did manage to raise a significant  amount of anxiety, even fear in the hearts of people, with comments such as “it will be a horror story we cannot possibly conceive of”.

  More than a few pastors have found it necessary to do some extra preaching and teaching on end times theology, what is technically called eschatology. If they are responsible, these pastors will be offering biblically-based critiques of the pastor’s words, and point out that it is not for us to know the date and time of Christ’s return to earth (Matthew 24:36). Undoubtedly those critical of the Christian church will use the pastor’s words as more ammunition in their charge that Christian is a far-based, judgmental religion, that feeds on fear and promotes insecurity.

            But I would invite you to contrast the pastor’s words with those of Paul, which we hear in today’s reading from Acts. These passages describes the Apostles’ visit to Athens.  Now, considering the nature of the Greek religion--its range of gods and goddesses and the visual depiction of them in statues, and the cult surrounding them--one might expect a person in Paul’s position to offer a round denunciation of what he saw, and an ardent appeal for a conversion to Christianity. One would expect words of condemnation and a warning of imminent judgment and damnation. Indeed, it would have been very easy for the Apostle to stand in front of the Areopagus spitting hell fire and brimstone.           

But we don’t read that. Instead we read about the Apostle acknowledging the religiosity of the Athenian Greeks. They are a  religious people and he tells them that plainly. He acknowledges their concern with fundamental and profound questions of being and meaning.  Paul acknowledges a fundamental concern  which has fueled the religious quest across time, culture, language and space. He says, “ I see how extremely religious you are in every way” and  in so doing he creates a bridge—a bridge between the Greek outlook and  the gospel he has been entrusted to proclaim.

The apostle builds the bridge by acknowledging how God has made himself known to the Greeks.  Even within the context of culture society, language, and religion much different from his, Paul acknowledges that God has shown himself to the Greeks.  And this revelation is the basis of Paul’s discussion.  Paul doesn’t waste his words condemning the Greeks for getting it wrong, but rather, invests his energy in showing them where God is at work. The important thing for Paul is not about getting religion right. The central plank of Paul’s platform is about what God has done, what God is doing, and what God is going to do through Christ.  The basic message of Paul to the Greeks is that they have spent a lot of time and energy searching for God—building idols and temples and systems. They have spent a lot of time at religion—at trying to reach God. What he is telling them is that the search is over. They need not look for God because God has found them. 

            A moment’s reflection shows that the place and time we live in is really not that different from the Greek culture Paul encountered all those years ago. It is said that we live in a largely irreligious society, that religion isn’t important, that religion doesn’t matter to people. I’m inclined to disagree. The religious impulse is strong, even in those who confess no religious affiliation or belief in god.  People are hungering for something—something which they cannot define, but they know that they need. There are many idols worshiped in this society. Money, success,  looks, property—whatever people place highest value on becomes gods for them. And there are many misguided spiritual paths, which are fashionable, inviting and seductive.  Simply take a look at the religion and spirituality section of the big book stores as evidence for this. And the easiest thing for a preacher to do is simply condemn, and pronounce a death sentence on it all.

             But that’s not the approach which Paul models for us. Paul is a bridge builder. He builds a bridge between the Greeks and the Gospel by acknowledging where God is working in the Greek heart and mind. It was working in their understanding of the “unknown God”. Paul tells them about the God who they are worshipping, but did not know . He said, “ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands  as though he needs anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.”

 Where is the unknown God found today? The unknown God is found just beyond the fingertips of all the searchers and gropers in this time and place and culture and society. All of those people who are looking for forgiveness but have  not found it. All of those people who long for comfort but have none—who long for peace which remains elusive.. All of those people who search for community but have not found it. All of those people who are on a never ending quest for meaning an enlightenment, but still feel empty. The unknown God lies beyond all human efforts to reach him.  The unknown God destroys all false gods and brings to ruin human attempts to be God.

            The good news of the gospel is that the reaching, the searching—all that is unnecessary.  This is what Paul said to the Greeks. Paul is telling them that God is not far from each of them. God is not far from each of us. God is closer than we could imagine or conceive. “In him we live and move and have our being”.  Where there is truth, there is God. Where there is peace, there is God. Where there is beauty there is God. Where there is justice there is God. Indeed, where there is life and breath and all good things, there is God. God is the source of all life. God brought all life into being through his Word, his living Word who is Jesus Christ—the God who has defeated death, and promised an incredible future of eternal life to all who trust in Him.

            Paul calls the Greeks to trust in God—the one true God who raised Jesus from the dead. The same God who has given you all good things is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and promised you ultimate goodness. Amidst all of the idols you worship, the one true God is alive and active. This is Paul’s proclamation.

            But Paul would not have been able to make that proclamation if he had not first constructed a bridge—a bridge between the gospel and the understandings and outlooks of the people to whom he was speaking.  In these passages Paul gives us the model for evangelism. Paul gives us the method of proclamation, and it is based on understanding—understanding where people are and where people are coming from Christians are not called to condemn people but to engage them, so that they too would hear the good news of the Gospel. We are called to meet—to meet people where they are.  This engagement can occur in a variety of contexts and settings—perhaps in places we might least expect.

            Mission and evangelism are words which not everyone is crazy about. Much of the reason for that goes back to European colonial history, when the church across denominations co-operated with nation-states to subdue aboriginal people. The shadow left by residential schools, and laws outlawing cultural and religious practices of first nations people, is indeed a long one, and the healing journey continues.  Might things have been different had a process of bridge building and conversation occurred instead?  The model Paul gives us for evangelism is not based on force; it is based on bridge building.

But what about judgment? What about the end of the world? These are spiritual realities of which the Bible speaks, and we cannot overlook them because they might make us feel uncomfortable.  It is easy to dismiss Pastor Camping as some kind of nut, but that there will be a day of judgment is a spiritual truth. In today’s lesson Paul tells us plainly God has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness. Yes this is true. But this day is not something to be dreaded or feared: for God has made an incredible promise. And that promise says that God, through Jesus Christ, has done something incredible for you. If the day of judgment is something which creates anxiety in people, the question needs to be asked: Why am I afraid? There is no reason, because God has promised to forgive all repentant sinners. God has called the world to repent for a reason—so that all people would enjoy his incredible gift.

Through his life, death, and resurrection, has given you the gift of eternal life.  Through Christ you have been given all which you need. This gospel, this good news ,must be the basis of all Christian proclamation. In Mark 16:16, the resurrected Christ commands his disciples: “ Go into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.”  He says nothing about announcing doom and gloom and predicting days for the end of the world. We are called to lead with Christ’s promise, and that promise is the best news ever. That promise is embodied in baptism, the visible sign of God’s love for us.

But the reality is: being a Christian in this world is not easy. It never has been. The clearest evidence for that comes from the readings presented before us today. Those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are going to have difficulties precisely because they confess Christ. Paul did his best to build bridges with the Athenians. But as we read on past today’s lesson we hear that Paul’s message was met with mockery, that there were only three converts. But this didn’t stop Paul from proclaiming the gospel, from proclaiming the good news.  I

It is so very easy and tempting to retreat in the face of opposition and scorn—to back off. Yes, Paul models bridge-building, but about the Gospel he is uncompromising. And so we are also called to be uncompromising about the truth: for we are called to be a light to the world, not follow the world. And this involves our total being:  what we say, how we speak, how we manage our resources, what we do with our bodies. What scripture teaches us, and what the world says is the way to go is sometimes even often diametrically opposed, and we are confronted with decision. And our decision must always be for Christ.

And that’s a tough call.  It’s tough, but we  are not alone. We are not alone as we contend with the reality of sin and  temptation, and seemingly insurmountable opposition. In today’s gospel lesson Jesus assured his disciples that he would not leave them orphaned, that he would send the advocate, the Holy Spirit, the great counselor who would guide them and comfort them. Those disciples would not be alone. And we are not alone—not alone as we carry out our call to faithfulness and obedience. It is all to easy to get overly comfortable. It is tempting as a congregation to be static and inward focused, to play it safe, to settle into a nice social club mentality.  But that is not what we are called to do. We have been called to be stewards of the gospel, and effective stewardship requires courage, it requires trust. But we are not alone. God is with us—with us until the day when the world will end, when the world will be judged, and  there will no longer be any mystery about who God is. Until that day, God has promised us God’s presence. Today, we continue our celebration of Easter, of this incredible gift of the unknown God who has made himself known as the God of resurrection. Now may that peace of the God, the peace which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sermon: Easter 4, John 10:1-10

        

If you have been watching the news over the course of the last two weeks you will have noticed that a local story has been on the top of the headlines. It is a story of tragedy, it is a story of hope, it is a story of faith. You will have heard how a Penticton couple embarked upon a journey to Las Vegas, and got lost in the  wilderness. The GPS system upon which they were relying guided them into unfamiliar and dangerous territory. Their vehicle was stuck in the mud.  Al Chretien left the vehicle on a quest for help. he has not been found. His wife, Rita, remained behind, to survive only on water drawn from melted snow, and hard candies. She knew that she was lost, and realized that death was a  probability. But beneath this dreadful realization was something else—a confidence and a hope that her destiny was in the hands of God, that God’s will for her was ultimately good, that though she stuck in the middle of the valley of death, that the Good Shepherds guiding staff was there. That God had not forgotten—that she was not truly lost. Her testimony of faith is a powerful one. It is testimony to the guiding hand of the Good Shepherd, who finds and guides the lost to safety.

But what does it mean to be lost? Well, the most obvious way we can be lost, is to be physically lost. Most of us, at some point in our lives can relate to that. I remember as a young child getting lost in the shopping mall, separated from my mother, and being very scared.  anyone that’s gone hiking and has gone off trail, and even for but a moment, contemplated not finding the way out can relate to the anxiety of being lost. but what does it mean to be spiritually lost?

            I won’t presume to have a total answer to that question. But here is a thought to consider. To be spiritually lost, is to be disconnected from the true answer to the deep and fundamental question of “what is the meaning of life”. The answer to that question is not simply a matter of the intellect or the head.  It as a question which can only be answered in the heart.  If the heart answers this question with the words, “power”, “domination”, “worldly success,” “status,” “physical appearance”, “self aggrandizement “and “self-satisfication”, then it is a lost heart—lost because it is out of touch with the real answer. And the real answer is the love of God. The love of God, received and shared—the love we have been given by the Good Shepherd, the author and finisher of our salvation.

As we look at our television screens, and through the church window, it is easy to see all of the lost in the world. It is easy to do that, and shake our heads in dismay. But when we do that we must also remember that we have not been called just to see them the Good Shepherd has called us to do the work of his shepherding in this world. 

This is our mission. Our mission is to shephard the lost, so that they would also have life and have life abundantly. Christians are called to do this not just within the walls of the church building but also in the spheres of everyday life. We are called to be ambassadors of the good news—good news of the great work of the good shepherd, who has promised to transform us into the people God made us to be.

            And that’s really the bottom line, isn’t it? Being lost means not being the people God made us to be.

            It is indeed easy to see all of the lost out there in the world. But it is a reality that the state of being lost does not exist just outside of the church. Sin does not stop working in the hearts of believers. And Satan does not stop working to pull the faithful off course.

            The church has been around for roughly two thousand years, and individual members, congregations, denominations, have been wandering and straying for about as long.

            These days, there is a lot of anxiety in the western church . Declining numbers, divisive debates, and uncertainty about the future are realities which threaten the stability and health of congregations across this land. And the immediate  human response to anxiety is to generate a human answer, engineer a human solution.  But human answers to spiritual problems—and make no mistake what I just mentioned are practical realities but more significantly, they are spiritual problems—take us further into the wilderness. Anxiety generates panic, and panic leads to confusion and disorientation. Soon we will forget who we are. We need to be reminded, and there is only one who can do that. There is only one who can guide us back—and that is the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd is the only one who can still anxious minds and bring peace to troubled hearts.

            There is only one shepherd of the sheep and that is Jesus Christ.  For he is the only one through life in all its abundance is given. He is the life giver.  He is the one who truly orients us to life and what it means to live as a human being. He is the gate which opens the door to life in its fullness.

            We hear this we know this, and then, it can happen so quickly. We can start behaving like lost sheep, determined to move in the wrong direction away from the shepherd, becoming preoccupied with that patch of grass or that.  Or we can begin to listen to voices of those who are not the shepherd. We can begin to seek other gates into the heart of God. But there is only one. Christ is the one.  

          He is the one because he is real. He is the one because he is love. Indeed he is the one from whom all love flows.

         Some scholars say he has been invented by the church, that the idea of Christ evolved over history—that he moved from being the Jesus of history to the Christ of the church.  But that Jesus, the Jesus of historical-critical scholarship is not the Jesus who is Saviour. Jesus who is saviour was not created. The Jesus who is Saviour is God. He is God for us. He is God, the Good Shepherd.

And the good news is that the shepherd’s staff is long, and can lovingly reach us and bring us back into the fold, out of that anxious field. We need to trust his guidance. And his guidance has been made known to us. His will for us is not a secret. It is in plain sight.

 But like stubborn sheep human  beings so often choose not to see it.  The shepherds will for us is expressed in his Word, his Word proclaimed  verbally on Sunday. His Word proclaimed in the sacraments. His word proclaimed in the written words of scripture, in the Bible. Here in plain sight we hear the shepherd calling and speaking and guiding. This isn’t a complicated matter. But humans bring complication—complication and confusion born out of our own desire to be in charge.

 But there can be only one Shepherd, one gate, one God, one saviour. And the good news is that he loves us. Loves us so much that he suffered and died for us. His rod and staff are here, reaching us and guiding us—even in the darkest of valleys. Indeed He has done it all already, and we are called to be faithful in his work, and to follow he who has done all for us, he who has opened the gate, he who is the gate. Now may the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

JOIN US FOR HOLY WEEK

Maundy Thursday: April 21st, 7:30pm

Good Friday: April 22, 10:30am

Holy Saturday Easter Vigil, April 23: 8:00pm

Easter Sunday, April 24: Breakfast, 8:30 am, Service, 10:30am