Sermon for Matthew 25:31-46 preached on Nov 16, 2014

You should have heard MY weeping and gnashing of teeth
on Wednesday at our bible study!

Echoes of an old sermon I preached on everyones lips.

“It’s just not fair”

This passage doesn’t feel fair.

On the surface it seems to,
but like any parable, once you start pressing the text
we came across something that made us all uncomfortable.

Here’s a little recap.

The master of the house is going on a trip
so he calls 3 of his slave together
These 3 have differing degrees of ability
so he gives them differing amounts of money
    according to their ability
        But even the one he trusts least has more money than he        
        would have made in a year!

When the master came back, he called his slaves together
to see what they had been able to do with his money.
The first guy who was given 5 talents (or 5 yrs of salary) had doubled it
    woohoo!  The master was happy,
    figured he was right all along to trust this guy
    and said he’d put him in charge of more

The second guy who was given 2 talents (2 yrs of salary) had doubled it too
    woohoo again!  The master was happy
    again right to have trusted this guy
    and put him in charge of more stuff too

The third guy who was given the 1 talent (1 year of salary)
    didn’t have any extra to give his master

    He’d just dug a hole and put the money in it to keep it safe.
    because quite frankly, he was scared of his master
    and actually had the courage to call his master a thief
    Well - the land owner was beside himself - jumping mad
    called him a “wicked and lazy slave”

And here’s the part that can be taken so many different ways…

“So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.
For to all those who have,
more will be given, and they will have an abundance;
    but from those who have nothing,
    even what they have will be taken away.
        As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness,
        where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And thus began our bible studies weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Because if we read this parable as if
    God is the landowner - the slave owner
    and we are the different slaves with different abilities
Even though the master believed the last slaves abilities to be less than the others, he still threw that slave out into the darkness for giving in to his fears.

What do we do with this vengeance?
This calls so many things into question.
Is God really a God of Love?
Where is the grace of God in this parable?
Where is the compassion?
Where is the Jesus that I follow?

The traditional way to read this is that you have to take some risks in life
and the worst thing you can do is give in to you fear
and not bother to try at all.
BUT
It could be that it’s a story about inequity and things not being fair.
It could be a story about abundance or stewardship or judgement
It could be a story about sharing your gifts to build up the kingdom of God.
We all agreed that was absolutely right
It could be about all of those positive things.
But there was still this annoying rub

This friction between our understanding of a loving God
and this seemingly heartless master in the parable.
A master who was so angered by someone who gave into their fear,
who refused to engage and try,
That he called him worthless
and threw him into the outer darkness
with all that weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Friction between our understanding of who we know God to be
and stories in scripture isn’t a bad thing;
it isn’t something to just blindly accept
Because this story doesn’t change God into a heartless disciplinarian

It just means that we’re missing something in the story.

I think for us to get the whole picture,
it needs to be placed back into scripture
back into it’s context
amidst all the other stories and parables that are around it.

Because this is only a small part within a larger conversation.
The story actually began more than 60 verses earlier in Chapter 24:3 with the words:
    “When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to         him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the         sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’”

Jesus answers this question with many warnings about false teachers
about days when the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give light
to lessons about timing and watchfulness
and two warnings about being thrown into outer darkness
with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
including ours today.


all of these stories are about people left outside,
judged and cast away
called worthless

All of these stories exist to help Jesus answer the question
    what will be the sign of your coming
    and of the end of the age?’

Because Jesus experienced all those the things in his last days
He was cast out into the darkness,
mocked
beaten
called worthless
abandoned by his friends

Aren’t those the signs that Jesus’s earthly life was ending
and the reign of Christ about to begin?

So that means, the piece we were missing
                                was the cross.

The grace and love is found at the crucifixion
Through Jesus’s death
    No more will anyone be excluded from the light
    No more will that outer darkness engulf the weak
    No more will fear overcome love.

Jesus experienced that exclusion from the light
that darkness and that fear.
so much so he cried out from the cross
    ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

when he breathed his last breath
the very foundations of the world shook
and because of that sacrifice,
the world will never be the same again.

And we will never be the same again.
We don’t need to worry and wonder
When the world calls us worthless
When the world excludes us
When events around us cause us to fear,
and the darkness descends around us
    recognize we are standing in the shadow of the cross
    and lean into the light of God’s love.

holy mysteries

Alrighty folks - I've been doing this priestly thing for a while now, and I still never cease to be moved by the celebration of the holy mysteries.  Each week, the Eucharist maintains the ability to reach beyond "what we can ask or imagine".  
The Book of common prayer uses the phrase that follows at the administration:

"The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee,
preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat
this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on
him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving."

I've taken to using "The body of Christ broken in love for you"

But lately I've been finding myself searching for some different, simple words.  Something that fits with the season.  Something that might prompt a different encounter with the sacraments.  I've been doing some research in different prayer books across the countries, and even the translations are slightly different and offer a different perspective.  But I'm also torn.  I know the comfort that the same words can offer.  Week after week, some continuity can be both comforting and confronting.  So I've compiled some thoughts for the distribution of the elements for various seasons.  Some I like, some are only just passable.  (but you should have seen what I discarded... sheesh!).  I'd be interested in some feedback both on the concept of changing the words slightly, as well as comments on what follows below:

Lent:
The body of Christ....strength for the journey, given for you
The body of Christ... sustain you in hope and love
The body of Christ.... calling you to repentance.
The body of Christ.... to uphold you in truth and life.
The body of Christ... light in our darkness... given for you

Palm Sunday
The body of Christ uphold you with courage and faith

Maundy Thursday
The body of Christ.... broken in love for you.
And the disciples knew the Lord in the breaking of the bread

Easter
Alleluia Christ is Risen!!!

Easter Season
The body of Christ... to help us live the good news we proclaim

Pentecost Sunday
The body of Christ transform daily through through the Holy Spirit
The body of Christ to heal and reconcile our brokenness

Trinity Sunday
The body of Christ made one in praise and love
The body of Christ the mercy of God, the hope of the Spirit, given for you

Pentecost Season (feria)
The body of Christ which gives life to the world
The body of Christ strengthen you, as you transform the world

Advent
The body of Christ, light in our darkness
The body of Christ.... light incarnate.

Christmas
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, light of the world, given for you

Sermon for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Day 3 Journey towards Freedom, 2013

 What we are doing here, today and this whole week is amazing! All over the world Christians are setting down that which divides us and choosing to celebrate, together.  And if we think about it, If all of the Christian communities gathered here in Chatham, and we have, what, 50 churches?  Lets really underestimate and say

there are an average of say 75 people at each place each Sunday.... That's 3750 people.  (you didn't know we'd be doing math today did you?!?!)  So... Lets say in Kent county we have another 60 churches in the surrounding communities.  So that's 110 communities and an additional 4500 people so far that's 8250 people.

That's a lot of Christians gathered in prayer each week.  We could fill the John Labbatt Centre in London if we all got together!

But if we go bigger.... The 2001 census said that there were 30 million people in Canada Stat's Canada identified that 22 743 255 people called themselves Christian

That makes 76 percent of our population, who identify themselves as Christian.

There are certainly not that many bums in the pews each week....

Statistics also estimate that there are 2.1 Billion Christians in the world, thats one third of the global population...

This day.  This whole week, the world council of churches calls on 1/3 of the worlds population to remove that which separates us from each other.  The organizers of this week of prayer for Christian Unity chose a life changing theme this year from Micah 4 what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

I'm sure many of you will recognize this piece of scripture.  As much as I love it, It scares me.  It is soooooo big!  It's such a large goal.  It doesn’t sound like it at first.

maybe because in our minds eye, we all want to do justice

and to love kindness

and to be humble on our walk with God.

and we generally think we're doing a pretty good job of it!

But this is meant as something we do ALWAYS! 

We are to ALWAYS do justice

         no matter how hard it may be!

We are to ALWAYS love kindness

         even when we don’t like the other person

and we are to ALWAYS be humble in our walk with God

         admitting when we’ve screwed up the previous two!

Today is Day 3 of this week of prayer for Christian unity.  And the theme is....   walking towards freedom.  Today we are invited to celebrate the efforts of communities across our world that are oppressed, like the Dalits in India,

The Dalits are the “Untouchables”, they are the ones who do the jobs that no one else would do.  Have you ever seen the TV show worlds dirtiest jobs? Those would only be done by this group of people in India.

"Today we remember as they protest against all that enslaves human beings. We too, must be committed to greater unity, and to remember that the removal of all that separates people from one another is an essential part of fullness of life, freedom in the Spirit."

It makes ya think!  To seek what is in this world and work towards eliminating that which separates us.  Those things that wound and divide. What separates the Dalits in India from the other casts the other levels of society, is the same thing that separates:

Man/Woman

Old/Young

Black/White

Rich/Poor

Tall/Short

Slave/Free

I'd say we make those separations out of fear

fear of the unknown

fear of the different

fear of change

fear of the other.

The Samaritan woman at the well understood all too well what it meant to be separate, to be other!

“The account makes it clear that she is thirsty, not only physically but in deeper social and spiritual ways.  Her life is a dried up, desert-like waste.  She has been through 5 husbands in that male-dominated society. And the one who has taken her in now couldn’t even be bothered to grant her the dignity of marriage. She’s treated as social trash. No rights. No dignity. No worth. No place.” So when Jesus asked her for a drink of water, he, a Jewish man, asking a Samaritan woman she knew this would not be an ordinary conversation.  After all, they were enemies.  Not personally, how could they be..... they'd never met but culturally she would have been like the "untouchables" from India this conversation simply would have been astounding even if it stopped there.

“But Jesus, gratefully accepted the water from her, then he offered her a drink of a much deeper kind. He offered water that would not just meet her needs for one day

but water that would give her a new life, and would last forever;

He offers her, in other words, a source of life refreshment, of energizing strength, that would last beyond the moment and go deeper than the surface; something with staying power to keep her going through life.”  You have to know, there is more to the story Jesus went against social custom to do this.  He disobeyed what many thought should have been his place He shouldn’t have been talking to HER

to a WOMAN, in the city, in the street, by the well, by herself!

She was someone that he wasn’t supposed to Love.  She was someone he was supposed to ignore, go about his daily life and never wonder how much pain she must have been enduring to have gone out to the well, the social place of the town

at the hottest part of the day by herself.  When no one else would be around.

He wasn't supposed to notice her.

But he chose to live the life changing words from Micah.  He chose to do justice,

and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with his God.

Separating her from the world was not JUST ignoring her because of her ethnicity, her gender or her social status was not loving or kind.

Jesus tore down those boundaries that kept them apart.  Jesus made it known that this was not acceptable.  This was not the kind of world we should live in.  What if we took our cue from Jesus and tore down a boundary that kept us apart from another child of god?  What if instead of trying to keep up with the Jones's to have everything we want no matter the cost?  What if we spent time to get to know someone else?  Someone who is completely unlike us!

someone of a different race

someone of a different gender

someone of a different sexual orientation

someone of a different social status

someone of a different culture

What if you could engage the world around you as if you really did see the face of God in EVERYONE you met

How silly would those barriers of class and culture start to seem?  How many of those silly barriers do you think we could break down?  How much justice could we see begin in our world?  How much compassion could we start to live by?

Now imagine what could happen all the Christians in our town could do that.  What about if all the Christians in our country could do that?  What if all the Christians in the world all 2.1 Billion of us?  What if each person tried to truly seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God?

WHAT IF???

You know, this will stay a question lingering in the air unless we act unless we choose to take up God's challenge to lower the mountains and raise up the valleys

to make the world a level place for all.  When we leave here today, we all  have a choice.  Each and every day we live we have a choice.  Will I take the easy road and live in my little bubble or will I step out and live the love of God?

If fear stops you today you have the choice to try again tomorrow.  If fear stops you tomorrow, you have the choice to try again the next day. But if you allow God's love to truly sink into the depths of your very being, you won't be able to remain silent very long.

Drink long from this well of life that feeds our souls with the breath of life and walk in the footsteps of Christ each day you breathe.  May that the face of Christ becomes so obvious in each person you meet that you cannot help but act.

 

christmas sermon 2012

As a little girl, I thought Christmas was perfect the year I got my doll house. 

I had slipped out of bed on Christmas Eve night to sneak a peek at gifts under the tree 

But I remember getting to the bedroom door,

stopping, and turning going back to bed. 

Something stopped me from spoiling the surprise,

and what a great one it was the next morning! 

Christmas felt perfect

As a young teen, I thought the perfect Christmas

was one where we didn’t have to go to my aunt and uncle’s house in St. Catherines! 

I didn’t have to sleep on the floor in the basement bedroom

with the old blue shag carpet that smelled strongly of moth balls. 

I didn’t have to watch my cousins play with all their friends on Christmas day,

instead, I got to call all of mine and talk for hours on the pink phone

I got from the Esso Christmas party,

laying upside down over the edge of my bed. 

Rousing myself for yet another Clementine… and some homemade treats.

As a young adult, I remember the adventure of my first Christmas working retail!

hardly a perfect start!

I was exhausted at the end of the day,

filled to the brim with cheesy Christmas carols

like grandma got run over by a reindeer and the like. 

But when I got home, things were different. 

Things were peaceful. 

There was a roaring fire burning up all the scrap wood from Dad’s latest project,

actual choral Christmas music playing on the stereo.

I got to spend it at home, with grandma and papa and nana,

mum, dad and my sister Laura round the fire, roasting chestnuts,

and burning all the coloured wrapping paper

and watching the flames turn the loveliest shade of blue or

the most shocking shade of green! 

That felt like a perfect Christmas.

What I realize now, is that none of those Christmases were perfect.

The year I got my dolls house, I’m sure something went wrong in the kitchen

family was late,

there were arguments… usually petty ones,

Somebody probably broke something, either a dish or a toe!

and all those years family came to stay,

I was off ousted from my nice comfy bed and forced to slept on a too short couch

but I'd take all the petty arguments broken dishes and couch surfing to have those days back

it’s very different without my grandparents and my dad.

I know that the naivety of youth has faded, and I see the reality

I can see the darknesses

as well as the light

Sometimes it would be nice to just have the fantasy though

Maybe that’s what we strive for when we try to have the perfect christmas

the perfectly set table

the perfectly adorned tree, the right music

enough candles and a roaring fire.

Maybe we want to have a moment of perfection.

because maybe then it would feel like everything in the world made sense

the illusion that we are completely in control!

But it never quite lives up to our imaginations does it.

There is always something missing. 

What I think we are trying to do is turn off the dark

but as much as we try, I don't think that's possible.

We can't stop the sadnesses in our world

we can't stop the tragedies

we can't stop missing those we love but see no longer

Sometimes the darkness seems overwhelming

We have seen tragedies this past week with murders

and horrors and much darkness

debates over how to solve the problems of gun violence

how to address the problems of mental health

and keeping society safe.

and we each have our own darknesses

things that hide deep within our souls

--------------

It's not possible to turn off the dark

we never know what someone is going through.

You can’t tell by looking at someone if they’ve just lost their job

You can’t tell by looking at someone if they’ve just had a fight with their spouse and are afraid of the future

You can’t tell if someone is angry at their kids

Saddened by a sick friend

Hurt by a lie

Blaming themselves for hurting someone else because of their carelessness

Grieving the sudden death of a loved one.

YOU JUST CAN’T TELL.

We don’t often let others into our world of

Hurts, pains, fears, "unforgiveness", lies, sorrows

We don’t let them into the cracks that life has etched into our beings

But these cracks, these places of vulnerability have amazing potential

They have the potential to let the light in – if we only have the courage to let it.

Its like Leonard Cohen said,

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

It's not possible to turn off the dark

But it is possible to turn on a light

--------------

Isaiah tells us "The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness

on them light has shined."

Christ is our light in the darkness

Christ reminds us that we don't have to take the world as we see it

that we can change it,

that we can change us

We can choose to walk in this light that Christ promises us

It's not possible to turn off the dark

But it is possible to turn on a light

light dispels the darkness

They say in perfect darkness the human eye can see a single candle flame several miles away

which is good because sometimes all we can muster within ourselves is the light of a candle

Christ breaks down those boundaries where only a single candle burns

and makes us realize that even though all I can do is be the light of a lone candle

When two or three of us are together,

we are bright enough to eat by

bring in a few more and we're bright enough to read by

bring together a whole community

and we're bright enough to live by

On this, the eve of Christmas,

When we prepare to welcome Christ,

the light of the world back into our midst, into our hearts and lives

Give some time to think about where the cracks are in your life.

In your relationships

In your families

In your friendships?

Who is it you need to forgive?

Who is it you need to hug

Who is it you need to laugh with

Who is it you need to reach out to?

So even if one of our candles is burning a little lower today

with your help

with all your help

and through the light of God who loves us more than we can ask or imagine.....

we are not only bright enough to live by,

we have the love and hope and joy of this little baby of light

born within us over and over

giving us courage and compassion

For the light does shine in the darkness

and the darkness has not..... will not.... and CANNOT overcome it

Thanks be to God

Rain

When the clouds roll in and the sky turns dark, people everywhere run for cover. Newspapers, book bags, and coats pulled up over heard as they run to keep dry. If I have somewhere to go, I'm one of them, seeking out anything to keep my hair dry, so I don't look so waterlogged when I get wherever I'm going. But if I'm at home, I get to indulge. If I'm at home, I might sit on the front porch as that stormy darkness takes over the sky and makes everything glow with a strange greenish light. Sometimes the wind is cold and the rain falls sideways, sometimes it's just a wee mist of a rain. But sometimes, like tonight, it is the perfect combination of light and darkness where the air is still except for the huge drops of rain that bounce and dance on the sidewalk out front. Sometimes, when the day is as hot as today was, and my temper could use as much cooling off as the overheated sidewalk, I fling open the porch door, march down the steps and plant my feet beyond the reach of the porch overhang, and look up. I feel the rain fall in heavy thick drops on my face, and I smile.  Simple pleasures.  When was the last time you enjoyed the simplicity of creation around you?  Isn’t it time to find that again?

of Psalms and limericks

I have absolutely nothing profound or particularly inspiring to say today.  I have been writing tomorrows sermon using the psalms and I was reminded how Psalms are Hebrew poetry.... which lead me to revisit some of my old poetry.... which took me to witty limericks.  Circle of life stuff.  But I have to say that there is something to be said for laughter, so here are some of my favourites.


The hapless church tenor, young Horace,
Had skin that was terribly porous.
Sometimes in the choir
He’s start to perspire
And nearly drown out the whole chorus.
___________________

There was a young lady named Bright
Whose speed was far faster than light
She went out one day
In a relative way
And returned home the previous night.
___________________

A flea and a fly in a flue
were stuck so what could they do?
"Let us fly," said the flea!
"Let us flee," said the fly!
So they flew through a flaw in the flue!
___________________

There was an old man of Darjeeling
Who boarded a bus bound for Ealing
It said on the door
`Don't spit on the floor'
So he stood up and spat on the ceiling
___________________

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belly-can,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I'm darned if I know how the hell-he-can
___________________

There was an old man from Peru,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe
He awoke in the night
With a dreadful fright,
And found out that it was quite true.
___________________

An epicure dining at Crewe
Found a very large bug in his stew.
Said the waiter, "Don't shout
And wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one too."
___________________

There once was a vicar from Ryde
Who fell down a sewer and died
Then his silly old sexton
Fell into the next one
And now they’re interred side by side

to confirm or not to confirm, that is the question...

Much to my astonished delight, I’ve begun teaching another round of confirmation classes. The three churches and their respective clergy (3 priests and a deacon - sounds like the start of a joke) have gotten together again for this adventure and after last week, I find myself looking forward to tomorrows class. I always make the comment on the first class that if any are there because their parents or their grandparents say they have to be confirmed, and if by the end of the classes the participants decide, for whatever reason, not to be confirmed yet, I’d stand with them and back up their decision with mom and grandma. I make sure they know that we are there to help them explore what it means to be a Christian, what it means to believe, what it means to have faith. We go through the Apostles creed and the questions they will be asked by the bishop in the confirmation liturgy so they feel confident in answering them with integrity.

This latest crop of kids is wonderful. The first question was “Should we be taking the creation story literally or as a metaphor?” They weren’t even thrown off when I asked which creation story they meant, Adam and Eve or the 7 days OR when I asked what they thought! In fact it just prompted more discussion. What about the parables? What about the beasts in the book of Revelation? What about the antichrist? What does prayer do? What is the Trinity?

Tomorrow we’re talking about Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking Bread and Prayers – It promises to be a packed evening, but I can’t wait to hear where the discussions go. My own spiritual life has been dragging for the past little while, so I hope their enthusiasm can enliven me. Sounds like the point I may use to teach what fellowship is… Christians gathering together to encourage each other in our own faith journey.

Top 8 cliche's that are NOT helpful....

I’ve been thinking about all of the rhetoric that has crept into church-speak or christianese – as a friend calls it, and quite frankly some of it is just really bad theology. Most of these are things that are assumed to be scriptural…. that is sooooo not the case! This is far from an exhaustive list, I welcome other contributions!

1. "Love the sinner hate the sin"

On the surface it doesn’t seem so harmful in and of itself, but it is all too often used as a weapon to legitimize hate or bigotry or racism or sexism or any number of sinful behaviours. It's a simple catch phrase that has a shallow meaning that all too often results in feelings of superiority on the part of the quoter. It's actually from St. Augustine. His letter 211 (c. 424) contains the phrase Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum, which translates roughly as "With love for mankind and hatred of sins."

2. "God helps those who help themselves"
also not in the bible - it comes from Aesop and should read "The gods help those who help themselves" Great news for a capitalist market economy, not so great for any who have read the sermon on the mount.

Following on this theme we have:

3. "...money is the root or all...evil." Not scriptural, money certainly does complicate things – but the root of ALL evil? I wholeheartedly disagree. Not all evil is the same; Power and lack of compassion and many other things contribute to evil so to say the root of it is the same, is (in my opinion) reductio ad absurdum

4. “All you need to do to go to heaven is ask Jesus into your heart.”
This isn't scriptural either - nowhere does scripture tell you this is a requirement. While we’re on the subject I don’t think we have a “Jesus shaped hole in our hearts” either… gahhh!

5. "We are called to be IN the world but not OF the world."
The closest I can see is John 18:36 - but that one says that JESUS is not of this world... not us - we are not Jesus. We have to be OF the world. We don't have to accept all the crap, but we have to be willing to wade in and get dirty. It has airs of "this is good enough for you, but I'm better than all this". What a crock of crap.

6. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away".... sounds scriptural because the quote is in KJV language, but it’s yet another one not found in the bible! (*correction: See Fr Aaron's note below.... I still think it is not pastoral or helpful - but I appreciate the scripture reference correction!) I cringed the other week when I heard this (without the “eth’s”) told to someone at a funeral. How on earth is this to be comforting?

7. “God needed another angel in heaven” (as an explanation why someone died). Patronizing, horrible, hurtful and just trite. Never, ever ever EVER say this to someone whose loved one has died. I can’t stress that enough. Just say no.

Last and certainly least…..

8. "God Doesn't Give Us More Than We Can Handle"
This is probably one of my most hated sayings. It is utter crap. Some sources attribute it to Mother Tereasa, but others say that's not right either. Either way, this is a good one to get out of our lives too! I know I've been in way over my head and the only relief was to cry out and lean on God and those around me for support. I think God is with us in our trials, but certainly doesn’t give them to us to test our faith and this implies.

This could have originated from a misguided interpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13.

With love from India

I’m reviving my long stagnant blog, just for today perhaps, but maybe again..... you never can tell.

I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from telemarketers. One specific variety of scam artist telemarketers. You know the kind, because I know I’m not the only one being targeted. They are the fast talker variety. Ones with Indian accents - this one happened to be from the North of India. How do I know? Certainly not that I can tell the subtle regional changes of his native Hindi language while he spoke English, but because I asked him.
I patiently listened to his spiel, “We are receiving error reports from your windows computer and as I work for the company, I can walk you through the changes to repair the damage”
When he asked if I was in front of my computer, I simply said “no”. He said, “that’s OK, I can wait while you turn it on.” But alas, that’s where the conversation changed. I think it’s because a friend of mine worked for a shyster of a telemarketer here in Canada for 2 weeks, or maybe because I’m just tired of all the scams. But I told him, that I hoped he was out there looking for another job. One that he could be proud of himself for doing. One where he could look in the mirror at the end of the day and know he wasn’t scamming people. He challenged me and asked if I could do that and if I could, what did I do. I told him I was a priest – that some days I was proud of what I did, but I also know that I could always do more – that it was hard. We spoke for 20 minutes. I told him he should get out of that job and find some way to live without profiting through taking advantage of people. I told him he was worth more than just running scams. He laughed and said I was like his mom when I told him that he was better than that. Smart mom. He has a degree in Business Administration, and can’t find a job. This was all he could get. He’s 23 years old, far from his home and staying with friends. He has a sister who has a job and, as he said, “is a good girl, not like me, the hacker.” I could hear the resigned way he spoke. Like he dreamed of something more, but also how he didn’t know if he would be able to do it.

There was a raw honesty in our conversation. He asked me to pray for him. And he asked if he could write down my phone number and call me again when he had a better job. Absolutely.

He is the second person from this particular computer scam that I’ve had this conversation with. The first has called me twice since saying how hard it is to find another job, but he’s still trying – and to thank me for believing in him.

What sort of a world do we live in where so many young articulate people can’t find legal employment? Think of that next time you speak to a company after hours and the person on the other end of the phone has an Indian accent and calls himself “Mike” instead of “Manjeet”. Instead of complaining that our jobs have been exported, give thanks that another person is able to feed their family (probably their entire extended family on that one salary). After all, that could be my new friend in India, finally being legally employed.

Sunday Sabbath Sermon

It was a sweltering hot day
Completely unlike the hottest day we’ve ever had here
It was 40 degrees in the shade
(That’s 105 in Fahrenheit for Imperial minded folks!)
But it’s a dry hot.
a desert hot.
an unbelievable hot.

One of those days where it’s soooo easy to get dehydrated
Where you can feel your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth
Where even your eyes start to feel sticky… dry

And with our water bottles in hand
We walked up the hill
To the city of Capernaum

We stopped to look at the amazing architecture.
We saw Peter’s mother-in-law’s home,
We could see the olive presses that had been dug up and put on display
The mill stones
The rubble that was left of the ancient city walls

And over to our left, we saw the synagogue.
Even though it was not all in tact, you could get a feeling for the scale
For the height of the building
For the magnificence that it would have shown.
We entered the ruins

It was just after one pm and we sat in the shadow that one of the walls was starting to give

It was a Sunday.
There were all sorts of other groups there, the Roman Catholic Nuns that we often saw.
They were as recognizable with their yellow scarves as we were with our Tilley hats!

And there were two other groups.
One of them was an Italian group sitting in the shade by the Eastern wall.
The other were some Americans… you could always tell the Americans!
We were taking in the place
Wondering what it would have been like when it was built

And then it happened.
I saw it like it was happening in slow motion
She was standing on the second row of stones,
maybe 2 feet above the stone floor
when her body went limp and she crumpled to the ground
We were all the way on the other side of the courtyard,
but it was unmistakable.
Something had happened

Maybe she passed out
Maybe it was more serious

But before we knew it,
one of our fellow travellers
was off like a shot
She sprinted across the courtyard
and made it there seconds after the woman hit the ground.

She was a retired Doctor,
but you’d never have known her age by how fast she ran.

She bandaged up her cuts and scrapes
Bound up her sprained ankle
Mixed up that ghastly gastrolyte solution that is full of salts to help re-hydrate the body (even if its taste actually makes you feel worse – that’s how grosse it is!)

She healed her.
In the synagogue
On the Sabbath.

The irony was not lost on a single person there.

That would have been scandalous!
Healing was work – and no work should be done on the Sabbath!

That’s why it’s pointed out at the end of our Gospel today!
“Now that day was the Sabbath”
…. that day that Jesus healed

Sabbath comes form the Hebrew word “Shabat” meaning rest
A day set aside for the renewal of your spirit.
Of your body and your mind
Rest for the weary.
And renewing your relationship with the divine.

I remember my grandfather (a PK himself) … PK – priest’s kid
saying that Sunday’s were torture. He’d have to go to church 4 times a Sunday
and when he wasn’t at church he wasn’t allowed to play with his brothers or his friends,
but they stayed in the house and read.
Meals were very simple
He didn’t find it renewing, he found it constraining.
In fact, by the time he was 20, he figured that having gone to church 4 times a Sunday all his life, he was done till he was 80!

He didn’t find that Sabbath observance refreshing or renewing!

How many mothers are in the church today?
How many of you would like to evoke the Sabbath day rules today… you know – the no work rule – no house work, no cooking
Maybe being pampered by their kids.

How many of you think that this will be a reality today?
How many of you think this would be a reality every Sunday?
Exactly!

Do you remember the debate that happened a few years ago about Sunday shopping?
The uproar about whether or not stores should be allowed to open on Sunday afternoons – AFTER church?

I bet there are some of you who probably don’t shop on Sunday’s
And I bet there are some of you that do – and don’t even think about it anymore.

How many of you have noticed an odd trend that is happening now?
There are some stores that are cutting down on their hours and they are taking Monday’s off instead (I particularly notice this as Monday is my day off!)
Strange how some peoples Sabbath has shifted from Saturday to Sunday to Monday.

Is it Sunday or is it Saturday?
…. depends on who you ask… for me personally?
My Sabbath is Monday!

The Sabbath should be something that feeds your spirit.
That refreshes you
That reminds you of the joy of life
That renews your spirit and refreshes your relationship with the divine.

For me, a Sabbath rest is when I have some time to draw,
because it is through art that I feel most connected with God.

For others it might be music, music can touch our souls and make them sing again

For still others it might be nature, or crafts, or carving that helps centre you, that uses your creative outlet to connect with God.

Ohhh Sabbath Rest!

The day is unimportant.
The ritual, though helpful, is not the point
The refusal to do things you love for the sake of piety is also not the point.
and I would suggest, counterproductive.

The point is much deeper than this.
We need rest.
We need to take some time out from this crazy world

You might be thinking – that’s all well and good!
But I live in the real world!

I can’t just go off for a couple of days to retreat with the nuns at a convent

But you can take a Shabat… a rest, every week.

A mental break from the stresses and fears and worries that plague our minds and our hearts
Our attention is stretched in so many different directions.
From sick parents or children
To stress at work
To anything that weighs heavily on your heart.

But this is important.
We were not meant to work constantly like our computers.
We were not designed to be like an electrical outlet,
that whenever something new comes our way we have to be “ON”
Life doesn’t work that way
And if we try to, we can’t sustain it
that’s when we burn out.
When we cease to find joy in the things that once brought us such happiness.

So avoid that trap.
Take some time to be gentle with yourself
Make some time to calm your mind and listen to the stirrings of your soul.
Find a way to simply “BE” in the midst of the hassles and craziness.

You’ll be thankful you did
And your life will never be the same.

Thanks be to God.