The Message

This week, we are starting a 6-week sermon series on Caring for Creation.

This idea came from a resource we were given at the recent Provincial Synod by the Board of World Mission.

The resource is titled “Everyone Wants a Better World.” It is intended to be a Bible study, but I am adapting it for this sermon series.

The exciting news is that I will also be getting some copies of this so we can do a Bible study this Fall.
 
But for now, I’m excited about this sermon series.

This resource is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

It actually has three different units. Unit one is “Care for Creation.” Unit two is “Care for Each Other,” and Unit three is “Care for Right Relationships.”

Each unit explores different goals set forth by the United Nations.

The topics in this 6-week series are:
 
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Clean Water and Sanitation
Week 3: Affordable and Clean Energy
Week 4: Climate Action
Week 5: Life Below Water
Week 6: Life on Land

These are important topics for us to discuss as a church and as citizens of the world because not only are we affected individually by these things, but of course so is our country and the world.
 
The six goals we are discussing in this sermon series are about stewarding the earth in ways that ensure all people have access to clean water and affordable energy, and that animal and plant life (birds of the air, fish of the sea and all that creeps along the face of the earth, every plant yielding seed and every tree bearing fruit) are cared for in a responsible and resourceful manner.

My sermons during this series are likely going to follow the study guide pretty closely. The Board of World Mission has done a wonderful job creating this, and they are the experts on these topics.
 
I could not say anything about these things any better than they could, but I will adapt some of it as necessary to fit our context or to add my own stories or examples as needed.

So, with all of that said, let’s reflect on the Bible passages we heard earlier.

Before we do that, Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

But what does it mean to inherit the earth?

To inherit something means that you receive it as a gift.
 
It means you become responsible for it. You become a steward of the resource you have been given.

The earth is a gift and a responsibility.

To be meek means to be humble, to know our place and our purpose, and not to wield power over the earth or its inhabitants.

In our passage from today, Jesus invites us to observe nature and learn from it, to look at the birds of the air and the lilies in the field.
 
It is difficult to learn from nature and animal life if they are compromised or in danger. It’s also difficult if we don’t pay attention to them or desire to learn from them.

It may appear on a surface reading of this passage that Jesus is simply inviting us to worry less, to birdwatch and smell the roses, but it is more than that.

There is economic anxiety in this passage. The framing isn’t about anxiety more broadly, but about the worry of not being able to put food on the table or clothe oneself.
 
In this context, it is worth asking: How do those who are economically disadvantaged attend to ecological disasters when there are more immediate threats to their survival?

How does privilege intersect with environmental action?

We know that those most affected by climate change are in lower socioeconomic brackets, and yet these same people are least equipped to deal with these issues, both mentally (as this passage stresses) and in practical terms.
 
This passage also calls us to examine how our privilege connects us to rights and resources that are not available to our neighbours.

As with many things about our lives and about life in Biblical times, it is complicated.

We are given dominion over the earth and all that is in it.

We are called to keep the earth (Genesis 2:15), to till it and maintain the resources the earth gives to us (Genesis 1:28-31).
 
Later in Genesis (9:2-3), we are told not only that we can eat the plants that all living beings share, but also that every living thing can be food for us.

This is a huge resource matrix – a complicated, interwoven inheritance that depends on our understanding of the environment and how all life is interconnected, from the bottom of the ocean to the outermost reaches of our atmosphere.

And yet, our wisdom is limited.

The disciples couldn’t still the storm raging on the sea; they called out to Jesus, and he rebuked the wind (Mark 4:39).
 
We can’t shout at a tornado or a hurricane and tell it to behave.

When Job demands that God answer his question about the suffering he is enduring, God responds by asking whether Job understands the big picture.

God asks Job, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth from the womb… who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt?” (Job 38:8, 25)

The answer to this rhetorical question is, “Not humans.”
 
God did.

God created the world and is the author of the natural order; God also created Job and holds Job and all living things in hand (Job 12:7-10).

God loves Job as deeply as God loves all of creation. But Job is not in charge of the world (and neither are we!)
And Job’s good behaviour does not entitle him to a life without suffering.

Here is the conundrum, though. We want Christ-like control over the winds and the waves, but we cannot have it.
 
God makes it clear that we are not in charge of nature; instead, our responsibility is to care for the earth.

Humanity is in relationship with something powerful, unpredictable, and divinely created.

However, what we do to the earth will have consequences, and we have been given minds to navigate cause and effect within the natural world.

Care for creation should be scientific and intuitive, as well as spiritual and filled with respect and awe.
 
We might call the issue of climate care a “wicked problem.”

This term is not being used in this case as a moral judgment. Rather, it is a technical term used in social policy circles to denote problems involving complex, intersecting issues without clear origins or outcomes.

Other examples of wicked problems include poverty, homelessness, refugee crises, and healthcare inequalities.
 
Pastor and scholar Rebecca J. Copeland writes, “Wicked problems do not have universally shared definitions of what the problem is, and, indeed, every wicked problem is enmeshed with other problems.”

Climate care certainly meets this definition.

How do we address this issue from a Christian perspective?

Here is where scientific inquisitiveness and faith-filled attention intersect.
 
We have been given amazing and curious minds that seek to solve problems, and we have been created in the image of God with deep, compassionate souls that seek to care for the earth and humanity.

How do we reconcile our understanding of science with our understanding of God?

Copeland believes we need to bring our faith-filled attention to the issues of climate care and other wicked problems.
 
She suggests expanding our understanding of sin beyond individual actions or an outside force from the devil, seeing it instead as relational, multigenerational, communal, and sometimes unintentional.

From this perspective, we have to recognize that sinful systems are constructed by humans and can therefore be repaired by humans through repentance and determination.

Framing these complex problems with language and understanding from both science and religion may bring us closer to creating a better world.
 
The Good News of all of this is that there is hope. 

Hope for a better world, yes, but also hope that because God has created us as intelligent, problem-solving, social beings, we have the tools we need to start to address climate care collectively.

Indeed, we have already been working both individually and collectively.

We know that what we have been doing so far may not be enough, but we also know that we have the capacity to learn, grow, and own the mistakes we have made in the past.
 
This is not a problem we have necessarily created personally, though we contribute collectively to a system that perpetuates the problem.

But we can also be part of the solution. We can get the engine running if we are willing to work together, trusting both science and our faith in God.

And thinking through these concepts in this sermon series is one way we can start the engine.

May you leave here today hopeful for a better tomorrow… hopeful for a better world yet to come.
​
Amen.
 
Let us pray: Creator God, from the face of the deep, you called forth land and gave the waters their boundaries. You commanded lights in the sky, and named day and night. You created humanity in your image and told us to take care of creation. As your gift of the earth has provided all that we need, teach us to protect and care for it. Amen.

The Message

Today’s Gospel passage is one of the most widely known passages, even among people who are not actively Christian.

And of course in churches, we like to cite this story as a basis for our ministries.

At the heart of it, this story is about feeding people.

It is about hospitality and generosity, love and compassion, and it’s a little bit about Jesus proving to his disciples and to the people who he is.
 
But this story is also about more than all of this. So let’s dive in and take a closer look.

This story starts off by telling us that Jesus crossed Lake Galilee to try to go somewhere that he could be alone.

This is not the only time in his ministry that Jesus tries to take time for himself.

This is an important aspect of Jesus’s life as well as his ministry, but it also emphasizes his devotion to prayer life and the balance needed between serving people and taking time to recharge.
 
This is an important reminder to all of us that alone time, prayer time, and solitude are necessary elements of a healthy spiritual life and a healthy life in ministry and service to others.

So, I appreciate that this story starts off with a note that Jesus was trying to take some time alone.

And, I also appreciate the next part of the story, which is that despite his attempt to be alone, the crowds of people followed him.

The story simply says that when Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd.
 
It doesn’t really say if he got his alone time or not, but we can probably safely assume that the only alone time he got was in the boat.

And yet, he is filled with empathy and compassion for the people who are so desperate for healing, for answers, for teaching, and for kindness.

So he spends time with each person who needs it, healing and serving.

As the day turns into evening, the disciples realize that they have been out there all day serving people.
 
It’s getting toward dinner time, and they are starting to be concerned about the fact that people are going to need to eat soon.

I suspect that in good faith, and out of concern for Jesus, for the people, and also likely for themselves, the disciples suggest that Jesus encourage the crowds to leave so they can go and buy some food in the surrounding villages.

But Jesus responds by suggesting that they feed the people themselves.

Of course, this is where the fame of this story comes into play.
 
The disciples tell Jesus that they only have five small loaves of bread and two fish.

My guess is that they only anticipated feeding themselves, and this was probably not even enough for them, at least in their minds.

But Jesus has different plans, so he takes the food they have, blesses it, breaks the bread and hands it to his disciples.

(Does this sound familiar to anyone? The theme of breaking bread and handing it out could be a whole sermon on its own, but that’s for another day.)
 
The disciples presumably start passing the food around to people, and as it turns out, there is not only enough to feed everyone, but there is enough that they end up with a tremendous amount of leftover food.

The story claims to have fed 5000, but that only includes the men. If we factor in another 5000 women, and let’s say two children for everyone two adults, we are talking about 20,000 people who were fed that day.

That’s pretty amazing!
 
But the part of this story I think is the most amazing is not that the people were fed.

Jesus does that throughout his ministry, and while it is amazing work, I think the most amazing part of this story is the lesson in it for us.

Often this story is used in churches to talk about how we should be feeding people, caring for the poor, etc.

And I’m not saying we shouldn’t be doing that! But there is another lesson here that I think is equally important for churches to keep in mind.
 
How often do we look to God for miraculous intervention when the gifts are, in fact, right there in our hands?

How often do we complain about what we don’t have, or what we used to be able to do, and overlook the miraculous power of the gifts that we do have?

I think we tend to do this as individuals, but also as churches. And the lesson in this passage is that actually, what we do have is enough. We can do ministry with exactly the gifts we have right now.
 
Yes, perhaps it has changed over the years. Maybe we had more members, or more energy, or younger people, or more money, or more enthusiasm, or a better feel for the needs of the neighbourhood in years past.

Likewise, individually, maybe we were younger, stronger, more energetic, less burdened with the baggage of life, or more carefree in years past.

But we always have gifts at our disposal, even if those gifts are not the same gifts we used to have.

Let me give you an example.
 
When I was doing my CPE (clinical pastoral education), I was working in a continuing care retirement facility.

These types of facilities have independent living, assisted living, memory care units, and skilled nursing units.

I was working in the skilled nursing unit one day when I went in to visit a very elderly woman who was completely bed-ridden.

I had visited with her before, and I found her delightful.
 
Everyone who worked with her found her delightful.

As I was visiting with her, she was lamenting about the fact that she could no longer do much of anything. She could not even leave the bed to use the bathroom.

And she’d been in this position for over a year.

But, she turned to me with a smile on her face and she said, “you know, I ask myself often why I am still here. What purpose do I serve? I can’t contribute anything anymore…
 
“But then I think, well, maybe my purpose here is to bring a smile to all of your faces. I know not everyone here is easy to work with, but if I can be the person who cheers up the staff, maybe I can make other people’s lives just a little bit better.”

This woman had lost all of her skills. She was incredibly capable most of her life, and she had accomplished a lot in her younger years.

But this season of her life brought new lessons for her. And instead of wallowing in her inability, she tried to use the gifts she still had.
 
Sure, she may have had fewer gifts than she once had, but she still had lungs that allowed her to breathe, she still had facial muscles that allowed her to smile, and she still had a voice that allowed her to offer delightful words of wisdom to the caregivers around her.

The point here is this: Jesus showed us that rather than lamenting about the gifts we don’t have, or that we wish we had, we can recognize the gifts we do have and use those to do good in the world.

Sure, maybe things have changed over the years for our church.
 
Maybe we have had to let go of some things that we used to do.

But what gifts do we have? What is right in front of us, just waiting to be shared, multiplied, and offered in service to others?

God doesn’t see us or our church in terms of what we used to have or what we used to be able to do.

God sees us just as we are right now, and God loves us just the way we are right now.

And Jesus showed us that God wants us to use the gifts we have now.
 
So, as you leave here today, take with you this lesson from the story of the loaves and fishes.

Look at your life and your church just as they are now, and think about the gifts – both large and small – that are right in front of you.

And then, wonder how you might use those gifts to serve others, to serve God, and to demonstrate love, hospitality, compassion, kindness, and empathy to those around you.

Amen.

Let us pray:
​
Gracious God, we thank you for the gifts you have given us throughout our lives, and for those gifts that we have in our hands right now. We know that we are not always aware of the gifts we have in each moment, and that we spend a lot of time lamenting about the gifts we no longer have. Help us to notice all of the gifts in our lives - big and small - and to use them to do your work in this hurting world. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Years ago, shortly after my return to church after a long hiatus, I attended a worship service at a church back home in Wisconsin.

This was a church I had never been to before, but I decided to attend because someone I knew had suggested it.

Things went fine until the pastor of the church started to preach. I don’t know what passage he was preaching on specifically, but he began to talk about his father.
 
He shared that his late father was most certainly in hell.

He began to give reasons for it, and while I can’t remember exactly what those reasons were, some of the things he listed were common, everyday things that many people do.

He didn’t live the healthiest lifestyle, he made some poor decisions in his life, and he didn’t expressly accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.

This sermon made me incredibly uncomfortable, and it took me a long time to parse out why.
 
Part of the problem was that every person in that room most likely committed some of the same “egregious” sins that he claimed that his father had committed.

So this pastor stood up in front of a congregation and essentially called them all sinners and implied that they were going to hell.

It certainly didn’t leave a great feeling in my heart, and I didn’t feel like I received Good News that day, that’s for sure.

It also didn’t sound like the Jesus I knew.
 
This is similar to another story I came across as I was preparing for today’s sermon, and I’d like to share that story with you as well.

The author, David Lower, shared about his time spent as a chaplain in a hospital.

While he was on duty, he received a call to a dying man’s bedside.

When he walked into the room where a lovely old man was taking his final breaths, the man’s eldest son introduced himself.
 
The son introduced his dying dad to the chaplain and then said, “I’m pleased to report that Dad’s been saved for 27 years now, thank God, so there’s nothing to worry about here.”

He continued, “The reason I sent for you is because you may want to pay a visit next door. That poor man - he’s…”

His voice dropped to a whisper and said:

“...unsaved. Unchurched. You know what I mean?”

David goes on to say the following:
 
“I did learn that his dad’s neighbor was at peace, surrounded by loved ones after a laudable life of service to others. What I’ll never forget is the revealing picture I caught as I walked away. The two rooms shared a doorway, with a thin partition between. I stood in the doorway and saw two families, probably with very different worldviews, surrounding their departing loved ones in pure expressions of love. The beauty on either side of the wall was similarly striking and holy, and it was hard to imagine God feeling anything but glorified by it all.”
 
In other words, this man’s experience with these two families was nothing but love for a dying family member.

It is a stark reminder that there are many different ways that God’s saving work can be made manifest in people’s lives, and we may not be in a position to determine that ourselves, or at first glance.

It begs the question about whether or not we ever need to be in a position where we are responsible for judging people’s faith, or their mistakes.

And this is where I want to begin talking about our Gospel passage from Matthew today.
 
The Message

Just like last week, we receive a parable from Jesus followed by an explanation. This time though, the explanation claims that it was Jesus who made it.

However, Jesus does not typically do this work of explaining parables like this, so it is more likely that Matthew added these explanations later to make things easier for people to understand, or perhaps to place his own interpretation on the parable.

But the reason Jesus tends to speak using parables is because it’s up to each of us to discern the meaning for ourselves.
 
So of course, pastors get to do the work of trying to explain what the parables might mean in today’s context, but our explanations are our own interpretations too.

All of that said, I want to think about this parable in terms of the two stories I just shared with you.

In both of the stories I shared, one person is taking it upon themselves to judge what others do and, in particular, to try to determine who is saved and who is not, OR, who is faithful and who is not.
 
I don’t know about all of you, but that is not a job I would ever want. Thank God that a pastor’s job isn’t to make that judgement call!

The parable of the weeds and the wheat can be interpreted to portray what appear to be “insiders” and “outsiders” of heaven.

But when the land owner is asked whether or not the servants should pull the weeds, he responds by suggesting that instead, they allow the weeds to grow along with the wheat until the harvest, at which time they can be separated.
 
The two story lines playing out in a single field portray the coexistence of good and evil, with their outgrowths growing side by side, intertwining.

If the servants try to gather the weeds, they might struggle to tell the difference between plants. They might get rid of the weeds and uproot the good growth, too.

So the gathering and separating will not be done until the harvest time, when angels will reap and gather the good wheat into the barn and discard the rest for burning.
 
Followers of Jesus - presumably characterized as the servants in the fields - are encouraged to be patient and trustful that good growth is still occurring and will prevail, even when the weeds seem rampant.

It is not their job to separate good from evil because in the end, the doers of evil will be cast out.

Then, all that will remain is the good, shining like the sun.

The lessons Jesus is trying to communicate about God’s kingdom can be seen throughout history.
 
And, indeed, they can be seen in this moment, too.

We can all see weeds. That is essentially what the pastor at the church I attended was saying – he could see the weeds in the field and he wanted to pick out the weeds and uproot them himself.

Likewise, the son of the dying man in the hospital saw his neighbour as a “weed,” to use this same metaphor. He couldn’t see the beauty in the man’s life because of his determination about his faith (or lack thereof).
 
We can all see weeds – or what we think are weeds.

But, maybe we shouldn’t make it our business to try to separate the weeds from the wheat.

As servants of Jesus, we can help nurture, feed, and cultivate the good growth that’s been planted by sharing the Good News and doing our best to love one another, heal one another, and seek the lost like Jesus.

There’s more than enough for us to do and worry about in this lifetime that we can allow God to do the picking and separating when it comes to people.
 
Thank God we aren’t called to do that work. We are simply asked to love one another.

We are asked to look out at that field and appreciate the wheat alongside the weeds, knowing that we don’t need to worry about separating it all because that is ultimately God’s job.

It’s our job to nourish and help both flourish as best we can, and to remember that everything and everyone are intertwined.
​
And, in the end, we are simply called to love and be loved. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Gracious God, we sometimes forget that even weeds can be beautiful. When we find ourselves wanting to parse out the weeds from the wheat, help us to remember that it is your work to do that, not ours. Guide us instead toward appreciating the weeds and the wheat being intertwined together, and help us to do as you call us to do, which is to love both. In your holy and gracious name, we pray. Amen.
 
Resource: The Christian Century, In the Lectionary, David Bower, Sunday July 20, 2014

The Message

This week’s message was difficult for me to figure out how to preach.

This is interesting because it seems like this passage should be fairly straightforward.

My guess is that many of you could stand up here and preach a decent sermon on this passage without too much trouble.

So why is it a struggle for me?

I think the hangup for me is that I am not a gardener or a farmer.
 
Planting and growing doesn’t come naturally to me. So relating to a passage that is about sowing and planting isn’t easy for me.

So, I’m tasked with explaining gardening and planting to a room full of… experienced gardeners and planters.

On the other hand, this parable should be fairly understandable to the average person, which is why Jesus uses it.

So, what is he saying? I know that Matthew gives us his interpretation of the parable in our reading.
 
But let’s review what Jesus is telling us.

He gives us a parable about a farmer who is attempting to plant a field. And as he sees it, there are four different places that seeds could be placed as the farmer is planting.

Option 1: Some of the seeds fall along the road and get eaten by birds.

Outcome 1: The seeds don’t grow at all because the birds eat them. The birds are nourished, but the seeds cannot produce anything because they are not in soil at all.
 
Option 2: Some seeds fall on thin, rocky ground and begin to grow quickly.

Outcome 2: These seeds dry up and are scorched because they were planted too close to the surface. They couldn’t establish deeps roots.

Option 3: Some seeds fall in places where thornbushes were already growing.

Outcome 3: The plants that were already there choked the new seeds out and prevented them from growing.
 
Option 4: Some seeds fall on good soil.

Outcome 4: The plants produced 100 or 60 or 30 times as much as was scattered, making up for all of the seeds that could not grow.

Now, Matthew gives us his interpretation of what this parable means, so let’s summarize that as well.

Matthew believes this parable is talking about different types of people.

Person 1 (seeds eaten by birds): People who hear the message about the kingdom, but don’t understand it.
 
These types of people are, according to Matthew, susceptible to manipulation or “evil” ones, and the message is snatched from their hearts.

In other words, the message doesn’t “grow” because these people cannot understand it for themselves, let alone share the message with others.

Person 2 (seeds that fell on rocky ground and dried up): These types of people gladly accept the message and accept it immediately. But, they don’t have deep roots, so as soon as life (or spreading the message) gets hard, they give up.
 
These people might initially be excited to hear the message and might be enthusiastic about sharing or spreading the message in the moment, but they allow life to distract them.

Perhaps they get side-tracked, or they experience a consequence to sharing the message and they quickly give up.

Thus, the message doesn’t move very far with this type of person either.

Person 3 (seeds that fall among the thornbushes): These types of people hear the message as well.
 
But, according to Matthew, they start to worry about the wrong things – needs and desires in this life. They are also fooled by the desire to get rich (financially or otherwise).

The message gets choked out for these people and cannot spread, either.

Person 4 (seeds that fall on good soil): Lastly, these types of people hear the message and understand, and willingly and gladly spread it.

These are the people who will spread the message widely and produce more than what was planted.
 
So, this is Matthew’s interpretation of the parable that Jesus shared.

And there is a lot to appreciate about his interpretation.

The main thing that I appreciate about it is that the four options/responses normalize not just differences among people but the ways that different teachings may be received (or not) by one individual.

And, it is possible for a person to be all four different soils at various times in life.
 
It also leaves room for life circumstances.

Sometimes we are “good” soil – fully open and available to receiving what God is trying to plant within us.

But sometimes, we are not open to receiving so the seed doesn’t even reach us, or it does but it dries up quickly when things get hard, or it gets choked out by other priorities.

It’s important for us to remember this as we think about things that might come up for us in life. Sometimes, we are open to receiving – ready and willing to take the next steps.
 
And other times, we are not as open to receiving.

And we ebb and flow between these different states of receptivity throughout our lives.

On the other hand, I think it’s also important to remember that this parable could apply to everyone and everything else around us all the time as well.

There may be times in life when we try to plant seeds and we desperately want them to grow, but they don’t.
 
Maybe we’ve been trying to get a new job, or have a baby, or retire, or improve our relationships, or any number of other things, but things just don’t seem to be working.

In these cases, we can remember this parable and it might be worth asking ourselves if we have done everything we can to cultivate the soil we are attempting to plant in.

Let’s use finding a new job as an example.

Have we updated our resume?
 
Have we gotten enough experience in our field, or enough education?

Have we put in enough time at our current job to be qualified for a promotion (if that is what we are seeking)?

Have we shaken hands with the right people?

Have we demonstrated success in our current job?

Have we been present, on time, etc? In other words, have we cultivated relationships that might provide us with a good reference?
 
The list could go on, but you get the idea.

Have we cultivated the soil in which we are trying to plant our seeds?

And of course, there are times in life when we have done everything we feel we can do, and still, our seeds don’t grow.

The same can be true when we plant a real garden, too.

And sometimes, we plant specific seeds to try to grow something in particular, and that thing doesn’t grow, but plenty of other things do.
 
In a real garden, nature has a way of spreading seeds and plants we never actually planted.

So, we might do everything we can to create the best soil for planting, but nature has other plans.

God, in fact, may have other plans.

This parable reminds us that yes, we can do everything we can to cultivate good soil – in ourselves and in the world around us such that we can grow what we plant.

And sometimes, God may have other plans for us despite our best efforts.
 
So, as we go about our daily lives and ruminate on this parable, it is worth wondering about the things we are trying to grow and the seeds we have been planting.

The lesson here is two-fold (or perhaps even more, but today we’ll stick with two-fold).

Part 1: Have you done everything you can to cultivate yourself and create “good soil” in yourself? In other words, have you done the work to open yourself to Jesus’s message and to the work that God does in your life every day?
 
Can you see the work of God in your life and appreciate it, and can you create that space in yourself to be receptive and fully open to it?

And,

Part 2: When you have something in your life that you are trying to plant/grow, have you done all you can to create good soil for that thing to grow into?

And, most importantly for either of these two lessons, we must always remember that no matter how well we cultivate our inner soil or the soil we can control in the world around us, God is cultivating and growing “God-seed” too.
 
And we must allow ourselves to be open to the movement of God and the Holy Spirit in all of this.

So, as you leave here today, may you take this parable with you to consider.

May you wonder about your inner soil, the outer soil of the world around you, and the “God-seed” that may indeed spread whether you intend it to or not.
​
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
Gracious God, open our hearts to you and help us to prepare ourselves to be open to your “God-seed.” Help us to better our own soil and the soil of the world around us such that the seeds we plant can grow, and such that the seeds you plant within us can grow. Allow us to be open to the leanings of your Holy Spirit. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Yesterday, I did my first ever open water swim in preparation for the triathlon that I’m registered to do at the end of the month.

If you have ever tried swimming in open water (as opposed to a swimming pool) you know that it is a very different experience.

First of all, if you have to wear a wetsuit, that experience is something in itself, let me tell you.

But simply swimming in a body of water is also a very different experience.
 
In a swimming pool, there are lines painted on the bottom of the pool which make staying in your lane easy. But even if that doesn’t work for some reason, there are floating strings that keep you from moving too far one way or the other.

In open water, you don’t have any lines to follow. In fact, at least in the lake I was swimming in, the water was so murky that I couldn’t even see my own arms.

So your only means of staying on a straight path is to either try to follow the shore, or lift your head every so often to orient yourself.
 
The water is also generally colder in open water (although not always).

So, yesterday, I started my swim experience by putting on my wetsuit.

If you’ve never put a wetsuit on, that is a workout all by itself. By the time I was ready to actually swim, I felt like I’d already done a full workout!

But, I got the wetsuit on and I got into the water. And man, was that water COLD! I was swimming in Ghost Lake (reservoir), which is glacier fed, so the water is a bit of a shock.
 
The good news is that the wetsuit did its job and kept my body warm.

My hands and face took a little time to adjust to the water temperature, but after a couple minutes, that was no longer a problem.

It takes a little time to get used to swimming with new and different (and a bit restrictive) gear.

It also takes time when you’re nervous and uncertain to allow your heart rate and breathing to calm down.
 
So, I had a very slow start with lots of trips back to the shore to rest, catch my breath, and check in with my lifeguard (Erick was the lucky guy).

After several times of swimming back to shore to rest, I started rolling over onto my back to float and/or do a few strokes to keep moving.

It slows you down to do this, but it allowed me to catch my breath and reset my tired shoulders without going back to shore repeatedly.

And actually, I discovered something else in that process, too.
 
Rolling onto my back was lovely. It wasn’t just a physical rest.

I was looking up at a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds in it. I couldn’t see anything but sky.

No buildings. No smoke or smog. No cranes. No airplanes. No people. No boats.

Nothing but blue sky and white clouds and a feeling of being supported by the lake.

In actuality, I was being supported mostly by a wetsuit that made me more buoyant, but it felt like the lake was supporting me.
 
And, I was able to rest.

It wasn’t just rest from the weariness of this new skill I was trying to learn and develop.

It wasn’t just rest for my tired shoulders and my calves that wanted to cramp.

It wasn’t just rest from feeling a little disappointed that I was swimming SO slow compared to normal.

It was rest from everything.

From the busy-ness of my life. From the stress of training. From whatever else was on my mind.
 
It was pure, unencumbered rest.

I think I would go so far as to say that blue sky and those white clouds and the peaceful feeling of floating alone with nothing clouding my vision or my heart was rest in God.

Momentary, blissful, deep, abiding rest in God.

It reminded me of a dream, or my childhood, maybe – the wonder and excitement of floating and just being. Just being me, bringing all of myself to God in that moment.

And then, I turned over and kept swimming.
 
The Message

Our Gospel reading today from Matthew 11 says, “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.”

Often we are encouraged to rest from the busy-ness of life. And, don’t get me wrong – we should rest from that busy-ness.

But I wonder what that rest looks like?

For working people, how often do we truly rest on our days off?
 
Sure, we might not be working. But are we truly resting?

Or are we cleaning, running errands, making phone calls, checking in on all the balls we have in the air, or just generally catching up on life?

And, for those who aren’t working anymore, do you truly get rest, or are you busier than ever?

Even if we do manage to get real rest that is unencumbered by anxiety over all the things we should be doing instead, what does that rest look like?
 
Is it restorative, renewing, and re-energizing? Or, is it zoning out to try to forget the busy life we usually lead?

Is it weighed down with guilt about everything you’re not doing while you’re resting?

Maybe it’s just me who struggles with truly resting (those who know me likely aren’t surprised by this!), but I don’t think I am the only one.

Whenever I go to King’s Fold Retreat Centre to try to get true rest, one of the things they tell people is to try not to bring too much “to do.”
 
In other words, if you go thinking “I’m going to get so much reading done! I’m going to take five books with me,” you may feel disappointed that you don’t get much reading done.

They have learned over many years of welcoming retreatants that many, many people on retreat need true and abiding rest.

Sometimes that means sleep – lots of sleep. Sometimes that means sitting and listening to the wind or the river or the birds.

Sometimes that means turning off the phone.
 
But often, it does not mean frantically trying to accomplish all of the things you thought you would try to accomplish with the spare time.

Instead, King’s Fold has found that for many people, being on retreat means truly resting. Slowing down. Flipping over to swim on your back and look at the blue sky and the fluffy white clouds.

And to rest in God. Settle in. Release your burdens. Allow yourself to go to God – to go to Jesus – so that you can receive rest.

Allow that gift to wash over you.
 
You may not always be able to set aside your burdens permanently. But for a moment, stop swimming, roll over, and float there.

Allow God to support you fully. Relax your body, feel God holding you firmly, and release yourself.

Feel the weightlessness of floating – being fully supported and setting down the weight of the burdens you carry.

Allow God to take that weight off your shoulders, even for a moment.

Rest.
 
Rest in God’s abiding love for you.

Let’s take a moment now to try a spiritual practice together.

Let’s use our imaginations momentarily.

Close your eyes, if that is available to you. And if not, then just soften your gaze and allow your eyes to relax.

Take two deep breaths – in… and out.

In… and out.
 
Now, imagine you are at a body of water. Choose a place that you’ve been before that is a comfort to you, perhaps.

It can be the clearest, cleanest water you’ve ever been in – this is a safe place to be.

Imagine this water is clear and still. There is no danger.

Now imagine it’s a beautiful, clear, sunny day. Or, imagine your favourite weather. Something that feels safe and comfortable to you.
 
You don’t even have to get wet in this water if you don’t want to. Just be in it.

Once you have imagined this safe body of water, imagine you are wading in.

As you wade into that clear, glassy water that is the perfect temperature, you feel yourself getting lighter.

As the water begins to cover your body and reaches your shoulders, imagine whatever you are carrying begins to become weightless. If you want, it can even float away, or float nearby if you need to pick it up again later.
 
Now, I want you to allow yourself to float. Feel the weight of your own body lift.

Look up at the sky – maybe it’s blue with fluffy clouds, or maybe it’s a pink and purple sunset.

This is your safe place to rest, so it can be whatever makes you feel comfortable and happy.

Feel yourself being supported fully by that water.

Now imagine that the water is God. Maybe God’s arms are what’s supporting you in the water. Maybe you are in a nest or cocoon with God.
 
But imagine God is there.

If there is something you’d like to say to God, or if there is a burden or weight you’ve been carrying that you want to ask God to take or at least help you carry, lift that to God now.

Take 30 seconds of silence to float, feeling yourself fully supported, and offer to God whatever needs to be offered.

And if there is nothing or you’re not sure what you need or want to say, that’s OK. Just feel yourself being supported and loved.

When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. If the burden you set aside needs to be picked back up, pick it up. But, notice if it feels a little lighter now.

Come back to the present and notice how you are feeling now. Maybe you feel lighter, more peaceful, or more settled.

Maybe you don’t feel any different, and that’s OK, too.

Just allow yourself to be however and whoever you are in this moment.

Welcome yourself without judgement.
 
As we come back to the present and begin to settle back into life, I invite you to rest.

“If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest” says Jesus.

As you leave here today – as you go out into the rest of your day, the rest of your week, may you remember this exercise any time you need to use it.

It is available to you whenever you need it.
​
May you allow God to help you carry your burdens. May you welcome the rest that God offers and may you welcome God’s love for you, always. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God, we come to you, weary.
We lay down our heavy burdens.
You who are gentle and humble in heart,
give us rest for our souls.
Yoke our hearts to Jesus,
that we may learn the ways of love,
that we may live with courage and peace. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Today’s Gospel message comes on the heels of the scripture passage I preached about two weeks ago in which Jesus basically says “congratulations, you’re Apostles! Now I’m throwing you to the wolves.”

Today’s passage talks about hospitality – those who welcome the Apostles also welcome Jesus, and ultimately God – the One who sent Jesus.

But in order to better understand what this passage means, we need to understand something about the world in which the Apostles lived.
 
Jesus isn’t asking these men to follow him and take his message to people without significant personal sacrifice.

This isn’t a part-time side gig. This isn’t a situation where the Apostles can keep working – making a living – and just spread the Word in their free time.

Jesus is asking them to leave their livelihoods – the sole way that they earn income for themselves and their families – to do this work.

Work that doesn’t pay. At least not in the traditional way.
 
So, what that means is they must rely completely on the kindness of strangers for food, clothing, and other necessities.

They are being asked to become itinerant. Their survival depends on people’s willingness to provide for them, rather than providing for themselves.

So, let’s put ourselves into that situation for a moment.

If we imagine what the world was like for the Apostles, we at least imagine that people are somewhat accustomed to welcoming strangers into their homes.
 
There was no internet. There were no phones. There weren’t even fax machines. There was no efficient means of communicating with people, so if you showed up in a new place and needed a place to stay, you had to knock on a door and ask.

Society was more communal at that time. They fed the homeless – women and children especially who were in need.

What was good for one was good for all, at least a bit more than we are used to today. Keeping people fed and at least somewhat provided for kept everyone healthier.
 
Caring for people helped to prevent the spread of disease and illnesses that could spread to everyone.

So, there was at least some precedent and mutual understanding that if someone knocked on the door, most homes would at least be willing to provide what they could.

And, as the scripture says, if people aren’t willing to offer hospitality, well… there was no need to get upset. God would handle them later.

In other words, simply move on to the next house or the next town. Eventually, someone will welcome you.
 
This was more or less a given.

But, imagine this scenario today. How well might that go?

Jesus arrives, recruits you to be a disciple, expects you to quit your job or to leave your home and family, and then expects you to rely solely on other people for your survival.

Imagine what that might entail.

You no longer have access to money, your own food, your own bed, your family, your own clothing, etc.
 
So, in order to survive and spread the Word about Jesus, you now need to knock on doors to try to get food, shelter, a place to sleep, laundry, etc.

How does that feel? Is this even possible today?

It would be extremely difficult, I would think. It would be difficult for many reasons:

1. People are not accustomed to strangers knocking on their doors, let alone having to feed, house, and clothe them.

2. People tend to judge those who don’t have shelter, the ability to feed themselves, etc.
 
3. We are accustomed to a certain standard of living. If we suddenly lose access, at this point in time we might actually suffer more – or at least, we might feel like we are suffering more.

4. We too would be more likely to get sick or even die if we could not find provisions based solely on the kindness of others.

5. This is perhaps the hardest truth of all: we cannot be confident that people actually will help us – we cannot be confident that people will even answer their door, let alone invite us in, let alone feed us and shelter us.
 
And, on the flip side – imagine if an itinerant person claiming to be a disciple of Jesus knocked on your door and asked you to come inside.

Imagine that you do invite them inside, but then they ask for water and food. That might not be so bad, but they also need a place to sleep for the night, and maybe even money or food to get them by until they can find someone else to help them.

Many people today wouldn’t even get to step one: answer the door. And if they do, most will not go so far as to invite a stranger inside.
 
Why? Well, there is significant concern, fear, and worry that the person at your door might have harmful intentions.

We are concerned about our own safety and wellbeing. Often, our own safety and wellbeing comes before everyone else’s, whether we want to admit it or not.

It is simply the world we live in.

So, as we are talking about these scripture passages, I think it’s worth understanding the sacrifices that Jesus is asking people to make.
 
And while it’s true that we live in a very different world today than the world Jesus was born into, it is still important to understand just how much Jesus was asking his disciples to sacrifice to do this work.

Yes, Jesus promises they will be rewarded, but he also doesn’t tell them that it will be easy.

In fact, if you remember from the sermon a couple weeks ago, Jesus warns them that there will be trouble, that this will not be easy for them, and in fact, they might be making significant personal sacrifices, including imprisonment or even death.
 
The Message

The Gospel of Matthew assumes that the church is a missional church.

In other words, the assumption here is that the church is a “sent” church.

Jesus sends his disciples out into the world. He doesn’t say “stay home and try to let your neighbours and friends know about me when you can.”

No, he sends them “to the wolves,” so to speak.
 
Jesus sends them door to door, town to town, over and over again, spreading the Word and doing good deeds, sharing the Good News with everyone they possibly can.

In Matthew’s understanding, there is simply no other way to be the church.

There have been missional church movements throughout history.

In fact, the Moravian Church is well known for the missionary work they did (and still do) globally. It’s part of the reason why the Moravian Church exists in Canada today.
 
And of course, there are movements within Christianity today to make the church more missional again.

There is growing awareness that mission is not just a program of the church – it should be the defining purpose of everything the church does.

What does it mean to be a “sent church” in today’s world?

It can’t mean “leave everything behind and go spread the Word” in today’s world. It’s just not realistic or safe.
 
But, I also don’t think it means “sit comfortably in worship and wait for people to walk through your church doors.”

There must be some kind of middle ground, and this is what the missional church movement is trying to figure out.

What might happen if we stopped expecting people to walk through our doors and instead, we stepped out?

Certainly we welcome anyone who does walk through our doors!
 
But is there more we could be doing to become a “sent church.” A missional church. A church that takes mission beyond our own walls and extends that outward?

What might that look like?

I don’t necessarily have the answers. I have lots of thoughts on what that could look like. But this question is one that really must be answered in community and conversation together.

So maybe, in order to answer this question, we start with conversations with one another.
 
What if we shared our stories – our stories of finding this church or the church in general, or our stories of receiving hospitality, or our stories of encounters we’ve had with missional work at other churches.

What if we started to get excited about the possibilities? What if we started small?

Perhaps we’ve already started small. We stepped out of our church walls to the parking lot to offer the garage sale to the community. And, in doing so, we also offered free food.
 
It might seem very small. To some, it might not even seem like we really stepped beyond our church walls at all.

But if we want to be a “sent church” – if we want to be able to say “here we are, God! Send us!,” then we need to be in conversation about what that might look like and what those small steps might be.

And, we need to feel good about the small steps we do take!
 
We could wonder why we would eat the cost of food and not try to make up for it, or we could feel great about feeding our neighbours and welcoming them to our event.

We should feel great about stepping outside of our church walls, welcoming strangers, feeding them, and receiving deep gratitude.

If that isn’t doing what Jesus asked of us in today’s world, I don’t know what is!

Our garage sale might be a fundraiser, too, but it is one small step toward being a “sent church.”
 
So let’s celebrate that, and then let’s start talking together about how we might be able to continue to be a “sent church.”

There’s no wrong answers here. There’s nothing wrong with conversation. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming.

Ideas are just ideas until we decide to move them forward. Our community garden is another example of feeding strangers.

We already do it in small ways. I think today’s passage is simply asking us to look closer at what it means to be a “sent church.”
 
And, are there other possibilities for fulfilling this humble call?

This is the beauty of being part of a church family. We get to wonder together, grow together, and serve together.

So, as we leave this worship space today and enter into the “mission field,” may we begin to wonder together how we might continue to build on the things we already do to offer even more to our community.

May we build on our hospitality.
 
May we build on our kindness and our welcoming environment and find new ways to take that same kindness and welcome outside of our church.

May we become disciples in small ways that may make big impacts on our communities.

May we be a “sent church” – bringing kindness, hospitality, and joy to everyone we meet. Amen.

Let us pray:
​
God who calls us by name, help us to hear your call. Help us to hear your call both personally and as a church. Guide us and help us understand what it might mean for us to be a “sent church” in our context. Help us to have open and honest conversations with each other, exploring new possibilities and sharing ideas together. Help us live into your Word. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

How many of us here make our beds every morning when we wake up?

When I was younger, I never paid much attention to making my bed.

In fact, until I moved here, I never had a top sheet on my bed. I simply slept directly under the blanket.

I noticed many years ago that my top sheet would often just get crumpled at the bottom of the bed at night anyway, so I stopped using it.
 
It wasn’t until recently that I started using a top sheet again, and when I did, I also started making my bed every day.

Many people (including younger me) would argue, “what is the point of making the bed when it’s just going to get messed up again tonight anyway?”

But apparently, research has been done into this very topic.

Numerous sources claim that making the bed sets a positive tone for your day.
 
Apparently, getting into the habit of making the bed each morning allows you to start the day out feeling accomplished.

In other words, you have already checked one thing off your to-do list.

In fact, research considers making the bed a “keystone habit.” Success breeds success, as they say.

So, accomplish that one thing to start your day, and suddenly you experience a ripple effect throughout the rest of your day.
 
Doing this one thing makes you more likely to tackle other things. In your brain, whether you realize it or not, making the bed makes you more likely to continue to be productive – maybe you do the dishes before you leave the house rather than letting them sit until you get home.

Now, I will admit that none of this ever occurred to me when I began making my bed.

What did occur to me is that making the bed in the morning gives the bedroom a cleaner and more organized look.
 
And, when I am ready to get into bed and start winding down, my bed is ready for me, my sheets are straight and I don’t need to worry about trying to straighten them when I sleep.

The other thing is that making sure the fitted sheet is still tight to the mattress is a key factor in getting good sleep (for me, at least).

If my fitted sheet is loose and wrinkly, I find it is very difficult to fall asleep.

And, the research supports my own noticings.
 
Apparently, having an organized sleeping space that looks clean and appealing helps your brain and your body start to relax and shut down as you’re going to sleep.

So, yes, your bed is going to get messed up each night that you sleep in it.

And yes, you should still make your bed every morning if you want to start and finish your day well.

Now, what does any of this have to do with today’s scripture readings?
 
The Message

Great question. In Romans 6:1, the question gets asked, “should we keep on sinning, so that God’s gift of undeserved grace will show up even better?”

In other words, why should we even try to be good people if we are already saved? Wouldn’t God’s grace mean even more if we were really bad people – totally undeserving of that grace – but received it anyway?

If we’re saved either way, why should we care about being good people? What’s our motivation?
 
This is similar to our bed-making question. If we are just going to mess up our bed anyway, why even bother making it?

Likewise, if we’re just going to make mistakes anyway, why even bother trying to be good at all?

Why not lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate? Sometimes those things are easier than being honest and earning a fair living.

Maybe these things are easier sometimes, but what about the impact that they have on others? We were given empathy for a reason.
 
And of course, Romans responds to these questions by saying absolutely we should not keep sinning on purpose.

Many pastors actually get asked the question, “since everyone is saved, why be good?”

In fact, many people who aren’t Christian use this as an argument to demonstrate that morality under Christianity is questionable.

This is what philosophers might call a slippery slope argument. If all your sins are forgiven anyway, what is your motivation not to keep right on sinning.
 
On the other hand, Christians often wonder how Atheists, for example, have any morality at all.

If they don’t have rules to follow or Christ to show them how to be good people, why do they live moral lives at all?

In all honesty, these questions can get us into a deep rabbit hole on the issue of morality and human motivations.

But the response to these questions I want to offer today is this: God’s love changes us.
 
When we know just how deeply we are loved, we don’t want to sin.

God’s grace is so life-giving that we want to live in harmony with it. We want to be loving.

Not because we are trying to avoid punishment, but because we know we are so deeply loved and we want to share that love with others.

And we want to try our best to demonstrate that love outwardly to others because we have been changed. 
 
When we truly absorb God’s love, it changes us.

Similarly, if we place a tea bag in a cup of hot water, it is no longer water. The water has been changed into tea.

We can no longer call the water simply water. It has been transformed into something new.

Likewise, we are transformed when we absorb God’s love.

When God’s love is poured into us, it’s as if our old self-centered selves become new love-centered selves.
 
Our old selves die – they are buried with Christ by baptism into death – and a new, different self is resurrected instead.

Baptism is an invitation to that change. Baptism doesn’t magically change us, but it reminds us of God’s promise to give us new life when we give God our old ones.

Baptism symbolizes the life-cycle of faith: our little self-enclosed self drowns in God’s love, and God gives us a new self made out of pure love.
 
Resurrection isn’t just the after-life, it’s the now-life, the new-life: when we surrender our lives to God in love, God gives them back to us as a gift.

This death-and-resurrection cycle isn’t a one-time thing: we go through it every day, every moment, continually giving our life to God and receiving life anew. Like breathing.

We aren’t literally re-baptized, but we recall our baptismal vows and the grace we received when we entered into this cycle.

God has already called us and claimed us. It is us that needs to continually renew our faithfulness.
 
It is us that need to get up every morning and make our bed, and it is us that need to renew our faithfulness and our commitment to God.

We have allowed God’s love and grace to change us. We have been transformed from water into tea.

God’s grace has given us new life. It is life-giving, and in receiving new life, we want to share that gift – that grace and love – with others.

We don’t just want to – we are compelled to. We are called to share this gift because we ourselves have been changed.
 
We have been transformed.

God’s grace through baptism transforms us.

God’s grace through the sacrament of Holy Communion transforms us.

We may not deserve this grace, but it is given freely nonetheless.

And we may not live perfect lives. We might make mistakes from time-to-time.

And God’s forgiveness does reach us over and over again.
 
And because we are so deeply loved, we receive that grace and we want to do our best to live a life deserving of that grace.

So, as you leave here today, may you be reminded of your own baptism. May you receive the grace of God and know without a doubt that you are loved and you are forgiven.
​
And you will be loved and forgiven over and over again because of the grace of God. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Loving God, you have baptized us into Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we may live new lives. Death no longer has dominion over us. Remind us again. As we tell the story of your love, let us die to sin so that we may freely and fully live for your sake, not for our own ease. As we worship together today, speak your good news to us, so that we may follow Jesus with faith and courage, in the power of your Spirit. Amen.

As you can see, there are four colours to choose from. Each player chooses a colour.

All of the pieces need to start in their home base. The goal of the game is to get all four of your pieces into the area I’ll call the “safe row.”

Each player takes a turn popping the “pop-o-matic” die in the middle of the board. The only way to get a piece out of the home base and start moving around the board is to pop a 6.

Once your players are on the board, you take turns moving your pieces around the board.
 
However, you have to be careful because if another player pops a number that allows them to “land” on the same space one of your players is on, you get bumped off the board and back to your home base.

If a piece happens to make it into the “safe row,” other players can no longer bump you off the board.

However, you have to pop the exact number required to get you into the “safe row.” So, if it will only take you 3 moves to get into the “safe row” but you pop a 4, you cannot move your piece.
 
The first player to get all of their pieces into their own “safe row” wins the game.

The fun of this game, of course, comes when players start knocking other players off the board and sending them back to start over again at their home base.

It is very often the case that a player could be moving around the board quite quickly, minding their own business and thinking they are absolutely going to win, when out of nowhere another player swoops in, lands on their space, and knocks them back to home base.
 
In fact, I have played this game and have had all four of my pieces moving around the board while another player has none of their pieces out.

I find myself thinking “wow, I’m for sure going to win this game.” Then suddenly, they pop a 6, start moving around the board, knock some of my pieces off, and win the game!

It’s fun and unpredictable (and a little silly, to be sure).

The fun of this game is the unpredictability. It wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if there wasn’t a risk of getting kicked back to home base.
 
We enjoy unpredictability when it’s safe, like when we are playing a game like Trouble.

But unpredictability can also feel really scary in other contexts.

Last week, we talked about how creating routines reduces unpredictability in our own lives.

For example, if I keep a weekly routine of doing laundry on Wednesday and Saturday, I know exactly when I will have clean clothes.

Or, if I routinely fill my gas tank when it has a quarter of a tank left, I don’t need to worry about running out of gas.
 
Unpredictability in this case would be really scary, and perhaps even dangerous.

I remember once when I was driving from Colorado back home to Wisconsin, I made the decision to wait for one more gas station before I filled up.

What I didn’t know was that there would not be another gas station for a very long time.

I started to get quite worried that I was going to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.

I ended up finding a station with about 2 miles to empty on my tank.
 
I was basically rolling in on fumes to that gas station.

In these scenarios, unpredictability is definitely not what we want.

On the other hand, all of life is fairly unpredictable.

We can never be certain what the future may hold for us. We can set ourselves up as best we can for success, but life can throw us curveballs.

And the question then becomes: would it be better or worse to know what is coming in the future?
 
The Message

Today’s Gospel passage plays with this question.

Jesus tells his newly appointed Apostles that he’s sending them like lambs into a pack of wolves.

Think about that. You’re one of the disciples who has just been chosen to be an Apostle - given the power to “force out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.” What an honour!

Oh but yeah, I forgot to mention, I’m throwing you to the wolves. Good luck!
 
It’s not exactly the vote of confidence and certainty that the Apostles were likely hoping for.

Jesus goes on to tell them that they will be “dragged before rulers and kings… but when someone arrests you, don’t worry.”

I have to imagine the Apostles were all looking at each other like… what did he just say? Did we actually want to sign up for this?

Jesus then talks about what they will witness:

- Siblings betraying one another and having each other put to death
 - Parents betraying their own children
- Children turning against their parents and having them killed
- Being hated by everyone because of Jesus

Then Jesus tells them to simply remain faithful, and they will be saved.

Jesus doesn’t promise them that this road will be easy.

And actually, I’m not sure if it would be better to know all of this in advance or not.
 
Maybe in this case, unpredictability would have been better.

Because now, do you think they’re thinking “no big deal, what comes will come” or do you think they’re all wondering exactly when they will encounter these things?

I think knowing the future in advance could, at least for some of us, cause us to become paralyzed by fear.

How many of us would be thrilled to do what Jesus is asking considering the consequences that are to be expected?
 
It’s certainly not an easy ask.

Knowing what is going to happen in advance can sometimes be a good thing, but other times it could create major problems for us.

Knowing in advance about a major life event might allow us to prepare for it, certainly. But, it also might paralyze us wondering when it will happen.

I’ll share a parallel example from my own life.

My first Bernese Mountain Dog, Kodiak, was about 6.5 years old when I started noticing some weird things happening to him.
 
He had some random yelps of pain that I couldn’t duplicate, so when I took him to the vet, everything seemed fine.

Then he appeared to be seeing things for a while, but his eyes were fine.

Then he had a strange cough that wouldn’t go away, but eventually subsided.

And finally, he stopped being able to wag his tail.

Each time I took him to the vet, I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t tell them where to look.
 
In desperation I asked one vet if they could just do a full body x-ray. They declined, saying that without knowing what they’re looking for, it would be too much radiation to expose him to unnecessarily.

Over the 6 months between when I started noticing symptoms and when he was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately ushered over the rainbow bridge, I began to seriously dwell on losing him.

I would worry so much about what I would do if I lost him, and then I would find myself sad and depressed, even though he was still right in front of me.
 
It was as though I knew he was going to die (because I did, if I was being honest with myself), but I didn’t know when.

So instead of enjoying every minute I did have left with him, I spent a lot of time worrying about what would happen when he was gone.

I was so worried about it that I genuinely believed I might not be able to function if I lost him.

When I finally did lose him, I was obviously upset and filled with grief. But guess what?

I was able to keep going. I had to.
 
There was no other choice.

I learned from that experience that as hard as it is, it is not worth dwelling on things that we can’t control and can’t predict.

If we dwell on a future that we know is coming, but aren’t sure when, we forget to live in the moment.

And, we may even become paralyzed from fear or uncertainty.

If the Apostles allowed themselves to be paralyzed by their fear of what Jesus told them would happen, they would not have moved forward at all.
 
Instead, they stepped boldly forward and did the work they were called to do, aware of the possible consequences and as prepared as they could be for the inevitability of them.

It is a testament to their ability to live in the moment and not allow fear to paralyze them.

I am sure it was not easy to hear what Jesus foreshadowed and continue to do what they were called to do anyway. But they did.

They did it scared.
 
And in doing so, they reminded us that Jesus never promised us that life would be easy. Jesus never promised that life wouldn’t be scary.

Jesus simply promised that if you remain faithful, you will be saved.

So, may you work to live in the moment – enjoying the life that is in front of you in all of its awe and beauty and wonder.

May you find the courage to do things even though you might be scared.
 
And, may you draw on the courage and strength of Jesus and his Apostles who demonstrated their ability to boldly move forward into a world that was uncertain.

With courage, strength, and joy, may you continue the journey and experience all of the wonder and beauty of this imperfect, lovely life you have been given.
​
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Loving God, our deep distrust separates us from you, but you reach out to us in our fear with love and grace. You forgive us; you heal us; you bless us. We open our hearts to your Spirit, that the good news of your love might sink in and change us. Creator God, make us new. Loving Christ, come and speak to us. Holy Spirit, give us new life. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Imagine that you receive an invitation to a wedding.

What are the first things you might do when you receive an invitation to determine if you will attend or not?

You might:

1. Look at who is inviting you. How well do you know the people?

2. When is it? Does it conflict with any other plans you already had?
 
3. If it does conflict with plans you already have, are the plans you had flexible? Do you WANT to change them?

4. If it doesn’t conflict with plans you already had, to you WANT to go?

5. Where is it? How far away is it? Do you need to fly or can you drive?

6. What else might you need to give up to attend this wedding? Will you miss out on time spent with someone else, or will you spend more money than you have or want to spend on a wedding?
 
After you have weighed all the basic questions you might have about the wedding, you can determine if you’ll attend or not and you can return your RSVP.

But ultimately, you have two options:

✅ Yes, I will attend
❌ No, I will not attend

I suppose there might be some other options, such as “I will get a gift or send a card, but cannot attend.” But for planning purposes for the people who invited you, your choices are yes, or no.
 
Now, what if we were invited to do something much more difficult to decide on?

As an example, I am going to use my invitation to come to Calgary to pastor a church.

This was a lot more complex decision to make. I won’t even be able to list all of the things I had to think about before choosing to say “yes” to coming here, but here are a few things I had to consider:

1. Do I WANT to move to Canada?

2. Do I want to leave my current church?
 
3. Do I want to give up running my business?

4. Do I want to sell the house I just bought?

5. Do I want to leave my family and friends behind and go to a place where I don’t know anyone?

6. Can my dogs – the only family who could come along – go with me?

7. Can I afford to do this?

8. What else am I giving up to do this?

9. What might I gain?

10. What am I afraid of?
 
This list could go on and on.

The point here is this:

We cannot be called to something without first being called away from something else.

Every invitation we receive – whether it’s something relatively minor like a wedding invitation or something major like an invitation to a new job – requires us to make a choice between what we had planned, and what could be.

We cannot choose one thing without giving up something else.
 
It is possible, of course, to set our life up in such a way that we reduce the number of decisions we might need to make like this.

This is why we create routines. Routines are safe, and they protect us from having to make difficult decisions.

When we set up routines, we prioritize the things that are most important to us and we choose to spend our time on those things.

But, no matter how well we might set up our routine to reduce the need to make choices, unexpected things still crop up that require thought.
 
The Message

So, that leads us to today’s scripture passage.

In Matthew 4: 18-20, we hear Jesus call his first four disciples who were all in the middle of their daily routines: Peter and Andrew were called while they were casting their net into the sea, and James and John were in a boat with their father mending their nets.

In today’s scripture passage from Matthew 9:13, Jesus sees Matthew working at a counting desk collecting taxes.
 
Matthew is in the middle of his daily routine when he is called as well.

It isn’t as though these people that Jesus called didn’t have anything else to do with their time.

None of them were sitting idly by, waiting for an invitation from someone to do something. All of these men were working – presumably to provide for themselves and possibly for their families as well.

Matthew was employed by Rome and likely risked a lot to leave his post.
 
And yet, Jesus called, and each of these men followed immediately.

They didn’t even do what most of us do, which is exactly what I did earlier – they didn’t make lists of questions or concerns they had about re-arranging their entire life in order to accept this invitation.

Matthew didn’t choose Jesus in this moment – Jesus chose Matthew.

Jesus chose a tax collector – someone who was seen as an oppressor, a traitor, and a generally “shady” human being by most standards of the day.
 
And Matthew, in obedient service, follows Jesus the moment he calls.

He doesn’t appear to even wonder what will happen when Pharisees wonder what he’s doing with Jesus. He doesn’t appear to even wonder if he is worthy of being called by Jesus in the first place.

He simply obeys Jesus’s command and follows him.

Matthew has two choices in this moment:

✅ Yes I will
❌ No, I won’t
 
Matthew doesn’t get a chance to prepare himself. The expectation here is simple: you either follow and I will teach you what you need to know, or you do not. There is no room for hesitation.

And we see that Matthew heeds the call. He accepts the invitation without hesitation.

Jesus calls this man that everyone else sees as having an unacceptable status, and Matthew doesn’t question why Jesus calls him. He simply gets up and follows.

This is quite incredible.
 
What is implied in Matthew’s choice to follow Jesus is the fact that he must leave his desk – his post presumably given to him by Rome. This desk which is a symbol of his “sinfulness” according to the local customs.

This story, then, is a reminder that God never calls us to something without first calling us away from something else.

In fact, it would be impossible not to be called away from something else, because we all have limited time in our lives and we naturally fill that time with doing things that are important, at least in the moment.
 
Some people may never fully come into discipleship because they find themselves unable to let go of commitments in which they are legitimately engaged before the call of God comes into their lives.

Any of the five disciples mentioned – Peter, Andrew, James, John, or Matthew – could have chosen not to answer the call because they could not leave their work, their families, or the lives they were living to follow.

Similarly, I could have chosen not to answer my call here for the same reasons.
 
I was already legitimately engaged in multiple aspects of life when I received the call here.

In fact, all pastors are legitimately engaged – in ministry, in their communities, in their lives, and often also in the lives of their children – when they receive a call to a new church.

So, choosing to decline a call is understandable. And we don’t actually know – maybe Jesus called others before or in between these disciples who declined to follow because they could not leave the lives they were engaged in.
 
But, the thing about a call or an invitation like this is that you can never get to the next thing that God has for you until you can let go of where you are and follow.

It requires tremendous trust and faith in a God who might be asking you to do something that feels risky, but who is also asking you to trust that the risk will pay off.

It may not always seem that way right away – the disciples, for example, had to go through some extremely difficult periods of danger, grief, and loss in order to follow Jesus.
 
I had to go through some extremely challenging periods over the last 3 years as well.

And, while the challenging moments seem to be fewer and further between, they still crop up.

And yet in both cases, the risk was worth the reward.

The disciples got to experience something that no one else in the history of time got to experience.

And likewise, I have gotten to experience things that I never would have had opportunity for had I not accepted this call.
 
The call of God is far-reaching. Most people – including the Pharisees – who saw Jesus call Matthew questioned that choice.

But Jesus saw something in Matthew that no one else was willing to see. He took a chance on him, and Matthew delivered.

Jesus saw something in Matthew that he deemed worthy.

And Jesus sees something in us that deems us worthy, as well.
 
You can’t get to the next thing that God has for you until you can let go of where you are now and follow the call.

God calls us because we are worthy of being called.

God calls us to step outside our comfortable places and see what else there is to see.

God calls us to a life of wonder and new possibilities.

So, may we each consider what God is calling us to, and may we accept the risk and rewards of following.
 
May you open your heart and your mind to hear God’s call and may you consider boldly stepping forward to accept the call.

God believes you are worthy, and the Good News we hear in scripture is that God wants you to believe you are worthy, too.

So as you leave here today, may you know with certainty that you are worthy – of God’s love, God’s call, and God’s grace.
​
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Glorious and gracious God, we come before you today with hope in the future. And, we come before with deep and steady faith that you are always leading us and guiding us, even when life gets difficult or uncertain. We ask that you help us to hear and then heed your call. Help us to take the risk to accept your nudges because we know that we cannot get to the next thing you have for us if we are not willing to put one foot in front of the other. God, help us to be willing. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

​Now it would be almost impossible to lift the original colours off the plate without getting any blended colours.

Our eyes can still tell, for the most part, what the original colours were. But we are pretty much beyond able to parse out the individual colours.
​
And in this next one…

​Now we can hardly tell what the original colours were with our eyes. We certainly wouldn’t be able to lift any of the original colours at this point from the plate.
​
And finally…

​Can anyone tell what the original colours were anymore?

If I asked you to take this plate of paint and separate out the original colours, could you do it?

Definitely not. Not without some extremely fancy tool of some kind.

I’m sure it exists… somewhere. But it’s not something we could do on our own for sure.

This final photo is essentially colour chaos. Well, really, it’s a totally new colour.
 
But if we look at where we started and where we are now, this image is pure chaos of blended colour. It is impossible to discern what colours we started with, and extra impossible to separate out those colours if we were given this task to do.

And yet, this is exactly the task that our Creator God set out to do.

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos…”

In other words, God started with our blended colour photo and set out to try to separate the chaos into some kind of order.
 
This is a task that, to us, would seem utterly impossible.

And yet God simply had to say “let there be light” and the light separated from the jumbled chaos.

If I had our blended, chaotic colour plate here in front of me and I said “let there be turquoise,” absolutely nothing would happen. You would look at me like I’d lost my mind.

So it would be helpful for us to take a brief moment to recognize the magnitude of God’s ability to create order from chaos.
 
The Message

Scholars have written an abundance of theories and analyses of Genesis 1-2. You could spend your entire life reading and analyzing these two verses if you wanted to.

But, for our purposes, it might be useful to think about the enormity – the gravity – the magnitude – of this passage and of what this creation story might mean for us on a practical level in our lives today. 
 
It’s easy to assume that this passage is some cosmic story written to impress us, or to emphasize some theological fact or perspective.

But what if the purpose is simply to help us understand just how amazing it is that we are here in this time and place in the first place?

I’d like to share with you a couple paragraphs from John O’Donohue’s Anam Cara. John O’Donohue was an Irish poet, author, and priest, and many would say he was a prolific Christian mystic as well.

He has written many blessings, poems, and deeply spiritual passages.

Today, I want to share with you two paragraphs from the section of his book called “To Be Born Is to Be Chosen.”

He says,

“To be born is to be chosen. No one is here by accident. Each one of us was sent here for a special destiny. When a fact is read in a spiritual way, its deeper meaning often emerges. When you consider the moment of conception, there are endless possibilities. Yet in most cases, only one child is conceived. This seems to suggest that a certain selectivity is already at work.
 
“This selectivity intimates a sheltering providence that dreamed you, created you, and always minds you. You were not consulted on the major factors that shaped your destiny: when you were to be born; where you would be born; to whom you would be born. Imagine the difference it would have made to your life had you been born into the house next door. Your identity was not offered for your choosing. In other words, a special destiny was prepared for you. But you were also given freedom and creativity to go beyond the given, to make a new set of relationships and to forge an ever new identity, inclusive of the old but not limited to it. 
 
“This is the secret pulse of growth, which is quietly at work behind the outer façade of your life. Destiny sets the outer frame of experience and life; freedom finds and fills its inner form.

“For millions of years, before you arrived here, the dream of your individuality was carefully prepared. You were sent to a shape of destiny which you would be able to express the special gift you bring to the world. Sometimes this gift may involve suffering and pain that can neither be accounted for nor explained. There is a unique destiny for each person.
 
“Each one of us has something to do here that can be done by no one else. If someone else could fulfill your destiny, then they would be in your place, and you would not be here. It is in the depths of your life that you will discover the invisible necessity that has brought you here. When you begin to decipher this, your gift and giftedness come alive. Your heart quickens and the urgency of living rekindles your creativity.”

- John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara
 
I think some would hear this and believe it is a nod to the concept of predestination. That is not where we are going today, but I don’t read that here.

Instead, I read this in light of our Genesis passage and the amazing feat that God undertook to separate out light from darkness, heaven from earth, night and day, plants and animals, and ultimately, humans.

And even if you aren’t fully convinced of the creation story and lean instead toward the scientific explanations of creation, the fact of the matter is that our being here is incredible.
 
The complexity of biological and environmental circumstances that had to manifest themselves such that each one of us could be born into this time and place is uniquely special and important.

I think John O’Donohue emphasises the enormity of this perfectly.

To simplify it all, none of us should take our lives for granted because we have been gifted something amazing.

Yes, life throws us curveballs sometimes. Yes, life is hard sometimes.
 
Yes, some of us grew up in difficult or traumatic homes. Some of us have been through incredibly difficult circumstances or life experiences.

I am not discounting those things, and I am not saying that we shouldn’t feel the emotions or the pain, the grief or the longing, the shame or the regret that come along with those things.

But what I am saying is that in order for each of us to be here now, not only did the biology of our parents’ reproductive systems have to mingle perfectly, but so did the systems and circumstances of every one of our ancestors before us.
 
We know that many movies and stories throughout history have played with this concept.

Back to the Future, for instance, plays with the idea of time travel and the notion that even one small change to the past could make it such that we couldn’t exist in the present.

In short, we are just one of many examples of order being created out of chaos.

Each one of us was created to be here in this time and place.
 
And often, when we think of the magnitude of this reality, we may struggle with our sense of purpose or our reason for being here.

We are inclined to think that we must do something grand and memorable with our life. We must live our life with purpose, and if we don’t feel that we are fulfilling that “duty,” then we feel a weight of failure fall upon our shoulders.

But I don’t think Genesis or John O’Donohue is telling us that we are failures if we don’t fulfill some grand purpose.

What if our purpose is simply to live a life of wonder, or to love and care for our family, or to create art of some kind, or to impact another person’s life in some way?

We don’t need to stress over this, but neither should we take our lives for granted.

We were each uniquely and wonderfully chosen to be here. Somehow, God separated us from the chaos and created us for this time and place.

And, we have each been brought to this community – in some way or another – for a reason.
 
We were created from the “dust of the ground” as a reminder that our calling is always toward the flourishing of life in the world.

Made from the dust of the ground, we are designed to return to the earth, for the replenishing and renewal of the world.

It is a vision of the past and future that can transform our present.

We are in humble service to a God who can do the impossible and separate order from chaos. 
 
We are each unique and this fact should leave us in absolute awe and wonder of a God who created us and chose us for this time and place.

So, may we leave here with a sense of assurance that God loves us and chose to separate us from the chaos – to combine our unique DNA and life circumstances such that we are capable of being here now, together.

You are a wonder. You have been chosen. You are loved beyond measure and beyond human comprehension. Amen.

Let us pray:
​
Gracious and loving God, we are in absolute awe at your creation, and our existence here in this world. Not only are we in awe, but we are filled with deep and unending gratitude for our lives and your presence in them. We are grateful for this community and the love and care we experience from, with, and for one another. Be with us as we move through our day and our week ahead. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.