March 2 sermon - The True Mark Of A Christian's Character

(Video link included at bottom)

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

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     How many of you know of Rowan Atkinson? He's a well known British actor, best known probably as either Edmund Blackadder from the comedy Blackadder, or as the lovable but hapless Mr. Bean, from the comedy of the same name. I loved Mr. Bean. The character never spoke, but Atkinson could have you almost on the floor laughing with his facial expressions and physical comedy. He seems like the funniest guy in the world. But then a few years ago I read an interview he had given to an entertainment magazine. He said that his reputation as a comedian was a problem – because he really wasn't a funny guy. He didn't tell a lot of jokes and he wasn't the life of the party. Basically what he said was that he takes his comedy very seriously, and the article included a photo of a very serious looking Rowan Atkinson – who didn't look at all like Mr. Bean. The point was that when he was being funny, Rowan Atkinson was putting on a performance. He wasn't being himself. There was a disconnect between the public and private Rowan Atkinson. And it occurred to me that Christians can fall into the same trap. We come to church or do “church-y” things during the week and look like the best and most faithful Christians around, but what are we like when no one's looking. Is it an act we put on for public consumption, or does our faith in Jesus really make us change the way we live – publicly and privately?

     It's a sad fact that Christians have not always presented a pretty picture to the world. We don't always put our best face forward. All too often we fail to show the beauty of love, the beauty of Christ, the holiness of God. And all too often the end result is that the world turns away from us, dismissing us as inauthentic at best, or hypocrites at worst. For the most part the problem isn't that we don't want people to know that we're Christians. Yes, that's part of it for some people, I suppose. The whole “religion is a private thing so keep it to yourself” mentality affects some people and probably makes them reluctant to talk about their faith. But there are still a lot of people who are willing to publicly declare themselves Christians. Over the 2000 years that our faith has been in existence, people have done a lot of different things to publicly declare themselves to be Christians. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent. Yes, spring really is on the horizon! One of the traditions in a lot of churches is that on Palm Sunday the palm leaves that are used in church are burned to ash, and then the next year a special Ash Wednesday service is held early in the morning, at which people are invited forward at the end to have the sign of the cross put visibly on their forehead with the leftover ashes from the year before. The point then is that you're supposed to leave that ash cross on your forehead for the rest of the day as a public sign of your faith in Jesus. That's one example of how Christians identify themselves. There are others. Lots of people wear crosses – to the point at which the cross has unfortunately become more of a fashion accessory than a sign of faith. Some people wear special clothing, some people put bumper stickers on their cars. At one point in time some people even had special haircuts that identified themselves as Christians. There have been all sorts of options. But what is the true mark of a Christian? How do you really identify yourself as a Christian?

     In all honesty, the outward marks really don't cut it. Anyone can wear a cross, or put a bumper sticker on their car. What does that really accomplish? I'm not knocking it – I often wear a cross myself. I'm just saying that fashion or car accessories aren't what being a Christian is all about. And, in spite of the fact that I'm wearing a cross at this moment, I'm not entirely sure what Jesus would think of me or anyone else wearing a cross, or of people putting bumper stickers on their car. Perhaps He'd be concerned that we were trying to draw attention to ourselves for being good Christians rather than trying to do something constructive to actually demonstrate what a good Christian actually does. Perhaps He would suggest that we stop trying to show off and that instead we start trying to show others the love and grace of God. I don't know. Jesus might not be all that pleased with the fact that the instrument of torture on which He died is now a fashion statement. Maybe that's why the earliest Christians didn't use the cross as an outward symbol of faith. They used the fish most commonly. Other Christian symbols either worn or used in artwork from the early years of the faith were the dove, a ship, the lyre, an anchor, a lamb and a shepherd, and it wasn't until about 400 years after Christ's death that the cross started to be regularly used. But whatever symbols we might use, there are outward ways that we can demonstrate our Christian faith. Jesus gave us one suggestion very clearly. John 13:33-35 tealls us:

     “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

     Outwardly, love is the sign. In one way or another that's been the focus of what I've been saying for the last few weeks. Love is the outward sign of a Christian and of a Christian's character. Jesus called love a command. For a Christian, it's not an emotion that we feel for those we really, really like. It's a command; it's a way of life; it's the ultimate sign that we “get” the gospel and its message. And, this passage contains one of those very big little words that can tell us a great deal. Hear it again:

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

     The very big little word is “if.” There's an “if” involved in this that helps us to understand the significance of love being the main sign of a Christian community. This is a command. It's one of the very few “commands” that Christ ever gave. This is what we're supposed to do as Christians – and although in this passage it's specifically about loving one another, Christ also talked about loving our neighbour as well. Well, a command can be violated. We don't have to love, I suppose. I know a lot of Christians who don't come across as very loving – but the point is that love is our weakness. But is visible obedience to a command enough of a witness to our character? Here I think is where Paul was going in the passage we read from 1 Corinthians:

“... judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.”

     A few days ago I read these words: “the true mark of a Christian's character is how a Christian behaves when no one is watching.” Real faithfulness and real character isn't measured by how we act when we're in the presence of others. Anyone can put on an act, after all. Anyone can look good. The real test of our faithfulness and our character is what we do when we don't have to put on an act – when people don't know we're Christians. Do we still behave like those who love and follow Christ? That's when the rubber hits the road. When it's just between me and God – and nobody else knows – do I still choose the way of Jesus?

     You see, that's really the true mark of a Christian's character. Do we choose the way of Jesus even when no one's looking, or even when no one knows? Is there anything hidden in the darkness of secrecy that calls our motives into question? I hope that we are in secret what we profess to be in public. I hope that in all things, at all times and in all circumstances, we seek to follow the way of Jesus.

Video: The True Mark Of A Christian's Character

February 23 sermon - So - Define "Perfect"

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

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     So, yeah – define “perfect.” How do you do that? “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” OK. And – I do that how? I mean – really. How? “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Right. That's a pretty tall order. And “perfect” - that's a pretty tough word to deal with. So this morning, for a little while, I want us to think about the word “perfect” - and what it actually means to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

     When we think of the word “perfect,” and when we apply it to God, we have a tendency to think in terms of behaviour don't we? So to be “perfect” we have to do all the right things – or avoid doing all the wrong things. If we manage to do that, then we're “perfect.” It's like pitching a perfect game in baseball. If you avoid giving up any hits or walks, and if you don't hit any batters, and if your teammates don't make any errors, then you've pitched a perfect game. It doesn't sound all that challenging. You know what you have to do – you just have to go out and do it. The only problem is that in 137 years of Major League Baseball, there have been only 23 perfect games. Just because you know what perfection is doesn't make it an easy thing to achieve! And when we start to think of perfection in terms of God, then knowing what we have to do to achieve perfection becomes even more of a challenge, to the point of seeming impossible. And so, in order to make what Jesus asks of us more attainable, we have a tendency to water down what Jesus is actually saying in this passage.

     I once heard of a Roman Catholic priest who preached on this verse of Scripture. “To be perfect,” the priest said, “means that you should be the best policeman, or fireman, or Indian chief, that you can be.” I'm sure the priest was well intentioned. I'm sure his goal was to make the demand of Jesus attainable. Just be the best you can be. But being the best you can be isn't being “perfect.” And that's the challenge. And too often we back away from the challenges of the Bible and we settle for what we are, or at most for what we realistically could be, rather than thinking and dreaming of what God wants us to be. However well intentioned this priest might have been in his remarks, he seems to have been falling into this trap, and shying away from the direct and difficult words in the Gospel reading: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

     In my opinion, those words, without a doubt, are the most challenging words ever offered by Jesus. Maybe because of that they also might be the most avoided and ignored of all of Jesus' teachings. Last week I was talking about how Jesus redefined the Law by making the point that obedience to the letter of the Law was less important than being transformed by the spirit of the Law. Today's passage is a continuation of the theme. As Jesus continued on with his teachings, we learned that we're to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, and we also learn that God sends sun to both the good and the evil, and rain to both the righteous and the unrighteous. Ultimately what it all leads up to is Jesus telling us that love isn't really love if we only share love with those who already love us. And that leads up to the greatest and most challenging command Jesus may ever have offered: this command to be perfect, which is the climax and summation of this entire collection of Jesus' teachings.

     The point Jesus is making seems to be that perfection revolves around love. Our ability to love is the measure of our perfection, you might say. After all – what's the basic nature of God? 1 John makes it clear: “God is love.” If we also believe that God is perfect, then God's perfection flows from God's love. The measure of our perfection must then be our ability to love as God loves, and that's what Jesus is trying to teach us in this passage. The word that gets translated as “perfect” in this passage doesn't actually mean that we should be without flaw. What it means is that we should be full or complete. It doesn't even necessarily mean that we should be the best at what we do, with all due respect to the priest I quoted earlier. That's a bit too limited, because it would mean that God is only interested in our role or job or vocation or station in life. But is that really all God cares about? Is perfection just about being the best minister, or the best organist, or the best nurse or doctor or engineer or mother or father? But to be perfect in the sense of being full or complete looks far beyond any of that. It means to be complete or full in our very nature – which means that we are to belong to God, to be a child of God, and by becoming that we learn both how to live and how to love. And love is the key – which this passage points out.

     I did say earlier that one of our problems when we deal with this passage is that we have a tendency to water down what Jesus is actually saying in order to make it a little easier; in order to make perfection a little more attainable. And I suppose some people might suggest I'm doing that, too, but equating perfection with love – but I don't think so. Let's face it – love isn't easy. Sometimes it's not that easy to love the people who love you. Perfect love means loving people who don't love you – sometimes people who hate you; sometimes people who persecute you.  It's why I've often said that one of the things I'm most grateful for in Jesus' teachings is that He asks us to love each other rather than to like each other. In some ways it's a lot easier to love than to like. To like someone is a personal and inner response to them and it's hard to just call that forth. But love – at least the kind Jesus is speaking about – is expressed not with emotions but with actions. Real love – perfect love – the love that God calls us to and that our faith in God should move us to – isn't shown by how we feel about people, but by how we treat people.

     I want to finish today just by pointing out this principle with other Scriptures, because as many have said the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture. So, if perfection might be defined as the fulfilment of the Law, but if perfection is also defined as our ability to love even those who may not love us, then how do we justify that from Scripture. Think of a few verses:

     Romans 13:8 says “owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” The verse doesn't say “he who loves his friends, but he who loves his neighbour, and the truth is that sometimes our neighbours aren't the most lovable people around. But if we love them, we've fulfilled the Law and taken a step toward being perfect “as [our] heavenly Father is perfect.”

     In the same way Galatians 5:14 says “for the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'”

     Jesus Himself clarified that the sign of a true disciple was his love for others:
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

     There are a lot of other examples, but I think a few verses at least makes the point. Being perfect in the eyes of God isn't about following rules – it's about loving as God loved, without favour, extending love to everyone – even those whom society deems unworthy of being loved; even those whom we're tempted not to love.

     The good news here is that you don't need to be flawless to “be perfect ... as your heavenly Father is perfect” – you just have to be loving toward all.

February 16 sermon - A New Look At Old Things

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:21-42)

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     In 1974, Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager co-wrote a song that you've probably all heard somewhere along the way. It was called “Everything Old Is New Again.” The song has an honoured place in show business history. Peter Allen actually performed it at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City when he became the first male performer ever to dance with the Rockettes! There's a little bit of fun trivia you can take home with you to amaze your family and friends with!

     Jesus would have understood this idea. Well, I'm not sure about the part with the Rockettes. I think Jesus was a man who liked to have fun, but I'm not sure I can picture him jumping on the stage and dancing with showgirls. I'm not sure why, but I just can't get that picture in my head. But I think He would have understood the idea behind the song. The basic message of the song is that the past keeps getting replayed but in new ways. The last stanza of the song includes the words

 And don't throw the past away

You might need it some other rainy day

Dreams can come true again

When everything old is new again.

     If we were to think of another passage of the Gospels, we might think of Jesus' warnings about putting new wine into old wineskins. There was nothing wrong with using wineskins. Jesus didn't say to use anything else. The basic idea was fine – it's just that every now and then it had to be updated. Such was the case with the gospel – which represented a radical new way of relating to God, and in this passage, Jesus takes on that which was old – the old, traditional way of doing things – and he doesn't toss it aside, but rather he changes it into something radically exciting and new; something even revolutionary in its new approach. What Jesus did in this passage was take on the beloved Law of Moses, but rather than rejecting it, He put an entirely different spin on it – different from anything the priests and Pharisees and teachers of the law had ever thought of. For Jesus, obedience to the letter of the Law was no longer enough. What mattered now was being aware of the spirit of the law, and living by its principles.

     Over and over in this passage, Jesus repeats “You have heard that it was said ... but I tell you.” In a way, Jesus makes it tougher for God's people to actually live as God's people. In the past, it had been enough apparently simply to control one's actions. “ You have heard that it was said ... You shall not murder ... You shall not commit adultery ... Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce ...  Do not break your oath ... Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” All these “laws” spoke of action, or of how God's people should act. They were fine; they were good; they were godly. But over the course of time the people had forgotten what the Law was all about. Law, ideally, is about more than just prescribing or prohibiting actions or setting punishments for violations. Law is about establishing principles; law helps us understand not just what to do but also how to live and also how to treat other people. Law is about more than just controlling a person's behaviour; law is about changing a person's heart. That's why Jesus set out in this part of the Sermon on the Mount to challenge the old traditional ways of understanding the Law.

     “You have heard that it was said ... but I tell you. ” It wasn't the Law that was the problem. It was the way the Law was being interpreted and the way it was being used. It was always God's purpose to give life to His people; to give them freedom. The earliest memory of the people of God was God freeing them from slavery in Egypt; liberating them from bondage – and the Law was a part of that freedom they were given. It was itself a part of the people being freed from bondage, but over the years the religious leaders had twisted the Law so that it became itself a form of bondage – used to strike terror into the hearts of the people. And so Jesus explained. “... but I tell you.”

     At first glance, Jesus' view of the Law seems even harsher; it seems to make even more demands on the people. “You shall not murder” becomes a warning against being angry. “You shall not commit adultery” becomes a warning against lust. And so on and so on. Over and over Jesus says that the letter of the Law isn't enough – it's the spirit of the Law that counts. The Law had to change the people not just in their outward actions but it had to have some effect on their inward thoughts. It had to change their hearts and not just control their behaviour. And so Jesus came – with the Gospel. The good news of freedom and abundant and eternal life. If the Law was going to be used to oppress the people of God, Jesus would stand it on its head. So, first He showed how pointless it was to pretend that being obedient to the Law could save anyone – because no one could possibly live up to the demands of the Law. But then, His entire life and ministry would be for the purpose of showing that one can live out the principles of the law or the spirit of the law without perfect obedience. Perfect obedience we leave to Jesus. “I came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfil it,” He said. With the demands of the Law fulfilled by Jesus, we live by the spirit of the Law – or by grace, as we usually talk about it. A life-changing, life-enhancing and life-giving grace given to us by God, and poured out and reflected in how we relate to those around us. That was the purpose of the Law – not to threaten us with punishment for disobedience, but to lead us to a changed heart and into a right relationship with God and those around us.

     Jesus would have understood the song “Everything Old Is New Again.” Jesus took something very old – the Law – and He remade it and refashioned it into a new expression of divine grace. Sometimes the church forgets that, and over the years the church has done a horrid job of living by the gospel of grace, too often sliding into new forms of legalism, with rules and regulations set up to control a person's life, so that Christian faith has been reduced to little more that “you must do this” or “you must not do that.” But Jesus offers us grace. Jesus offers us freedom – freedom not to do as we please, but to do as God pleases without fear. This is the good news. “You have heard that it was said ...” But Jesus says, “No. That's not the way. I'm going to keep giving you this new thing; this grace; this freedom to live as a child of God without fear. That's the gospel. That's what we live by. Old principles, made new again by Jesus!

A Thought For The Week Of February 10

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) Valentine's Day is coming up this week, of course. Like many other special days, Valentine's Day has become hopelessly commercialized - yet another of the so-called "Hallmark holidays" whose primary purpose often seems to be to sell cards and other trinkets. Still, the idea is nice. There's nothing wrong with celebrating romance, and if you have someone to share romance with, that's a blessing. Even those who don't have someone to celebrate romance with can use the occasion to celebrate love - children giving Valentines to their parents and friends, etc., etc. There's a 1965 song that says - with great honesty - "what the world needs now is love, sweet love." That's not something we can argue with easily. When we look at the world around us, love often does seem to be in short supply. Strangely, though, it really isn't. Scripture, for example, tells us that "God is love" - and our faith tells us that God is everywhere, which means that love is everywhere - even in the most unexpected places. But, as he often did, Jesus pushed his disciples one step further. It wasn't enough for those who followed Jesus to simply rejoice in God's love for them. Their love had to be an active love, poured out - because Jesus, who poured himself out in love for the world, was their Lord and their example. As he lived, so should they strive to live. And, as Jesus lived a life of love, so must his disciples live a life of love. Today, that "new command" applies to those of us who follow Jesus today. We are called to love one another. Over the years, I've seen far too many examples of followers of Jesus who fail to do that very basic thing: Christians who insist on judging other Christians, and who feel that they and they alone are the only true Christians. All too often, any of us can start to become convinced that the measure of one's faith is how much like us they are - but it isn't. Perhaps the measure of one's faith is how much love we show for each other. Just as Jesus loved unconditionally, so are we called to love unconditionally. It's not easy. There are, after all, a lot of unlovable people around us. But living by the gospel should never be easy. It should be challenging. I hope we rsie to the challenge in the week ahead! God bless!

February 9 sermon - When We Fast ...

Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek Me out; they seem eager to know My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. “Why have we fasted,” they say, “and You have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from you own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say: Here am I. (Isaiah 58:1-9a)

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     I couldn't resist the irony. In the days leading up to the Annual Meeting – featuring a typically gluttonous I'm sure church potluck – I stumbled across this passage from the prophet Isaiah on the topic of fasting! On the whole I suspect that United Churches are known far more for potlucks than they are for fasting. I have to confess that fasting is not something that I've really had much experience with. Everyone has spiritual practices that they find fulfilling, and for a lot of people fasting is one of those spiritual practices. Just not for me. I tried it once. Some years ago to mark Ash Wednesday I actually committed myself to a 24 hours Ash Wednesday fast. I'm not sure what I expected out of it, but what I ended up getting out of it was extreme hunger. Unfortunately, I really didn't feel any closer to God as a result of it. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't fast. What doesn't work for one person may prove to be a magnificent mountain top spiritual experience for another. But what I wanted to think about today was exactly what we mean by fasting – and, maybe more to the point, exactly what God and Scripture means by fasting. We have a tendency to always think of fasting in terms of food. So, I'm going to fast for 24 hours – meaning that I'm going to go without food for 24 hours. But Isaiah in this passage looks at fasting and finds that simply going without food is hardly an acceptable fast in the eyes of God. Like anything and everything else, fasting can become little more than an empty ritual that achieves nothing and changes nothing. It's a little bit like what I was talking about last week, when I pointed out that some of our practices can become “mantra-like” - things that cause us to feel we're doing something worthwhile but actually serve little purpose, and certainly don't push us or challenge us to live our faith. God, of course, desires that we live our faith and not only talk about it or “practice” it with rituals – whether the ritual is fasting or even participating in Holy Communion, as we did last week. The test of whether the ritual is meaningful is whether the ritual makes a difference in our lives. So, this morning, we might do well to ask ourselves: what difference did Communion make to us last week, or was it merely a ritual that we chose to engage in? Did it deepen our faith? Did it bring us closer to God? Did it cause us to change anything in our outlook about life? Did it cause us to act any differently? These are the questions we should always ask about religious rituals, because the ritual (whatever it is) is only useful if it leads to something more concrete.

     Fasting is a great case study of this problem – not because it's all that commonly practiced now, but because it's talked a lot about in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments – and many times when it's mentioned, it's mentioned critically, as an example of a spiritual practice that's being misused and even abused by the people of God.

     Jesus was certainly aware of this problem. Jesus believed in fasting. Near the beginning of his ministry, as He went into the wilderness, we're told that He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. That is not the type of fast that I think I would be able to handle, but for Jesus it was an event that prepared Him for all that He would endure in the rest of His life, and it also led to His first encounter with Satan – who comes across a hungry Jesus according to the story and tries to tempt Him (unsuccessfully) to eat something. So, for Jesus, fasting was something that provided Him with great spiritual strength. But Jesus was also aware that people could get caught up in the ritual and think that merely practicing fasting was sufficient. He was concerned that people were using fasting in a decidedly unspiritual way – to puff themselves up, and to make themselves look better than they really were. They would do it in ways that ensured that people knew what they were doing and gave them all sorts of credit and honour for being such good, pious people. And Jesus didn't like that, and gave very specific instructions to His disciples about it: “ When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen ...” Jesus is telling His people to make sure that whatever their rituals might be – they need to keep the focus on God, rather than crediting themselves or looking for honour from others for having done it. Don't use your rituals to put on a show, Jesus is saying – use them to bring you closer to God, and being brought closer to God will allow great things to happen in you and through you.

     Jesus was saying exactly what the prophet Isaiah said. Isaiah referred to the people as being in rebellion against God. What he meant was that they weren't living as God intended them to live. They were performing the rituals, but they weren't living the life. Even for Israel, apparently, it wasn't enough just to follow the law and obey the rituals – the people had to live as if they meant something, and they had to show the difference God made in their lives. “... on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.” This dishonoured God. It was actually a form of rebellion against God. In fasting or any other religious ritual leads to a pious life rather than a faithful life then it's not what God wants of us. If fasting or any other religious ritual leads to conflict or strife rather than a community founded on Jesus and demonstrating love and compassion in its very life then it's not what God wants of us. If fasting or any other religious ritual becomes a way for us to show off how good we are rather than to demonstrate the goodness of God to those around us then it's not what God wants of us. And isn't there always that temptation? To puff ourselves up or to tear others down? We see it all the time in religious communities who believe that they've found that elusive one and only truth; among Christians who've discovered that they're the one and only true Christians. And it's not what God wants from our fasting or from any other religious ritual we might practice. The rituals aren't what's important. They might well be valuable. They might well provide us with mountain top experiences with God. But in the end they're not what's important. Isaiah's prophecy explained that quite eloquently.

     “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from you own flesh and blood?” If our religion with all its rituals doesn't begin to create at least a glimpse of the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom where the poor are raised up and the hungry are fed and the oppressed are freed – then our religion with all its rituals is nothing more than an empty shell.

     I don't want it to be that way. I want all that we do to point people to God and to Christ, to true love and to true freedom and to true life. When we fast – or when we do whatever it is that we do – let's make sure that it's always for the right reason!

A Thought For The Week Of February 3

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:5)  Everything we do as Christians should be directed outward. That, to me, seems to be one of the basic points Paul is making in this verse. As people who are called to proclaim and bear witness to the gospel, we need to remember to keep Christ at the centre of our proclamation. We're not speaking in order to glorify ourselves, or to show anyone how persuasive or eloquent we are. We simply want to point others to the grace of God found in Christ. And, as we engage in the work that Christ calls us to - reaching out to those who find themselves in the most desperate need - we are to do so in such a way that again glorifies Christ. We are to serve each other and those around us. As servants, we seek no glory and we expect no reward - except the reward of knowing that we serve the best interests of those around us. When I look around at the broad spectrum of the Christian faith, this basic principle so often seems to be forgotten. So many who claim to speak for Christ do seem to be serving themselves, worried about their own interests and seeking not to serve others, but to control them. How far is that from the gospel that Jesus proclaimed and the life that Jesus led? Being a servant is no fun, I freely admit. But the irony, of course, is that the same gospel that calls us to the service of others is also the gospel that offers us freedom. After all, we can only truly and freely serve others when we no longer worry about ourselves. In the coming week, let's all keep Christ at the centre of all that we say and do. When we do that, we truly find ourselves serving others - because that's simply what Christ would want us to do. Have a great week!

February 2 sermon - It's More Than Just A Mantra

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead My case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, the Lord's accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge against Israel.My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:1-8)

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     Generally speaking we don't talk very much about mantras in the Christian faith. We associate them more with the Eastern traditions: Buddhism, perhaps, or Hinduism. They're especially common in Buddhist or Hindu meditation. A mantra is basically a word or a phrase that you use repeatedly as you meditate. So – the famous “oooommmm” of Hindu meditation. The basic purpose of the mantra is supposed to be to empty your mind so that you're then able to be filled with enlightenment. So mantras are often meaningless. They cause no thought, they ask nothing of the person chanting them. It's simply sound without substance.

     That's not what we're supposed to be about as Christians. A lot of people accuse us of that. I know a lot of atheists who are atheists because they insist that churches insist that you turn your brain off when you walk through the door. I would actually hope that exactly the opposite is the case. I would hope that as Christians we have a faith that causes us to think, that causes us to raise questions. The goal of Christian faith isn't to empty minds; it's to challenge minds. But sometimes I wonder if we get it right. There are types of mantras in the Christian faith. Things we say or do or recite over and over – and the problem is that they can start to become a little bit like mantras. They become so familiar that the words lose their power and we start to say them by rote, as if something is going to happen just because we say them. The Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm can sometimes be mantra-like. We say the words, but they don't mean much to us. The United Church has something that I think of as a kind of mantra. It gets talked about in our church all the time. It's the focus of many meetings. There's even a song in Voices United based on it, although I for one find the music virtually unreadable and I've never liked singing it. The United Church mantra I'm talking about is Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”And I sometimes wonder if we don't use it so often or say it so often or sing it so often in our denomination that it almost loses its meaning. What does it mean “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”?

     What will it look like if we actually act justly? The Bible talks a lot about justice. Even as far back as the Old Testament, acting with justice was to be one of the primary characteristics of the people of God. “Do not deny justice to your poor people ...” says Exodus 23:6. A system that benefits those who have a lot at the expense of those who have little is not a system that honours God or that is faithful to God's will. I recently came across an estimate that said that the 85 richest people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest half of the human population – that's about 4 billion people. 85 people have more wealth than 4 billion people. Frankly, there's something unjust about that. I'm not a socialist or a communist, and I don't believe that we're ever going to make everyone equal, but I do believe simple justice demands that we seek to create a more equitable society, where the poor have enough to eat and places to live and the rich don't have so much money that it becomes little more than an obscenity! I believe God wants us to work toward that end. Leviticus 19:15 says “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly.” Simple justice requires that we as Christians look on all people as what they are – beloved of God and deserving of respect and justice. And God expects us as a matter of faith to be striving to uphold the dignity of all people, whatever their circumstances in life.

     What will it look like if we actually love mercy? Mercy is an interesting concept. It's not pity. Sometimes people think of the two things as being the same, but they're not. Pity is something that you show to those who you think are beneath you. It's the root word for “pitiful” after all, and “pitiful” has all sorts of negative connotations. But mercy is different. We show mercy to those who we see as worthy of receiving mercy – and there's no limit on that definition. You see, mercy is actually a great equalizer! All of us are in need of mercy. Certainly we're in need of God's mercy, which is why there's a hymn in Voices United that reminds us that “there's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea.” That wideness is important because we're all in need of God's mercy sometimes. Not God's pity – because God doesn't treat us with pity - but God's mercy. Pity comes from looking down on someone; mercy comes from respecting and honouring someone. And as God shows mercy to us, God expects us to be merciful to others. Jesus said, “blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” And there are consequences to not being merciful. James 2:13 tells us that “judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” To be merciful is to treat others – again, regardless of their station in life – as we would want to be treated ourselves, regardless of who they are or where they come from or what their past is.

     What will it look like if we actually walk humbly with God? One of the great scandals of all religion, in my view at least, is the number of people who have come to the conclusion that they have all the answers, and know everything there is to know about God. And yet, as A Song of Faith – the United Church's most recent faith statement – says to lead off - “God is holy mystery.” We are not humble when we come to the conclusion that we have all the answers, and that we have a right to dictate to others what they have to believe or what they have to do. Humility is the natural end result of Micah's words in this passage. Both justice and mercy require a degree of humility out of us. We can show neither justice nor mercy if we aren't willing to be humble, to acknowledge that we don't know everything, and to be willing to consider the possibility that sometimes we might be wrong. To walk humbly with God is to always be open to the Holy Spirit's leading – even when the Holy Spirit is leading us in directions we'd rather not go.

     The common denominator here is simple: we are not simply called to be just, merciful and humble – we are called to act in such ways. “... what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” That's a call to action! This mantra doesn't ask us to sit back and think about justice, mercy, and humility; it calls us to do them! “... what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” That's a call to action! These words call us to live as if in fact they are the things that God is asking of us! And it calls us to respond always in faith, and in a way that changes the lives of those we encounter.