Sunday, January 29, 2006

Toronto Scarborough Presbytery Pulpit Exchange

Matthew 5
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.


The challenge is called 'name that movie.' Here are your clues:

Holds record for most weeks at top of the movie charts: 15
2nd most total of number 1 weekends: 15 (ET: The Extra-Terrestrial holds the record with 16 weeks)
Fastest movie to $500m gross: 98 days
Fastest movie to $600m gross: 252 days
All-Time Box Office Rank: 1
Academy Award Winner, 1997 Best Picture
Last clue: The film ends badly
(www.the-numbers.com/movies/1997/TITAN.html)

If you guessed Titanic, you are correct. If you can explain this success, I'm all ears. It's not that I didn't like the film, because I did. The special effects were remarkable, the attention to detail was admirable, and the acting...well. Let's just say that something else was going on. Something else that led teenage girls to the theatre ten times and led some of the same girls to stake out a solitary grave in a Halifax cemetery and imagine that it belonged to a fictional character in the film.

I know of at least one scholar who has a theory, and her name is Kenda Creasy Dean. She wrote:

True love, as every teenager knows, is always worth dying for. Passion is the truest love there is, a love worthy of sacrifice, a love so rare, so life-changing that it is the stuff of legends. It is Jack and Rose in the Titanic.

She begins with Jack and Rose and then continues with other films and other characters such as Mufasa and Simba (The Lion King), Sam and Frodo (LOTR). I am certain we could add a list of others. The defining characteristic of this love, the thing that sends kids to the theatre ten times to see the same three-hour movie, is that the love is "to die for." As a matter of fact, if you have spend anytime with younger people, you will know that the words "to die for" define a type of passionate response that we may no longer experience, but is still very much a part of their world.

***

Blessed are the poor in spirit; Blessed are they that mourn;
Blessed are the meek; Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; Blessed are the merciful; Blessed are the pure in heart; Blessed are the peacemakers; Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

I want you to ponder these blessed ones before I say anything about them, and while you are pondering, I also want you to imagine with me the greatest single threat to the church as we know it. Any thoughts?

Awhile ago a group of academics conducted the National Study of Youth and Religion and asked a series of questions to young people and their parents. Questions such as "does religion make a difference in the way you live your life?" or "does it influence the friends you choose?" and so on.

After sifting through all the data, and comparing the results of kids and parents, one overall approach to religion emerged, an approach shared equally between the generations, an approach the authors summarized with the phrase "benign positive regard." In other words, church is okay, but it doesn't really matter. Another scholar, taking off from the language of his subjects, called this phenomenon "whateverism." If the youth of the nation, and if the parents of the youth of the nation get together to give the church a great big "whatever," we are in bigger trouble than we thought.
(iasym.org/conf2005london/papers/Creasy-Dean.htm)

Benign positive regard. Whateverism (A new favourite word). These didn't just arrive at our door one day and take over. They were cultivated. And I would argue that they didn't start out there among the people who choose not to darken our door, but rather the tragic story of whateverism began here, inside the church, among us who continue to show up week by week.

I want to share with you a very unscientific and very scary anecdote that happened a while ago. I asked a young woman in her early 30's, a woman who did many years of church school, to summarize the message she received through all of those years of religious instruction. Her answer: "Be a good person and you don't need to go to church." That was her summary, recall: no one (I hope) said those exact words. My next question was a little more personal: Why did you stop going to church? Her answer: "Be a good person and you don't need to go to church."

Message received and message acted upon. In a rather graphic example of benign positive regard, the church was useful in imparting an affirming message that led people straight out the door.

***

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; Blessed are the merciful; Blessed are the pure in heart; Blessed are the peacemakers; Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake.

After all our pondering, I am going to suggest that the people Jesus describes in his sermon on the mount are precisely the passionate people we need to the save us from ourselves. The vulnerable, the broken, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the pure of heart. These people live outside the sting of "whateverism" and experience life with all it's challenges and vicissitudes. They have passion.

Kenda Creasy Dean, in her article, reminds us that "passion" comes from the Greek word pathos meaning "to suffer."

The words original meaning had less to do with pain than with vulnerability, for passion meant to submit, to undergo an experience, to be completely affected or overcome by another.

And while the Greeks were unwilling to imagine a God that could experience any sort of vulnerability, early Christians saw the opposite. They believed in a passionate God who was willing to enter human experience, to suffer as we suffer, and to even taste death on a cross. It is little wonder then that the events of Holy Week became known as Christ's passion, not to emphasize the pain he endured, but rather his willingness to be vulnerable and enter all that we endure. (Dean, p.2)

The beatitudes themselves can be approached from a variety of perspectives. They are comfort for the afflicted and a source of hope. They point to the "great reversals" that may come when time ends and the human way of ordering things is turned on its head. They show us a new worldview, God's view, where it is not only God that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, but some of us as well. Mohandas Gandhi read the beatitudes and immediately folded them into his developing idea of "non-violence." Dr. King did the same.

And this is the challenge that the beatitudes set before us: Use them to change your perspective. They are not a moral code, at least not in a way that anyone could easily apply to their everyday living. They are a worldview, a philosophy, a way to imagine the "first ministers" in God's government, and the first ones to get the Order of Heaven when the Kingdom comes.

***

The greatest single threat to the church is whateverism. Jesus is "to die for" as Kenda Dean likes to say, but would you know it from a visit to any one of our churches? Out there, in the world, storytellers are offering Jack and Rose, Frodo and Sam Gamgee. They are describing passionate love that allows people to risk their lives for the sake of others, or some higher ideal, or to save the world.

Why can't we save the world too? Didn't Jesus ask us to save the world? Shouldn't we share the message that with Jesus at the head of our church we can save the world? I'm not talking about mass conversion, although there are many in our midst who are crying out for it. I'm talking about a planet intent on destroying itself. I'm talking about greed and consumption and global warming and individualism and war and all the things that our hearts break over because God's creation is "to die for."

We need passion. We need passionate leaders to remind us that Jesus is "to die for" and we need to get this message out to the streets that surround our churches. May we, with the Spirit's power and the Spirit's help, carry this message forward, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The sermon preached at the covenanting service between the Rev. Elizabeth Darby and Mount Albert United Church, Mount Albert, Ontario.

John 21
15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
18Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.


Remember the good old days when we would have a single-issue election? Remember 1988 and the stark choice set before us? The 1988 election was the first time (and I'm embarrassed to say the last time) I attended an election rally. It might be more accurate to say protest, because the thing that gathered a crowd was a visit from the Prime Minister.

In the spirit of a single-issue election, my daughter, then five, quickly learned the chant of the day. "Free Canada, Trade Mulroney!" she shouted, and being five, she continued to shout it for days afterward: in the supermarket, in the daycare yard, even at bedtime. Sadly for Hazel, her social action failed, and we got five more years and the very agreement she opposed.

This is not an election sermon. I suspect that along with most Canadians you have made your choice and will sit with it until some time tomorrow. Then you will head off to vote, and you will make your mark, and if you are like me, you will shake your head at one of the most unfocused and convoluted campaigns in memory. What were the key issues? Who made a strong case? When did the campaign even begin?

There seems to be fairly persistent desire for simplicity. I think that's why 1988 stands out. We like to see things reduced to their simplest form. Surrounded as we are by increasing complexity, we crave simplicity like water from an oasis. I don't think it's an accident that Amazon lists 17,000 books with the word "simple" in the title. We crave it, and it seems harder and harder to find.

***

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

I'm not sure I could argue that Jesus invented simplicity, but he certainly added to the cause. Much of his ministry was dedicated to explaining the core of his Jewish faith and defining it in simple terms. The first and best example that springs to mind is a test that Jesus faced. One of the Sadducees, a lawyer, asked him a question: "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" His answer, found in Matthew 22, was this:

"'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'"

Imagine that he took the whole of the law, 613 individual laws recorded over a thousand pages, and distilled it into two commandments. I think at times we forget the revolution in thinking this brought about, and at times imagine that Christianity is a more complex religion than need be.

Jesus made it simple. He spoke in aphorisms and simple commandments, he taught and healed and loved the broken and dispossessed and urged us to do likewise. He saw a hurting world and a well-equipped band of followers and he said, "feed my sheep." Perhaps this is another distillation, taking a command to love God and serve others and reducing it further: feed my sheep.

Hold on to that for a minute, while I tell you about my friend Ross.

***

The Bull Dog Cafe is on Granby Street, and looking out the window you can see Maple Leaf Gardens. Ross, the proprietor, is a latte artist and the winner of the Central Region Canadian Barista Championship. If you like coffee, see Ross. He makes latte, cappuccino, espresso, and his specialty, the "The Bull Dog," a cappuccino latte hybrid. Basically this is his menu, and having tasted the coffee and read the reviews, you can't go wrong.

I share is recommendation because I hate to know anyone is deprived of good coffee, and also to share a rather telling story of one visit. A group of teenage girls came in one day while I was there and asked for coffee. Regular coffee. They asked very politely and Ross said "no, you'll need to go somewhere else." They quietly retreated and I asked Ross the very obvious question "why?" It turns out Ross doesn't serve brewed coffee, the kind that every other coffee shop in the world serves. Again, why? "Well, he said, "first, I don't like it. If don't drink it, I don't want to sell it." The second reason is that he wants to focus on what he does well and what he enjoys: espresso-based coffees made very carefully, one at a time.

***

There has been a lot of talk lately about different models of church. Here in York Presbytery there is an experiment underway with what is known as a "regional destination church." Just as the name suggests, a centrally located facility will provide a variety of services and allow varied expressions of the United Church to exist under one roof. With a new building and an accessible location, it will serve eastern Markham and western parts of Durham.

The contrasting model of church, the one that reflects the congregation I serve, is called the "boutique" model. Like the Bull Dog Cafe, the congregation at Birchcliff Bluffs decided to specialize and do one or two things really well. We are a small congregation, but with the help of volunteers from some neighbouring churches, we serve two thousand people a month through our food bank. We have an active program for children and youth (they number about 30) and we are in the midst of a renovation project. And that is pretty much what we do. Kids are everywhere on Sunday morning, the food bank always get a mention, and a building in need of TLC is never far from our minds.

There are, of course, no rules around being this or that style of congregation. There are lots models, to be sure, but some of the best congregations simply invent their own. What appeals to me about the boutique model is the simplicity. Do one or two things well. Don't feel you can be all things to all people. Decide on a focus and don't feel badly when you have to say 'no' to an initiative that comes along. Take the Great Commandment (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind -- Love your neighbour as yourself.) and decide how to make this a reality in Mount Albert. Love God really well and serve others really well. Keep it simple. Feed my sheep.

***

Rabbi Abraham Heschel said "God is hiding in the world. Our task is to let the divine emerge from our deeds." (Straight from the Heart, p. 120) Today you covenant with Elizabeth and with York Presbytery to find God hiding in the world: To love and serve others, to help a pastoral relationship grow and thrive and to feed sheep where ever they may be found. May you continue to be a blessing to each other, and may you find together the God that loves us, forgives us, and urges us on. Amen.

Third Sunday after Epiphany

Birchcliff Bluffs United Church – 22 January 2006 – Michael Kooiman

Mark 1
14After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
16As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18At once they left their nets and followed him.
19When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.


I have to say I'm pretty unhappy with the way the disciples were selected. I've been reading online about how to conduct a successful job interview, and I think the whole thing would have gone better if Jesus had simply used some of the "best practices" found on the net. There are websites with practical tips for employers, sample questions, and even guidelines on what to wear and how to sit.

So I've decided to recreate the "call of the disciples" and do it in a more professional manner: (msu.edu/user/leedyjen/business.htm)

Gentlemen, what skills and abilities do you possess that will help make you successful in today's job market?

Well, we can fish. We fish all the time, in fact. So, I would say "fishing."

What prior work experiences have you had? What were your accomplishments in these prior work experiences?

You mean aside from fishing? Nothing really, just fishing. Sometimes we fish from the dock. Does that count?

Can you tell me about your toughest job assignment? Please tell me about a conflict situation and how you resolved it.

We often fight about which side of the boat to fish from. And whether to let down the nets or go for beer. Sometimes one of the guys will threaten to walk right out of the boat, but we haven't seen that happen yet!

Are you willing to relocate? Do you mind traveling?

You mean like to other parts of the lake? Or another lake? We don't travel much, so I don't know.

What starting salary do you expect as an employee? What company benefits are most important to you?

You mean the number of fish? Like more fish? Sure, we'd like more fish, and maybe bigger fish. And maybe a dental plan. Have you seen Peter's teeth?

***

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

It would easy to suggest that the disciples didn't have a hot clue what they were being called to. As a matter of fact, I would suggest that if they were fully aware of what lay ahead of then, they may well have pushed off and headed back onto the lake or went to the pub instead. When you recall the confusion, the arguing, the terror that awaited them in Jerusalem, and all the moments they felt helpless or lost, it would be easy to imagine them politely declining the invitation.

The call, in fact, was rather cryptic. "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men and women" would have meant little to the group: enough to peak their interest but not enough to imagine the types of experiences they would have. This, no doubt, was intentional. Assuming Jesus knew the broad outline of what was to come, it would be unhelpful to share this and scare away any potential disciples.

One might say that the disciples were drawn to Jesus, much in the way we might be drawn into a really good conversation. Imagine a gathering where all the small conversations end as everyone in the room is drawn into what seems a really interesting exchange. It may be the intensity, or the energy given off, or simply the use of words that will cause us to leave what we were saying and turn our attention to somewhere else in the room. And this, as we know, was the defining characteristic of Jesus: he drew people to himself.

***

Why did you select our company? What are your expectations? What do you know about our company?

Once called, the disciples began the long road of discovering the purpose of this common endeavor. Months would stretch into years as they worked to piece together a sense of the work they were doing. Was it simply a case of follow his lead? They were companions, to be sure, but they were also partners and the first example we have of a "Christian" community: Christian as an adjective and not a noun.

Along the way they would have picked up a thing or two that we still point to as we try to define the nature of this work and how we move it forward.

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’(Mt. 22)

19Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Mt. 28)

***

It's all well and good to quote the scriptures that define us, that constitute our vision and mission and task and all the rest. But I don't think people review corporate mission statements or look at profit and loss statements before deciding to submit a resume. I think the process of deciding to apply is more nebulous, like how do I feel about the company, or what they're doing in the marketplace? How do others perceive them? Does it seem like a "good" place to work? But what does "good" mean?

It might be helpful to back up a little bit and try to discover what this idea of discipleship means. Why follow Jesus? Beyond the tasks and the challenges and the opportunities for travel, what reason exists for dropping everything and following in his way?

C.S. Lewis, the late professor of literature and famous author, tries to define "the whole of Christianity," the reason that the church exists and why we would choose to follow "the way." He draws an analogy between the purpose of the church and the purpose of the state. He begins this way:

The state exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human begins in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room...

And so he argues that unless the state is working heard to safeguard these simple experiences, it is failing its citizens. All the laws and parliaments and economies are a waste of time if these simple pleasure are not possible. He then turns to the church:

In the same way the church exists for nothing else but to draw men [and women] into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.

God entered our world for no other purpose than to draw us to himself in the person of Christ Jesus. And the disciples were simply the first. It wasn't recruitment or selection but rather the very core of who we are and should remain: a church that exists to draw people into fellowship and allow them to become the Christ-like people they were meant to be.

***

Jesus spared the details day. He didn't speak of trials or betrayal or Calvary or the cross. He didn't speak of a body broken or of blood shed, nor did he speak of empty tombs and locked rooms. He didn't share any stories or pithy sayings, there were no targets set or concrete plans made. He simply said "follow me."

He simply said follow me and I will teach you to fish for people in the same way I was fishing for you. We will bid them follow, we will reach them with a kind word and a loving smile, and they will take the first steps toward transformation. It is not complex, or wordy, or even well presented. It is simply an invitation to follow.

***

What I conclude with is what I call the "dirty little secret of church growth." I caution you that I am no mathematician, but I think my numbers will hold up to scrutiny. If each of us takes on the responsibility of drawing one person into our fellowship each year, then every year the church will double in size. One person each year. You can even blame me: Michael says I have to bring you. Come with me. It does not need to be complex, or wordy, or even well presented. It is simply an invitation to follow Jesus and follow in his way.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Second Sunday after Epiphany

John 1
43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, "Come with me."
45Philip then found Nathanael and said, "We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets [f] wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46Nathanael asked, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip answered, "Come and see."
47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, "Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn't deceitful." [g] 48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
49Nathanael said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!"
50Jesus answered, "Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man."



I'm certain that every town has a rival. In Mount Albert, where I grew up, we didn't have much time for people from Brown Hill. I'm not sure why exactly, and no one could adequately explain it either. Truth be told, I don't recall that I ever asked for an explanation. Some things just are. We didn't have any issues with the good people from Zephyr, Sandford, Leaskdale, Cedar Valley, Holt, Sharon, Queensville, or even Egypt. There was something about Brown Hill though, and that's all I can say.

What about you? Any irrational geographic bias? I confessed mine, now it is your turn.

At some point, some smart marketing person figured out that if our favourite television programs were collected on DVD and offered for sale we may just fork over a few dollars (try $50) to watch a season in it's entirety. My lad, a lucky boy indeed, received "Corner Gas" on DVD. For those of you who don't know it, it is a runaway Canadian success.

At the end of season two, Fred, a young man who doesn't appear to do much aside from hang around, falls for a young woman from a nearby town. The difficulty is that the nearby town is an arch-rival, and whenever people say the name Wullerton (!) everyone must spit.

It appears that local rivalries are not new, nor are they any more rational than they were in the past.

***

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, "Come with me."
Philip then found Nathanael and said, "We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael asked, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip answered, "Come and see."

To be fair to Nathanael, we could allow him to be a little skeptical after Philip's build-up: "We have found the one that Moses and the prophet's spoke about." It has an intentional "out of the blue" quality to it, part of John's effort to begin to bond with those of us who already know who this Jesus is.

It is literary device that John uses: first he set's out in his prologue the identity of Jesus (He was the Word, he was God and he was with God) and then he describes the ways in which people in the narrative come to discover who he is. We, however, are unique, in that we already know who he is, having been informed at the very beginning (it even begins "In the beginning") that this is the Christ come into the world.

And Nathanael, acting like any good Mount Albertite (it is no accident that we sound like a biblical tribe) or any good citizen of Dog River, is quick to say "Can anything good come from Nazareth? Prophet's and liberators, you see, do not come from small towns on the edge of nowhere. Moses came from the palace of Pharaoh, and while we know that he was placed there in a not-so-accidental way, it remains that he came from power. The prophet Samuel was a young miracle, the answer to a prayer dedicated to God and living in the inner sanctum of the temple. Even as a child, he was given permission to speak for God.

Prophet's and liberators have royal connections or live in the centre of God's house, they do not come from Nazareth or Brown Hill or Wullerton (spit!). Prophet's and liberators speak to power because they are intimately aware of the language of power, having been steeped in it at court or in the Holy of Holies, the most powerful place on earth. They are not carpenters or the sons of carperters.

Much of Christmas revolves around the unlikely choice of an infant. Much of the power of the incarnation comes from the knowledge that God would choose to enter human experience thought the most vulnerable means possible: the infant child of peasants on the very outside edge of the Empire. You couldn't find a less likely spot for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And perhaps naturally, the unlikeliness continues. Why not hail from some other town's rival, little Nazareth, where the popular alternative to spitting is to ask "can anything good come from Nazareth?"

***

The literary device only works if you believe John's prologue. You can only be drawn into the narrative and recognize yourself as an "insider" if you feel or know, or are convinced that Jesus is the pre-existent Word. The difficulty, of course, is that we find ourselves in various places, both as a collection of believers and even within ourselves.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of people. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness cannot overcome it.

Nathanael will come to see this, through a small sign (Jesus understands him before they meet) but greater signs are coming in a Gospel made up of many signs. But what if we don't get a sign? Or what if that sign is fleeting or unclear? Or what if a single sign is all we ever get, and that sign must sustain us through all of life's challenges?

***

At one of the lowest points in my life I struggled for sleep and sleep would not come. I could feel within me a heart rate doubled through anxiety and the abiding sense that I was undone. My only recourse, so it seemed, was prayer. I prayed for a sense of calm and the blessing of sleep. It was not an elaborate or articulate prayer, simply the words of one with little else to do. A time later, in the dark, I felt a presence and received a message that said "everything will be alright." Immediately, and remarkably, my heart rate returned to normal and for a few brief moments I received calm: until, of course, I realized what had just happened to me. The elevated heart rate that followed was from exhilaration, and the mountain top experience that remains fleeting and isolated and utterly unique in my experience.

***

St. Paul said "we have this treasure in jars of clay." What he meant was that our experience of faith is fragile and given to brokenness. We are imperfect vessels in that we doubt ourselves and others, we miss the signs before us and we struggle to comprehend "revelation" in any form. We are reasoned and orderly people, accustomed to proof and certainty and the most likely explanation.

This is a challenge to faith, but this is the how these things are meant to be. "We see through a glass darkly," Paul also said, and we never lose sight that our sight is imperfect and limited and given to error.

What we are left with are comrades on a journey. We doubt with Thomas and dismiss with Nathanael and fail to truly hear with Samuel and yet God never stops trying. We are awash in signs of God's desire for our lives and Christ's abiding presence. I see it every Thursday when I negotiate the crowd downstairs at the food bank to get a cup of tea. I see Christ in the volunteers. I see Christ in the vulnerable. I see Christ and I see what Nathanael came to see and I see what Paul meant when he said "we have this treasure in jars of clay. We are surrounded, in fact. And Paul said more:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (NIV-UK)

©2006, Michael Jacob Kooiman

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Baptism of Jesus

Acts 19
1While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior provinces. Finally, he came to Ephesus, where he found several believers.[a] 2"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them.
"No," they replied, "we don't know what you mean. We haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
3"Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked.
And they replied, "The baptism of John."
4Paul said, "John's baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn from sin and turn to God. John himself told the people to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later."
5As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.

Mark 1
9One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. 10And when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you."


I understand there is an election on. Having picked through all the turkey bones and discarded wrapping paper I found some obscure references to an election call. It seems the "government-in-waiting" got tired of waiting and forced the nation into a winter election. As we speak, countless candidates are risking life and limb to amble over mounds of ice and snow to get your vote. Perhaps they should all get seats in the House just for being such good sports.

Years ago my mother took a job as an enumerator, a thankless task that involves driving up and down endless driveways in the wilds of East Gwillimbury and knocking on doors. Wisely, they go in pairs (recalling that every long rural driveway is like a cheap horror movie) and determine, in a completely non-partisan way, the number of voters in each household.

On one occasion they knocked and introduced themselves only to be met with rejection. "We don't need you here," the woman at the door said, "we're voting for God." Without hesitating my mother's partner flipped open his book and said "that's funny ma'am, but I don't see his name on the ballot." Back to the car they went, down the long driveway, and off to the next house.

And yet, what started as a funny enumerator story has been living quietly in the back of my mind and leading me to wonder about the nature of voting for those of us who profess Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives. Of course we would vote for God, because in the course of selecting a candidate off the ballot we would be inclined to choose the person or party that will advance the things that speak to the core of our beliefs. Think of it as the difference between "voting for God" and voting for God. We vote for God whenever we cast a ballot that is consistent with our sense of God's intentions for our community. This, of course, requires discernment, and with only 14 days to go, we better get busy.

***

Finally, he came to Ephesus, where he found several believers. "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them.
"No," they replied, "we don't know what you mean. We haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
"Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked.
And they replied, "The baptism of John."
Paul said, "John's baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn from sin and turn to God. John himself told the people to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later."
As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

Educators will recognize Paul's brilliance in the way this story unfolds. Notice that he never judges them or suggests that they have made some sort of error. When confronted with the information that they didn't even know that there was a Holy Spirit, he simply asks more questions, until he has an opportunity to segue from John's baptism to Jesus' baptism and release the power of the Spirit in their lives.

One of the lessons for the church is the risk of engaging in discipleship without all the information. Discipleship is a life-long education that begins when someone introduces us to God. From there we begin to develop a understanding that must be nurtured and expanded to include a more complete picture of the Christian religion. The passage from Mark illustrates that people were gathering and practicing what they understood to be a viable faith. When expanded, and introduced to the Holy Spirit, they were transformed into a more dynamic community where they were able to speak in other tongues and utter prophecies.

The baptism they received, in Jesus Christ, links backward to two threads: the Day of Pentecost and the work of the prophets. At Pentecost, the same wind that moved over the waters of creation's birth moves among those gathered and ushers them into a new era where God will speak through every tongue to share the news of the coming Kingdom. 3000 were baptized that day, linked through the Spirit to each other and all other believers.

The work of the prophets, also alive that day Ephesus, honours John the Baptist and recalls an ancient tradition to must not be lost to the church. As Paul said, "John's baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn from sin and turn to God. John himself told the people to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later." John's contribution was to frame our need for repentance as we seek God and to recall that we fall short of his glory. When we can do this, we can take up the grace that is offered and embrace the fullness of the life set before us.

As a community, we listen to the voice of the prophets to remind us that God's desire is to complete a Kingdom in our midst that will be based on compassion and mercy and the desire to live for others. There is no better starting place than baptism, when we are marked as God's beloved and given the Holy Spirit and power to enact the Kingdom vision that Jesus so carefully described.

***

On January 23rd, when you enter the little cardboard booth and unfold the ballot you will not find the name of God anywhere. You will find the names of women and men brave enough to put their names forward and make our imperfect democracy work. But you will not find God. You may, like me, utter a little prayer of thanks to God for the blessing of freedom and the ability to vote, but God's name will be no where to be seen.

This does not mean God is absent, nor should be absent. Like moms and dads carrying young children with them into the voting booth, we carry God in with us and we mark our ballots recognizing that it is not a solitary act. With the God who is all things and bears all things I do not vote alone. I vote with my neighbours who experience illness, I vote with the families who use the food bank, I vote with those who feel largely voiceless except for the occasional moment they get to cast a ballot. I vote with all these people, and the little cardboard booth begins to get really crowded.

***

I want to concluded with words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written while he waited for death in a Nazi prison, written on the day of an important baptism that he could not attend:

Today you will be baptized a Christian...in the traditional words and acts [of the service] we suspect that there may be something quite new and revolutionary, though we cannot as yet grasp or express it...It is not for us to prophesy the day (though the day will come) when people will be once more called to so utter the word of God that the world will be changed and renewed by it. It will be a new language, perhaps quite non-religious, but liberating and redeeming--as was Jesus' language; it will shock people and yet overcome them by its power; it will be the language of a new righteousness and truth, proclaiming God's peace with humankind and the coming of his Kingdom. (Resources, p. 44)

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Second Sunday of Christmas

Isaiah 62
6O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray. 7Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth. 8The LORD has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: "I will never again hand you over to your enemies. Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and wine. 9You raised it, and you will keep it, praising the LORD. Within the courtyards of the Temple, you yourselves will drink the wine that you have pressed."
10Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. 11The LORD has sent this message to every land: "Tell the people of Israel,[e] `Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.' " 12They will be called the Holy People and the People Redeemed by the LORD. And Jerusalem will be known as the Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken.

Titus 3
4But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. 5He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.[a] 6He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. 7He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life.


One of the things that I truly love about my job is getting acquainted with men and women who can share stories of our city. It is social history, the texture of individual lives lived that make the city's past come alive. A few examples:

Alex, whose father build houses in the 1930's, and the day that a gentleman bought one of them, in cash, in three one-thousand dollar bills. His best guess was that the house was being bought for the mistress of a bootlegger.

Jack, who worked at the TTC maintenance yard, and participated in endless speculation about how fast a streetcar could really go. One evening, while crossing the Bloor Viaduct, a driver answered the question when he reached 70 mph before reaching the Danforth side only to be met by a cop. Needless to say, it was his last trip.

Or Rose, who worked for 42 years at the pen counter at Eaton's. While some might wonder how fulfilling her work selling fountain pens was, she would remind them that she was one a first name basis with most of Toronto's business elite. She was sent to Montreal on at least one occasion to tour the Waterman factory, and also conducted a clandestine friendship with the "pen girl" at Simpson's across the street in the day when Eaton's employees were not allowed to fraternize with the enemy.

Hearing the stories, listening to the intonation of the teller, one cannot help but be drawn into an abiding sense of innocence. Certainly stories of bootleggers and speeding streetcars and outhouses being tipped over on Halloween have some edge to them (that's why they are great stories) but the underlying tenor of the stories is a kind of innocence that seems lost to us today.

Enter the news. It has been a difficult week to be a Torontonian, difficult to watch news items that describe reporting on American networks that seem to say "their urban context is really no different than ours" or "reality catches up with Canadian cities too." Commentators speak of "loss of innocence" or the end of "Toronto the Good" and use coded words that hint at race and class and lead to conversations that begin with words like "you know what the problem really is" and end with very uncomfortable conclusions.

The death of 15 year-old Jane Creba, coming in the middle of an election campaign and following a season of handgun and gang-related violence, may actually result in concrete changes. Her death may mark a turning point in how we deal with violence in our city, and we can only hope the changes will be for the better.

Our task, as Christians, is to enter conversations and hopefully bring a perspective or two that is missing from the dialogue. We need to find our voice and imagine a way of describing our present situation that begins by looking within and discovering the ways in which we are part of the context, how we are part of an unfolding story.

***

Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray. Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth.

The exile has ended and the Israelites have returned to city in ruins. The object of their desire, the city they heard described in story and verse is no longer there. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem to make final the demise of a culture and a people they could not abide. Removed from home and the proximity of the Lord's presence in the Temple, the Israelites become a people forsaken, and object of ridicule and contempt.

The civic leaders struggle to recreate a community amid the ruins and begin in a most disarming way: they post watchmen atop the city walls to pray aloud and remind God to fulfil his promises to the city and those now returned from exile. The effect is electrifying, and the voice of the prophet animates God's response with these words:

Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. The LORD has sent this message to every land: "Tell the people of Israel, `Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.' " They will be called the Holy People and the People Redeemed by the LORD. And Jerusalem will be known as the Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken.

This is a reading for the Second Sunday of Christmas precisely because this is what incarnation does. A Saviour is coming, look he is already here, and he will bring the reward longed for in a people redeemed and a city with two new names: The Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken. He will bring hope.

***

New Year's sermons are generally light affairs. I will Google a few New Year's resolutions and make fun of them (in a kind way, of course) and remind people that when "fast away the old year passes" we have a chance to set some new goals as a congregation and begin the year fresh.

I suppose the overall gist of this message remains, insofar as that we can think about the things that are happening in our city and we can use an insight or two to read the newspaper differently or in a more critical manner, but unless something happens within these walls, we have likely failed in our mission to the community.

St. Paul wrote these words:
But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness.

It was William Countryman who said "hearing the good news is the beginning. The rest of our life forms our response." (Resources, p. 24) To understand that we are a forgiven people, to know that the Holy Spirit lives in our midst, to understand that God has entered our world once more through a tender babe--all these things--must be for ourselves and others to remain true. The greatest sin of the church is to imagine that we are somehow unique and disconnected from the city around us. The God who "works in us and others by the Spirit" cannot see the divisions that we insist on creating, but only creatures created for love and mercy.

The thing we can teach and the thing we can live and the thing we can share is compassion. Thomas Merton learned from his Buddhist friends that compassion "is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all...living beings, which are all part of one another and all involved in one another." Compassion makes many one and fills us with a sense that another's joy is my joy and another's pain is my pain too.

***

Too often, I fear, we help others and they remain "other." We create social programs and adequate housing, we employ people to manage the needs of those who struggling and somehow, and in some way, we think this is enough. We think that meeting the basic material needs of each member of our society will make for peace and maybe even prosperity. But what about the things that are harder to supply? How do you supply hope? How do you supply a sense of purpose or the assurance that someone matters in the grand scheme? A house and money and even a vote do not provide understanding or solidarity or the sense that someone truly belongs. Without a sense of belonging, without a sense that you are truly a participant in society, you may give in to despair. Without hope, or a sense that you belong, it seems a quick trip to meaninglessness and maybe even violence.

The only positive thing about returning to a destroyed city was that the Israelites, for the very first time, were equal. They were having a common experience, an experience that led them to imagine new ways of forming and maintaining their society, new ways of seeing each other. Exile and return became a new beginning, where compassion happened more readily. This was then translated into the birth of hope found in Jesus, and the grown-up teachings we read throughout the year. In many ways the message is the same: understand Jesus and you will see God. Love him and follow in his way. See him in others, and have hope. Amen.