Tom Holmes
April 3, 2016

Prayer: God who knows our heart and empowers us to see what cannot be seen allow us the experience of meeting Jesus.

In 1949 a program started its run on radio and then in 1951 it transitioned to television.  Unlike the shows of today there was no character development and no emotional commentary.  It was a police drama called “Dragnet”.  Each episode involved the discovery of evidence.  The focus was on the facts.  It played out like a case file.  Even though Sgt. Joe Friday never said the words “just the facts ma’am just the facts,” this tag line very much represented how this drama unfolded.

The Gospels, in many ways, are somewhat similar to that old TV show.  These are firsthand accounts of the events of the life of Christ.  The Gospels of Matthew and John are the product of two of Jesus disciples.  The Gospel of Mark is said to contain the eyewitness account of Peter.  The Gospel of Luke is a result of a research project completed by Dr. Luke from interviews done with those who had actually met Jesus.  However, the Gospel of John is a little bit different because John states very clearly that his writing is more than just an eyewitness account.  It is a polemic or rather an account with an intended purpose.  John writes, “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”  In other words, John’s desire is that those reading his gospel will remain in or enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  But how is that possible?

In the third chapter of John a religious leader named Nicodemus comes to see him at eight.  Nicodemus is a good man, a religious man, a righteous man.  He has questions for Jesus but before Nicodemus could ask his questions, Jesus told him that in order to be right with God he needed to be born again; that he needed to be born from on high.  In other words, having a relationship with God was something that only God could instigate. Let me explain.

There is a very real sense in which every human being ever born is a child of God.  If we are all children of God the creator, we are all connected.  But just because we have this connection does not mean that we have a relationship.  There are about 3 million people living in Toronto but I am not aware of having a relationship with any of them.  So, how could I enter into a relationship with any of them?  By beginning a meaningful conversation.  I say “meaningful” because we can talk to a lot of people and all that’s really conveyed is information.  That kind of conversation does not affect us.  It doesn’t change who we are.  A relationship implies far more than just the exchange of information.  And having a relationship with God implies that we become believers.  Now, a believer is not someone who simply agrees with certain facts.  A believer is someone who, because of the facts, changes their conduct.  Thus when we hear Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost he talks about repenting, changing direction, of living one’s life in accordance with God’s will.

As I’ve said before, when we hear the word repentance, we normally associate it with feelings of regret.  But that is not repentance. “Repenting” means making a drastic change in course.

Of course we often read in the Scripture and hear in some settings the whole business of repenting connected to “confessing your sins”.  These statements are aimed at those who knew the Law.  But I want to ask you how many times have you walked up to a complete stranger and the first words out of your mouth was an apology for all of the things that you have ever done that may somehow offend that person?  I dare say never.  Why would you apologize to someone that you have never had any sense of offending?

Jesus met all kinds of people and I cannot think of an instance when Jesus put a requirement of confessing one’s sins as a precursor to establishing a relationship. Jesus met people where they were Jesus met the people who they were.  He was even chided by the religious leaders for hanging around with sinners and tax collectors.  But Jesus did call people to repentance: to changing the direction of their life.  He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more.  He told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.  Now with that said, if there never comes a time in our growing relationship with God that we do not have a sense that we need to apologize for the harm that we have caused other people or our self and for the offense against God that we have created, there is something seriously wrong.  How can we as human beings be keenly aware of the holiness of God, the otherness of God, and not also be aware of our failings.

So what I’m saying to is essentially this.  Number one, entering a relationship with God is not something that we can do on our own.  Number two, there is a difference between having a connection to God by virtue of God being our creator and having a relationship with God.  And number three, entering a relationship with God assumes a change of course.

I want to go back to the point number one for second, that entering a relationship with God is not something that we can instigate ourselves.

In the book of Proverbs it says that God hass put a taste of eternity in our hearts.  This is true of all humanity.  By that, the writer of Proverbs is suggesting that there is a knowledge of, a hunger for, an openness to and an awareness of something greater than ourselves.  The problem that we face in having this hunger is that we try to fill ourselves by spending our time engaging in really unhealthy actions and attitudes.  Some look for fulfilment in drugs or alcohol, some look for it in gambling, some look for it in illicit sex, some look for it in self-achievement, climbing the ladder of success, seeking power fame and fortune.

The Bible also talks about the Holy Spirit working in all of creation.  I’m not just talking about amongst the people of God.  Part of the responsibility of the Holy Spirit is to lead those who do not have a relationship with God towards God and to lead those who do have a relationship with God towards a deeper one.  So, while it is not within our power to instigate a relationship with God, the fact that we might want to is a reflection of God already working in our lives.  It is God nudging us gently towards God’s Self.  However, it is important to always remember that God has promised to honour God’s giving us free choice.  God will never force us into a relationship.  God will never force us to be obedient. God will never force us.

It’s also important to remember that God only wants what’s best for us and that when we insist on doing things our own way ultimately, we are doing ourselves harm.

Now, even though we have this sense of something more within us and even though the Holy Spirit is nudging us towards God, we are naturally resistant to God.  And so, it is possible to sit in church for decades, to hear sermon after sermon, to engage in conversations about God and to never hear what’s being said.  Yes, we hear the words but the message escapes us.  However, when we do hear, when the question arises within ourselves about having a personal relationship with God, the time to act is now.  Please do not let that question go unanswered.  Take this opportunity to enter into a relationship with God by responding to the conversation that God has already initiated with you.  Ask God to help you to hear more.  Ask God what God would like of you.  And when you think you have received an answer, regardless of how simple or difficult that answer may be to follow through with, just do it.

Next week, we are going to consider how we hear God’s side of the conversation.  It’s interesting that almost anyone facing a difficult situation is willing to cry out to God for help but few ever expect God to answer back.  In fact, many consider it admirable when they hear someone say that they ask God for help but many will question a person’s sanity if that person says God talked back.  But Jesus said that his followers know his voice..

So come back next week as we consider how we hear God’s part of the conversation.

Prayer: Gracious and loving God, make us all like the boy Samuel, who heeded the instruction of the elderly priest Eli.  When you called Samuel’s (1 Samuel 3) name the third time, Samuel no longer ran to Eli but rather answered you by saying, Speak Lord, for you servant is listening.  Amen.

ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE
November 1, 2015: Twenty-sixth after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday
Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34

Hebrews 11:11, 12  So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.  With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.  NLT

Prayer:  Creator of all that is, work in us and trough us that we might understand where your whispers want to lead us as we consider your message found in Hebrews 11.  Amen

Growing up, I had a love-hate relationship with sports.  I loved playing them but I hated my inability to play them well.  One of the sports I really liked to play was baseball.  Whether at school, in a vacant lot or on our side street or even on a ball diamond, whether a pick-up game or as part of a league, I was almost always willing to join in.

I guess my greatest weakness in baseball was inconsistency.  Sometimes I played really well and sometimes I played very badly.  And as it turned out, I seemed to play the worst when my team needed me to play my best.  However, I did have my moments.

I am sure you have all seen sportscasts which featured a player making one of those incredible catches where they hurl themselves, with glove outstretched, either to the ground or into a wall.  Well, I had some of those same moves but unlike the reaction of the fans in those clips, most often my teammates’ reactions were far less enthusiastic.  Mind you, their response probably would have been very different if my ball park gymnastics had been intentional and located somewhere near where the ball was heading.

For many of us, the message of the passage we just read is not something we get enthused about either.

Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians, not gentile ones.  We do not understand the imagery the writer is using, that of the High Priest and sacrifices, because we are gentiles and we are 2000 years removed from temple worship.

As Christians we carry with us the assumption that Jesus completes the Law given to Moses and so there is no need to bother ourselves trying to understand the sacrificial system.  Going through a theological education taught me that I didn’t need to know Greek and Hebrew to study the Bible but those tools gave me such a deeper understanding.  In the same way, getting a handle on the sacrificial system can really open our understanding of the both the Letter to the Hebrews and our Christian faith.

For many of us, when we hear of blood sacrifices, our minds default to seeing death, blood and gore.  To us, any form of worship that involves the slaying of animals seems far more like a horror movie, in the same way that younger people connect organ music to horror films, not the divine.  They were not introduced to organ music through church services and we were not introduced to blood sacrifices in the context of worship.  What we see is repulsive, but the Hebrews saw blood sacrifices as life giving, not life taking.  It’s a matter of perspective.

Let’s say we are at the final game of the 2015 World Series.  It’s the third inning.  The pitch is thrown; the batter swings and hits the ball.  The short-stop catches the ball after it hits the ground and throws to first before the batter can reach it.  The batter is out.  The batter is disappointed, the players and fans are disappointed and the possibility of a run is dead.

Now, it’s the bottom of the ninth inning.  The score is tied.  There is one out.  A runner is on first and another on third.  The batter comes to the plate and the third base coach seems to suddenly develop a very serious aliment.  He starts tapping and rubbing his arms, his head and the brim of his cap and then just as suddenly stops.  The pitcher determines the medical emergency is past and throws.  The batter does as he was instructed and does it perfectly.  The bunt forces the play to first base and the batter is out.  The fans cheer, the players are jubilant, the game is over.  They have won.  Because the batter had sacrificed himself, his team mate on third made it across home plate.  Forever and eternity, that team will be known as the 2015 world champions.  They can play terribly next year.  They can all die on the way back to their home city.  It makes no difference.  They can now rest knowing they are winners.

The Children of Israel had entered a covenant relationship with God that was conditional.  God will be their God so long as they conduct themselves accordingly.  When they, as a nation brake even so much as one of God’s rules, God’s contract is broken with the nation.  When they, as individuals, brake so much as one of God’s rules, God’s personal covenant with them is broken.  Offering a sacrifice isn’t to appease the wrath of an angry god.  It isn’t punishment for their crime.  In fact, it is the only way to avoid the punishment that is deserved.  It is the prescribed method of restoring that covenant, that relationship with God.  Why, because the consequences of sin is death and because life is in the blood.  When a sacrifice is made, life is restored, not taken.  The shedding of blood removes guilt – the reality of doing wrong – and shame – the realization of doing wrong.  But this only applies to sins committed before the sacrifice.  Another sin requires another sacrifice.

The writer of Hebrews argues in Chapter 11 that Christ in his role as High Priest entered, not an earthly sanctuary made by the hands of human beings but rather a heavenly sanctuary made by God.  Christ offered his own blood, not the blood of animals and thus Christ obtained for us a restored relationship with God that is far from temporary.  Forever and eternally, the game is won.

Baseball is the only professional sport that I know of that is so concerned with the cardio-vascular condition of its fans that it schedules a break from the intense action on the playing field.  At the end of the seventh inning fans are given an opportunity to stretch and perhaps yawn.

As human beings, we need to have a sense of safety, security and significance in order to be emotionally healthy.  What Christ accomplished and the cost of doing so, tells us that in God’s eyes we are very important, guarantees us that no matter what we face in our lives here on earth, we are safe in God’s arms and that we do not have to wonder what will happen to us when this life is over.  Although we are not worthy, although we all sin, that is turn our backs to God and do what we want, although all our human struggling to be good enough will fall far short, when this life comes to an end, we will be found in the presence of God.  Because we are safe, secure and significant, we can live our lives without fear, we can love without fear and we can give without fear.  Gone is our guilt and shame.  Gone are all the barriers we place between ourselves and God.  Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are winners forever.

ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE
October 25, 2015: Twenty-first after Pentecost
Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22); Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52

The Gospel according to Mark is understood to be a record of Peter’s memories.  It is written with a Roman audience in mind.  Thus it is a fast-paced, action orientated account of Jesus’ ministry.

In the opening of chapter 10, Jesus begins his final journey towards Jerusalem.  In this account of the last miracle recorded in Mark, it is obvious that Blind Bartimaeus knows three things.  He knows he needs to ask for help.  He knows who to ask for help.  He knows what help he needs.

Bartimaeus knows he needs help and isn’t ashamed to ask for it.

Regardless of what kind of man Bartimaeus is, he is seen by others as a sinner, an outcast and someone to avoid, except for an opportunity to give alms.  Whether born blind or becoming blind, his condition says that he is suffering the consequences of his or his father’s sinfulness and is not worthy of participating in temple worship.  If anyone should be reluctant to ask anyone for anything, it should be him.  And yet he does.

He is not capable of earning and income but he still needs food to eat, clothes on his back and a roof over his head.  The only option open to him is begging, relying on the kindness of strangers and the commands in the Law to give to the poor.  As long as he is blind, he has no other recourse.  But Bartimaeus isn’t content to be blind.

Three ministers are having lunch in a diner.  One says “Ya know, since summer started I’ve been having trouble with bats in my loft and attic at church.

Another responds “Yea, me too. I’ve got hundreds living in my belfry and in the narthex attic.  I’ve tried everything–noise, spray, cats, I’ve even had the place fumigated, and they won’t go away.”

The third says, “I had the same problem and tried the same solutions, but like you, nothing worked.  The one day, I decided to apply the wisdom of my experience to the problem.  I gathered them all up, baptized them, and made them members of the church.  I haven’t seen one back since!!!”

Bartimaeus knows he needs help and isn’t ashamed to ask for it.

Bartimaeus also knows who to ask for help.

Jesus is well known by the people of Israel as a healer.  Receiving sight again or for the first time is not something with which the people he knows can help him.  Only the Messiah can cause the blind to see.

He calls out to Jesus, “Son of David”: a term referring to the Messiah.  Did Bartimaeus actually believe that Jesus was the Messiah or was he merely hoping Jesus could heal him?

Perhaps it doesn’t make any difference at this point in time.  If Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus has the divine authority to heal him.  If Jesus isn’t, there is no harm in asking.  Perhaps God will bless Bartimaeus anyway.  You never know until you try, right?

The crowd tells Bartimaeus to be quiet, not to bother Jesus but Bartimaeus doesn’t back down.  He keeps calling out to Jesus until Jesus finally responds.

One Sunday a pastor told his congregation that the church needed some extra money and asked the people to prayerfully consider giving a little extra in the offering plate.  He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns.

After the offering plates were passed, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had placed a $1,000 bill in offering.  He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he’d like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate.

And there sat shy, quiet Rosie all the way in the back, gradually raising her hand.  The pastor asks her to come to the front.  Slowly she makes her way to the pastor.  He then goes on and on telling her how wonderful it was that she gave so much and in thanksgiving asks her to pick out three hymns.

Her eyes brighten as she looks over the congregation, and then and says, “I’ll take him and him and him!”

Bartimaeus knows he needs help and isn’t ashamed to ask for it.

Bartimaeus knows who to ask for help.

Bartimaeus knows what help he needs.

Bartimaeus is no longer content living as a blind man.  He wants more.  He wants to be a real human being in the eyes of others and in his own eyes.  He is ready to leave behind what is known and move forward into the unknown even though he knows he will have to live his life very differently.  He will have to work rather than beg for income.  He will have to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem because when his shamed is removed he will have no excuse.  He will be expected to participate in community life rather than being dependent upon it.  Bartimaeus is willing because, he wants to see.

When Bartimaeus asks Jesus for sight, Jesus heals him and then says that Bartimaeus’ faith made him well.  But is Bartimaeus truly a man of faith as this story begins?  Maybe, maybe not.  What we do know from the scriptures is that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.  Perhaps Bartimaeus only had enough faith to ask for help and keep on asking until he got an answer.

He follows Jesus down the road.  Why?  Was this a sign of his gratitude?  Did he not have anything better to do?  Jesus had changed Bartimaeus’ life.  Did his life not now belong to Jesus?  Unlike the rich man who was asked to give up all he had and follow Jesus but wouldn’t, Bartimaeus did.

At a Wednesday evening church meeting a very wealthy man rose to give his testimony.

“I’m a millionaire,” he says, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life.  I can still remember the turning point in my faith, like it was yesterday:

I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night.  The speaker was a missionary who told about his work.  I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all.  So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God.  I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”

He finishes is story.  It is pretty clear that everyone is moved by this man’s story.  As he takes his seat, a little old lady sitting in the same pew leans over and says: “Wonderful story!  I dare you to do it again!”

Are we like Bartimaeus?  Are we willing to ask for help or does our pride stop us from living life to its fullest?  Do we know who to ask for help whether that be other people or Christ?  Do we know what help we really need or are we willing to settle for merely treating the symptoms of what we lack?

Bartimaeus may have been physically blind but in the 10^th chapter of Mark, he is the only person that is singled out that could truly see.  In deed Blind Bartimaeus was actually not so blind after all.  How is our sight – 20/20 or far less?

Prayer:  God who gives sight to the blind, help us see.  Amen.