“Who Sinned?” Lent 4A (March 30, 2014)

Psalm 23

God is my shepherd, I lack nothing. God makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters, and refreshes my soul. The Holy One guides me along the right paths for God’s name’s sake. Even though I walk  through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of my God forever.

John 9:1-5 

As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of the One who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”  Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

“Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

They brought to the religious leaders the man who had been blind.  Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.  Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the leaders said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents.  “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but only  to the godly person who does God’s will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Human One?”

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Teacher, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some religious leaders who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

*** 

Will you pray with and for me? You who are, give us grace in this moment to be open in heart, mind and spirit to your word for us today. May all that we do be an expression of your love for us, shared with the world around us. In all your names, amen.

Some of our scripture readings are short but have a lot of meaning packed into them—others are long with one or two kernels. And some are long with a lot to say. This is one of those.

It’s been interpreted and preached on in many ways—blindness as spiritual blindness, drawing parallels between the man who was healed of physical blindness and those who are spiritually blind; or, with another focus, on Jesus as the light of God, so that even people who are visually impaired can recognise him; or yet again, the lack of ability to see and understand on the part of the religious leaders is contrasted with the trust and confidence of the man who was blind.

One very important thing to bear in mind is that this man was very lucky to have survived to adulthood, to have parents who cared for him.  In that day and age, disabilities, whether physical or mental, meant either a short life or a very limited one—in a time without antibiotics, wheelchairs, Braille, most corrective surgeries, prescription glasses or hearing aids, work and therefore participation in society was pretty much impossible.  So living with a disability was viewed as a curse from God, or the result of something the person or her ancestors had done.  And then there is the future--this man’s parents were helping him, but what would he do when they died? It is pretty bleak, but it is the truth.

In these days, we know better, right? We are more aware of the role that genetics and the mother’s nutrition and health care play, the importance of good medical care; we understand about medical errors, and the things that modern medicine cannot cure, or sometimes even treat.  We know that these are not the “fault” of the individual-- they happen, period.  Disabilities, of whatever kind, are not God’s will.

An advocate for physically disabled people pointed out that those of us who think of ourselves as “abled” are only temporarily so.  If I lose my contacts, I am effectively visually impaired—without my contacts or glasses, I can navigate my apartment, but I cannot drive, and even reading the directions on a soup label is a challenge. During my cancer treatment, I tired easily; I was no longer as mobile as I had been. Ask anyone who has been on crutches for a broken leg how difficult it is to climb stairs. If nothing else, we will all grow older, and become less mobile, more likely to fall, more susceptible to illness; our eyesight or hearing may begin to deteriorate, too. In another time and place, many of us here would not be here—the resources available to us in a modern Western nation mean that we can survive heart attacks, strokes, and cancer; that we have technologies and services available to allow us to live fairly comfortably.

The reality, then, is that in one way or another, we all are, or will be, or were in the past, living with a disability or disabilities.  We are all in this together, and so the focus should be on acceptance and mutual support , rather than trying to “fix” people, whether we are talking about depression, a broken leg, or visual impairment. 

“Fixing” people doesn’t really work; not only can we not do so, but even when a person is treated and cured—as the man was in this reading—that does not mean a person is healed. Cure means whatever it is, is gone and will not be back—but how often does that really happen? Cancer can always recur, a broken bone is more likely to break again than one that has not; the flu or a cold is likely to happen to people over and over. Healing, on the other hand, takes the illness or pain or difficulty, and makes something more of it—healing occurs when the person understands what has happened and how to grow from it, internalises the lesson.  Many people are cured of illnesses without being healed.

The man who was born blind was cured—he could see again—but more than that, he was healed, because he stood steadfast in understanding that God had brought about the cure and that Jesus was the one who brought it about.  He kept that understanding of Jesus and would not let go of it. Even if he lost his sight again the next day, he understood who Jesus was, and no one could take that away from him.

Healing is not cure—not everything can be cured. But with God’s grace, everything can be healed. Psalm 23 reminds us that God is with us, even in the midst of the dark valleys of our lives—not to cure everything, but to walk with us through that fear, pain, confusion, and hurt.

So the religious authorities believe that either this man or his parents committed some terrible sin, and that is why he was born visually impaired.  Well, let’s talk about that a minute.

Sin is a very loaded word. It has been hurled at so many people for so many things, it is both overloaded with meaning and trite at the same time. Through history, everything from murder to clothing styles that violate the norms of a society to relationships that make others uncomfortable to tattoos to swearing to reading or playing cards on Sunday have been called sins. That very overuse has meant that the idea of sin has become diluted—if so many things are sinful, how we avoid it? And at the same time, because it has been used towards so many of us for so many different reasons, it is still a word that makes us flinch, even if we do not believe that we are sinful or sinners.

Sin is, essentially, separation from God. Whatever we do that does not contribute to bringing about God’s realm, whatever keeps us from being close to God, is sin. So we could say, for example, that arrogance is a sin, but then so too, in that sense, is self-abasement—thinking we are no good. Whatever keeps us from God is sin, and so yes, we all sin, but—and here is the important bit—we are also all forgiven. This is the other half of the equation—if we are separating ourselves from God, then we also must accept God’s forgiveness, that open invitation to return to a relationship with the divine. That divine forgiveness doesn’t erase what we did, but God has let go of it and will not let it come between us and God. Just as we forgive a person who has done something to us—we can’t erase what has been done, but we can prevent it from coming between us and the person who did it—we can return to a relationship with that person. It will be different, just as our relationship with God will be different—but it will remain. The difference is, though, that while our understanding of our relationship with God may change, God’s understanding does not. We are still and always God’s beloved, with no strings attached.  That does not and cannot change.

This is what the man who was born blind has come to realise—nothing keeps him from God except himself.  He has been healed of his pain and separation, from the world assuming he or his parents did something wrong, from his own assumption that this must somehow be his fault. He is cured, too—but when the religious leaders send for him, he understands that the cure didn’t change how people thought of him. His true and final healing comes when he proclaims that he believes—he recognises God’s presence and action in his life. He has returned to that relationship with God.

Some people do not understand this—they sit in judgement on others, thinking they can decide who is not in a right relationship with God and who is, based on their own thinking and understanding. But Jesus says elsewhere that humans look at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.  The ones who think they can judge and decide are the ones with no vision; those who have been through that mill of self-judgement and been healed know that they cannot judge another person’s heart or relationship with God.

Jesus is the light, then, that illuminates the darkness for us, shines into the shadowy corners of our lives, where we hide the things we are ashamed of, the things we think make us sinners and less-than. He brings them out into the bright sunshine of day, and we can see which are truly ours and which belong to someone else—which are things we should be eliminating from our lives and which are things that were never ours in the first place—and most wonderfully, which are the things that, far from being hidden in the corners, should be polished up and shared with joy.

So—who sinned? Not the man, not his parents. Those who are so afraid of losing God’s love that they have to set human limits on who God loves—that is a separation from the One who loves us all. We all do that from time to time—decide who is worthy of God’s love and who isn’t—when the decision is not up to us, but to God, whose love is for all. Our work is to focus on service to others—curing them, if we can—and give them the grace to heal in their own relationship with God.

As we move through Lent, let us remember that only God knows all that is in our hearts, and loves us anyway. With the light of God’s love around us, we can see those hidden things for what they truly are, and know that we are healed. In all God’s names, amen.

"Living Water" Lent 3A (March 23, 2014)

Exodus 17:1-7

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as God commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  So they quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put God to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to God, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

God answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.  And he called the place Massah, or testing, and Meribah, or quarrel, because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested God saying, “Is God among us or not?”

John 4:5-42

So Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Creator neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Creator in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Creator seeks.  God is spirit, whose worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of the One who sent me and to finish that work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.  Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.”

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers.

They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

*****

As many of you know, while I was a Methodist pastor, i served two country churches. One was named Poplar Springs--not surprisingly, there was a spring in a grove of poplars across the road from the church. One of the patriarchs took me to see the springs. There wasn't much to see--a tiny stream of water flowed from a rock outcropping, and trickled down to be lost in ferns and moss and grass.  He told me he remembered being sent as a boy to the spring to get water for the church picnic. Water for baptism also came from the springs. Even though the spring could not be seen from the church, and the water now comes from a well, that spring, that living water, was at the centre  of that church's life.

Living water is water that is moving, changing. A lake, a fountain, a river, an ocean--those are living waters. A puddle, a  basin of water,  a swimming pool--those are not living water. Living water is to be desired because it is fresher, cleaner, healthier.  Water that is not living is stagnant, stale, and the breeding ground for disease and mosquitoes, at least potentially, unless we treat it with chemicals, like a swimming pool. Even a glass of water tastes better when it is fresh. 

So we can understand the excitement of this woman at the well--a never-ending source of living water. Wells can go dry, rivers change their courses, lakes can dry up...but this well will never go dry--the well that is God's love.

It is that love we remember in baptism. Today we will baptise two beautiful babies. Their baptism is not a means of their receiving God's love--that they have already. But it does mark the recognition by the community that they are indeed beloved children of God, and are part of our community, too. Their parents and their godparents and we too, as a congregation, will be making promises to teach them about God's love for them, and to show them how to live in ways that show that love to other people.

This story of the woman at the well is really a baptism story. The woman at the well learned something about God, was told about the living water, asked for this living water, and then went and told other people, who came and listened and learned, and believed for themselves. Most of us don't remember our baptism--but we may remember our confirmation. That was when we took those baptismal promises for ourselves. We were old enough to make those decisions for ourselves--what is wrong, what is right, how do we choose to show and share God's love? How do we find nourishment for our spirits, our souls? These two babies can't do that yet; but we who are grown-up can and do. Many of us find that refreshment, that living water, in a spiritual community--a church, a synagogue, a drumming circle, a mosque, a temple--a gathering of people who take the time to just sit and be with God for a while, to speak to the divine, and to listen for the divine whispering to us.

We come to drink that living water, to remind ourselves of God's love for us and presence with us. We come to share living water with others, reminding ourselves and them that we are all beloved of God. And then, like the woman at the well, we go out to share that love, that living water, with other people, inviting them to come and taste the living water of God's love for them, too.

The woman at the well was sure the water was not meant for her-for one thing, she was a Samaritan, a group that had split off from Judaism and were now antagonistic. And then there is the question of all her husbands--five, and yet none of them really her husband...whatever that means, it is surely significant that she was at the well in the middle of the day, when she would not be likely to meet many people. Was she avoiding others because they ostracised her? It is at least possible. And she was so refreshed and strengthened and healed by that living water, that she went running back to town to tell everyone about it.

It is always there--this living, enlivening, strengthening water. It is for everyone who wishes it--not only Samaritans, or Jews, or members of a certain church or churches--it is for everyone, every child of God. Taste those living waters, and be refreshed, and know that you are loved by God.

In all God's names, amen.

“How Can This Be?” Lent 2A (March 16, 2014)

Genesis 12:1-9

God had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.  “I will make you into a great nation,  and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth  will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as God had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his spouse Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  God appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to God, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to God and called on the name of God.

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the realm of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the realm of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.  I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Human One must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that God gave the one and only Child of God, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Child into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

***

Will you pray with me? Holy One who rules all times and seasons, give us grace and wisdom in this time to hear and speak your truth. May our hearts be open to the message you want us to hear today. In all your names, amen.

John paints a very interesting picture here. Nicodemus is a Pharisee—one of the many streams of Judaism of the first century. Pharisees generally believed in an afterlife—which Saducees did not, and the Essenes did—and in Temple worship and sacrifice—which the Saducees did, but the Essenes did not. Pharisees were, in fact, the mainstream Judaism of the day, sort of like Presbyterians or United Church members today. They studied the Torah, the commandments of God, very closely and were committed to following them as much as they could. So they studied and discussed and argued over the meanings of words and how they could best be applied to their daily life. Remember, the early parts of the Jewish Scriptures—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—were first recorded something like a thousand years before Jesus’ day. So for the scholars of his time, these were already ancient texts. Something else to remember—which some of our modern Biblical scholars should remember—is that it was always a given with the Jewish scholars that these writings were not necessarily to be taken literally. They knew the scriptures spoke in metaphors and allegory and symbolism; that there were several kinds of literature—history, poetry, legend, and so on—in the scriptures. You will rarely find mainstream Jewish thought today taking the Scriptures literally, and they did not in Jesus’ day, either. And we know Nicodemus was a rabbi—which at that time simply meant teacher—and this is strengthened by the fact that he came to Jesus at night, which is actually the traditional time for adult men to learn and study.

So when Nicodemus asks how a person can go back into their mother’s womb and be born again, he is not being naïve and taking Jesus’ statement literally. He is making a point. When we have been born into a culture, a mindset, a way of looking at the world, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to adjust our thinking, to look at the world in a different way, with new eyes—as if we had been born again, into a different body, a different reality.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that it is possible—through Spirit, not the body. In other words, the flesh, our bodies, our tangible selves, can make some things happen—our human bodies can make other bodies, can (at least temporarily) change the land around us and the creatures that live there. But when it comes to things of the spirit—those can only be changed by spirit, not by our will. That doesn’t mean that those things are impossible to change or that we cannot have an effect on them, but it does mean we cannot do it ourselves, without help from Spirit. What are those things? Compassion, wisdom, understanding, love for all that is, faith, trust. Those are of the spirit, and only Spirit can bring them about. We can make it easier for Spirit to work in us by being open to these things, to recognizing their existence and by being willing to have them born, or grow, within us. We can’t do it on our own, though.

That is what the realm of God is—a state of being where all creatures share compassion, wisdom, understanding, faith, love. Jesus is not judging others—he is offering another path, another way. It is not an easy path—in fact, a person has to be born again, become another person, in order to walk that path.

But it is also a second chance—an opportunity to learn a new way of living, of loving the world, of laying down that burden of shame or feeling inferior, of hate and anger and distrust. A chance to live with grace and faith and love, with the absolute knowledge that we are all children of God, none of us are better or worse people, we are all doing the best we know to get through. Some of us have chosen the way of anger and distrust—but we don’t have to. Some of us have chosen to live for ourselves, disregarding the needs of others as long as we feel good. Some of us clutch the goods of this world to us, fearful of not having enough—except it is never “enough.”

This is what being born again is—a new life, a second chance. When we take that second chance, when we dare to believe we are worthy children of God, that every one of us human beings is one of God’s children too—then we can begin to live lives of grace and abundance. It isn’t easy—just like a young child learning to walk, we will stumble and even fall—but we can get up and try again, keep moving in the direction of that light of love and healing.

And that is Jesus’ purpose—to show us the path, to tell us that there is another way to be. But it is not just about us—helping us to live a more fulfilled and fruitful life—it is also about others. Being available as a channel of grace and acceptance and hope is part of this journey, this path with Jesus. It is not about just us ourselves and our own relationship with Jesus, although that can also be rich and rewarding and a source of healing. But Jesus was about reaching out to others—healing, teaching, comforting. We may not be able to raise the dead, but we can offer a hand to people who are lost, people who need comfort or a glass of water, or a loaf of bread or a place to stay or a listening ear. Jesus always reached out to others—he never stayed safe in the cocoon of his relationship with God, and neither should we. This is why we worship in a group—to come together in love and worship for God, to care for each other and the world. It is why we share the passing of the peace each Sunday—to remind ourselves of our deep bond with each other as Christians who come together to worship God and do our best to be the people we are meant to be. If we cannot get along in grace and love in a church, my friends, how can we expect the rest of the world to get along, when they may or may not have any bond at all with each other—except for that bond we all share, of being children of God.

So, my friends, being born again is possible—and it does happen. We all know people—or maybe we are people—who have been born again, have been given another chance to live life as we are meant to live it. Take that chance, that opportunity, to be born again into a life of grace, forgiveness and possibility.

In all God’s names, amen.

The Great Sermon Posting of May 2014...

I hadn't realised how far behind I am with this... Hastening to post multiple sermons...

Friday Five at the Movies!

The RevGals Friday Five (just for fun) this week is all about the movies!

1) Is there a film that so captured your imagination that you couldn’t stop thinking about it? In what way(s) did it affect you?
It's not your typical this-affected-my-life-forever movie, but... The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. This Australian film recounts the adventures of a gay drag queen (Adam/Felicia), a bisexual drag queen (Tick/Mitzie), and a transgender drag queen (Bernadette) as they travel across the Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs for a gig at a resort managed by Tick's wife. They share stories as well as adventures on their odyssey, and as they come to know one another they form a  bond of friendship and mutual support. I was struggling with my own identity when I watched this for the first time and found a way of naming what I felt--even though Tick is very different from me, I recognised his sense of confusion and eventual comfort with all of himself. It is also very funny. Warning to ABBA-phobes---lots of the soundtrack is ABBA cuts.

2) What religious/spiritual film has touched you? This could be something overtly thematic, like The Last Temptation of Christ, or something more subtle, like Enchanted April. 
I actually have one of each. In the overtly religious category is Jesus, with Jeremy Sisto in the title role. Jesus is portrayed as very human--he laughs, he resists his call, he teases the disciples (and indeed some of Jesus' comments to the disciples can be read that way). Palestine is portrayed realistically too--the Jordan is the stream/creek it really is, for example. I have one quibble with it--some of the non-Biblical stories have crept in, such as Jesus resuscitating a sparrow as a child. Oh, and I have trouble with Debra Messing as Mary Magdelene, and that she is portrayed as a sex worker (because that's not Biblically accurate).  But that is minor. More subtle is the old favourite Chocolat, with its themes of gratitude for God's blessings and willingness to follow where the Spirit leads and the difference one person can make...among others!

3) When the going gets tough, is there a film you turn to for distraction and/or to help shift your mood?
Yes, a couple, actually! Around Christmastime, it is Christmas Story. Other times it is Steel Magnolias; I love the strong characters and outstanding acting--what a wonderful collection of stars gathered for that movie! Tears every time. And sometimes it is Fried Green Tomatoes...

4) What is your all-time favorite movie?
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Again, excellent characters and world-class acting. The themes of taking care of each other, of the sense of an extended family, and of internal strength and knowing yourself... Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates are stellar. Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Loiuse Parker are amazing too. I just regret the movie producers toned down the relationship between Idgie and Ruth; Fannie Flagg had created a lovely partnership between them. I understand (with regret) why it was done, but still...

5) If you were to choose a film for viewing and discussion with your congregation, what would you choose?
Either of the two mentioned in 2). Another option would be For the Bible Tells Me So (heartbreaking and joyous at the same time)--it is a documentary examining the way Christianity has been used to harm and bash gay men, lesbians and bisexual people. It follows several individuals, some of them prominent in American Christianity, telling their stories through interviews with them and their families. I would love to do a sort of film festival series on Christian themes in popular movies--The Apostle, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, It's a Wonderful Life....

Bonus: If your life were to be made into a feature film, who would you want to play you?
Hmmm. Young Mary Stuart Masterson in my teens; as an adult Meryl Streep, and more recently either Olympia Dukakis or Judy Dench. 

“Eyewitnesses” Transfiguration A (March 2, 2014)

2 Peter 1:16-21

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  He received honor and glory from God the Creator when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Child, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 17:1-9

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Child, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.  But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”  When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Human One has been raised from the dead.”

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Will you pray with and for me? Loving God, be present with us now as you were present on the mountaintop; give us grace to recognise your presence and your power with us today and every day. May all we do be reflections of your love for us and for all your children. In all your names, amen.

Transfiguration Sunday, which we observe today, is not one of the big church holidays. But it is the turning point, in a sense, of the season. It is the last Sunday before Lent begins--our journey with Jesus pivots towards Lent and Easter, the movement towards Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, Jesus' death and resurrection. It is the time when his followers begin to realise this is not just a wise man they are following, that this is more than a diversion, that this is, in fact, deadly serious. There may be doubt about whether anyone but Jesus heard the voice of God at his baptism--it's not clear from the Gospel accounts--but there is no doubt here--Peter, James and John heard the voice of God, saw Moses and Elijah with Jesus, and Jesus all radiant with glory. This is the real thing! And so no wonder Peter babbles nonsense and James and John can't find anything to say at all...Moses, the leader of the Hebrew people out of exile, the great law giver, the foundation stone of the Jewish faith--gave them the  commandments of God, one who spoke directly to God and lived! And then Elijah, greatest of the prophets! Prophets in those days were not seers, or people who foresaw the future. The real meaning of the word is one who speaks truth to power, who calls for justice and righteousness. Martin Luther was a prophet--so was Gandhi  and Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk and Troy Perry and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

So Jesus is revealed as a true child of God in the presence of the Law and the Prophets--that's what that radiance is--Jesus in all his glory, Jesus most truly himself. Remember Jesus says he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it; remember too, that he says that the greatest commandment is to love God and your neighbour as yourself --on this, he says, hang all the laws and the prophets. For what is it to love your neighbour but to cry out for justice for them? And to live your live in ways that harm no one and ensure that God is honoured? That is what it means to be a child of God.

And so Peter is quite right in one sense, to want to stay there on the mountain with Jesus and Elijah and Moses--but quite wrong in another sense. Ideally, we can all be like Jesus--so full of that love for God and sense of service and justice for others that we glow. Who would not want to be like that? And yet, we cannot live on the mountain--we have to go down and be among people--other people, people we like and people we don't, people who are righteous and people who are not, people who Re good to each other and their pets and children, who do their best to support their friends and neighbours and family--and people who don't seem to care two figs for anyone else as long as they have what they want. Yeah, it's messy sometimes. Yeah, it's hard most of the time. But Jesus leads them down from the mountain to begin the real work of ministry, among God's people, not remote and separated, down in the dirty, mucky, messy midst of God's people. He leads them down to begin that work, because soon he will be leaving them, and they will have to do his work without him. But he has shown them what it can be like--to be fully alive to the law of honouring and worshiping God and to caring for your neighbour, to crying out for justice.

As we prepare for this Lenten journey with Jesus, we can also prepare to serve God's people. What is it we lack, what talent or grace or wisdom or skill do we need? That should be our guide to a good Lent, a holy Lent--learning how to serve God's people--each other--more fully and completely, so that we too, can shine like the sun, fully ourselves as we honour and love God and work for God's justice and peace here on earth.

In all God's names, amen.