Monday 28 September 2015

A Thought For The Week Of September 28, 2015

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'" (Matthew 25:34) How do we balance what I call the ethical imperative of the Christian faith with the message that the gospel (and salvation) are about grace and not works - that the favour of God is not earned, but is given freely in other words? In many ways that's a tough balancing act. This verse and its wider context points out the conundrum. For example, who is it who are declared here to be blessed by God and on what basis does that divine blessing come? In the wider parable Jesus seems to be linking our ethics - how we live and how we treat people (what we DO in other words) - with our eternal destiny, on the basis that what we're doing for those in need we're really doing for Jesus. I understand the point. These things that Jesus is asking us to do are the sign of our faith, so in some way they have to be present. But in this parable these acts seem to be more than just a result of our faith - they're the centrepiece of why we're saved. Jesus went on immediately in the following verses to make that point. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat ..." etc. etc. "For" is a huge word here. It seems to establish a cause and effect relationship . The Kingdom has been prepared for us because we do these things. They can't be separated from faith. I understand that. They're an integral part of faith - but I do find it curious and instructive that in this parable at least it's the "doing" rather than the "believing" that seems to be the key to our eternal destinies. I still believe in grace, and I still believe that we can't earn our salvation. But as time goes by I do become more and more convinced that it's wrong to make a profession faith the only thing asked for by God, or even the key to what God desires. God expects us to put faith into action in the service of others. The works we do are not an addendum to our faith; they are an integral part of our faith.

Sunday 27 September 2015

September 27, 2015 sermon: Four Great Reasons To Pray

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
(James 5:13-18)

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     I thought it was interesting that James ended this passage with a story about the great prophet Elijah. Elijah is considered the greatest of the Jewish prophets but we Christians have a tendency to overlook him. At most he gets referred to during Advent when he’s described as the forerunner to John the Baptist, who came preaching repentance and preparing the way for Jesus. But Elijah was far more than that. He was a great prophet, one who spoke with kings and one who spoke for God. The story that James refers to takes place in 1 Kings 17 and 18, and it's a great example of effective and persistent prayer. By way of summary, Elijah spoke to Ahab, the King of Israel, and told him what God had revealed to him: that no rain would fall on the land. God had decided to judge Israel because of all the idolatry that the people were practising. Over the course of two chapters, God then uses Elijah to bring Israel back to faith, and so eventually Elijah prays for the drought to be ended and for rain to come - which it did. One thing we learn from that story is that we should only pray for those things that we believe God will or at least can  do. In 1 Kings 18:1 we're told that God had told Elijah that rain would come and so Elijah prayed persistently for it because his prayer was based on what he believed God would be able to do; his prayer was an act of faith in God. Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel to pray for rain, and as he did he told his servant to look toward the sea for any sign of rain. So Elijah wasn't just praying, he was actually looking for results. Sometimes prayer becomes a rote activity; an act of habit rather than an act of faith. But Elijah expected something to happen in response to his prayer. I think that's probably why James concluded this little passage about prayer with the story of Elijah. James understood that to pray without the faith that prayer will have some sort of impact is rather pointless. It can be hard to remain faithful in prayer. Several times Elijah's servant, who had been instructed to watch for rain, came back to say that there was no sign of rain. Sometimes it's like that for all of us: we pray but it seems as if nothing is happening. When we pray, it's important not to get discouraged but to pray faithfully and patiently, with the belief that God is hearing us. James in our passage identified four circumstances in which he encouraged God’s people to pray. Each one of those circumstances contains within it its own unique challenges that can make it difficult for us to remain faithful and persistent in prayer.

     The first may be the most obvious: we are to pray when we’re in trouble. James doesn’t define exactly what type of trouble he’s talking about. I suppose the possibilities are almost endless, aren’t they. Trouble can follow us around. Some of the troubles may be big; some may be small - but that’s usually an outside perception. When you’re the one dealing with trouble, whatever the trouble is, then to you it’s big trouble. You might be waking up in the morning thinking, “Uh oh. I didn’t get my homework done. The teacher’s going to be mad.” Or you might be facing a day when you know announcements are going to be made that might affect your job. Maybe it’s your first day of unemployment and you don’t know what to do. Perhaps your marriage is breaking up or you can’t afford your mortgage. There are all sorts of possibilities. You could be Joe Girardi, watching helplessly as the Blue Jays soared past you into first place, or you could be a Christian in Syria waking up to another day of potential persecution. Little things, big things, foolish things or unimaginable (to us) things. Troubles are troubles. In any and all situations of trouble, whatever they may be, whether they’re big or small, the promise of God’s word, according to Psalm 46, is that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.” Praying in times of trouble is always a good idea.

     The second circumstance in which James tells us that we should pray is perhaps a little less obvious: he tell us that we should pray when we’re happy. I think we all get the concept of praying when we’re facing trouble. But happiness can be a spiritual problem; a spiritual block. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Patch Adams,” you might remember the scene when Patch (then a medical student played by Robin Williams) was on the verge of being kicked out of medical school, with one of the reasons given being “excessive happiness.” Happiness can be a problem, and it can even make people suspicious. We are called to be joyful - but that’s a state of being rather than a state of mind. Happiness is a state of mind. It’s an emotion largely based on our current circumstances being good, and happiness can easily disappear when things turn not so good. Sometimes happiness can be a bit of false bravado; a cover for how we’re really feeling at any given time. Sometimes happiness can be something that makes us forget about God. If happiness is caused by good things happening in our lives, then it’s easy for us to forget about our need for God, and we start to let that relationship slip. God becomes “useful” to us, so to speak, when things are bad, but is easily cast away when things are good. Richard Nixon had many flaws, but he was both intelligent and perceptive, and as he once wrote, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” Praying when we’re happy helps us build that relationship with God, and it makes God an ever-present reality in our lives; a constant companion through all of life rather than a cosmic therapist we approach only when we need help. Praying when we’re happy is always a good idea.

     The third circumstance James tells us to pray in takes us back to the obvious: we should pray when we’re sick - or, when someone we know and love is sick. I suspect those kinds of prayers probably constitute the bulk of the prayers we offer. Healing prayers, prayers for recovery, prayers for those in the hospital, prayers for those who are dying, prayers for those who are in pain. All these are good and valid reasons to pray. The Bible is full of stories of healings and prayers for healing. When John the Baptist had some doubts and sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was, in fact, the Messiah, Jesus’ response was: “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” Most of that is about healing of one kind or another. Jesus was about healing rather than judgment; he was about making people well rather than making them feel guilty. To continue that ministry, we pray for those who are sick - for ourselves when we’re sick; for others when they’re sick. Praying when we’re sick or when those around us are sick is always a good idea.

     Finally, the fourth circumstance James tells us to pray in takes us to the uncomfortable: we should pray when we’re sinning, or, when we’re tempted by sin. It’s a subject people don’t like to talk about very much. Sin gets short shrift in the church today, I think because over the years we’ve cast a very broad net when it comes to what is and isn’t sin, and dealing with sinfulness has become more about exerting control over people’s lives than offering them healing and wholeness. I don’t need to tell people what their sins are or to make judgments about what sin is or is not. Suffice to say that sin is that which we do which God does not approve of. And God gives us conscience to know when we’re about to take such a step and freedom of choice to proceed or not. Ultimately, we are called to love God and to love our neighbours. That was the law as defined by Jesus. We are called to act accordingly and as long as what we’re doing isn’t unloving toward either God or neighbour then I have no quibble with it. But, when we’ve not listened to our conscience and we’ve fallen into the pit, so to speak, or when we start to feel that fight going on inside - “I know I shouldn’t do this, but …” that, we should know, is the time to turn to God in prayer. We pray against temptation, we pray for forgiveness when we’ve given into temptation and we pray for grace to cover us. Praying when we’re sinning - or being tempted to sin - is always a good idea.

     Prayer is hard work. We don’t always get immediate results, and ongoing prayer that doesn’t seem to be answered can be challenging, frustrating and disappointing. As someone once said, “God give me patience - and give it to me now!” But sometimes we have to be persistent in prayer. Jesus’ parable, which we heard earlier, is a classic example of the value of being persistent in prayer. It’s a parable, and so not to be taken literally, but it’s one of my favourites, as Jesus essentially tells people to keep praying, because if you keep bugging God long enough, God might give in just to get you off his back! As I said, we’re not supposed to take that literally. God always welcomes our prayers, and I suspect that God welcomes as many prayers as we want to offer. You can’t read Jesus’ parables and the images he uses in them without realizing that he had a wonderful sense of humour, and here Jesus’ point - made in a typically humourous way - was that you have to be prepared to keep praying and praying and praying. Just like Elijah did, just as James is telling us to do here. In good times or bad times, in troubled times or in happy times, in rain or in sunshine, in sickness or in sin - pray. And - keep praying.

Friday 25 September 2015

Politics, Ideology And The Pope's Visit To The United States

I'm not Roman Catholic, but I confess to a certain admiration for Pope Francis. He's taken some cautious steps toward reform in the Catholic Church. Not enough to satisfy the church's critics, but enough that the more traditional factions in the church are uncomfortable with him. It's a delicate balancing act for him and I think he deserves credit. What I particularly appreciate about him is that he seems quite willing to put people above pomp, above tradition, above ecclesiastical rules and regulations. He sees people as people and he wants the church to be about people. I can appreciate that.

I'm aware that he's been criticized by some for his remarks to the United States Congress yesterday, particularly as his remarks touched upon issues of economics. He was dismissed by one Roman Catholic commentator, who said that since he's not an economist he shouldn't be talking about economics. As if all our world leaders who talk about economics are economists. The point isn't that some think he shouldn't talk about economics because he's not an economist; it's that some think he shouldn't talk about economists because they don't agree with him. That reminded me of a comment by former US Senator Rick Santorum, a Catholic who said that the Pope shouldn't talk about climate change because he's not a scientist, when what he really meant was that the Pope shouldn't talk about climate change because he disagrees with Rick Santorum. And, if you're Roman Catholic, then obviously disagreeing with the Pope creates an understandable tension in your life - throwing wide for all to see the disparity that often exists between faith and politics, when in fact if you're a person of faith, your faith should inform your politics (whether on the issues of economics or the environment or anything else) and not be put aside in a separate compartment to be taken out only on Sunday mornings so that you can look pious but otherwise be unmoved.

It's not only a problem for those on the right wing, and the problem isn't really political; it's spiritual. It has to do with the principalities and powers. The principalities and powers aren't little demons floating around us. They're all the various systems and structures in the world around us that seek to make us serve them rather than God; that seek our worship, in a sense. Two very powerful ones are capitalism and socialism. We can easily start to equate those economic systems with faith - so that a good Christian has to be a capitalist, or a good Christian has to be a socialist. We miss the point. We may choose to be either a capitalist or a socialist. If we live in a democracy, we have to make a choice between competing ideological systems (or we have to decide, as some Christians do, that democracy itself is simply incompatible with living as a Christian and so we drop out and disengage. That's a position I don't advocate.) Assuming we participate, we ultimately have to make a choice between ideological systems. That's what voting is about. But we should never mistake the system we choose to support for our faith; and we should never start to think that our faith forces us to choose a particular ideological system.

Jesus was not about systems or ideologies. Jesus was about people. Let's not forget that. I think the Pope is reminding us of that. Jesus was about people, therefore Christians should be about people; therefore the church should be about people. If there's an ethical and faithful way to approach questions of politics and economics, it should surely be based on the example of Jesus. As I read the story of his life and ministry, what I see is Jesus choosing to offer the most help to the most people, and especially to those with the most needs. That should be our guiding principle in all things - including our political choices. I don't think any ideological system can do that perfectly, and many ideological systems can do that partially, so from the perspective of politics, Christians can fall on a wide range of the spectrum. But, ultimately, we cannot devote ourselves to serve an ideological system. Ideological systems are simply among the principalities and powers that seek to draw us away from God. We need to turn toward God. We need to cling to God. We serve God. And that means we serve people. We shouldn't forget that.

Again - I think that Pope Francis is reminding us of that. Even as Protestants - it wouldn't hurt us to listen to the Pope every now and then.

Monday 21 September 2015

A Thought For The Week Of September 21, 2015

"Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21) If nothing else, this verse reminds us of a fact that I think a lot of people need to learn - it's not all about us! All of us have plans and hopes and dreams. That's natural. Most of those plans and hopes and dreams are self-centred, focussed on what "I" want. That's natural too. I don't make it as a general criticism, just as a general comment. We want what we want. That's life, and that's normal. And while this verse speaks of God's will prevailing, it doesn't tell us that God frustrates our plans or substitutes his plans for ours - only that ultimately God's will prevails. Many people speak of God's will as if literally everything that happens is something that God has decided upon. Even the most disturbing and heinous things are sometimes justified as "it was God's will." I've always thought that to be a ridiculous notion, if only because it would make God the cause of evil as well as good. Last week, a two year old girl was murdered in Alberta. That was not God's will. That was the result of ungodly evil. The reality is that humans continue to have the ability and the freedom to choose a path that's not consistent with what God desires from us, and that is sometimes the very epitome of evil. But I do believe, as this verse says, that ultimately the Lord's purpose will prevail. Not necessarily in the everyday details, but in the broader picture. I do believe that there's a divine plan being worked out, I believe that divine plan will come to fruition, and I believe that divine plan is always for good. In our own hesitant, uncertain and faltering ways, people of faith can further the plan of God. We do that by living lives of love rather than judgement. We do that by sacrificing our own personal desires for the greater good. We do that by making choices that do the most good for the most people, and especially for those with the most need. We may, indeed, have many plans in our hearts, but it is God's plan that ultimately will prevail. By trying our best to align ourselves with God's will, we have the privilege of participating in the working out of God's plan for humanity and for all creation.

Sunday 20 September 2015

September 20, 2015 sermon - Evergreen Lives

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
(Psalm 1:1-6)

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     This past spring was a bit of a nightmare for the Davis family, with the nightmare revolving largely around house hunting. At the best of times, as many of you know, house hunting is not fun. These are not the best of times to be house hunting in the GTA. From March through May we scoured the area over a number of visits. We spent countless hours looking at real estate listings. We exchanged email after email and phone call after phone call with our real estate agent. Things were looking pretty bleak. Our home in Port Colborne had sold after only a few days on the market, and homelessness was beginning to look like a real possibility! I was wondering if I should ask about pitching a tent somewhere on church property! The reality is that we were simply priced out of the market. After looking from Pickering to Port Hope, we finally decided that anything in south Durham was just beyond our ability to pay, and we decided we’d have to start looking to the north. Finally, we found a house. As most of you know it’s in Beaverton. A quiet little town that, for me, makes a kind of a nice contrast to the busy-ness of Ajax. A bit more of a commute than we had anticipated, but on the other hand I haven’t seen a single traffic jam heading north, and I probably wouldn’t be saying that if I had been making an east-west commute. Some are concerned about winter driving. Folks, I’ve lived in Central Newfoundland and Northern Ontario - and even Niagara is known to have its fair share of wicked winter weather. That doesn’t frighten me. So it worked out pretty well. And what I especially love about the house we bought was the land that it came with. Anything in this area even remotely close to our budget came with a backyard the size of a postage stamp. In Beaverton we have an acre and a half; a backyard filled with trees. That’s what I love the most about it: the trees.

     At the back of our backyard we have two tall pine trees. They reach up far into the sky. Although the driving may not frighten me, like most Canadians I still look forward to the coming of winter as much as I would look forward to a tooth being pulled, I’m nevertheless looking forward to those pine trees during the winter. While everything else looks drab and dreary those two pines will still be standing tall and proud, reaching to the heavens, green and beautiful. Now, that’s nature. And evergreens can live seemingly forever! There’s a bristlecomb pine in the White Mountains of California that’s estimated to be over 5000 years old. It’s the oldest living organism in the world that we know of. That makes Methusaleh seem like a kid! That must come from from God! The Elder Amphilochios (a priest who was the head of the Greek Orthodox Annunciation monastery on the Island of Patmos - the island on which the Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation) once wrote that “whoever does not love trees does not love God.” There’s a lot of truth to that. Trees have a lot to teach us about God, and about the life God has given us.

     This morning, we read Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is in some ways a strange psalm for Christians. It’s a celebration of God’s law, and of course we think of ourselves as a people under grace. What would this psalm possibly have to say to us? Well, it may be a celebration of  God’s law, but it also strikes me as a celebration of God’s love, and very definitely as a celebration of God’s grace. What I find here is not a dour command combined with a threat to obey God or else. What I find here is an invitation to be delighted by God’s law, to meditate on it, to reflect upon it. To reflect upon God’s law is to reflect upon God himself; it is to invite God ever deeper into your heart and into your soul. God’s law, God’s words and God’s ways are the things that lead us to abundant life - the kind of life Jesus wanted his disciples to have. Understood as Jesus understood it, God’s law is the seed, in a sense, that doesn’t trap us in meaningless legalistic observances but that rather sets us free to be what God wants us to be; to become what God wants us to become. That’s how Jesus saw the law - not as a static unchanging taskmaster, but as a call to grace and love. That’s how Jesus summed the law up - “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.”

     Psalm 1 is an invitation to reflect and meditate upon God’s law; to be challenged by it, and to be changed by it; to grow strong in faith and commitment because of it. Those who delight in and meditate upon the law of the Lord, Psalm 1 says, “... are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.” I might want to suggest that those who delight in and meditate upon the law of the Lord are like the mighty evergreen that stands firm and unyielding against the often inhospitable Canadian winter but that does not wither and that does not fall, but that stands proud through blinding snowstorms and freezing temperatures - a bit of green in the midst of the white and grey around it; a sign of life at a time of year when life seems tenuous and uncertain.

     Is that not what God’s people are called to be? Is that not the call of Christians today? To be a sign of vibrant and abundant life to those around us, many of whom for one reason or another seem lost, fearful, uncertain? Many of whom feel outcast, rejected, forgotten? Are we as Christ’s people not to be the ones who stand in a world that for many is often inhospitable and unwelcoming and even frightening and who proclaim that in God and in Jesus there is a welcome; in God and in Jesus there is acceptance; in God and in Jesus there is grace; in God and in Jesus there is abundant life - and that all these things are offered by Jesus even to those whom the world is often willing to cast aside or throw away? These are evergreen lives we’re called to live - lives that stand against the bleakness of the world and our culture - lives that proclaim the mercy and grace of God - lives that proclaim the presence and love of Jesus. That is our calling! That is our life of faith! That is what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do every single day: to be the mighty evergreen that stands in the midst of it all and still proclaims, “Do not fear! God is with you! God loves you! God will hold you close and God will not let you go!”

     Today we baptized two children. Baptism isn’t an end; it’s a beginning. It’s a seed that has been planted. Our hope is that the word of God will become known to them and that it will nourish them and that it will turn them into people of faith who live the good news of the gospel. My hope is that Ella and Liam grow up to live evergreen lives that bear witness to the presence and the work of God, and that offer a glimpse of hope to others even in the most hopeless of times, just as the mighty evergreen offers a glimpse of life even in the dead of winter.

     “The evergreen,” Jane Austen wrote. “How beautiful, how welcome, how wonderful the evergreen! When one thinks of it, how astonishing a variety of nature!” As that is true of the evergreen, may it also be true of all of our lives as we stand tall as children of God and as disciples of Jesus in a society in which the good news of the gospel is so often tragically drowned out because there are so many all around us who have precious little good news in their lives.

Wednesday 16 September 2015

What Do We Do About Gretta Vosper?

I really haven’t said a whole lot about Gretta Vosper. The truth is that on my list of day to day priorities, Gretta and her ministry ranks somewhere after remembering to floss my teeth before going to bed at night. However, I’ve noticed that there’s been some interest in her recently. That interest is probably spurred by the fact that there was a recent article about her in Christianity Today and a one column summary of what’s happening in the most recent (September 2015) edition of the United Church Observer. Some of my Facebook friends have made some comments about her, and I’ve even had a question from a parishioner about her. In all honesty, I believe that this was only the third time that I think I've ever had a parishioner raise Gretta with me - and I suspect that she may have been motivated possibly not so much by interest in Gretta but by interest in how the new minister feels about Gretta. But there has been some interest expressed, and Gretta does keep popping up in the news, and since she’s now pretty much a neighbouring colleague (West Hill United Church and Pickering Village United Church are separated by a scant 33.9 km according to Google Maps) it seems appropriate to share some thoughts.


For those who don’t know, Gretta is kind of a media star right now. She’s an ordained United Church minister - pastor of the aforementioned West Hill United Church - and she’s also an avowed atheist, a status that probably makes her an anomaly to both atheists and Christians alike - at least some of them. Many atheists probably shake their heads over why she stays in the church - many theists probably do the same thing! Now, in fairness to her, her atheism is somewhat nuanced. If I understand her position correctly, she doesn’t completely deny the existence of God. She uses the term “atheist” to express her rejection of the traditional understanding of a “supernatural and interventionist” God. God may still exist, as I understand her position, but God really doesn’t do much of anything, and certainly not in a way that affects us. That’s just my impression of her beliefs. I could be wrong. Please don’t take that to the bank.


I should say that personally I don't know her, and I’ve never met her. I know some people who know her. They all without exception describe her as friendly, caring and compassionate. I think I'd like her if I met her. I think sitting down and having lunch with her would be a pleasant way to pass an hour as we shot the theological breeze over - well - theism vs atheism perhaps? After all, it is her theology that’s at the heart of everything that’s happening right now. (Some would argue that she has no theology, since she rejects theism. I would say that rejection of theism is a form of theology, if theology is the exploration of thoughts and concepts about God. But I digress.) Basically, her argument is that Christianity is about doing rather than believing. It’s about living a certain way of life rather than believing a certain set of doctrines. I actually have some sympathy with that. I don’t believe that doctrine has the last word either. Doctrine is a starting point. Where I would disagree with her is that I believe that doctrine is a point of some kind. Christianity isn’t just about doing good. Anyone can do good. Identifying as a Christian is a theological statement about God having been present in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and therefore it is a statement that Jesus of Nazareth is our example. Jesus, of course, was a theist. He believed in God. He also did many good works, as Scripture notes. So, my understanding of Christian faith is that it’s a blending of belief with action. Each contributes to the other. Either in isolation does not make one a Christian.


So the current ruckus is over Gretta’s place in the United Church. Does she belong? Should she stay? Should she be removed? A quick summary: Gretta has been ordained since 1993 (meaning one year longer than I have) and she’s been serving at West Hill since 1997. When she was ordained she had to state that she was in “essential agreement” with the statement of doctrine of the United Church of Canada, which has changed somewhat over the years, but which then and now has been overtly theistic, proclaiming belief in a God who is interventionist. So, although Gretta has been “out” as an atheist for several years, it was only recently that there was a complaint made against her, and a review of her “effectiveness” as a minister was ordered. She has appealed whether such a review can take place, and that’s where we stand right now, waiting for some official pronouncement on whether the church can even review Gretta’s effectiveness on the basis of her theology. (And, in spite of what some say, there are United Church ministers who have faced the same kind of reviews.) I wanted to address a few things today on the subject.


First, there’s been a lot of talk about her motivation for staying in the United Church. Why does an atheist want to remain as a minister in an overtly theistic church? There appear to be three broad possibilities:


1) She wants a pension and the benefits. That seems to be the most popular theory among a certain segment of the church. Whatever she believes is less important to her than the benefits she gets from living those beliefs out in a church that’s fundamentally opposed to what she believes. That makes her a hypocrite at best. That’s one theory. To be clear - it’s not my theory. But it’s one theory. Myself? I would think that if her pension and benefits were uppermost in her mind then she would have just stayed quiet and not made waves. So I reject this one.


2) She believes that being in the United Church gives her views more credibility and certainly gets her more attention. Even given our rather precipitous decline in recent years, the United Church remains the largest Protestant denomination in Canada. We have at least a toehold in most parts of the country. That gives her a platform. And, of course, the media loves controversy, and Gretta has become the poster child for “theological” controversy for the moment. Realistically (based on her beliefs) she would probably be a much better fit with, say, the Unitarian Universalist Church. In fact, there she’d be pretty mainstream. Maybe, in fact, she wouldn’t even  be noticed. Some might suspect that’s the point. So is her decision to remain in the United Church motivated by a quest for either publicity or credibility - or perhaps both? That’s certainly possible.


3) She sincerely believes the church would be better off if it adopted her beliefs. I probably find myself drawn to this option. I don’t want to be judgmental toward her or to ascribe motives to her when I don’t know her and certainly don’t know what’s in her mind. So maybe it’s best if we all treated her with respect and just took her at face value. She really believes this! Really! And she really believes that the church is dying and will die unless it moves in the direction that she’s pushing! Really! I think that’s probably the likeliest option of all. She just believes this, she actually does care about the United Church (not just the pension and benefits it offers her, not just the credibility and attention it gets her, but the United Church itself and even more broadly the Christian faith) and she sees herself as a sort of leader of a new, 21st century style reformation of the church. I really do think that’s the most likely option of all.


All that, of course, begs the question of whether or not she should be allowed to stay in good standing as a United Church minister, or whether she should be placed on the Discontinued Service List - which would make her ineligible to serve as a minister. Personally, if this gets to the point of a formal review (if her appeal of the process is denied, in other words) I don’t think that a review panel has much leeway in the matter. Obviously, doctrinal issues are the key to this review. Technically, her “effectiveness” is in question, but in this case her effectiveness revolves around doctrine. One of the responsibilities of a minister of the church is to effectively preach and teach the faith of the church. Each one of us will have some variations, of course. We’re not in lockstep doctrinally. But, when we’re ordained, we agree that we’re in “essential agreement” with the Church’s doctrine. We say, in effect, “the statement of doctrine of the United Church is something I’m comfortable holding up, with a few asterisks here and there.” But Gretta does seem to have more than just a few asterisks. The simple reality is that lack of belief in an interventionist God fails the test of United Church doctrine. We may not all agree on every detail, but every doctrinal statement we have assumes that in some way God intervened in human history and in creation through Jesus Christ. I don’t see how you can deny that and still claim to be in “essential agreement.” It just doesn’t work. Gretta simply cannot be in essential agreement with our doctrine, and that means that any review, in my opinion, has to recommend that she be removed.


I don’t take any joy in saying that. To be perfectly honest, I’d have preferred that she not be reviewed and that we simply let nature take its course. I’m an advocate for what might be called the Gamaliel school of thought. Gamaliel was an honoured Pharisee whose theological position toward unorthodox belief was, I think, a wise one. His story is recounted in Acts 5, when he basically said that the proper position for the authorities to take toward the nascent Christian community was that “if it’s not of God it won’t succeed and if it is of God you won’t be able to stop it.” According to the latest statistical report from the United Church the average attendance at West Hill is 70, compared to an average of 92.2 in the 51 pastoral charges of her Presbytery. It’s not like the world is flocking to the place, and I for one don’t feel especially threatened by her presence. I think that while some find her intriguing, and perhaps some have connected with the church because of her, most see her as something of a curiosity. If this is the wave of the future, well, the future certainly isn’t now.


But, we do have to be aware of the pastoral implications of what we’re doing. Perhaps not the review process itself, which is a more formal proceeding with one interest, but the wider church has to keep in mind that people have come into the church because of her and that others have remained because of her. Do we want to simply jettison them and leave them with the impression that we have no place for them in the community? The reality is that  those who disagree with our doctrine are welcome into our community. We have a place for them, but we also have to be true to who and what we claim to be as a church - and our leaders have to reflect that. Leaders are always held to a higher standard of accountability. That’s just reality. “Not many of you should presume to be teachers,” James wrote, “because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Gretta is in that uncomfortable position of being a teacher of the church, and a teacher of the faith. Her beliefs have been called into question. Can she be an effective teacher of the church’s beliefs? That’s the only issue. 

I’d have to say - no, she can’t. I take no joy from saying that. Some seem to be gleefully anticipating her removal; others are furious that her place is even being questioned. I just find it all rather sad - because I know that however this all turns out, there are going to be people hurt.

Monday 14 September 2015

A Thought For The Week Of September 14, 2015

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation - but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it." (Romans 8:12) Let's face it - the flesh leads us to temptation.I think that's what Paul meant when he wrote that we are not under the obligation to live according to the flesh.The flesh demands its own satisfaction and pleasure. There's no need to go through a litany of sins that the flesh might tempt us to commit. The first thing that would come to mind would be sexual sin, but that's probably just because for whatever reason Christians have a tendency to be over-obsessed with sexual sin at the expense of everything and anything else. I think that to live according to the flesh refers to sin in its broadest sense: it's a reference to living only in order to satisfy our own desires; it is to live selfishly. To live according to the flesh is to set as our goal only the satisfaction of our own wants. It is to lose sight of the needs of the other. This is at the heart of all sin. If we are concerned only with satisfying our own desires then we cannot live for our neighbours, which means that we must not live for God, who through Jesus tells us to live for the other. Here is what it means for Paul to say that we have no obligation to the flesh. It means that our priority does not have to be self-satisfaction, but should rather be - in some way at least - self-sacrifice. We have to meet our needs, of course. If our own needs of our dreams aren't met then we can't accomplish anything. And I would say that it is all right to fulfill some  and to acquire some of what we want, but if that becomes the focus of our lives and if we set ourselves to doing that in a way that harms others (or in a way that prevents us from helping others) rather than allowing us to support others then we have fallen into the trap of being under obligation to the flesh. As children of God we are to be led by the Spirit, with our primary focus on serving God and on others rather than on satisfying our own desires.

September 13, 2015 sermon: Advice For Life Long Learners

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
(Mark 8:27-38)

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     It’s become almost axiomatic. “All I Ever Needed To Know About Life I Learned In Kindergarten.” It was, of course, the title of a book published in 2004 by Robert Fulgham, and it’s more or less entered the lingo as a sort of more polite version of the KISS principle, KISS standing for “Keep It Simple Stupid.” The basic idea is the same. Don’t make things too complicated. Try to live life simply with just a few basic rules. I thought it was worth sharing the 16 things that Robert Fulghum says he learned in Kindergarten that were all he ever really needed to know:

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. Clean up your own mess
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the stryrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.” 

     Fulghum has a point. Life doesn’t have to be complicated, and the most important things, perhaps, to know are the simple ones. Truthfully - if everyone could learn those 16 lessons and actually put them into practice, we’d have a pretty wonderful world. But number 14 struck me. It began with the words, “Be aware of wonder.” These 16 things aren’t “all” we need to know. There are so many wondrous things out there for us to be astounded by and confounded by; so many mysteries - dare I say it, so many miracles that occur - that we want to know about. I think it would be at least a little bit sad if we stopped at those 16 things. We’re meant to learn, and to keep learning. You might have seen in the news last week that scientists in South Africa have stumbled upon some fossils that they think might be the earliest ever ancestors of humankind. The skeletons have a lot of similarities with modern humans but also a lot of differences. One of the major differences was that this creature had a very small brain. And, one scientist said, that’s why this creature might have been an ancestor of humankind, but it can’t be considered a part of humankind - because humans have large brains. We were made that way. God made us that way. I think God expects us to use those brains we’ve been given. And so we learn, and we keep learning. Even Jesus noticed the wonders of the world around him and commented on them. How does a tiny seed become a mighty tree? he asked. The world is full of wonder. So is the universe. Near the centre of the Milky Way galaxy is a dust cloud. Speaking about it, one scientist said “if there is a God, he decided to get creative with this one.” Most of the dust cloud is apparently made up of something called ethyl formate - which is the stuff here on earth that makes raspberries taste like raspberries and rum smell like rum. And the strange thing is that ethyl formate isn’t found commonly in the observable universe. So it’s an absolute mystery why, in the centre of our galaxy, there’s a dust cloud that tastes like raspberries and smells like rum! And if the world and the universe are full of wonders still to be discovered, how little must we know about the God who got it all started.

     I was thinking about this as I reflected upon this exchange between Jesus and his disciples. It’s a familiar passage - the hub around which the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke revolve. The famous questions from Jesus: “Who do people say I am?” and “Who do you say I am?” When looking at this passage, we usually settle for commending Peter for his answer, and perhaps dismissing or ridiculing the other disciples for hemming and hawing. Well, Peter’s answer is to be commended. “You are the Messiah,” Peter said. Simple and straightforward - well, maybe not so simple. It’s a pretty deep concept actually, but Peter could sum it all up in four words, “You are the Messiah.” And if we read the version of the story in Matthew’s Gospel we would have seen that Peter was commended for his answer by Jesus - “Blessed are you,” Jesus said to him, and he went on to call Peter’s confession of faith the rock on which the church would be built. “You are the Messiah,” - a confession of faith that soon, after the events of the crucifixion and resurrection - became “Jesus is Lord,” perhaps the earliest “creed” of Christianity. Well done, Peter. He got an “A.” But what of the others?

     What’s interesting to me is that while Peter was commended, the others weren’t rebuked for their cautiousness and hesitation. It’s almost as if Jesus commended them as well, and commended the people who were answering in such vague and uncertain and varied ways, and who didn’t jump forward with a personal confession of faith when invited to. It’s almost as if, for Jesus, while there may have been a right answer, perhaps there wasn’t a wrong answer as long as there was some answer - because if there was some answer then it meant that people were searching, people were curious, people wanted to know more. As Paul would write years later, “I want to know Jesus.” Paul wanted to know him. He understood that he didn’t know him well enough. There were times when Peter perhaps wished he hadn’t known Jesus quite so well. When Jesus told Peter to “Get behind me, Satan,” he wasn’t calling Peter the devil, he was calling him an adversary of God’s will. Peter had tried to rebuke Jesus for speaking openly about what would happen to him, and Jesus was reminding him that what counted was not what Peter wanted, but what God had planned. That’s one of the really hard things to learn in the course of a lifetime - it’s not all about us and what we want and what will make us happy. Learning that might be the hardest lesson of all..

     Learning is a life long endeavour. Henry Ford was quite right when he said that “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” That applies to everything - but especially to our knowledge of God. When we become satisfied that we know enough about God and need to know nothing more then we’ve died - spiritually at least. Even knowing that “You are the Messiah” or that “Jesus is Lord” shouldn’t satisfy us. It should just increase our yearning to “know Jesus” as Paul put it. We may have learned a lot about what we need to know about life in kindergarten - but not everything, because even what we learned in kindergarten teaches us to be always trying to learn more. You can never know enough about Jesus. You can never know enough about God.

Tuesday 8 September 2015

A Thought For The Week Of September 7, 2015

"The godly have a refuge when they die, but the wicked are crushed by their sins." (Proverbs 14:32) To me, what we see here is the great promise of living with faith, and the great heartbreak of living without faith (although, personally, I'd avoid the word "wicked.") This verse just makes sense to me. When hardship comes where does the person without faith turn? There are certainly options. To family members and friends - and I don't discount the importance of family and friends. To counsellors - and counsellors can have a big and positive impact on people's lives. To inner resources (by coming to a commitment that "I'm going to get through this) - and I wouldn't want to downplay the importance of personal commitment, perseverance and determination. And there are also negative things that the person without faith can turn to - drugs, alcohol, etc., etc. Those are all options. Not wise ones, perhaps, but options nevertheless. And whether a person without faith chooses the positive or the negative options, they may offer some relief from today and maybe from a few tomorrows. But ultimately, all will in some way disappoint or enslave us. But to be a person of faith is to have access to a different kind of resource - to God. For various reasons, the person of faith may still turn to those other things (both the positive and, tragically, the negative) but deep down there must still be a sense of connectedness to God, and an understanding that only God can see beyond all our tomorrows and into eternity. Those who live with faith can deal not only with the day to day misfortunes or calamities that might befall them - those with faith can look into eternity; they can approach not only the hardships of life but also the certainty of death with peace and assurance that, ultimately, all will be well - all because of faith in a God whom we believe transcends this life, and gives us refuge in death, and takes us into eternity with him.

Sunday 6 September 2015

September 6, 2015 sermon - Just Suppose

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
(James 2:1-17)

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     About 20 years ago Lynn and I went to Washington, D.C. on vacation. We stayed at a hotel in the suburb of Georgetown. It was spring and it was lovely weather, so on the first day we were there we decided that we would make the 45 minute walk from the hotel to the White House. As we walked along Pennsylvania Avenue the White House appeared on our right. It was everything that you would expect from the official home of the most powerful person in the world. A beautiful building, with large and well manicured lawns and gardens - it was the epitome of power and influence. What was a little more disturbing was what we saw on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue. To our left was Lafayette Park. I understand that since we were there conditions have changed, but at that time Lafayette Park was a haven for the homeless. It was filled day and night with those who literally had nowhere else to go, so they would live and sleep right across the street from the White House, in full view of the President of the United States if he happened to look out the window.

     There’s a story I once heard about the homeless at Lafayette Park. Apparently a local minister developed a concern for their plight, and she began, on her own initiative, a ministry to help provide them with food and some basic necessities. The ministry was quite well received. She would help meet the people’s needs, and she would talk to them. She would talk to them about life, about faith, about the Gospel and about Jesus. The homeless became very attached to her, and some even began attending her church. That was when - and I hope you’ll excuse the language - all hell broke loose. “Those people” weren’t welcome in this minister’s church, people said, and a few months later this minister was dismissed by her congregation apparently for having engaged in an outreach ministry that brought in so-called “undesirables.” Jesus, of course, once said that whatever we do for the least among us - the poor, the homeless, the outcast, the marginalized - we do for him. I wonder what Jesus thought of the decision of this church that ostensibly belonged to him?

     It’s a shocking story, and as we hear it we surely think, “that wouldn’t happen with us. Not us. No way.” And I hope it wouldn’t. But - just suppose.

     Didn’t James put this exact scenario to Christians long ago? If, on any given Sunday, “a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in …” well, what would we do. How would we react? How would they be treated? Let’s be honest - the wealthy person could take envelopes but the poor person wouldn’t have anything to put in the envelopes; the wealthy person might go on PAR but the poor person might not even have a bank account. Who would get the most attention - the wealthy person dressed in such a way that we KNOW they have something to offer us, or the poor person dressed in such a way that we KNOW that they might need help from us. I wonder. Just suppose.

     I speak here in general terms, of course, but I’ve noticed a funny thing about United Church congregations over the years. Most are very generous when it comes to supporting food banks, giving money to charities, helping social service groups, providing meals, etc., etc., etc. But I’ve also noticed that as much as we have compassion for the poor and outcast, we don’t necessarily have a clue what to do when we suddenly encounter the poor and outcast in the midst of the congregation on a Sunday morning. That may not be the case here. I hope it’s not. But I’ve seen it enough to know that at least we need to be confronted with the scenario every now and then so that we can reflect on what our knee jerk reaction might be to those with whom we’re less comfortable. So, yes - just suppose. If an obviously rich person and an obviously poor person entered the sanctuary at the same time, which one would get the most attention? Which one would receive the warmest welcome? Which one would we heartily invite to become a part of the family? To which one would we say “I sure hope you come back next week”?

     The people of God have a special responsibility to the poor and outcast. That’s seen throughout the Scriptures, Old Testament and New Testament. We read in the Book of Deuteronomy that the people of Israel were to care for the poor among them, to make sure that they were provided for. This was what you might call an ethical imperative. God’s children are called to care for God’s children, and those among God’s children who have more are called to share with those among God’s children who have less. And if you move into the New Testament, especially in the Book of Acts, you see descriptions of the early church that show that principle being lived up to. According to the description we have of what must have been one of the earliest Christian communities, the community shared equally, so that there were in fact no poor among them. And that community grew and grew - not because they had a great minister or a great choir or great youth programming or anything like that, but because people around them saw real compassion and real caring existing in the midst of a society in which compassion and caring were often in short supply.

     I see a lot of hardness in the world today. I see a lot of poverty. I see a lot of people shoved aside. I see a lot of debate in developed nations about refugees, each nation hoping that each other nation will take a few more so that “we” don’t have to take as many. I see an inexplicably serious presidential candidate in the US wanting to build a giant wall along the border with Mexico to keep the undesirables out. I see another who thinks it might be a good idea to build one along the Canadian border. What I often don’t see is a lot of compassion. Sometimes I don’t even see that in the church. And that bothers me. And it should bother all of us. The church is the place that should be extending not just a welcome, but the right hand of fellowship to all - not just being open to anyone who wants to be here, but actually having a place for everyone who wants to be here. Too often I don’t see that.

     Jesus told us that whoever welcomes the least, the loneliest, the most undesirable among us actually welcomes him. And the flip side was spoken of us well. Whoever fails to welcome the least, the loneliest and the most undesirable among us fails to welcome him. So every now and then we need to take an honest look at ourselves and we need to say to ourselves, “just suppose.” Just suppose. Just suppose that “a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and … a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in …” Just suppose. What would happen? Who would we greet most warmly? In which one would we see Jesus? Just suppose. And remember the words of James: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” Let’s make sure we have both!