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Reflections for April 26, 2015

4/26/2015

Reflections for April 26, 2015

1st Scripture Reading: Acts 4:1-22

Reflection:

          This story is powerful witness to the divine nature of Jesus as the Christ. Peter and John, who by the way did not actually see Jesus rise from the dead, nevertheless were irretrievably changed – transformed – by their experience of the risen Christ.

          Dragged before the highest religious authority in the land, they refused to be intimidated. They were arrested for proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, and held overnight. Really, they were arrested for inciting the masses of ordinary people to believe in someone not sanctioned by the Jewish Council.



Intimidation, coercion, torture, loss of liberty; these are the weapons of the powerful who wish to maintain the status quo. But Peter and John were not intimidated. Their exposure to the risen Christ, of meeting Jesus in the midst of them, was such a mind-blowing experience that they had been literally changed – their minds had been changed about what was in fact the nature of the reality that confronted them. They were like a herd of horses driven into a blind canyon – there was no where else for them to go but to acknowledge and celebrate the very presence of God, the Divine, among them. And having done that, their primary allegiance had made a cosmic shift.

          This little group of horses (disciples) had obtained a new perspective – they had new knowledge - they could no longer go back to being ordinary Jewish citizens, oppressed by both the Romans and the Jewish religious leaders. They were no longer the obedient subjects of the Jewish authority; for being asked to choose between the reality of the risen Christ, and obedience to the Council had become a no-brainer. “For we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard,” they said. Forced to choose between acquiescing to the Council’s threats, or obeying the will of God, it had become very clear to them what they must do. And they were not afraid. They were energized. They were renewed. They were fearless. They were filled with the Holy Spirit – the strength and power of being aligned with God’s will.

          This is what is meant by new life in Christ, my friends. This is the transformative power of the resurrection. If Jesus Christ hasn’t changed your life – maybe it’s because you haven’t let him in.

Hymn: Psalm 23 “The Lord’s My Shepherd”

2nd Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:16-24, & John 10:11-18

Reflection:

          “I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

          In this passage from the gospel of John, Jesus lays out a very different style of leadership than we have previously seen today, in the Jewish Council for example. He is not talking about threats or intimidation. There is no hint of coercion or punishment in his voice. Yet he is clearly the leader – the one to follow – the one who knows the way and will keep the flock safe. He is the one who will sacrifice his life to save the sheep from danger.                                                                                    This thought is echo’d in the first letter of John to the early church: “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?”

          Jesus has probably been the greatest teacher about unconditional love the world has ever known. His love is extended to the whole flock, and, he says, even to those who are are not members of this particular group. His love transcends time and place, as he abides in those who follow his teachings and obey his commandments, to also love as he has loved each of us.

          He is not talking about the love of a man for his wife, or a family that fiercely loves all members but no one else. He is not referring to those who love their nation better than all other nations. Nor is he talking about those who love the Canucks but hate the Habs!

          He is teaching us something about the nature of God’s love for all of us. I am not loved by God any more than you are loved by God. God does not prefer any of God’s people more than the others. God grieves those who refuse to acknowledge God, and like the good shepherd, seeks to bring them back into the fold.

          It is past time for us to realize that the One God, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, is the source of all life. Jesus, God’s Messiah, the Annointed One, Jesus, came to teach us this single, all-important truth: that we must learn to love one another as he has loved us. Only in this great love can the direction of our planet be changed. Only in this great love will we stop killing one another. Only in this great love will we begin to consider what our environmental practices are doing to other life forms and to our own future generations.

          The salvation of the human species depends on our learning this lesson: that the love of God through Jesus is indeed our saving grace, and that we know that great love not through word or speech, but in truth and action. We must do what we can, knowing that by the strength of the Holy Spirit we will receive everything we need to achieve our goals, when those goals are aligned with God’s will for us.



          As we look around our world today, we can see how desperately needed is this great Love of God. We are called, children of God, to shine the light and love of God and the risen Christ on a world sorely in need of that healing balm.

Hymn # 333 VU “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”

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Reflections for April 19, 2015 – 3rd of Easter

4/19/2015

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Reflections for April 19, 2015 – 3rd of Easter

1st Scripture Reading: Acts 3:12-19, and Psalm 4 (p.727VU)

Reflection:

          We, like Moses, may not see the Promised Land. That doesn’t mean we should give up and join the unbelievers. On this Sunday, April 19, three days before Earth Day, we are reminded by Peter in the reading from Acts 3, that the apostles, and we, must look beyond our human capabilities to the power and purpose of God in the healing of people, and of the nations, and indeed of all creation.

          I don’t know about you, but as I look around I get depressed, sometimes, at the amount of sickness and suffering I see in the world around me. I am amazed at the money being spent on cancer research, and other kinds of human illness without too much apparent benefit. We are still dying in vast numbers from these diseases. Yes, we have more life-extending treatments and we can prolong life, and often the attendant suffering for much longer periods. But I believe it is hubris, pride, to believe that we are anywhere near being able to do what Peter and the other apostles did in the period immediately following the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

          And I get depressed when I look at the way we ravage the earth without conscience or concern for long term consequences. We are making the earth and other species ill by our ill-conceived actions and our economic system which demands unlimited growth in a finite and fragile planet.

          In the latest issue of Island Tides there is a letter from a person named Terry Slack – a letter about the “missing fish” – the once vast oolichan runs of the Fraser River. Before European settlers arrived this incredibly abundant source of food protein and oil was an important economic staple in the lives of BC’s aboriginal peoples. Do you all know about the “grease trail” that wound from the coast into the interior of the province, so that coastal communities could trade oolichan oil with those groups with no access to this resource, for things they needed from the interior.

          The writer laments the demise of this important fishery as most of the spawning grounds for oolichan have been destroyed in the North Arm of the Fraser River. Oolichan feeding birds which used to come to the spawning grounds to feed on the dead bodies of the spent fish, no longer come to this once rich feeding ground. The author calls it a “silent spring” – reminiscent of Rachel Carson’s almost forgotten work on the deadly effects of pesticides and herbicides in our environment. We have taken too much, we have deforested too much, and we have given away responsibility to those whose concern is only money.

          More hubris – more pride. We are not the creators of this amazing gift we have been charged to steward. Generations to come will have to live with the long term effects of what we are presently doing to the earth and all creatures in our arrogance – or in the biblical language – in our wickedness.

          Yes, at the risk of being pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes, I will name it wickedness. We have no right not to consider the consequences of what we are doing on future generations. Personally I have difficulty looking at my children and grandchildren without feeling some guilt at not having done better, at not having done enough.

          And yet, God IS with us. Peter points to God’s presence and active intervention in the healing miracles performed by the apostles. They were not special people – they were not different from you or I. But they knew Jesus and what happened to him with an immediacy it is hard for us to fathom. Their stories are a lamp to our feet – they must be remembered or we will totally lose our way. The power to create life is not ours. It is the power of the Almighty – the God of love and mercy who nevertheless will let us fail – will let us wallow in our wicked ways, if that is our choice.

          As the psalmist says: “How long, you people, will you defame my honour? How long will you love what is worthless and seek lies?....Stand in awe, and cease from sin; commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still.” And yet, even as we lament our failures, and then turn again to God, we know that God is still there, has always been there…and then there is peace. “Safe and sound, I lie down to sleep, for you alone, God, make me dwell in safety.”

Hymn # 278 VU “In the Quiet Curve of Evening”

2nd Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7, and Luke 24:36b-48

Reflection:

          The writer in the letter from John chapter 3 affirms for us what we often forget, that as followers of Jesus we are “children of God”. But sometimes we forget the part that says “Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as (God) is righteous.” And of course the flip side of that is that anyone who does not do what is right, and who does not seek re-direction, is therefore not righteous – is a sinner, lost in wicked ways – even if that person is nominally a Christian.

          “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth or action.” This writer goes on to talk to the early Christians about Jesus’ commandment to love one another – we will know each other by the deeds of our hearts and hands, and not so much by fine speech that doesn’t come from the heart. I have a cartoon on my fridge that says that going to church no more makes one a Christian, than being found in a garage makes something a car!

          At first, of course, the early followers of Jesus were skeptical, as we would no doubt be skeptical. When he first appeared among them, after his death and resurrection, he had taken on physical form, and he invited them to touch him and even asked for food!

          Now lots of people dismiss this event as fantasy or metaphor. Whatever, the story serves to remind us that with God all things are possible, and without God there is only darkness and the victory of death and evil.

          This experience of the Risen Christ energized and motivated a demoralized group of Jesus’ followers to witness joyfully to what they had experienced: the supremacy of God. Strong in this belief they were unstoppable. They were unbelievably courageous in the face of unrelenting and cruel persecution. They were able to continue to perform miracles of healing as Jesus had instructed them, and as they knew themselves capable of doing, but only as instruments of God’s grace and will. As Healing Pathway practitioners we seek to emulate this practice, and we place the responsibility for all healing that occurs, plus praise and gratitude for that, squarely in the hands of God.

          People of God, we are God’s beloved children. I believe we are called to a very high purpose, the establishment of the kingdom of God here on Earth. Once we choose to align ourselves with God’s will for us, then we will know God’s great peace, and we will be unstoppable. And we must continue to witness to these things we have been told and believe in our hearts to be true.



Hymn # 157 MV “I Am a Child of God”

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Reflections for Easter Sunday, 2015

4/5/2015

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Reflections for Easter Sunday, 2015

1st Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25: 6-9 & Psalm 118

Reflection: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth…”

          On this beautiful Easter Sunday, on this the most joyful day of the Christian year, we have come together to celebrate the goodness of our God. In this reading from Isaiah we are reminded that we are surrounded by the abundance and the infinite generosity of Creation – of all that God has provided for us.

          And yet, somehow we have not learned that there is enough. We don’t understand that the scarcity we see all around us is a failure of our willingness to be satisfied with “enough”. And so there is a “shroud” of blindness thrown over us. We can’t see that there is enough. We choose instead the “American Dream” – the idea that if we work hard enough, claw our way over enough other people, are willing to work 18 hour days and neglect our families by being absent to them, then we will get rich – we will achieve more than our share – and we will be “successful”. Our families will suffer, the earth will be despoiled, people will be sacrificed – all on the altar of greed.

          And as we are more and more “successful”, we will require more and more of the earth’s finite resources to fuel our insatiable ambition. Corruption and exploitation, murder and intimidation, all to service the demands of shareholders will surely follow. And then there will be reason for war. The horrors of war are well known to those of us who have experienced it.

          But greed isn’t always about money, is it? The desire for power over others is also a very dark and shrouded place. The abuse of power often leads to the use of force: physical violence, sexual violence, torture, and murder. Also ethnic cleansing and genocide.

          The use of the word “shroud” to describe that which covers our eyes and blinds us to what is right and true, is such a powerful image! The Apostle Paul is described as having had “scales on his eyes” when he was Saul, the persecutor of Christians. His vision on the road to Damascus lead to the removal or falling away of those scales as he became an advocate for Jesus, and for a merciful and generous God. “For now we see as thru a glass darkly…” But God’s intention, as recorded by Isaiah, is to destroy this “sheet” that is spread over all nations, to tear away the shroud of blindness, thus swallowing up the darkness of death that is embodied in our disgrace as humans – our exceedingly bad behavior toward one another and toward the earth.

          When we choose to refuse to participate in disgraceful actions, when we are willing to proclaim God’s goodness and the gospel of abundance for all, and to live our lives reflective of Jesus’ teachings: sharing with each other, loving our neighbor as ourselves, then our disgrace will be washed away and forgotten, and sthen we will have come a long way toward the establishment of God’s heavenly kindom, right here on God’s beautiful earth.

Hymn #412 VU “This is the Day”

2nd Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 & John 20: 1-18

Reflection: Over 2000 years ago, a boy baby was born in a tiny Jewish hamlet in a sparsely populated, arid part of the Middle East. This country was subject to Roman rule and oppression, but was otherwise insignificant in the scheme of things at that time. The baby’s name was Jesus, and he is spoken of scripturally as Emmanuel, or “God with us”.

          The Roman rulers kept pretty good written records, but they didn’t really care much about ordinary Jewish citizens – so long as they paid their taxes. The wonder is that we have any record of the life of Jesus at all!

          But here we are, 2015 years later, and we are still talking about Jesus. We are still holding services every Easter, like this one, to be certain that we do not forget his life, his teachings, and his sacrifice. And we hold on to the mystery! His resurrection from the dead, his miracles, his countless acts of healing speak to us today, as they did then, of no ordinary human being – though he was clearly a man, of flesh and blood.

          And so he holds a light for us, a candle in the darkness of death and illness, of war and oppression, a persistent light leading us to greater and greater illumination and understanding of ourselves and the way we live. As we follow him, we leave behind greed and avarice, selfishness and disregard for others, anger and unforgiveness. As we follow him, we learn to love other people the way we love ourselves, the way he loved us (and continues to love us) – unconditionally – recognizing in each of us a beloved child of God.

          When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus, both to mourn his passing, and to prepare his body as was the custom, she found him gone. When the other disciples had left, and she sat weeping at the empty tomb, he appeared to her. She felt him talk to her. She related his instructions to the others, and they were found to be true. Jesus appeared to the disciples, and to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time, according to Paul in the Corinthians letter. And lastly, he appeared to Paul, as he testifies.

          Many, many Christians, myself included, can testify to his appearance to us in present times. Jesus brought me back to the church, by showing me his ability to love each of us so boldly, so without judgment, that I knew I was in the presence of God. That certain knowledge of the vastness of God’s love and forgiveness for each of us is what I am called to testify to in my ministry here on Texada Island.

        We know that there are many levels of spiritual development found amongst us. We know that Jesus came to us with a mission from God to strip the scales from our eyes, to tear the shroud that blinds us –to tear it in two, and to bring each of us to greater awareness of who we really are as spiritual beings – children of an indescribably loving God. Can we know Jesus as a very high spiritual being, who navigates spiritual realms of which we are only dimly aware, and who is available to each of us as spiritual guide and teacher? And can we love ourselves enough to know that with God all things are possible, and that Jesus loves each of us so much that he wants to bring all of us home – home to the One who created each of us, and who loves each of us as if we were the only child?

          Jesus is the Light of the world, people of God, and he has lit that light in each one of us. Let us not disappoint. Let us go forth to shine that light into whatever darkness we find around us, so that in the end, there is nothing but Light, nothing but God’s infinite goodness.

Hymn # 703 VU “In the Bulb There is a Flower”

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Reflection for Good Friday Service 2015

4/3/2015

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Reflection for Good Friday Service 2015

          We have just listened to an account in the Gospel of Mark of Jesus’ last days and hours. We have sung, “Were You There”, a verse between each reading. As we listened and as we sang, we have submitted ourselves to serious self-examination: what’s my part in all this?

          Lots of people don’t like this process – won’t submit themselves to it, and aren’t here. Good Friday services are notoriously not well-attended. And yet, we continue to offer them, and some of us would not find Easter complete if we didn’t do it.

          I don’t like it. What’s to like? Every time we do this we re-traumatize ourselves psychologically. And yet – we do it.

          Jesus, in another context admittedly, said, “Do this to remember me.” On some level we know that it’s important to remember him and what happened to him.

          Collectively, I believe, some of us are committed to being the vessels of remembrance. This man, this Jesus, is probably the best known person in human history. This narrative has survived more or less intact for more than 2000 years.

          Collectively, what we did to him, and then later to all the disciples except John (who died in captivity in AD 100), has engraved on our minds the sadistic cruelty of which human kind is capable.

          Because we choose to remember, we assume responsibility for what happens now. What do we have to say about the Americans willingness to legalize and practice torture, or pay others to do it for them? How do we react when we hear that yet another gay or transgendered person in some part of this world has been humiliated and beaten to death?    Amnesty International has called the tazer an instrument of torture. How do we feel when we see that instrument of torture on every policeman’s (or woman’s) hip? Do we get it that that weapon will primarily be used on the weak, the impoverished, the mentally ill, or the person of colour?

          People of God, our work is not yet done. There exists vast injustice in our world today. Animals do not escape. Children in strict religious families do not escape. Women in many countries have no rights and no respect. The precious earth that sustains and supports our very lives has few rights and very little consideration.

          Jesus asks us to stay awake with him, and to pray with him, and to be his body in the world today. Are we up to the job? Can we hear his call, and are we willing to put ourselves on the line? We are not alone in this. He will support and guide us, and his great love surrounds each and every one of us. He has taught us well and he is counting on us. The future of humanity here on earth may well be in the balance. Are we listening? Or are we hiding in a locked room with a huge boulder outside the door?

Can we take a few moments of silent reflection or prayer before we sing our closing hymn: “Stay with us through the night”. Then I would ask that we all leave quietly without conversation. Thanks for being here – it is courageous of you.

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