ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE

• October 11, 2015: Thanksgiving Sunday

Joel 2:21-27; Psalm 126; I Timothy 2:1-7; Matthew 6:25-33

Joke:

Last year on Thanksgiving, the childless farmer and his wife gave thanks for all their blessings.

They also prayed that their loneliness of having no children be relieved.  Their prayers were answered and the wife became pregnant.  She gave birth to triplets!  A friend remarked, “See, prayers are always answered.” The farmer then then replied, “Yes, but I never prayed for a bumper crop like this!”

Thought:

As I was contemplating what to write for the Thanksgiving edition of the Moira Valley News, I did some research on Thanksgiving in Canada and was eventually led to the article I copied, edited a then submitted.  At the time, my belief was that this information was new to me.  But it is also possible that the information about Frobisher’s third attempt to find the North-West Passage was part of grade seven or eight social studies and I had completely forgotten that already I knew it.

What captured my attention was not so much the observance of a service of giving thanks for being delivered from the harsh winter, so much as the story in its entirety.

Let’s recap.

The year was 1578 when Frobisher set out on his third attempt to find the Northwest Passage.  The weather that year was particularly terrible and the result was that one of the fifteen ships under his command sank due to the ice and over the course of the journey about 40 men lost their lives.  To us that would be considered a terrible loss but in his day, with all things considered, losing 10% of the crew was deemed as acceptable.  And even though the intended establishing of a settlement was not possible, those that survived gave thanks for God’s provision.

At some time during their stay in the arctic north of what is now Canada, Frobisher and his men came across what they thought to be gold and using picks, shovels and their bare hands, dug and loaded over a thousand tons of the material aboard their ships and then began their return voyage.

I can imagine that the return trip was a bitter sweet period in the lives of those on board.  Their ship mates were dead and their dreams were dashed but at least their suffering was not a complete waste of time.  God had blessed them with a reward – gold.

I suspect we have all shared a similar experience, finding ourselves facing a glass half empty circumstance, struggling to see the glass have full.

Of course we know that when they finally got back to England, sailing with the wind but not moving anywhere near as fast as they could have with empty ships, they were told that all that weight that had slowed their ships so significantly was “fool’s gold”, a mineral (iron pyrites) that is found in rocks and looks like gold but is not worth anything.  All that time, all that work, all that suffering and death for nothing.  Frobisher and his men must have been devastated.  Where was God in all this?

The term “fool’s gold” has come to mean more than just that mineral.  It has also come to refer to something that you think will be very pleasant or successful or of great value but is not.

All those papers, notes and magazines and all that stuff my wife and I had collected over many years that we have discarded during the last couple could be considered a type of fool’s gold.  Those things seemed valuable when we decided to hang on to them but in reality, they became things that slowed us down, cost us more to store than to buy and required more work to clean out than we could have ever imagined.  I used to think that I should hang onto something because it would be very handy to have if I ever had a need for it.  Now I realize how wasteful that thinking is.

Of course, the Bible reminds us of another kind of fool’s gold: the seeking of fame or acceptance, the accumulation of wealth, power or popularity or devoting ourselves to any goal at the cost of family and friends or our health and/or our peace of mind.  Of what value is it to spend our lives achieving and accomplishing if that achieving and accomplishing costs us all we could have been to those that matter most?

I am sure there are lots of other things we could classify as fool’s gold but I only want to talk about one more.  This one is subtle because it really boils down to a matter of degree.  As we give thanks, are we merely thankful for the things that God gives us or are we thankful for our God who chooses to give us those things?  Is the focus of our thanksgiving the gifts or the Gift-Giver.

If we are only thankful for the things God gives us, what happens to us when, from our point of view God stops giving us those things?  If we’re thankful for good health, what happens when our health begins to fail?  If we are thankful for the money in our bank accounts, what happens to us when those account run dry?  If we are thankful for friends and family, what happens when they are no longer around?

Yes, we should be thankful for all the good things in our lives but more importantly we should be thankful that God is a God who provides even when that provision seems lean.  We should be thankful even when our health fails, the money we call ours is gone.  We should be thankful even when friends and family disappear.  But how can we?

Last week I said that Christians, regardless of our stripe, have three things in common.  We have a common faith even though our understanding of that faith varies.  In reality that faith boils down to three words: “Jesus is Lord.”  We have a common mission – to share the love of God with all we meet.  And finally, we have a common goal – to be like Christ.

Becoming increasingly more Christ like is God’s agenda for our lives.  Sometimes, the lesson we need to learn come very easy but often they come through the hardships with which we struggle.

Job asked the question, “…should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?”

It’s pretty much impossible to give thanks to God for the bad things without knowing deep within that God is on our side, that God can and does use hardships to give us an opportunity to grow in our trust of God.  If God were satisfied with being our Sears catalogue or Amazon online, God would be guilty of doing what we are told is wrong – seeking acceptance, popularity and power.

This year, as you gather with others and you are asked to share something for which you are thankful, remember that what being thankful for what God provides us is good but being thankful for the God who provides is much better.

ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE
July 26 2015: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 11:1-15; Psalm 14; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21

Today we are going to consider, in way that I hope  you find somewhat humorous, something that affects us all, every man, woman and child, no matter our background – temptation.

Are you tired of your relatively peace filled lives?  Have you ever wondered when you’ll get your fifteen minutes of fame?  Have you ever stood back as someone’s, up to now, secret life has been made very public and you wondered “How could they ever get into such a mess?”  Have you ever longed to be as well-known as the most infamous crook, backstabber, adulterer, defrauder or swindler?  Have you ever dreamed of being the only topic of conversation among your ex-relatives and ex-friends? Well, I have good news.

This morning, I will reveal an actual, real life case study that details, very clearly how to turn your life into a complete and utter train wreck in three easy steps.  And I am so confident that these three easy steps are so truly effective in destroying lives, if you begin applying these three steps today and your life isn’t well on its way to falling apart within thirty days, I will give you your money back three times over.

Now, about the case study:  I won’t need to send you a copy or try to figure out how to get around copyright infringements.  It’s in all of your homes.  So, if you need to refer back to ensure that you stay on track, just open your Bible to the passage we just read: 2 Samuel 11:1-15

The first step is to relish in distractions.

Temptations don’t really start as temptations.  Most often they are simply a distraction, a thought that passes through our minds, something we catch a glimpse of or perhaps something we hear, but once we take notice of them, they can very quickly become a temptation.

Now, if you fill your thoughts and activities with the things you should be doing, you’re not so prone to even notice the constant stream of distractions that come at your way  on a daily basis, let alone have the time to relish them.

David demonstrates for us how to maximize possibilities.  His army is away fighting a war against the Ammonites and having destroyed the Ammonite army all that is left is the city of Rabbah.  His army is away from home in another land fighting a war.  His soldiers are being injured and killed, living in the fields that surround that city and exposed to the rain and still cold nights.  But, where is David, – at home taking a nap.  In other words, he is goofing off!  Rather than being where he should have been, doing what he should have been doing.  He is not really doing anything.

You see, when our days and our minds are filled with empty space, we are opening ourselves to the maximum exposer to distractions and we have the time to take seriously the opportunity to relish in them.  When David gets up from his nap, he takes a leisurely stroll on his roof taking in the sights and sound of Jerusalem.  And does he get an eyeful.  The beautiful Bathsheba is taking a bath and David likes what he sees.

So, what do I mean when I say “relish”?  We set our minds on thinking about what it would be like to experience the reality of the fantasies we begin nurturing.  We savour the possibilities.  And you know, really it doesn’t matter if we spend all our time thinking about doing something or not doing something we are still relishing it.  That’s why it is so important to get all those pesky notions of what we should be doing out of our heads.  Before you know it, what started as a fleeting distraction will capture your attention and become a full-fledged temptation.

But relishing a distraction or by now temptation, goes beyond simply thinking about whatever to actually experience something.  We also need to begin to make plans as to how this thing could come about.

Now, don’t worry because it will come naturally.  No real effort just time on your hands and a temptation in your mind.  Before you know it, fantasizing what fulfilling a fantasy would be like will turn into making plans to turning that fantasy into a reality.

You’ll notice from the case study how David starts his afternoon taking a nap, then goes for a leisurely stroll, begins gawking at his neighbour and then sends someone to find out who this beauty is.  And before you know it, he is sending for her.

Now, David was a king and was quite accustomed to making quick decisions and getting what he wanted when he wanted so don’t get discouraged if it takes you a little longer to work through this same process.  Remember, practice makes perfect!

I have just alluded to the second step of these three easy steps toward wrecking your life.  At some point you have stop relishing in those distractions and take concrete actions to make your temptations a reality.  In David’s case, he had his men bring Bathsheba to him.

At this point, I think it best to consider strategy.  If you want to excel at making a total wreck out of your life so that it will not be just a few of your inner circle that will be talking about you behind your back and even perhaps in front of you as well, you need to develop both the scope and the duration of your escapade.  In other words, you need to involve as many people as possible and you need to ensure enough time passes so that your escapade will affect as many as possible.  It isn’t sufficient to wreck only your life; you need to destroy as many other lives as possible.  So you need to be careful who you involve in your scheme.  Only use those people over whom you have some leverage.

For some, your up-to-now stellar reputation may be enough.  Let’s face it, David was the sweetheart of Israel from the time he came on the scene and did away with the pesky Goliath.  No one would have questioned his motives.  Perhaps, you could use someone in your employ and threaten them with termination as would have been assumed by the members of David’s guard.  Perhaps there is someone about whom you have some compromising information that they would rather take to their grave than have made public.  Perhaps you can use the threat of removing them from you will, if your estate looks like it might be substantial or you can offer someone a reward that only you can offer for keeping their mouth shut and doing what they are told without question.

If you are concerned that you will not be able to such things – don’t worry about it.  Fantasize some more.  Before you know it your desire to complete your task will outweigh any other concerns.  Your conscience doesn’t stand a chance.

Look at David.  Not only did he want this woman so bad that he threw caution to the wind and had her way with her but he did so at the worst possible time.  Given that it seemed to be common knowledge that she had just completed her “purification rites” which took place seven days after her menstrual period was completed, meaning she would have been the absolute best time for conceiving a child, there is a good chance that he knew her getting pregnant was almost inevitable.  Ah, the added thrill of being caught read handed!

Once David was informed that, in deed, Bathsheba was carrying his child, David fully embraced the third easy step in wrecking his life – deny any responsibility, regardless of what you have to do.  Most of us would lie, cheat, steal, manipulate or perhaps even blackmail, but eventually David pushes beyond the mundane and commits murder.

Now, to be fair, David did try the easy way out by recalling Uriah from the front lines hoping while he was back in town he’d take the opportunity to mess around with his wife.  But he didn’t so David got Uriah to stay a second night and got him drunk thinking that with his guard down, Uriah would slip home rather than again sleep with the palace servants.  But Uriah, unfortunately, was a man of principal and refused the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers we in the field fighting and dying.  Having what was obviously no other choice; David resorted to that old standby, “better him than me.”  Had David come clean, he and Bathsheba both would have been subject to execution by stoning for the capital crime of adultery.

So, if David were to take responsibility for his actions two would die even though Bathsheba may have been quite innocent of anything other than not having any choice in her roll in the hay with the king.  If Uriah dies, only one person suffers.  Ya, right!

David writes a note to his general, Joab, seals it and gives it to Uriah to take back to the front.  Isn’t it ironic that Uriah carries with him his own death warrant and the reason he will die is because his conduct was far more regal than was David’s.

Joab does as ordered, sets Uriah in the front lines of the worst of the battle and then orders a retreat and that’s the end of Uriah, a couple other of David’s best soldiers, David’s reputation with Joab and how many others?  And David gets to add another woman to his stable, even if he really didn’t want her hanging around to be a constant reminder of the depths of his stupidity.  David is excelling at making his life a total train wreck.

The subject of temptation reminds me of the story of the women who read an ad in the local newspaper: “Purebred Police Dog $25.”

Thinking that to be a great bargain, she ordered the dog to be delivered. The next day a van pulled up and left her the scruffiest, mangiest-looking mongrel she had ever seen.

In a rage, she telephoned the man who had placed the ad. “What do you mean by calling that mangy mutt a purebred police dog?”

“Don’t be deceived by his looks, Ma’am,” the man replied. “He’s in the Secret Service.”

Of course, the difference is that when it comes to temptation we are both the buyer and the seller.  We are deluding ourselves.

So, once again, here are the three easy steps to making a wreck out of your life: 1) relish in distractions; 2) make your fantasies come true; and 3) never take responsibility for your actions.

I guess I should add here that as the story continues, David is confronted by Nathan the prophet and eventually does take responsibility for his actions and repents before God.  And even though David’s relationship with God is restored his indiscretion haunts him for the rest of his life.  From this point on, his life is never the same.  Trouble seems to follow him everywhere he goes.  What goes around, comes around.

To think, David would never have experienced the opportunities to abuse his power, manipulate his closest friends and allies, betray the trust of those devoted to him, commit murder, say good-bye to his life of relative peace and suffer for the rest of his life had he just been where he should have been, doing what he should have been doing – leading his troops in battle.  Failing that, had he just looked away rather than gawking at Bathsheba like a kid in a candy store, he would have continued to be the man he had always been up to that time.  Had he just turned his thoughts toward God rather than relishing in his distractions, the man who was such a strong example of what it means to live a godly life that the common notions of what the Messiah would be like were based on him, would never have become the classic example of how to take one’s life and turn it into a complete and utter train wreck.

Prayer:  God who loves us beyond measure, who works in us to give us lives that are filled with the peace that only you can give, who knows best what will bring us the greatest joy, forgive us when we allow ourselves to relish in any of the many temptations that come our way.  Remind us that often it is something very small, a passing scene, a thought, an expression on a face, an innuendo in someone’s words or a short lived possibility of circumstances that can lead us down the path of destruction.  Remind us that the best way to avoid distractions is to fill our thoughts and activities with those things we should be doing and the best way to deal with temptation is to turn our thoughts towards you and to relish in your love for us.  Remind us that when we yield to temptation, we are not just harming ourselves but often we are bringing harm to those we love the most and that love us.  And finally, remind us that when we are foolish, when we do not turn our thoughts toward you and instead begin the journey down the path, even then we are not beyond your love.  Help us be honest with ourselves and with you.  Amen .

ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE
July 19 2015: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Prayer: God who goes before us and all those willing to follow, help us hear your whispers and to learn, to ask questions and to evaluate ourselves in light of your vision for us in the present and in the future.  Amen

2 Samuel 7:1–14 tells the story of David’s desire to build a structure worthy of being the permanent resting place for the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence with the nation of Israel.

David had solidified the nation and his armies had defeated all its many foes.  Peace had become a reality and now a king’s palace had been built.  This seemed to have sparked Davis conscience.  Why should he live in such posh surroundings while there was nothing to house the throne of God?  So he called Nathan the prophet, one of his royal advisers and offered the thought to him.  Nathan tells David that if he has a good idea, he should go with it since it is obvious that God is behind David.  But that night, God has a conversation with Nathan that he is to relay to David.  This conversation boils down to three main points: 1) God has never complained about living in a tent and has never asked for anything different; 2) in refusing David’s gift, God will give David one – a house or dynasty that will live on and on and on and 3) God will chose one of David’s heirs to build a temple for God’s presence.

Later on we discover that one of the reasons God denied David’s offer is that David was a man of war – loosely that David was a destroyer not a builder.

I have said on several occasions that much of what we read in the Hebrew Scriptures are physical representations of things that are far more lofty.  It is true that David’s son Solomon, after David’s death, built the first temple in Jerusalem but is that what this passage is ultimately referring to?  I think not.  Why?  Well, because verses twelve through fourteen “a” read this way, “12 For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son.” (Emphasis mine. NLT)

These same thoughts are expressed in many ways in various passages throughout the Hebrew Bible all referring to the Messiah.

It seems to me that this passage conveys several thoughts.

It was never God’s preference that there should be a temple, a monument to God’s presence.  Perhaps the temple came about in the same way as Israel’s first king – because it was the common practice of all the surrounding nations and the Israelites felt deprived because of this lack.  If all the other nations had a king, shouldn’t they?  If all the other nations honoured their gods with large elaborate buildings shouldn’t they?

Perhaps the story of the Children of Israel wandering in the desert is more than a story.  Perhaps being led in their journey by the Pillar of Smoke and the Pillar of fire and by the Ark of the Covenant born by God’s people is more than just a story.  Perhaps these stories present for us a model by which we should live, encountering life as we are led by God.

Perhaps God preferred to not have a temple, a monument to God’s presence because God didn’t want to set a bad example by suggesting it is time to rest rather than to continue the journey.  God chose to create the Children of Israel, not so they could build God a temple, a monument to God’s presence but to be a temple, a movement designed and enlivened by God to represent God to the world.

Is this not what the reading from Ephesians says of the church?  Eph. 2: 19b – 21 reads, “…You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” (Emphasis mine NLT)

So, what does any of this have to do with our circumstances as a church or as Church in the 21^st century?

Let me start by saying that as usual, I spent some time scouring the internet looking for jokes about church buildings.  I couldn’t find any.  I guess there is nothing funny about church buildings but there reams of jokes about those who attend church.

Let me also state that I know there are great potential benefits of having a congregational home.  Buildings offer meeting places for congregational worship, for various programs, for initiatives reaching out to the community and for providing community space.  However, there are disadvantages as well.  Whether we are speaking of our own setting, our denominational setting or referring to most church buildings in North America, the reality is that for the most part our church building sit empty except for Sunday mornings and perhaps one or two mid-week, sparsely attended meetings.  For the most part our buildings are made up of single use rooms built in a time when the proportion of younger people to elderly was significant enough that little thought was given to accessibility.  For the most part whether because of monies currently being spent or failed to be budgeted for ongoing maintenance, our buildings represent a financial liability beyond our ability to meet.  For the most part our buildings are monuments to the past that have such a strong hold on us that we find it impossible to face the here and now let alone consider the future realisitcally.  For the most part, even though most congregational members are engaged in vital, ongoing ministries, there is a reluctance to view those activities as ministries because they see “ministry” as something that somehow has its roots in the building rather than in the God who works through us as individuals and as groups because, we are God’s temple and as such God’s movement on earth to demonstrate the reality of God.

On occasion, I have said some seemingly ridiculous things.  One such thought I have expressed is that in my opinion, the best thing that could ever happen to the United Church of Canada is that every one of our church buildings be hit simultaneously with massive lightning strikes, given a five minute warning to ensure no loss of life.

Because of technology, there has never been a more opportune moment to see church buildings as unnecessary.  With some planning and training, there is nothing we are currently doing as church or should be doing as church that cannot be accomplished using other avenues.  There has never been a better time to let go of our monuments and direct our focus and energies toward the movement that Scripture, whether Hebrew of Christian (Old or New Testaments) advocate of which we should be part.

In researching this passage, I read the summary of a three point sermon by a J. Lawrence McCleskey entitled Steps to Greatness[1].  His main premise is that when God rejected David’s offer to build God a temple, God was calling David to a higher purpose.  His three points bear repeating.  They are, “Accept the Call to a Greater Vision”, “Accept the Call to a Greater Mission” and “Accept the Call to a Greater Blessing.”

David’s offer stemmed from good intentions as did the construction of our church buildings.  However, sometimes good intentions yield less than good results.  Do you think that God was incapable of preventing the Temple’s destruction?  Perhaps, God had better things in mind.

Have we let our church buildings become monuments to the past and in so doing making us a monument as well or are we sufficiently free from their hold and sufficiently trusting of God so that we are the movement God intends us to be?

[1] McClersky, Jay Larwrence.  Steps to Greatness: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a in Sermon Options: July 19, 2015.  June 15th, 2015.  MinistryMatters.com.