Where are the nine?
Where are the nine?
Text: Luke 17; 17
Where are the nine? These words of our Lord constitute one of the most poignant, plaintive queries in the Scriptures. Ten lepers had been cleansed, but only one of the ten – a stranger – had returned to give thanks for healing. This striking story points up the lack of gratitude which is a tragic characteristic of the human race. In our own day, perhaps even more than in the New Testament times, one of the vanishing virtues seems to be the grace of thankfulness. Have you ever stopped to consider what a difference an effort to be grateful might make in your life?
World Wide Communion Sunday
World Wide Communion Sunday
Text; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
On this Sunday, while Canadian were sleeping, Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo left their homes for places of worship to see their pastors take bread in their hands and declare, ‘This is my body’. In the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem were heard the words, ‘This is my body’. In Saint Paul’s in London a hush fell across the congregation as the pastor declared, ‘This is my body.’ In churches and cathedrals across Canada today pastors take bread into their hands and declare, ‘This is my body.’ In thatched roof mission stations across the islands of the Pacific this afternoon will be uttered, ‘This is my body.’
This is World Wide Communion Sunday. Through the world churches of all denominations, in all nations, in many languages, are celebrating the Lord’s Supper. And, it couldn’t have come at a better time. We need this time together to remember that our Lord also suffered. And, we need this time also to remember that he did so on our behalf. Not just for you and me but for neighbours next door. Neighbours across the street. And neighbours around the world. “God so loved the world’ begins that most memorable verse in the Gospel of John. It is as true in this war torn age as it was then in that time of unrest.
Is God in this place?
Is God in this place?
Text: Genesis 28:16
As a minister of a church it is not uncommon to get a call from people who ask, ‘We’d like to get married in your church. Can we come and see you about it?’ So usually after a little chatting I make an appointment with them to come to the office at the church so we can discuss further whether or not they want or I want to proceed with the wedding service at the church. My first question is usually, ‘So why do you want to get married in the church?’ The answers vary somewhat, but most say something like, “We want to get married in the presence of God.’ To which I reply, sometimes tongue in cheek, ‘I believe that God is present wherever you decide to get married.’
In the reading from the book of Genesis for today is found the story of Jacob who is fleeing from his older brother Esau. Jacob has taken Esau’s birthright as the first born son and cheated Esau out of his father’s blessing. Esau is understandably upset and threatens to kill Jacob and so Jacob runs away to his uncle Laban in Haran. During this flight Jacob stops for the night at a certain place, takes a stone to use as his pillow and falls asleep. While he is sleeping he has a dream in which he sees a ladder extending from heaven to earth with the angels of God going up and down on it. He experiences God’s presence through this dream and also receives God promise in the dream. When he wakes up he says, “Truly the Lord is in this place.’ In the middle of nowhere Jacob feels God’s presence with him.
In many ways it is at this point that stumble upon a fundamental Christian principle that wherever we are and whatever our circumstances God is present with us. It is like the picture of the footprints in the sand. Even when we don’t think God is with us, we later realize his presence was indeed with us. God is Spirit and that Spirit is present everywhere. Our tragedy is that we so often fail to recognize it, at the moment and sometimes not even in hindsight.
So let’s talk a moment and think how God is present everywhere. When I came to Grande Prairie some many years ago there was that great challenge of a new place and how it would work out. The place to live was there but the living still had to be determined. In fact I thought when I came here it would be for maybe 5 or so years and yet 26 years later I am still hanging around. I think that longevity can be explained by sense of the presence of God’s through the years. Whether it was as the ministry went along, or when our children were born or through all the joys and sorrows of the years, there was always that overriding sense of the presence of God. It was in the ministry, in the congregation, in the people we met daily and in the community at large. I have over those 26 years been continually humbled and grateful by the presence of God through and in the people I have been in contact with.
God is present in the good things of life, the beauty of nature and the kindnesses of people. With that most people would not argue as it is easy to feel that presence. But God is equally present in the cruelties and harsh realities of life. We may not think about this or expect it, but God is present in the needs and sufferings of people.
Mother Teresa was a nun who was known world-wide for her work with the malnourished, disease ridden and poor people of the slums of Calcutta. She said, ‘That the key to her teaching is to be found in Jesus’ parable of the Sheep and the Goats and especially in the words, “Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Mother Teresa goes on to say, ‘I see Christ in every person I touch because He has said, “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was sick, I was suffering, I was homeless and you took me in…” It is as simple as that. Every time I give a piece of bread, I give it to Him.’
There as a man I knew, a minister within the church who developed cancer. As time went on it became diagnosed as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. When he learned that he had Lou Gehrig’s disease he preached a sermon and wrote a journal ‘My Words’ in which he stated that God was in the disease just as much as he was in the sunset. By this he didn’t mean that God intended the disease or sent it. That would make him the devil. But nevertheless God is to be found in ALS as in everything else. If God is not in the disease then he’s not the God of the psalmist who said that God’s presence could even be found in hell, and he’s not the God of the Christian who knows God’s presence most deeply on the cross. Recall the words of the 139th Psalm. The psalmist writes:
‘Where can I escape from your spirit?
Where can I flee from the presence?
If I climb up heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in hell, again I find you.
If I take my flight to the frontiers of the morning
Or dwell at the limit of the western sea,
Even there you hand will meet me
And your right hand will hold me fast.’
So let’s also remember the cross believing that God was in Jesus hanging on that cross experiencing in Jesus all the rejection, shame and pain of that cross. Wherever we are and whatever our circumstances the God of Jacob, the God of the psalmist and the God of Jesus is with us.
So Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, in the middle of the desert, experiences God’s presence in a dream. So when he wakes up he says, “Truly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” When he realizes God’s presence Jacob called the place a ‘house of God,’ and he takes the stone which he had used as a pillow and sets it up as a sacred pillar. In other words, he makes this place a place of worship, a sanctuary.
The tragedy is most of our lives is that like Jacob we quite often do not God is in this place. Too often we forget God’s presence. So most of needs churches and acts of worship with all their order and ceremony to help us realize God’s presence. William Barclay once wrote, ‘That the aim of the people who lead worship is to make the congregation aware of the presence of God and to make them certain that the God who is there is there to receive and to help.
You could take even a step further by saying that the aim of worship is also to help the congregation be aware of the presence of God once they’ve stepped outside of church at the end of worship. That way we do not leave God’s presence behind thinking he only is with us in the sanctuary.
We would say that Jacob robbed Esau of his birthright and his father’s blessing because he forgot God’s presence and God’s will. Jesus makes it clear in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats that those people who fail to feed the hungry, befriend the stranger and visit the sick and imprisoned equally forget God’s presence and God’s will.
I sincerely hope that during this time of worship, here in this sanctuary, that you have known God’s presence. I hope that in this act of worship you will be helped to know God’s presence outside this building as well as inside.
Wherever we are and whatever our circumstances we need to be able to say with Jacob, “Truly the Lord is in this place” and may we all receive God’s help for daily living.
Jesus, Lord of all
Jesus, Lord of all
On this Canada Day weekend I was doing something thinking about what it is about our country of Canada that makes it special, why people come here from all over the world. And I realized that there are many reasons but one that I would like to focus on this morning is the freedom of choice.
One of the great luxuries we enjoy in our free society is the luxury of choice. We can choose our own means of living, the cars we drive and the direction we went to drive them. We can choose our own clothing, our food, the communities in which we want to live and even the way we want to live in them, so long as we do not infringe upon someone else’s freedom of choice. We often choose our own friends, and sometimes our enemies. The free choices we have are numerous and plentiful.
Jesus, Lord of all
Jesus, Lord of all
On this Canada Day weekend I was doing something thinking about what it is about our country of Canada that makes it special, why people come here from all over the world. And I realized that there are many reasons but one that I would like to focus on this morning is the freedom of choice.
One of the great luxuries we enjoy in our free society is the luxury of choice. We can choose our own means of living, the cars we drive and the direction we went to drive them. We can choose our own clothing, our food, the communities in which we want to live and even the way we want to live in them, so long as we do not infringe upon someone else’s freedom of choice. We often choose our own friends, and sometimes our enemies. The free choices we have are numerous and plentiful.
It’s hard not to believe that this is the kind of society that God has in mind for all people. We are able to exercise the free will that God has blessed us with in the first place. We need to walk cautiously here, of course, and be careful not to say that Canadian democracy is the model for the kingdom of God, or that the free will we have from God is the same as the will we are free to express as Canadian citizens.
There is no question that we have a free will of some kind. It is supported by Scripture, but it is especially in our own daily experiences of decision-making. Scripture also makes it clear that human free will, though very real, is very imperfect. That is to say, we have the will to make choices; we just don’t have the will to make every choice the right choice. We lost that ability long ago when we decided to be gods, ourselves, rather than to be God’s own. Instead of wanting to be ruled by God, we chose to be free of his rule. Thus we lost our innocence, our trustworthiness, and our freedom. So the real status of our lives is not the exercise of a perfect, unbridled will that is perfectly able to choose right from wrong, but rather the exercise of a will that is absolutely limited by sin. In short, we have a will that is free, that which is not able to choose to be free.
Christian psychiatrist M. Scott Peck (People of the Lie) says that there are really only two states of being: submission to God and his will and goodness, or refusal to submit to anything beyond one’s own will, which automatically enslaves one to the forces of sin and evil. It is a view shared also by C.S. Lewis, who said in his book, ‘Christian Reflections’, “In the universe there is no neutral ground, every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
We have the freedom to choose, to choose our friends, to choose our church. But when it comes to choosing who is to be our Lord, our God, it is not a matter of asserting our free will, but a matter of submission – of yielding, of giving up our lives. A Lord is one in whom we trust and who we rely upon, one to whom we give our prime allegiance and submit ourselves to in complete obedience.
So let me ask: Who is that person for you? Who or what is your Lord?
There is an assumption behind those questions: All people who wish to be called Christian are those who follow Christ and believe in the power of the cross to save. But I am also aware that in this world we are surrounded by a host of so-called Lords that vie for our allegiance and loyalty. The questions we need to wrestle with are: Do we see Christ merely as one of the many options available? Do we choose him as Lord much like we select a new suit or car? If he fits and feels good, we’ll wear him. Or does he stand quite apart and alone? Is he just a good bet or is he the only game in town? Does he offer you one way to live and the only way to live? Is he the one Lord or one among many?
Think carefully and speak your answer carefully. Don’t speak to quickly, for your choice is truly a matter of life or death. If you choose to say that Christ is a good option, you choose initially the safest route to go. There’s very little to risk, or so it would seem.
To regard Jesus as an option among others means you can have a very causal relationship with him. You can attend worship whenever the spirit moves you, but if you feel that you have earned a little rest, skipping a few occasions isn’t such a big deal. As long as you get to Holy Communion now and then, that’s really all that matters, right? Make Jesus just an option among others and you can enjoy all the benefits of being a member of the Body, without any of the responsibilities. It’s a free country, isn’t it? If you want to become more seriously involved, it’s still your choice, isn’t it? And you don’t want to, it’s your choice as well, isn’t it?
It’s such a safe, easy life when we make Christ one of many optional gods to follow. It seems to give us the freedom to shuffle our allegiances around. Christ is definitely more important to us at specific times in our lives – baptisms, weddings, funerals, Christmas and Easter. But church isn’t the only obligation we have is it? We have careers to work on, bills to pay, places to go, things to do, people to see. We have lots of choices, lots of options. A person just has to set some priorities now and then.
We need to think again how safe and easy a life it really is. Remember Dr. Peck’s formula: ‘One either submits to the will of God, totally and completely, or refuses to submit to anything beyond one’s own will.’
Making Christ and church membership a casual choice is submitting yourself to nothing more than your own will, and that is regarding yourself as Lord. That is also idolatry, and that makes living not so safe at all. It leads us down a road to death.
But now, if we choose to be more serious and less casual about following Christ, then we need to be warned. To submit to Christ as our only Lord of life means we will lose something, we lose our freedom of choice.
When Christ becomes our Lord, we will no longer have the luxury of deciding who is our neighbour and who isn’t. We will no longer have the option of love only those who do nice things for us. We will no longer simply enjoy the benefits of being Christian, but must now take on the responsibilities of that name. Christ will own us, possess us. Our life will no longer be ours, but his.
It’s not a safe choice. There are others that are definitely more safe. On the other hand, there are no others that make the kind of promise that Christ makes: “He who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47)
The casual believer may think it all too risky, and would rather have greater choices. He or she would rather have that luxury of borrowing from both worlds as he or she sees fit. Jesus said, “Not every one who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom.” (Matthew 7:21) which is to say to those whose casual attitude goes no further than that: ”One cannot stand in the middle between submission to the Lordship of Christ or the following of one’s own will. To do is to be ultimately torn apart.”
Jesus did not come to earth to be one of the many candidates running for King of kings. God didn’t send him our way that we might ponder his words, or think about his parables, and take them simply as good advice. God didn’t’ ask our permission; he didn’t call for a vote; he didn’t wait for us to say yes – or no.
In absolutely perfect freedom, God choose us! He sent us Jesus, hoping we would follow. Whether we do does not change the fact that he has been established by God as Lord of all! We can reject him, but not make him go away. The cross is history, never to be repeated, thus never to be forgotten or ignored.
We really don’t have a choice. Choosing not to believe at all, or deciding to live a casual relationship with Christ, holds very little risk and very little promise. But choosing to submit to Christ’s lordship is to relinquish all rights and claims on our lives by other lords.
By no other lord are we genuinely safe. Christ’s Lordship is one of shepherding, of providing, of making us whole people. Jesus, our friend – Jesus, our comforter and life-giver – Jesus, Lord of all. What will it be? A matter of choice or a matter of submission? A lord of your choice or the Lord that has chosen you? It’s the only choice in life that matters.