Live the interruptions

 

Sunday 7th November 2010

Readings: Job 19 v 23-27

               Luke 20 v 27-38

Have you ever had one of those days when everything you start to do gets interrupted?

At the end of the day, you’ve done loads of things, but nothing that you actually set out to do?

It seems to me that I’ve not had a day like that, or even a week or a month, but at least a year.

But-  those places and situations that we consider temporary or simply way stations often turn out to be the places or situations that hold the most significance for
us.

Henri Nouwen once said that in his ministry he found himself becoming frustrated and resentful that his work was constantly being interrupted by people who wanted or needed something from him, until one day the Lord spoke to him and revealed that his real work was in those interruptions.

Don’t we all have days when it seems there just isn’t enough of us to go around?

Maybe we have to pay more attention to those transit points on our journey.

It just may be that we'll discover someone, perhaps even
ourselves, who is out on a limb and needs some attention.

That last week of Jesus’ life was a week of interruptions.

Interruptions in which Jesus revealed to us the whole point of his being among us.

It doesn’t make comfortable reading.

There are harsh lessons to be learned in the teaching that Jesus gave then.

He made the most of the interruptions to make clear the challenging path that we are called to embark on for the sake of the kingdom.

I spent Thursday and Friday this week, working with some friends on a new all age worship curriculum.

We were putting together material for next Lent and Easter – publication deadlines mean we have to write it now.

As we considered the lead up to Jesus’ death, we were thinking of all those things we have read that emphasise Jesus’ mildness and Jesus’ innocence - that almost make Jesus sound inoffensive and ineffectual.

Jesus was anything but!

Jesus constantly rubbed people up the wrong way, upset the great and the good, provoked strong reactions.

So, it is not hard for us to see why people would hate Jesus.

So much so that they crucified him.

Yes, he loved and healed.

He was, in essence, a pacifist.

But Jesus constantly challenged the old ways.

He hung out with the wrong folk.  

Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple and when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple, that cast him as anti establishment.

So, it was that in the last week of Jesus’ life, a conference was called not in an attempt to plot to assassinate Jesus but rather to discredit him.

The authorities did not want a martyr on their hands. They would much prefer to make Jesus look like a fool.

Let’s give him enough rope and he may just hang himself. Thus, they decided that each group would in turn ask him a question, not because they thought that they could learn from him; they did not think that Jesus could teach them anything.

But they hoped to trick him.

They were hoping for that one slip of the tongue.

Each group would ask him a question that would be dear to their cause.

So as Jesus nears the end of His ministry, wave after wave of religious storm troopers launch their attacks on Him.

He’s just silenced a combined assault of Herod’s supporters and Pharisees about paying taxes.

The Sadducees were watching the whole thing and now that the other groups had been driven off, they decide to launch their assault – and they had a good one – a theological brain teaser. They had probably used it many, many times before. It had always stumped their competitors. Surely it would have the same results with Jesus, this carpenter from Nazareth.

So we have that question from the Sadducees that we read this morning.

They asked Jesus a hypothetical question about a woman who was widowed seven times in succession.

In heaven, whose husband will she be?

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.

And to them this was a question that pointed out the total absurdity of the thought of an afterlife.

Jesus answered the Sadducees’ question by saying: In the resurrection people will neither marry nor will they be given in marriage.

In other words, Jesus is saying that heaven is on another dimension.

It will not be there like it is here.

The Sadducees’ question is based on the assumption that heaven will be based on something we can recognise – based on life here on earth.

Jesus gives them their answer about marriage.

But then Jesus goes on to address the real issue that is being raised.

Jesus said: God is the God of the living and not of the dead.

That is the real issue.

Jesus is saying to the Sadducees: You are concerning yourself with the afterlife and the problem is that you have not yet learned to live life here and now.

Heaven is not our responsibility. That is God’s responsibility. What is our responsibility is how we live life here and now.

How we deal with the interruptions.

The Sadducees were at a loss for words, and quietly they returned to their seats.

God is the God of the living, not of the dead.

Of course our family responsibilities are very important on this side of heaven.
A minister was speaking to the children one day about the things money can’t buy. “It can’t buy laughter and it can’t buy love” she told them. Driving her point home she said, “What would you do if I offered you £1000 not to love your mum and dad?”

Thee was silence for a moment. And then a small voice queried, “How much would you give me not to love my big sister?”

The question the Sadducees posed that day was absurd.

It was based on the presupposition that life in the resurrection is an exact counterpart to earthly life.  

They were trying to demonstrate the absurdity of the resurrection by this type of anomaly it might cause in a future life.

They were not truly looking for an answer -  they just wanted to stump Jesus.

But by asking their question, they instead demonstrated two things about themselves:

They demonstrated that they were ignorant of God’s Word, and they were ignorant of God’s power.

The Sadducees were supposed to be the teachers in Israel!

They were supposed to be teachers of the Word but they were ignorant of the Word – not only ignorant, but also irrelevant.

Let me ask you:

When you use aluminium foil, what side do you leave out – Is it the shiny side that has to be on the outside – or the dull side?

Shiny?

Dull?

We all have an opinion.

But, in fact, it doesn’t matter:

Because, when aluminium foil is made, it’s rolled. One side of the foil becomes shiny because it comes in direct contact with the heavy roller. The other side stays dull because it never makes contact with the roller...but both sides produce the same results!

Similarly, most of us today will happily debate trivialities in God’s Word while God just wants us to use it and apply it to our lives. Then we’ll know God’s Word and God’s power!

We often make the same mistake the Sadducees were making, we create heaven in our minds...in the image of earth.

Their perceptions of heaven had evolved through what they knew of earth.

Folk have always done that.

Native American hunters looked at death as going to the “Happy Hunting Grounds.”

The Vikings, who were warriors, saw death as “Valhalla”, where they would fight all day, and where at night the dead would be raised and the wounded healed so that they could battle again.

Muslims see death as a place where folk would live in a place where every physical and sensual pleasure would be satisfied.

Our tendency has always been to conjure up a heaven from our earthbound experiences.

The Lord Jesus was an advocate of a “new age” movement. While “new age” has confusing connotations today, the fact remains that Jesus was teaching a “new age” that was very distinct from the “old” order.

Resurrection is not the restoration of life as we know it; it is entrance into a new life that is different.
What is this new life going to be like?

There will be no marriage in heaven and no concern about past husbands and wives, but that does not suggest in the slightest a reduction in love.

There will be no death in heaven. Marriage and procreation are essential to this earthly life so human life can go on. But since there is no death in heaven (we “no longer die”), marital intimacy will be surpassed by spiritual intimacy. Heaven has no coffins or cemeteries. There will be no gray hairs or bald pates on the heads of God’s immortals.
We will be like the angels. Now Jesus does not say we will be “angels” but like them.

Like the angels, our character will be faultless. The angels perfectly do God’s will. We now have to pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” there we will always do God’s will!
Like the angels, we will perpetually worship God.

So in heaven we will worship God for all eternity.

Wouldn’t we do well to start practicing down here?

I like the church billboard that said:

Come on in and we’ll help you revise for your final exams.

The living God is the God of a living people.

Our hope and confidence in the resurrection rests upon the Word of God and God’s infinite power.

To believe the Word of God and to trust in the power of God is much more than a head game – it should change both our beliefs and our behaviour.

Our confidence in the resurrection should radically change the way we live.
So - Do we really believe in the resurrection?
The degree to which we believe in the resurrection of the dead will determine the way that we presently live.

If we truly believe in the resurrection, then we will boldly stand for Christ.

If we believe that this world is not the end, we will look at this life very differently.

It will totally change our “investment strategy” – of our time, our money – our very lives.

Today we are still asking the wrong questions and trying to find out the right answers.

We talk about pollution and race relations and war, and world hunger and all the while we skirt around the really important question: what does it mean for us  to be called children of God?

How do we show in our daily lives our faith in the God of the living?

The story is told of a preacher attempting to put the finishing touches on his Sunday sermon but who was constantly being interrupted by his 6-year-old daughter.

I know the feeling well.

Anyway, to keep her busy, he found a picture of a globe and he cut it up into little pieces, thinking that that would keep her busy for a long time.

To his surprise, within minutes she had completed it. Asked how she did it so fast she replied: Simple, there was the picture of a man on the back, so, once I put his face together the world fell right in line.

That is what Jesus was saying to the questioners and to us as he was interrupted that last week of his life.

God is the God of the living.

Live believing that and other things will fall into place.

Jesus called on his followers to be peacemakers, and told them that they would be called the children of God. This promise still exists for us today. 

These are simple but powerful words. 

If they worked in Christ’s time, why shouldn't they work today as we struggle to rid the world of terror? 

It is easy to pay our taxes, abide by the rule of law, and otherwise dutifully give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. 

In the end, only when we each become a peacemaker will we achieve the unity that politicians of all stripes are fond of giving lip service to.

God is the God of the living.

How that manifests itself in your life and in mine will determine how our world will be shaped.

God is the God of the living.

May we live as children of the living God, in all of life’s interruptions - for the glory of God.

Amen.

All painted purple

Reading: Luke 18 v 9-14

It’s not THAT long since I went to college to study theology – a mere 20 years!

In those days, the range of theology textbooks was fairly narrow and fairly limited.

Names like Barth, von Rad and Bultmann, Bonhoeffer, Moltmann and Tillich.

Huge tomes destined to induce sleep very quickly.

Today, there is so much choice  for students of theology– there is, for instance, theology according to The Simpsons or the Theology of Winnie the Pooh, even Eeyore’s theology.

Studying the gospel passage this week reminded me of another theologian – or group of theologians – the muppets.

And, since I’ve not been able to get this song out of my head all week, I thought I might as well inflict it on you too.

So, in the light of our reading from Luke, the parable of the two men praying in the temple, I offer you this commentary by the muppets:

There has been a lot of discussion through the ages on which character in this gospel we should most resemble – AND – on which character we are most likely to resemble.

We probably think it straightforward:

Of course the tax collector, only too aware of his sins, is much more commendable than the Pharisee, puffed up by his own righteousness.

But, even drawing that conclusion, renders us more like the Pharisee, standing in judgement, considering ourselves as better, all too conscious of our own goodness.

It’s like a catch 22 – isn’t it?

But maybe that kind of quandary is not the point of the parable at all – or a minor part of Jesus’ motive in sharing this story.

Maybe, in many ways, these two men are minor contributors to the point of Jesus telling us this story.

It seems that, often, a huge part of Jesus using parables, is to get us to examine the many different layers of his story- not to focus on the most obvious but to dig beneath the surface to get to the real heart of Jesus message.

Today’s gospel passage is one of those that seems to throw up so many red herrings, enticing us to look at the two men in the temple, inviting us to compare them, perhaps even stand in judgement of them, when really, our focus perhaps shouldn’t be on the two men depicted in the parable but on what this parable reveals to us about God.

Of course that involves a lot more digging, a lot harder work to get to the point.

And maybe that’s why we welcome the red herrings, it’s easier to be distracted by the details of the story than to be challenged by the God who meets us here.

We’re always quite happy to be sidetracked rather than have to face up to hard teachings that demand hard decisions.

That’s always been one of my misgivings about opting for Unitary Constitution in the church of Scotland :

Castlehill church operates, at present, with a model Constitution – a Congregational Board and a Kirk Session – two different governing bodies, looking after two differing aspects of the church’s work.

The notion is that the congregational board should look at so-called temporal affairs – matters of finance and property, that kind of thing, while the Kirk Session should look after spiritual matters – mission and outreach and spiritual nurture, for instance.

Often, the distinction between the two is extremely blurred.

And so, many congregations opt for Unitary constitution which means that one body looks after the whole lot.

Sounds simpler – and is designed to be.

BUT, it is so much easier to get caught p in the minutiae of a leaking roof or the colour we should paint the ladies (restrooms) than to really get into discussing spiritual care, nurture of young folk, care of the more mature.

And so in Unitary constitution, often, many important elements are overlooked – or body swerved.

We get caught up, instead in the distractions.

We lose sight of God in the whole picture!

And that is always a danger when we approach the parables that Jesus told.

To be distracted by the colourful detail and to gloss over the challenging message.

Some of you will be aware that I recently joined facebook – a social networking site that allows folks to keep in touch. Its hilarious when folk who live in the same house exchange messages with each other on facebook but it IS good for linking friends, present and past  who live further away and for keeping abreast with how life is – a useful tool – as are many of these internet based initiatives. Of course it is open for abuse. But it is also helpful – and fun.

Facebook has also been quite powerful in promoting campaigns – serious and fun. Because of the huge numbers of ordinary folk involved in facebook, campaigns for justice and other useful initiatives can gather pace and take on a global dimension that otherwise would not have been possible.

This week, Wednesday was declared  “Spirit Day”

On facebook.: subscribers throughout the world were encouraged to wear something purple in solidarity with those who suffer from being bullied – particularly those who are being bullied for their sexuality.

Recently, in America, a number of young men, took their own lives rather than endure the bullying any longer.

And, in this country, that kind of bullying has been to the fore recently too.

Folk being bullied because they are different, from school children, to elderly differently abled people.

People made to feel that their life is worthless and so better off ended.

We cannot imagine the despair felt that gets to such a pitch that death is seen as the only way out.

That kind of despair, the kind of treatment that leads people to experience that kind of despair goes against EVERY ounce of Christian teaching and of Christian theology.

And is so, so far removed from the will of a God of infinite love.

The God revealed in this parable we read today.

A God who calls each of us special.

A God who loves us in every situation.

A God who accepts each of us – and all creation JUST AS WE ARE.

Who accepts us and lifts us up when we feel wretched – like the tax collector.

Who accepts us and lifts us up when we are puffed up with our own pride – like the Pharisee.

A God who accepts us and tells us that we are worthwhile, that we matter.

Who tells us that we can never be beyond the grace of God.

The danger is that, reading this parable, we are tempted to make judgements – to divide people into those who deserve God’s forgiveness and those who don’t.

This parable reminds us that only God is able to judge the human heart.

And God judges us all redeemable.

God stands alongside the good, the bad and the ugly, offering grace to all.

God does not divide us into groups – some more acceptable than others – but judges us all as deserving of God’s love and grace.

So when the world puts us down, makes us feel different, makes us feel unacceptable, God calls us beloved.

This parable is not a call to adopt one style of prayer over the other but a call to find a way to pray together – in recognition that we are all sinners – sinners whom God justifies.

And then, once we find a way to share prayer here, to go from here celebrating our shared humanity, and celebrating the God who loves us – as we are.

Amen

Persistence pays off

Luke 18 v 1-8  

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

This week's lectionary gospel spoke so closely into the unfolding events this week in the rescue of the Chilean Miners. Those moving scenes of men, trapped underground for 69 days, being brought into the light, freed at last.

Buoyed up by prayers that rippled day and night throughout the world.

It was so moving to see many of them pause to thank the God of freedom and light. And so reassuring to see persistence being honoured.

Miracles indeed.

I'm sure that Jesus told that parable with his tongue firmly in his cheek. The images he provokes of the persistent widow haunting the judge day and night - always there as he goes about his daily business, peering through the windows of his home as he enjoys his evening meal, haunting his dreams as he attempts to escape in sleep. Wearing him out. Until he gives in and grants her petition.

I don't believe we need to wear God down to achieve justice but a little persistence does no harm.

This week we have surely seen persistent prayer answered and it was wonderful to see the goodness of God acknowledged so publicly.

The question is - can we maintain that evidence of faith in adversity?

As we face a changing world, as indifference emerges once more, can we bring faith back into the limelight and maintain belief in a God of freedom and of light?

Jazzed up Sunday

West Jesmond Rhythm Kings

 Luke 16 v 19-31

Our gospel readings for the past few weeks have been really tricky passages – all parables that Jesus told – difficult to interpret, difficult to make sense of for contemporary living.

And the parable we read this morning about the rich man and the poor man, comparing notes after death, seems to be proclaiming another very difficult and harsh message.

In some churches, at this time of year, they have a stewardship season – encouraging folks to think about their commitment to the church – their time, their talents and their money.

It’s the time of year when many pledges are renewed – or not!

And so preaching revolves around that theme of giving to God and to the work of the church.

Certainly, the last few weeks, the lectionary passages have fitted well with the theme of giving – we’ve looked at taking risks, we’ve looked at choosing whom to serve, we’ve looked at priorities.

But we’ve probably shied away from preaching too emphatically about commitment and, in particular, about monetary giving.

That’s something we’re just not comfortable about preaching in our denomination.

Indeed, a friend was telling me that last time she preached on this passage, she felt it fell neatly into two halves – a message about money and a message about hell.

So she gave her congregation a choice – you know like in those adventure books you get now – or the online games that kids play – where you choose the direction the story takes.

She gave her congregation the choice – did they want to hear a message about money – or one about hell.

Which would you choose?

Money?

Or hell?

That congregation chose hell.

And I’m sure there are many congregations that would rather hear about hell than be challenged about their giving.

A teenager recently said to me that hell was something that had been dreamed up by the religious hierarchy just to keep folk in line.

A bit like the claim that religion itself was a way of keeping folk in line at the time of the industrial revolution.

So is this parable today just a scare mongering way of controlling folk?

Or are we being called, once again, to assess our priorities and decide on the risks that are worth taking.

Today, more than ever, it is a huge risk to put our trust in God.

Churches are no different to any other institution in our current economic climate – risk averse.

Battening down the hatches rather than stepping out in faith.

But even in good times, the church often tends to play it safe.

Even though we preach and supposedly trust in a God of miracles, we rarely practise the faith we proclaim.

We trust more in what we can see than in what we can’t – and so we get caught up in the acquisition of wealth and of riches – we want sureties and easily get distracted.

THAT is what this parable is warning against.

Our being seduced by affluence that we can see instead of realising that there are other ways of being rich.

Living by faith is not for the fainthearted.

The benefits are not immediately apparent.

And the journey can be pretty hairy.

We have to decide whether it’s a risk we’re willing to take or whether we’d rather play safe.

Today’s parable flags up a very human trait – of hedging our bets – often until it’s too late.

But maybe the problem is that when in every other area of our life we are being asked to take risks, to speculate, to move from familiar patterns and embark on new territory, we want some semblance of familiarity in our faith and in the church or congregation in which we choose to share that faith.

It’s a gift that we have the jazz band with us this morning.

Jazz music involves a huge amount of risk taking, of trusting other musicians, of pushing the boundaries.

Lots of analogies that we could bring to bear on our practice as followers of Jesus.

Collaboration, innovation, exploration – all trends that we associate with jazz musicians.

Trends that we could do with more of in the church – though I have to say that, in some places, there is a lot of fluidity in the church just now, lots of opportunity to be creative, to improvise, to take risks if we have the nerve.

There are plenty risk averse folk in the church  to moderate things– we don’t need to worry about things getting out of control.

We need the folk who are slightly behind the beat as well as those who are slightly ahead.

A little instability does no harm in keeping us on top of the game but, most importantly we need good team work.

We need to be able to trust each other enough to take the risks that need to be taken to reach out and serve those outside of our institution and, above all, we need to trust that our God is the one who is right on top of the beat, encouraging us to follow a rhythm that, whatever risks it demands, in the end, leads to each of us fulfilling our potential in this life and in the life to come.

Collaboration, improvisation, innovation – for the glory of God.

Amen