A Thought For The Week Of August 27

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) Some would call it arrogance. It's the idea that we're so much better than anybody else that God has to love us - because we deserve it. The Bible tells us otherwise. None of us can really claim that we deserve anything - because, basically, we're all in this together. To claim to be without sin (to claim to be perfect) is essentially to set ourselves up as having no need of God, and it gives us permission to live however we like. But that's not the case. To claim perfection and sinlessness is to deny the truth of our condition, and it's to deny the real good news Jesus came to bring us - that God loves us just as we are. We don't have to earn anything. We just need to live with love to the best of our ability. Love is God's truth - and it lives in us, if we let it out. Have a great week!

A Thought For The Week Of August 20

Jesus said, "you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition." (Matthew 15:6b) In its strict context, he was speaking of people who refused to honour their father and mother by sharing gifts with them, getting out of the obligation by simply dedicating the gifts to God. But the principle is far wider than that. Far too often we allow the traditions of our religion to supplant the Word of God, or we lift our rituals to a sort of divine status in themselves. That problem is a common theme in the Bible. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the religious people used their religious obligations to exempt themselves from helping a person in desperate need. The prophets Isaiah and Amos say that God hates the show of religious piety when it become an excuse to avoid doing justice. And James says that real religion is looking after the poor and widows in distress (the most vulnerable in society) and not being polluted by the world. We need to always be careful that we don't become so religious that we blind ourselves to the desires of God. Honouring traditions is fine, but doing the will of God is priceless! Have a great week!

The UCC's "Israel-Palestine" Resolution

I am not a Commissioner to General Council. I never have been and I never want to be. That's my position right now anyway. I have to condition it with those words, because who knows what God may call me to in the future. If I feel called to become a Commissioner one day, so be it. But so far that call has not appeared in my life. I have, however, been following the debate over the resolution on Israel & Palestine more closely than I usually follow General Council debates. Usually, I just declare the General Council to be what it is in reality to the vast majority of people in the United Church - totally irrelevant, if they think of it at all. Which kind of guides me, actually, in my response to this resolution.

First, the GC obviously recognized its impotence by acknowledging that it can only "encourage" a boycott. It can't do anything else. And, as with other things the GC does, this decision to "encourage" a boycott will be largely ignored. Some will become angry; a few might choose to leave the church; nothing productive will be accomplished. I've even come across a few comments by United Church people who say they're going to START buying products from the settlements in protest of the resolution. This will be a lot of time and energy spent for little if any result.

Within Canada, it will set up walls between the United Church and many in the Jewish community, and I doubt it will have any fundamental impact on our relations with the Moslem community. Sure, some people will applaud us for standing in solidarity with the oppressed. By effectively doing nothing. It will turn out to be what a lot of atheists and humanists and secularists accuse Christians of - lots of words; no real actions. If you really feel called to be in solidarity with the Palestinians, then go to Palestine, live with them, help care for them, run the blockade; be in real solidarity with them. (I do not feel so called, but if you really do feel called - do something concrete; don't just talk about it.)

In the region itself, the resolution is pointless. Let's be honest. Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Mahmoud Abbas have been hanging on every word out of Ottawa, nor have they been losing sleep worrying about what the United Church General Council is going to decide. It's entirely likely that neither have heard of the United Church of Canada - and that neither care.

But here's the real rub; the two real reasons I've decided I oppose this resolution and that I will respond in the negative to being encouraged to do with it what it encourages me to do.

First, I don't know what all the amendments have been but I'm shocked that a part of the proposal is to withdraw calls for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. I heard commissioners saying "oh no. This was just us saying that we shouldn't set preconditions for negotiations." I agree with that interpretation. The document is quite clear about Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. But it's going to be portrayed - and, in fact, it has been portrayed by some - as the United Church saying that Israel has no right to exist. Whoever decided to put that in there was foolish. I understand the intent, and I agree that we shouldn't set preconditions for negotiations - and we can't "set" preconditions for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians anyway, since we're not part of the negotiations. Any resolution on this issue is simply a matter of principle. As a matter of principle, the Palestinians should recognize Israel as a Jewish state. That should be gone from the resolution.

Second, as for the "boycott?" Here's the problem. I don't remember the last time I bought a product that was marked "Made in Israel" or "Product of Israel." There are likely some things - but most of us have no clue that what we're purchasing comes from Israel anyway. Here's a partial list of settlement-produced products:

http://meretzusa.org/boycott-these-settlement-products-sold-us

I recognize General Mills, which apparently has some of its Pillsbury products produced in settlements (if this list is accurate.) Otherwise? I don't recognize any of them. And here's another problem: anything bought that's produced in a settlement is not going to bear a label that says "Made in an Illegal Israeli Settlement." It's going to say "Made in Israel." The only way to really effectively boycott products produced on settlements is to boycott anything made in Israel. So, like it or not, and even if the intent is the Israeli settlements, the "boycott" will only be effective if those who want to abide by it avoid anything made in Israel. So, regardless of what we're being specifically "encouraged" to do - this is a de facto boycott of all Israeli products. Because who knows? It's kind of like "fencing the law." You know. You have the Commandments. Then to avoid breaking the Commandments, you set up more rules to make sure that you don't break the Commandments. Then you set up more rules to make sure that you don't break the rules that will make sure that you don't break the Commandments. And so on and so forth.

It's a ridiculous resolution. It's based on the idea that we have sufficient clout to actually have a right to intervene in a complicated matter of international diplomacy - and that such intervention is what we're about as the church. The very idea that the church has such a role is a vestige of a rapidly crumbling christendom - and frankly Christianity will be better off when christendom (with all the corrupting entanglements it gives the church with the world) is gone for good. The resolution  should be defeated. But if it passes, it will be simply for the purpose of being able to puff ourselves up and say, "look at us. We did something." Even though the "something" is effectively nothing. What a waste of time and energy.

A Thought For The Week Of August 13

"I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'” (Lamentations 3:24) "The Lord is my portion" goes all the way back to the Levites in the Book of Numbers. Unlike the rest of the tribes of Israel, they weren't given any land - but they were given the Lord; the special responsibility to be the priests of the nation. Having the Lord as their portion was better than anything else they could have been given. In Lamentations, the idea is a little bit different, though. Lamentations was written as a lament over the destroyed city of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple. Jerusalem and the Temple were central to the identity of God's people. To see them in such a state was pitiful, and left the people wondering whether they should even bother going on. With so much that had been central to their understanding of themselves as a people and to their very faith now gone, did the future hold anything except increasing bleakness. There are a lot of laments in the church today. A lot of what had been seems to have been taken away, and the future is a question mark in many ways. What does it hold? For us as Christians? For the church as a whole? Sometimes it seems pretty bleak. And then I find hope - in a book called "Lamentations!" The Lord is our portion! God is still with us! Even if what we had is taken away, and even if we're given nothing back in return - the Lord is our portion! God is still with us! There's no reason to despair. Whatever causes you to lament - do so. Lamentation is like grief - sometimes it's necessary, but we should never get lost in it or trapped by it. The Lord is our portion. We should wait on God. Somehow grief is turned to joy and lament becomes celebration. Somewhow we make it through the wilderness and our exile - and we find the joy of the Kingdom! Never fear. The Lord is with you. Wait for him. Have a great week!

August 12, 2012 Sermon: The Works # 5: Prophetic Patience

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:7-11)

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     “You have heard of Job’s perseverance …,”  said James, as he heads for the home stretch; the final part of his letter to Christians struggling with - well - how to be Christians. It was, after all, tough going for those to whom James was writing. They were in some cases being persecuted; they were widely despised; they had been kicked out of the synagogues and cut off from the people among whom they had grown up. They needed examples of people who had persevered and overcome. 

     Most of us at some point along the way have probably known someone who has what we call “the patience of Job.” James uses the word “perseverance,” but the two things are intimately connected, if only because of Job’s circumstances. To talk about the “patience of Job” is to use one of those phrases that’s entered our lingo from the Bible, and the reality is that many in our society probably have no idea what it refers to. Job’s story, of course (for those who know it) is a tragic one. His possessions were taken away; his health was afflicted; his family was killed. Everything that mattered to Job disappeared. The Bible portrays this as a test of his faith. We’ve probably all experienced these “tests” from time to time; the circumstances that come to us suddenly and unexpectedly and through no fault of our own and that leave us shaken and bewildered, not quite sure how to proceed, not quite sure if we’re going to make it through. Any one of the things Job suffered would be enough to make most people question God. Job questioned God; Job became angry with God; Job felt that life was unfair because he had done nothing to deserve such calamities. But the phrase “the patience of Job” comes from the fact that, while shaken, Job’s basic faith in both God and God’s goodness remained. Job may have been angry with God, but he believed that God would somehow see him through and set him back on his feet. Job would have understood what James meant with the words, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Job recovered. He regained possessions, health and family. The story of Job is perhaps a bit naive in attributing this to God directly, but certainly Job’s faith in God gave him strength to continue in the face of his hardships. He could have given up, but he believed God had a plan and purpose for him. His perseverance resulted in restoration. We have all from time to time been faced with the need to persevere. We have all faced times of loss - whether of possessions, health or life - and the fact that we’re here today means that God has seen us through those times. We have all from time to time demonstrated the “patience of Job.”

     But James has another example for us to consider. He wants us to think not only of Job as he struggled through personal turmoil, but also the example of the prophets. “... as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” James sees the prophets as an example for us, and since we’re supposed to live up to the standards of those who are our examples, then we are called to live up to those standards, and to live with what might be called “prophetic patience.” One might ask, why did the prophets need patience? There were two basic reasons.

     The first is that the prophets often faced hardships not unlike those that had been faced by Job. The prophets had to give up a lot to respond to their call to be prophets. The people doubted them, mocked them, ridiculed them, opposed them, attacked them and even killed them. To persevere through such trials requires patience. In the same way, try speaking prophetically today. To speak prophetically means to speak for God to the world. It’s a tough calling. It gets us involved in all sorts of things that a lot of people don’t think the church has any business being a part of - especially that ugly “politics.” And yet, the church has the responsibility to speak to the issues and social conditions of the day; to put them under the microscope of faith, so to speak; to interpret and analyze the world according to our understanding of God. Our theology; our understanding of God; our faith - these are the lenses by which we see and understand the world around us, and when we see the world around us lacking, we’re called to stand up and be counted, sometimes bringing us into disagreement with the powers that be - which, inherently, is political. Our own United Church tries hard to speak prophetically. I’m not convinced that we always get it right; but I’m happy that at least we try. But even trying to interpret the world through the lens of faith is controversial and brings us into conflict not just with the secular world but even with other people of faith who don’t agree with us. Prophetic patience means that having discerned God’s will, we persevere in proclaiming it even when everyone around us seems to disagree.

     The prophets had a second problem. Usually, the things they prophesied didn’t happen. People might listen for a while, and like their words, but when change didn’t happen (or when it didn’t happen as quickly as people wanted) they were abandoned. The biblical prophets weren’t generally widely accepted as prophets by their contemporaries. Their views were so out of the ordinary that it took a lot of years (and in some cases centuries) for their words to be accepted as having been inspired by God. To speak as a prophet is not to predict the future, or, at the very least, it’s not to predict the near future. To speak as a prophet is to hold up a vision of the world and of society as God wants it to be, with no guarantee that the prophet is ever going to see the world or society that he or she prophesies. Some of the most beautiful prophetic words we’ll ever hear were written almost 3000 years ago by Isaiah, but 3000 years later do we see the lion laying down with the lamb? 3000 years later do we see nations beating swords into pruning hooks? Or, to put it in contemporary terms, do we see Christians and Jews and Moslems treating each other with love and respect? Do we see nations giving up their weapons and using the money instead to provide food for the hungry? No, we don’t. But does the fact that we don’t see it mean that as a church we should stop proclaiming it as God’s desire? Of course not. Holding up a vision of a better future (and doing what we can to try to make it happen, if only within our own community) is a noble and godly calling. But how frustrating is it when we don’t see it come true? How much patience does it require to keep prophesying even though we never see the prophecy come to fruition?

     As hard as it may be, we are called to be “patient” in the midst of morally outrageous conditions, in which the poor keep getting poorer, the weak keep getting weaker, the oppressed are subjected to even greater oppression. Things don’t seem to be getting any better. James basically says two things: don’t fight to get what the world has and to become like the world because that says that we believe that what the world has is right and proper, but also don’t give up hope that things can change, because if we give up and abandon what we believe to be God’s will in deference to the powers lined up against us then we give all power to a world that we know isn’t right and proper. We are to neither attack the world nor give in to the world. We are to be prophetically patient - to hold up and advocate for a vision of an alternative society based on God’s desires for His people.

     Being patient does not mean being passive. James says “Be patient, then, ... until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.” In other words, while we have to wait on God to bring all things to completion (“until the Lord comes”) and our patience is rewarded by each step toward that goal. Each act of love, each example of kindness, each time foes become friends is a sign of that goal coming closer - and since we can help those things happen (and can perhaps even do some of those things ourselves) we are not called to be passive but to be patient: to toil and to work even though we may not fully succeed, because we believe in the vision of a better world that God holds before us.

Capital Punishment And The Gospel

The death penalty. The ultimate penalty. To me it cuts to the core. Yesterday, I read of a man who was executed in the State of Texas for murdering a police drug informant. Obviously, his crime is indefensible. Why? Because killing is indefensible (perhaps allowing for exceptional circumstances, such as killing to save the life of someone else.) The man had an IQ of 61. That alone was enough to get me thinking.

I have always had a hard time with capital punishment. I came to faith as an adult, and when I told my first pastor that I was opposed to capital punishment, he asked me why. I told him that it was because mistakes couldn't be reversed; that an innocent man executed could not be given his life back. Because I was concerned about the possible execution of the innocent, I was accused by my then pastor of being a "humanist." If concern about the possibility of innocent people being executed is "humanistic" then so be it, with great respect to my former pastor. That may be a humanist or secular perspective in that it doesn't really grapple with either God or gospel on the issue. Now, I myself am a pastor, sometimes called to give advice to people who are grappling with big issues of morality and faith. Almost 30 years after that conversation, and in the light of the Texas execution, let me now grapple with God and gospel on the issue of capital punishment. What is sacred? Is anything sacred? Is life sacred? And if life is sacred, is that all life, or do those who take life have the sacredness of their lives taken away, so that we have the right to take that life in return? And where and how does the cycle end? What does the Gospel have to say about any of this?

As far as I know, there is only one instance of Jesus specifically dealing with a person who was guilty of what - according to the law - was a capital offense. It's the story of the woman caught in adultery, as related in John 8. (Before you think it, yes, I know some people feel that this passage isn't "original," and that it was a later add on. That really doesn't matter. The Scriptures are the Scriptures; the story is there; it must be addressed and it is foundational to Christian faith because of its status as Scripture.)

According to the Law of Moses, adultery was a capital offense. The punishment was to be stoned to death. What happens in this story fascinates me and guides me on this subject. The mob is chasing the woman, ready to stone her; ready to execute her in compliance with the law. Jesus appears. He does not condemn the mob or the mob's judgment of the woman. Indeed, he seems to agree with the mob. The woman is guilty of a capital offense, and according to the law she deserves to die. Jesus does not argue that point. Indeed, he invites the mob to execute her. He makes an open invitation for an executioner - "whichever of you is without sin, cast the first stone." And the mob, cut to the core by his words, melts away. None were worthy of taking the woman's life, guilty though she was and as deserving of death as she was according to the Law.

The irony is that the only one present who was worthy to take her life refused to do so. That was Jesus. "Your sins are forgiven. Now go and sin no more." He had no guarantee that the woman would sin no more. But even Jesus - the only one who could have executed her based on the standards he established - said "no."

Let me anticipate an objection. Some will undoubtedly say "wait a minute. That was adultery; capital punishment now is (or would be) for murder." On the one hand, that's true. On the other, I don't see that it's relevant. All that's relevant is that adultery was a capital offense in Jesus' day. The fact that it isn't taken that seriously now doesn't change the fact that it was taken that seriously in Jesus' day. All that matters is that Jesus is dealing with a woman accused and apparently "convicted" (because - again - Jesus doesn't seem to disagree with those who believe the woman should be executed) of a capital offense. By the standards of that day she was guilty of a crime heinous enough to carry the most extreme punishment imaginable - the forfeiture of her own life. Jesus' actions here are totally relevant to the issue of capital punishment today.

As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing in the New Testament - not even Romans 13:4 - that justifies breaking this example set by Jesus. The state may - and, according to Paul, must - punish. But no one - not you, not me, not the state, not anyone else - has the right to kill. "Whichever of you is without sin, cast the first stone." I know of no one - no person, no government, no state-sanctioned executioner - who qualifies to take the life even of those who are guilty according to that standard. I am opposed absolutely and totally and without any doubt or hesitation in my mind to capital punishment. It is an abhorrent repudiation of the example of Jesus, however you cut it. To argue otherwise is to ignore the clear witness of the gospel; the only example we have of Jesus dealing with such a matter.

So, to those who support capital punishment, I simply say - if you're a Christian, please don't do it with reference to God, to Jesus or to Scripture. Such a position would be untenable.

A Thought For The Week Of August 6

"For, 'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall ...'" This helps us keep life in perspective, doesn't it. After the drought we've experienced around my part of the world this summer, neither the grass nor the flowers are looking very healthy. Spiritual drought does the same thing to our lives. If we fail to maintain and continually build our relationship with God, we also wither and fade spiritually, just as surely as we know grass and flowers wither and fade without water, and just as surely as we know we're going to do physically. We can't do anything about the relative shortness of our lives on this earth, but we can nurture our relationship with God and keep our spirits alive and vibrant. Prayer, Scripture reading & reflection, meditation, good works that keep us focused on the needs of those around us - these are the things that nourish and nurture our spirits. Our bodies may wither and fade over time; our spirits never need to do that. Stay in tune with God, and keep on living! Have a great week!

August 5, 2012 sermon: The Works # 4: What Good Can We Do Today?

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:13-17)

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    How many of us keep putting things off, and putting them them off, and putting them off some more, sometimes until we reach the point at which there’s no point doing them anymore? It’s called procrastination, and the truth of the matter is that I do it as well as anyone! When I first began to feel called into the ministry, I put my response off and off, almost as if I was hoping that by the time I did anything about it, it would be too late. I finally managed to find my way to Emmanuel College to ask about registering for courses, only to be told by the Registrar that I was two weeks late to meet the deadline. But then she pulled some papers out of her drawer and handed them to me and said, “but if you get these filled out and back to us within a week I think we can squeeze you in.” Which says either that she had discerned the same call to the ministry in me that I had, or that Emmanuel College was really desperate for some tuition money that year! I did the same thing three years ago when I applied to do my doctoral degree. The deadline for applications was February 1. I put off sending my application to Chicago until January 31. I did send it by Express Mail, but it’s almost as if I was hoping it wouldn’t arrive on time. It did. But I see a pattern emerging from those two experiences. In both cases I was doing something that I felt called by God to do, and in both cases I put it off as long as I could, almost hoping to avoid God’s will. I wonder how many others do that? After all, the things that God calls us to usually involve some degree of challenge, and the magazine Psychology Today says that “everyone procrastinates sometimes, but 20 percent of people chronically avoid difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions - which, unfortunately, are increasingly available.”

    The modern world is a procrastinators’ paradise. If there’s nothing specific happening in your life at any given  moment that you can waste time with, but there’s still something calling you that you want to avoid doing, just find the nearest computer, or iphone, or ipad. You’ll have access to an entire planet’s worth of distractions to occupy yourself with. Rest assured, somewhere on the World Wide Web there will be something that you’ll be able to waste time with - to avoid doing those things that you really just don’t want to do. After all, a little bit of Farmville never hurt anyone, did it? Psychology Today went on to say that “procrastination in large part reflects our perennial struggle with self-control …” We can’t control ourselves against the countless temptations that come our way every day. Instead, it’s far too easy for us to succumb to them, so that we can avoid those important things that we know have to be done, but that we also know we don’t really want to do.

    In today’s Scripture passage, James is sharing his thoughts on a number of issues, that eventually all lead up to the same thing: we procrastinate, and we especially procrastinate over doing the things that we know God wants us to do. We’re pretty good at making sure we do those things that we want to do, we’re less good at making sure that we do the things that we need to do, and we have huge problems doing the things that God wants us to do!

    In today’s passage, James deals with priorities: “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” I find it interesting that the focus of the hypothetical person speaking here is on “making money” - that seems to be their priority. It’s what they want to do. And because it’s something they want to do, they have a time limited plan for accomplishing this goal. It’s going to happen “today or tomorrow,” or, as Eugene Peterson translates v.13 in The Message: “And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today - at the latest, tomorrow - we're off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” I have no objection to entrepeneurship! But the focus of this hypothetical man is all wrong; his priorities are entirely misplaced. All other things (including, apparently, any plan for doing something of benefit to others) can wait  but that which is for our own benefit usually gets the priority. I wonder how many things this man needed to do are getting left behind in his pursuit of the things he wants? In today’s world how many people leave their family behind in the pursuit of the things they want until they realize to their own dismay that the things that were really important have been lost in the midst of the pursuit? How many people today can’t be bothered trying to discern what God wants of them because they have their own plans, only to discover later that doing what God wanted would have brought them much more happiness and satisfaction than the course they chose? I wonder. Priorities can get so easily mixed up in the whirlwind of a society that we live in, where we’re taught that we should simply be fulfilling our desires, making our fantasies reality, and often expecting others to pay for our desires and fantasies in one way or another.

    James seems to believe that our focus should be on the truly important things - the things that might help others rather than just the things that are going to be of benefit (primarily) to us. The nerve of him getting in the way of our desire for self-satisfaction and self-gratification! We should focus on the bigger things (we should focus on making sure that our works make a difference not only to us but to a wider constituency) simply because life is an uncertain thing: we have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. Let’s face it - life comes and goes very quickly. In a cosmic sense, even the oldest person we can imagine lives for only a moment, and so we have a very, very finite amount of time to make a positive difference in the world. When James writes “you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes ,“ it’s important to understand what he means. This is a problematic verse for some people. It can be misunderstood as James suggesting that our lives aren’t important, but in fact, James is saying quite the opposite - our lives are very important because we have the chance to make a positive difference, and the fact that we’re here for only a short time means that we have to do as much as we can of real importance to make that positive difference while we have the chance.

    To make that positive difference, we need to realize that our focus needs to be on God’s will. To focus on what we want or on what we have planned is arrogant. When James writes, “you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that,” he’s basically writing to those who could be called “functional atheists” - people who profess belief in God but don’t even think about what God wants from them, so caught up are they in their own ambitions, or so certain are they that their desires for themselves are God’s desires for them. They take no time to discern the will of God, instead focussing on achieving their will.

    In an increasingly difficult time for the church in general, this principle works as well. All too often we seem to come to the conclusion that we’re going to save the church with our own plans and ideas, whatever they are: with new programming, with innovative worship styles, with contemporary music, with meaningful mission projects, with thoughtful stewardship campaigns to raise more money, by cutting the budget to spend less money, etc., etc. Before we choose to do any of those things we need to ask ourselves this question: “Why are we doing this? Is it to save the church, to bring more people into the church, or to do more effective ministry?” The only faithful answer is the third. The reality is that we need to focus not on our plans for saving the church but on God’s plan for using the church, because we can’t save the church - only God can do that. After all, whether we live or not, whether we succeed or not - that all in, as James says, “the Lord’s will.” We’re just God’s servants. We have free will, but we’re not free agents. Ultimately we’re responsible to God for how we live, for what we do and for how we use the resources we’ve been given.

    So, whether as individuals or as a church, we need to commit ourselves to God’s will, and even more important, to not procrastinating over doing the good that God calls us to do. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”  We need to find something good to do - and we need to find it today! Sins of omission (the sins we commit by not doing the right thing) are just as serious as sins of commission (the sins we commit by doing the wrong thing.) I’ve mentioned before that I’m a great admirer of former South African President Nelson Mandela. On the website mandeladay.org there’s a very do-able list of “67 Ways To Change The World.” Most of them are pretty simple, and a lot of them we can do right here in Port Colborne. The point is that there is a lot of good to be done. So why put it off until tomorrow when we could do that good today?