Reflections On The Environics Survey Of Muslims In Canada 2016

It was fascinating to read of the recent Environics survey of Muslims in Canada. It’s a very wide-ranging survey (far too long to go into in detail now) and if you’re interested in the whole thing, here’s a link to the report on the survey published by Environics:

Survey Of Muslims In Canada 2016

What I was most intrigued by were two of the survey’s findings in particular: first, that the younger the respondents were the more committed to their faith they were, and second, that Muslims feel a greater attachment to their faith than they do to Canada. Both seemed worthy of some reflection.

The first interested me because it’s pretty much the polar opposite of what we find in what you might call mainstream Canadian society, and certainly in the wider Christian community. Canada is rife with cultural Christianity – but how much of that is centred on Jesus Christ is doubtful, and I think all of us involved in any way with the church would agree that our experience is that commitment to the Christian faith seems to decline among younger generations. And I think that even among the older generations who populate many of our churches, there is an element of cultural Christianity – going to church was the thing to do at one time, and it’s still the thing to do for some from certain generations. It isn’t so much a commitment to Jesus Christ as it is a commitment to the church, the building, the ritual, etc. In the Muslim community, on the other hand, we’re told that younger Muslims are attending mosques in great numbers, and not only because it’s a part of their cultural identity, but because Islam as a faith is important to them.

I wonder if it has to do with being a minority? The survey did suggest that many Muslims have experienced discrimination – and I’ve seen suggestions that younger Muslims, often born in Canada and raised with Canadian values are much more insistent on being respected by wider society than their elders, many of whom immigrated to Canada and were simply happy to be here. This phenomenon isn’t unlike the fact that in parts of the world where Christians are often discriminated against and oppressed, the church nevertheless seems to be quite strong and vibrant. Many churches in the Western world seem to deliberately set out to create that mindset, playing with the idea that Christians are discriminated and even persecuted (because that word does pop up sometimes) in the Western world, and they also seem to attract larger numbers of young people than churches that don’t play the “persecution” card. I’m not suggesting that’s the only factor involved. I just find it interesting to make that comparison in light of the Environics study. Those who feel themselves under threat might well become more passionate about what they believe than those who feel comfortable, who might well start to take their beliefs for granted – and, thus, the rise of cultural Christianity in the West, often at the expense of a truly vibrant and life giving relationship with Christ. I’m not suggesting that we in the United Church or other mainline denominations should start manipulatively playing the “persecution card” in the hopes of getting people riled up and – at least on the surface – more committed. It’s just an interesting fact that younger Muslims in the West and younger Christians in other parts of the world seem particularly committed to their faith in a way that older generations perhaps aren’t.

That, to me, was the most interesting part of the Environics survey. But what seems to have received the most media attention – and what I suspect will get some folks who are susceptible to anti-Muslim rhetoric in the first place riled up – is the suggestion that Muslims in Canada feel a greater attachment to their faith than to Canada. Every now and then for whatever reason I seem to see on social media a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment. “We have to do something about the Muslims,” some say. “There’s too many of them,” say others. “We’re all going to end up living under sharia law,” comes up every now and then. Then, of course, there are anecdotes (they’re always anecdotes – “I heard from someone that …”) about “no go zones” in European and even American cities that are controlled by Muslims, and where sharia law is the only law because the police won’t enter certain neighbourhoods. It’s worth noting that snopes.com says “FALSE” to those allegations in general:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/nogozones.asp

Similar accusations were made about the Brussels neighbourhood of Mollenbeck – that it was a Muslim neighbourhood where sharia law was enforced and the police just don’t go there. Those accusations seemed to increase after a number of Muslim extremists were arrested in Mollenbeck a few weeks ago. The police had to separate Muslim youths and anti-Muslim demonstrators in Mollenbeck and a suspect in the attacks on Paris was arrested and wounded following a shootout in Mollenbeck. Of course that all seems to suggest that the police actually do go into Mollenbeck, in spite of the anecdotal suggestions that Mollenbeck is a “no go zone” where the police don’t go.

There may, of course, be districts in European and American (and even Canadian) cities where the police receive a hostile reception and are reluctant to enter unless in force. There are a lot of minority groups who don't particularly like the police and don't make trust them or make them feel welcome. Does Ferguson, Missouri ring a bell? There are gang controlled areas where police aren't welcome. There may well be Muslim gangs who make police feel unwelcome. I have seen some reports about parts of Stockholm - that lone police cars on police chases won't pursue suspects into certain districts because if they do they'll get pelted with stones, etc. But that's a far cry from calling them "no go zones" where the police literally WON'T go and just leave it to the locals to establish their own version of law and order - be it sharia or anything else.

But I digress.

I’m anticipating a largely negative reaction to the idea that many Muslims identify first as Muslims and then only second as Canadians. I won’t be surprised to hear charges of disloyalty and treason, and cries of “go back where you came from.” I’ve seen people on social media who I think of as sensible people who fall into the trap of stereotyping all Muslims on the actions of a few. Many of those who do so are probably good, church-going Christians. Which means that we should perhaps consider these words from Philippians 3:20 – “our citizenship is in heaven.”

Paul was a citizen of Rome. He wasn’t averse to claiming the rights that he possessed as a Roman citizen. He wrote about the role of the state and the responsibilities of Christians to the state. The state serves a legitimate purpose, Paul said – but the state is not our first allegiance. Fundamentally, “our citizenship is in heaven.” Our first loyalty is to God and Christ – and there are Christians who aren’t shy about believing that all of society should be governed by their version of Christian beliefs: so the government should ban abortion, the government should ban same sex marriage, the government should ban doctor assisted death, etc., etc. And we’re citizens of a democracy, so we have the right to advocate for those positions – and my faith guides me in a lot of political decisions as well. So it’s intriguing that, at least based on the media coverage, the idea that Muslims see their faith as more important than their country is startling and newsworthy. That’s actually a very Christian concept – one that many Christians promote and live by – for themselves, of course.

The problem, I think, is that Muslims are “different.” The Environics survey suggests that the Muslim community in Canada is generally well-thought of (for which I'm glad) but there will always be those who don’t understand a community that seems different and who will seize on excuses to be suspicious of them. That’s my concern. It’s fine for Christians to think of themselves as Christians first, but for at least some that same understanding won’t be extended to the Muslim community, and it will be used as another opportunity to demonize those who are our neighbours; those whom Jesus calls us to love.

A Thought For The Week Of April 25, 2016

“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.” (Genesis 39:20-21) God is a God of justice. Having said that, I'm onside with those who would argue that the word “justice” gets overused and abused by many Christians today. We too often start to define “justice” as basically “that with which I agree.” So if something happens that I don't like I call it “injustice” or if I think something should happen that isn't happening, I ask for “justice” - meaning “do what I want.” Either way, it seems to me that we often use “justice” as a conversation stopper to silence those we disagree with, rather than as a goal that reflects God or the teachings of Jesus. The story in Genesis 39 (and especially the verses I've quoted above) help us to understand a bit of how God sees justice. Joseph had been an honourable man and an honest servant of Potiphar – and given that he had been deceived and sold into slavery by his own brothers he could perhaps have been excused if he had been neither. And then he's treated unfairly again by Potiphar and Potiphar's wife and he ends up in prison. The result could have been anger and bitterness, but the author of the account sees God's presence in the midst of everything that happened to Joseph, arranging things so that justice – real justice – would be done. Joseph would be released from prison and the wrongs done to him redressed. The first thing I learn about justice from this story is that the call to justice is the call to be with those who are oppressed, cast aside and treated unfairly – and our world is full of those. God was with Joseph – and as God's people we are to be with those who are treated unfairly by the world. Since we're not God, the justice we need to strive for may not mean that everything works out perfectly, but it does mean that those being treated unfairly will at least have the comfort of knowing that others are in their corner. And the story gives us hope. Eventually, God's justice will triumph over human injustice. But in the interim, we need to be striving for “justice” - not by pursuing our own personal agendas, but by doing God's work and God's will.

April 24, 2016 Sermon: Great Expectations

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

(Revelation 21:1-6)

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     I'm a great fan of Charles Dickens. As a lot of people probably were, I was first exposed to his work through the movie “A Christmas Carol.” That went on to reading the short novel of the same name written by Dickens on which the movie was based, then I moved on to reading some of his other Christmas stories, and then on to some of his more substantive novels. I'm no expert on Dickens, and I certainly haven't read everything he wrote, but I am fairly familiar with his writings, and so I want to begin my remarks today with an apology to Charles Dickens: I'm sorry that I stole my sermon title from one of your novels, and I'm hoping that Durham's finest don't come in to arrest me for violating copyright! (Of course, if they do, I could always say that I “borrowed” the sermon title, or that I'm honouring the memory of Charles Dickens by using the title for my sermon today.) But the title does fit, so I'm hoping that he would – if he were here with us – find it in his heart to forgive me.

     “Great Expectations” - the novel by Dickens – revolved around the character of Pip, an English orphan who, in a whirlwind of a life, rises to wealth and then finds himself ultimately humbled by his arrogance. Pip is a complex character, and he's hard to sympathize with most of the time. Basically, he's an arrogant snob who behaves badly and isn't even very nice to those wh have treated him well.  The title of the novel refers to Pip's own “great expectations” - which are constantly changing depending on his circumstances at any given time. Those expectations are first met by the arrival of a fortune which gives him the hope that he might achieve another great expectation – becoming accepted as a “gentleman.” He also has great expectations around Estella – the adopted daughter of the colourful Miss Havisham. In some ways I think that Pip represents us all – not because he's not a particularly nice guy, but because he has great expectations for his life; hopes and dreams – some realistic; some not. We all have great expectations and hopes and dreams. Some of them work out and others don't. As Christians, I hope we have some great expectations – of God and of one another. The expectations we have of God are well placed. God won't disappoint us. The expectations we have of others are a little more tenuous – because inevitably people will disappoint us. But I think it's good for us to expect the best of God and the best of one another. I found myself thinking about the expectations we have of God when I saw that this passage from the Book of Revelation was up in the lectionary for this week. For many people, Revelation isn't an especially comfortable book, and it's difficult to understand at times. But it also paints for us some wonderful pictures of God's plans and purposes, and it's those divine plans and purposes that should give us great expectations of God as we look ahead.

     What we read today represents for me the best of God, and the best of what God offers us, and the best of what we're destined for. What we learn from today’s reading is that God is both creative and compassionate. We look at the world around us and we become painfully aware that all is not what God would want it to be. And that can only cause us to reflect more deeply on these qualities of God. I don’t believe that God is absent or uncaring when we face the challenges this world can throw at us. God is there, and what we know is that God isn’t finished with either us or our world. In Romans we read that the creation itself has been “subjected to frustration.” Our sin has caused the creation to be something other than what God had planned. We can start with climate change and move on from there as examples of creation being frustrated. But Paul goes on to say that creation is also “groaning as in the pains of childbirth.” Something new is coming; something wonderful is emerging. God is actually creating “a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem is coming from God.” It’s a radically different creation from what we know now – a place with no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain. This is God’s compassion. All things will be well. I don’t believe that God simply holds out a future hope. I believe God is here and with us right now, reaching out to us, comforting us, holding us close.

     It’s why this vision from the Book of Revelation is so important for us. It gives us a glimpse into the mind and purpose of God. As Paul wrote, the troubles we’re experiencing right now “are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Temporary troubles – whether on a grand global scale, or whether the personal concerns we bury deep within our hearts - cannot defeat God. We spend a lot of time worrying about the future of the church – but we don’t have to do that. It’s God’s church, not ours. All these things might obscure our view of God, but God is still there. God is with us and we belong to God and that can’t be changed. And the future is even better. “Alpha and Omega.” Or past and future. Or beginning and end. Or what was and what will be. God will be part of it all. Forever. Eternity. It all belongs to God – and because God is with us and we belong to God – we’ll be a part of that. The great expectation is that finally, one day, there will be no separation between us and God. And that makes the troubles of this world bearable for us and it pushes us forward always with hope and always with confidence, because we have great expectations of this God who calls us to faith.

     And let’s not forget that God has some great expectations of us as well. “Love one another as I have loved you,” is what Jesus asked of his disciples. That’s a tall order. Jesus gave his all. That’s a lot. And maybe – hopefully? – we’re not called to give literally “all” for one another – but I think we are called to reflect to each other the very best of God within us; we are called as best we can to share the love of God with each other. Those are the great expectations God has of us; those are the great expectations we have of each other.

     Too often, we forget that our faith is a faith built on great expectations. We settle for less rather than more. We settle for being ordinary rather than being outstanding. We settle for mediocrity rather than excellence. I think our faith is supposed to push us for more. I think that the words of the Book of Revelation give us an incredible vision of the expectations we should have of God; I think the words of Jesus in John's Gospel give us a sense of the expectations we should have of each other. We may not always be able to reach the heights of those expectations, but it should never be for lack of trying.

     Great expectations come with risks, because great expectations can lead just as quickly to great disappointments. And we all have to deal with the disappointments. All of us have to come to terms with shattered dreams sometimes – with lives that perhaps don’t always turn out the way we would have wanted them to; with hardships that we never expected to be facing; with grief that overwhelms us; with people who let us down. And it can be tempting to start to think that we should give up on God as well. But God never gives up on us. Jesus will never disappoint us. God is with us, and we will be with God – and all shall be well. That is our greatest expectation as people of faith: that all shall be well, because God is with us.

A Thought For The Week Of April 18, 2016

"But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." (Luke 10:33) As I read this verse, a number of things come into my mind. I think of Muslims protecting a Catholic Church in Egypt during Mass after threats against the church were made. Or I think of Muslims in Norway forming a human shield to protect a synagogue in Oslo after an attack on a synagogue in neighbouring Denmark. Or I think of Christians and Jews joining together to help the Muslim community after a mosque was torched in Peterborough, Ontario. We sometimes get so consumed by fear of "the other"; by fear of those who are "different." There's no reason to fear them or to look down on them - but we do, as if we're somehow better than they are - except that we're not. That's one point made very clearly by the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised and looked down on by the Jews, but Jesus told a parable in which the Samaritan was the hero and the Jewish figures in the story were not. The Samaritan stopped and looked after the man who had been robbed and beaten while the Jewish leaders and officials had just passed by, as if it were none of their business. They were, after all, God's people - of the nation God had called into being - and they were very busy doing their religious duty. The point is that while those who passed by were busy with their religious duties, the Samaritan - while of the "wrong" race and the "wrong" religion - busied himself doing the will of God. The implication of the parable seems to be that our religion means very little unless it's matched by action. If our religion doesn't fill us with concern for others, then it means very little; if our faith isn't shown by how we treat others, then it's quite pointless. In fact, religion or faith means nothing if it gets in the way of us doing what God wants us to do.

April 17, 2016 sermon: Those Who Belong To Christ

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” 

(John 10:22-30)

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     I'm not sure how many times I've preached over the last 25 or so years. I can say without doubt that it's more than a few. I suppose I could figure out the exact number if I really wanted to – but I don't really want to. I just know that it's a fair number. I've heard it said that every preacher only has one sermon in them. No matter how many times a preacher preaches, they preach basically the same sermon – it's just a matter of how many different ways you can find to dress that one message up and make it sound fresh. So I sometimes ask myself the question: what's my ONE sermon? What message is it that I want people to take away from hearing me? (And I wonder if I should reveal it, because once you know my one message maybe you'll want to move on to someone else so you can get another message!) Keeping that risk in mind, I believe I can tell you that the one message I think is most important to share with God's people as they gather week after week is this: those of you who are here today and hearing these words are among those who belong to Christ. Simply put, that's my message: we are among those who belong to Christ, and that ties into the image Jesus uses in today's reading.

     Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd,” and the passage we read this morning has Jesus offering some reflection on that image of himself as the good shepherd of the people of God. That image of Jesus as the shepherd tends to be what people focus on when they read this passage (because it is, after all, a wonderfully comforting image) but generally speaking we have a lot more reluctance to reflect upon ourselves as the sheep in the image – but that's what we are. When we call people “sheep” today, it usually isn't a compliment. It's a description used to refer to people who blindly and mindlessly follow someone else – like backbenchers in the House of Commons who are generally expected to simply vote as their leaders tell them to vote. When Jesus speaks about himself as the shepherd and us as the sheep, though, I don't think he has that kind of image in mind at all, though. We have a pretty good understanding of the qualities that make Jesus a good shepherd: he guides, feeds, cares for and otherwise protects the sheep – who are us. But what are the characteristics of the sheep? What sort of characteristics should be possessed by those who belong to Christ? That's what I want to think about this morning: not Jesus as the shepherd, but us as the sheep. Verses 27 & 28 of our passage today identified four characteristics of the sheep of Jesus' pasture: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” In summary, Jesus says that his sheep are attentive, obedient, immortal and secure. I want to reflect on those four qualities, and while we do that, ask yourself: is this a description of me?

     Those who belong to Christ are attentive. Jesus said “my sheep hear my voice.” That isn't as easy as it sounds. The reality is that humans beings tend to tune out most of what we hear. The noise is there, but we tune it out and we're not aware of it. I once read that it's been estimated that we tune out about 90% of the sounds that we hear – and, obviously, the 10% we really listen to are sermons! That does make me wonder, though, whether the voice of Jesus is among the 90% we tune out. I have no doubt that for some at least, that's true. I see too many examples of people who profess to be Christians but whose lives don't really display much of Jesus to the world. Some people know the words of Jesus very well, but they don't seem to listen to them very well. Many spend far too much time trying to make the words of Jesus fit into what they already believe that they don't take the time to consider that just maybe the words of Jesus are meant to change them into what Jesus wants them to be. The words of Jesus aren't mean to be blocked out, or to be twisted into whatever we want them to be. They are to be listened to. They are to guide us. To really “hear” the words of Jesus we have to confront the words of Jesus and we have to allow the words of Jesus to confront us. We have to wrestle with them; we have to struggle with them. The first characteristic of those who belong to Christ is that rather than blocking it out as background noise, we truly hear what Jesus says to us.

     Those who belong to Christ are also obedient. “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” I'm not a shepherd obviously, but I have actually known shepherds – or at least people who own farms and keep sheep. What I've learned from them is that not only do they get to know their sheep, their sheep come to know them. Sheep actually do come to know the voice of their shepherds, and they do respond to it, just as surely as a dog comes to know and respond to the voice of its owner. Sheep have a reputation as being rather dim-witted members of the animal kingdom, but that's just not true. The Telegraph newspaper in England reported on the results of studies done to test the intelligence of sheep at the University of Cambridge, and they reported that sheep “have the brainpower to equal rodents, monkeys and, in some tests, even humans. The results suggest that sheep have relatively advanced learning capabilities, are adaptable, can map out their surroundings mentally and may even be able to plan ahead.” Their reputation for being dim-witted tends to come from the fact that they're herd animals who will follow their leader – but that doesn't make them stupid, and it does make them a great example for those who belong to Christ. We need to learn who our shepherd is, and we need to be willing to follow. That doesn't make us dim-witted any more than sheep are dim-witted. It makes us faithful to our shepherd. It marks us as being among those who belong to Christ.

     Those who belong to Christ are also immortal. Now there's good news! “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” One of the most common of all the “phobias” in our world is thanatophobia – the fear of death. Maybe it's because it's so inevitable. We can't escape it. Those we love die, and eventually so will we. And there's nothing we can do about it. And belonging to Christ doesn't mean we escape that fate. But wee're still in the season of Easter, and here's another way of expressing the good news of Easter: those who belong to Christ will never perish! Oh sure, we're going to die. Does that sound flippant? It's not meant to be flippant – it's just recognizing the reality of belonging to Christ. Sure – we're going to die. But we're not going to perish! Those who belong to Christ have the gift of a life that somehow transcends this life and continues on in ways we can't fully understand. It's interesting that studies have suggested that the fear of death tends to peak among those aged 40-64, and then goes down in those aged 65 or over. If we're thinking about Christians, I wonder if that might be because with increased age comes the increased wisdom of having known Christ longer and having experienced a lifetime of the peace that Christ gives? But however old you are, if you belong to Christ you don't fear the future, and what the future inevitably holds. You don't even fear eternity. Because if you belong to Christ you live each day knowing that you will never perish.

     And finally, those who belong to Christ are secure. “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” One reason that we don't fear death or eternity (in fact – probably THE reason we don't fear death or eternity) is because we belong to Christ and we know that we can never be separated from him. Pal said in Romans that “neither death nor life ... shall ever able able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians that “if we live, we live to the Lord and if we die to the Lord, so whether we live or whether we die we belong to the Lord.” Paul understood that he would never be separated from Christ and so he could endure hardship and persecution and simply go on. Even today Christians in many parts of the world face hardship and persecution, but they know that they will never be separated from Christ – and so they go on. No matter what happens to us we have the security of knowing that we will never be separated from God's love and we will never be away from Christ. We cannot be snatched from Jesus' hands – not even by death. And so – we should be able to go on; to move forward in faith; to walk with Christ. David Lose, the President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, writes that “no matter how crazy or difficulty or stressful or scary [our] lives are, nevertheless God chooses [us], loves [us], accompanies [us], and will hold onto [us] through all of life and even through death into the new life God offers ... all of us.”

     I began this morning by saying that the one message I want to proclaim to God's people week after week after week is that we are among those who belong to Christ. For me, that's the most important piece of knowledge we can possibly possess. Take it, reflect on it, nurture it and rejoice in it. YOU are among those who belong to Christ!

What I Believe About God

A few days ago I was engaged in an online discussion about The Lord's Prayer, and in the midst of it I was asked to explain my view of God. That's a relevant question right now - because there's a lot of debate going on in my own denomination about the nature of God. It's also a complex question in a lot of ways - because while as Christians we believe in only one God - the reality is that there are many "gods" in the world which can cause our sight to become a little bit blurry when it comes to actually being able to describe what we perceive about God. In any event, I wrote out an answer to the question and shared it. Another poster described what I had written as "articulate" but "rather traditional." I'm not sure whether that was meant as a compliment or as an insult. In any event, I don't think that we do enough thinking about what we actually believe about God, so I thought I'd share this a little more widely. It's certainly not because I think my words are the last words on the subject. These are only my thoughts, and I'm conscious that, in Paul's words, for now "we see dimly, as in a mirror." Our understanding of God is not complete, and a full understanding of God is probably impossible to the finite human mind. Still my hope is that my words might inspire others to try to formulate in their own minds what their perception and understanding of God is. Here's what I wrote in response to that question:

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I believe God to be spirit. As spirit God does not have physical properties, nor does God exist in a manner which makes God bound by physical properties. I also believe that God is eternal, not bound by time. Indeed, I believe that God transcends time - that God existed before time began and will exist after time ends. (At least, "time" as we understand "time.") God is eternal, not bound by time or space. In a way, you could argue that past, present and future exist together with God. In other words, I believe time to be somewhat of an illusion, if we consider an eternal God to be the ultimate reality.

I believe that God created all that exists. I believe that God is, to some extent, revealed by all that exists - in the same manner that an artist's paintings or drawing reveal something of the artist. I believe that revelation to be imperfect. I believe that, in the words of 1 John, "God is love." I believe that because God is love, and because that love is directed toward the creation, God chose, in Jesus of Nazareth, to become incarnate; to become a part of that which God created - setting aside the salvific implications of the incarnation, I believe that God chose to live among us, to experience our existence and all that accompanies it, up to and including suffering and death. So, yes, I believe in the divinity of Jesus. I believe that God today is both immanent and transcendant. In traditional trinitarian terms, the transcendance of God would be seen in the person of God the Father, the immanence of God would be seen in the person of God the Holy Spirit. Another implication of the words that "God is love" is that God does more than simply watch us struggle. God is intimately present with us as we struggle - comforting, strengthening, guiding. God is also present with us as we rejoice. In other words, because God is love, I also believe that God is present. I do, however, draw a distinction between God and creation. While the creation can reveal God, the creation is not God, nor is the creation (aside from the incarnation) a part of God. Simply put, God is other. I believe that humanity is created in the image of God (not the physical image in my view, but meaning rather that we are created with many of the attributes of God - creativity, compassion, the ability to reason, the capacity for love, etc. etc.)

I believe that in the incarnation we see the primary example of divine intervention into the created realm. I also believe that God inspires some individuals in specific ways to be a further revelation of God - yet another example of divine intervention in the created realm. From a Christian perspective, I believe that inspiration is seen in the Bible. God inspired individuals to write and communities to preserve those writings.Therefore, I cannot deny that God can and has intervened. Whether and/or to what extent God still intervenes is to some extent a matter of debate among theologians. I believe the answer to be yes, but certainly not as directly as was the case through Jesus of Nazareth. I believe that God is capable of performing miracles within the created realm - I also believe that to be the exception and not the norm (otherwise the word "miracle" would lose its significance) nor do I believe that miracles are accomplished by God on command through prayer - that would be to limit God, and turn God into a puppet awaiting orders. I believe that God acts as God chooses to act, sometimes through human agency; sometimes directly. I have no ability to control what God will or will not do. To deny the possibility of an interventionist God with the capacity to act independently as God chooses is, to me, the classic example of limiting God - so I don't understand the logic of those who dismiss the possibility of divine interventionism but who then accuse those who believe in the possibility of divine interventionism of limiting God.

I believe in prayer - not as a way of getting what I want, but as a means of building relationship with God. Thus, my prayers can encompass a great many components - including heartfelt desires that God "do" a particular thing. However, in intercessory prayer, I am guided by what I wrote above: God will act as God chooses to act, and I keep in mind that "no" is as valid an answer to any request as "yes." While some mock intercessory prayer I believe there is benefit to intercessory prayer, not in the sense that it forces God to act in a particular way, but at the very least because I believe it is of comfort to many (both believers and non-believers) to know that they are being thought of by others. Scientific and medical studies have been largely inconclusive on the impact of prayer. Some time ago I did refer to a summary of studies on the issue that had been done which showed results all over the place - some suggest that prayer had a positive impact, some suggested no impact and a couple showed a negative impact. As the summary pointed out, the establishment of the necessary control group (ie, the group "not" being prayed for) is impossible, since the studies tend to revolve around a group of those who will pray and a group of those needing prayer, with some of those in need of prayer being prayed for and some not. Unfortunately for such studies, there is no way of determining how many outside of the study might be praying for those in need of prayer who are not being prayed for by the "praying" group. Such studies are, therefore, of limited value. The results of prayer are therefore largely in the realm of anecdote and personal faith, easily dismissed as coincidence when there is a positive result, and true scientific studies of prayer are largely impossible. Thus, I pray not because I "expect" to get either "stuff" or even necessarily "positive results" (ie, to get my wish) as the result of my prayers, but because I believe prayer is essential to maintaining a relationship with God.

A Thought For The Week Of April 11, 2016

"He said to them, 'It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day ...'" (Luke 24:46) You can't say that they weren't warned. I'm thinking here about the disciples of Jesus. It's very intriguing that the disciples respond with such horror and shock around the Good Friday-Easter events. It's not as if Jesus didn't tell them after all. It's right here, in this verse: "the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day." And yet when these events actually happened it's as if the disciples were dumbfounded; as if they had no expectation that something like this could possibly happen. I suppose that, in a way, the disciples represent all of us. Don't we all have a tendency to want to hear all the good things but ignore all the bad things - especially if the bad things are things that are going to directly affect us? Isn't the church sometimes guilty of that? Don't we sometimes become obsessed only with the comfortable things and with making people feel good - only to leave people unprepared when bad things happen? As Christians don't we have a tendency to love grace but ignore the responsibilities that grace implies? We usually choose the easy way - the "wide road" as Jesus once described it. The problem is that the easy way and the wide road don't represent life very well. Well - life as we want it perhaps, but not life as it really is. The disciples had been told that Jesus would suffer - but they didn't want to hear. Rising was great. The problem is that you can't rise unless you first fall, and resurrection had to be preceded by crucifixion. The disciples wanted to avoid all the "bad stuff" - but ultimately they get dragged into reality. Just as we all do. Reality means that even in a life of faith there will be both good and bad - and it means that God is present and reaching out to us in all of it.

April 10 2016 sermon - In The Everyday Things Of Life

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas(also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them,“Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

(John 21:1-14)

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     You've probably all heard of what are called “mountain top experiences.” Maybe - hopefully - you’ve even had a few! These are the powerful spiritual experiences that we have when something dramatic happens that makes us have no doubt about the presence of God in our midst. They can be different things for different people (there's no single definition of what a “mountain top experience” would be) but they can happen to anyone and everyone and they simply bring us into the presence of God and they usually change us in some meaningful way when they happen –because how can you not be changed when you realize that you've had some sort of encounter with the divine. Sometimes we want to talk about these experiences because they are so powerful and so meaningful to us; sometimes we're a little embarrassed by them and we decide to keep it to ourselves. But somehow people usually notice.

     The classic biblical example of a mountain top experience would certainly be the experience of Moses on Mount Sinai with God, who appeared in the form of a burning bush. That experience transformed Moses from a frightened and uncertain shepherd looking after his father in law's sheep into the leader of God's people and the adversary of the mighty Pharaoh. Or you could consider Paul's experience on the Road to Damascus. Paul was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus in order to engage in persecution against the followers of Jesus in that city, when he had an experience that he could only describe as a blinding light that transformed him into the leader of the church's mission to the Gentile world. And there was Peter, who was suddenly confronted by the sight of Jesus standing on a mountain top with Moses and Elijah on either side of him. Moses - the giver of the law, and Elijah - the greatest of Israel's prophets; an experience that convinced Peter that here, in Jesus, was God's final and perfect revelation: Jesus, who held together the law and the prophets, and Jesus, who went beyond  the law and the prophets. And, of course, who can forget the story we read last week of Mary Magdalene, standing distraught at the empty tomb on the first Easter morning, in tears because she couldn't find the body of Jesus, only to be lifted to a mountain top experience when the risen Jesus suddenly revealed himself to her, and she realized that the cross hadn't been an end –it had been a new beginning. There are more - but those are four wonderful examples of mountain top experiences.

     But mountain top experiences can also create problems. Sometimes, people become so fixated on their own version of the mountain top experience that they think everyone else should have the same experience, and they can begin to think that anyone who doesn't have the same experience has a problem, or isn't as good as they are. There are more than a few biblical examples of that too. What greater mountain top experience could there have been than to have been one of the disciples of Jesus? To have walked with him, to have talked with him, to have learned from him - to have literally seen God in him? And yet, at times at least, it seems that the experience had exactly the opposite effect on them than Jesus would have liked. Jesus welcomed people, and his goal was that the will of God would be done through those whom he called. But then there's the story of the people bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. There's no suggestion in the story that Jesus was bothered by this, but the disciples seemed to have been jealous. Indeed, they “rebuked those who brought them” -as if time with Jesus was an experience that children weren't worthy of having. They were themselves,of course, rebuked by Jesus. “Let the little children come to me,” he said. We’re told that John objected when he came across a man who was driving out demons in Jesus’name. “We told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him.”It seems that the mountain top experience of spending time with Jesus could sometimes make the disciples judgmental and jealous. And there's the example of the church at Corinth. The Corinthian church was a strong church, with many people had received the mountain top experience of being specially gifted by God, but some (especially those who had received the gift of speaking in tongues) started to believe themselves better than others, because they had received a very obvious gift that others hadn't received and so, surely they thought, those others were lacking in something; they weren't as good. Powerful, mountain top, spiritual experiences don't always have a positive effect.

     So I started thinking - as wonderful as mountain top experiences are, maybe we need to celebrate other ways of experiencing God's presence. Maybe it isn't all about being on top of the mountain with Jesus. Maybe sometimes we’re supposed to be in the valley with him.Maybe it isn't about all the “signs and wonders” that some churches and some Christians seem fixated on. Maybe it's time for people to start to concentrate on seeing and experiencing God in the everyday things of life. Maybe God is just as present in the mundane as in the dramatic; in the ordinary as much or even more than in the extraordinary. Take, for example, the experience we read about in John's Gospel a few minutes ago.

     We tend to focus on the catch of fish described in the passage - and that's all well and good. It was a seemingly miraculous event that certainly deserves the attention it gets. But the story goes from dramatically miraculous to strangely mundane in a few short minutes. How did the disciples in the passage really experience Jesus most powerfully? They shared a meal with him. “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus said. Is there anything more “every-day” than having breakfast with someone? But that was Jesus' invitation. “Come and have breakfast.” That was literally how the disciples came into Jesus' presence on that day.That little part of the story makes me wonder: how many times do we miss the presence of God in the everyday things of life because we expect that God is always going to appear in the dramatic and powerful events that happen? The disciples thought the miraculous catch of fish was what revealed Jesus to them; but they really encountered him over an early morning breakfast.

     So it seems to me that while mountain top experiences of God are fantastic, maybe we should spend more time looking for God in the everyday things of life. After all, we spend most of our time engaged in the everyday things of life, so it seems to me that's where we'd be most likely to find God. But if we become convinced that God is only in the extraordinary things, then when our lives get filled with the ordinary (as probably all of our lives are most of the time) then perhaps we can easily start to think that God isn't with us; that God doesn't care. But God is with us - and in the everyday things of life we see God perhaps most clearly. While looking at a sunrise or a sunset. While laughing at a good joke. While crying at a graveside. Maybe - who knows - even while attending a church service. Or maybe - most importantly - while looking at the face of the next person you cross paths with and seeing the image of God being reflected in it. These are the everyday things in life. Here's where we really encounter God. So don't overlook them. Don't think that because something is ordinary and everyday, it has nothing to do with God. Those ordinary and everyday things are filled to overflowing with the presence of God.

     Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, it's very possible that Jesus might be speaking to you in the most ordinary, everyday way. Who knows? Just maybe he'll be saying to you - “come and have breakfast.” Because he'll be there at the table with you!

A Thought For The Week Of April 4, 2016

"... you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) Every aspect of our being is to be dedicated to the goal of loving God. Heart, soul, mind and strength, Jesus says. I say that it's a "goal" very deliberately. There are many people who speak of their love for God as if it's a given; something carved in stone. "I love God," they say - as if that's the end of the story. Case closed. I've done it. But - really? With "ALL" your heart and soul and mind and strength? ALL? That's a pretty big order! That implies a complete and total and unconditional surrender of every aspect of one's entire life to God - every corner of our lives; no questions asked and no conditions placed. I'm not sure that I've ever come across a person who's done that perfectly - and I know for a fact that I haven't. This type of complete and unconditional surrender of every aspect of one's life is a goal to shoot for; it's not a state that's easily achievable - so we should be careful before we glibly say things like "I love God" or "I love Jesus." Yes. Perhaps. But how far are you willing to take that? I wonder what loving God to the extent that Jesus asks actually looks like? If we could truly love God with "all" our heart, soul, mind and strength - how would that love show itself? Simply, I would say that it's manifested not in piety but in service. We love God by loving others - unconditionally. That is a tough act. Again - I don't personally know anyone who's pulled that off perfectly, if by "love" we're talking actual "agape," self-giving love.Have I truly emptied myself for the sake of others. I have to admit - I haven't. I'm too concerned about my future security and the security of my family to actually fully and completely empty myself. So I make no claim to having loved God with "all" my heart, soul, mind and strength. I recognize it as a goal - an ideal to shoot for. I hope I grow closer to doing it each day. And I claim the grace of God for my failure to achieve that standard perfectly.

April 3, 2016 sermon: What's So Special About Thomas?

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We Have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

(John 20:19-31)

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     It strikes me that at least in some respects we have a harder time than Jesus’ original disciples, whose doubts and fears could be overcome by actual encounters with the risen Jesus. We, on the other hand, have to live and believe simply by faith. We may sense the presence of Jesus, but we don’t experience it in the same way the first disciples did. Which makes this passage interesting to me. For us, Easter was a week ago. For those first disciples, it was Sunday night. The empty tomb had been discovered perhaps 12 hours earlier. They have the testimony of Mary Magdalene, who had seen the risen Jesus, and yet they’re huddled in a room, afraid of the world around them. To be honest that sounds like a lot of Christians today. We know the story of the resurrection. Perhaps we believe it - but there are some doubts now and then and those doubts make it a bit frightening to think of sharing it. So we cloister behind the walls of our churches in safety, but we don’t take our faith out in public very much. Just like those early disciples, we keep our faith hidden away. We buy into the idea that religion is a private thing to be talked about ony behind closed doors. Publicly proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus, after all, leaves you with a good chance of being dismissed as naive at best and delusional at worst.

     I wonder what those first disciples believed? As they gathered together, sheltered from the outside world, did they believe at that moment that Jesus had been raised? Or was it all just a mystery to them? A strange story? Whatever they believed they didn’t have the courage to do anything about it, until Jesus appeared and offered them peace - and the chance to see his hands and his side. Ahhh. Proof! That’s the difference 2000 years later. We don’t get the proof. We just have to believe. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That’s us. And if we can get to the point of believing without seeing, then surely Jesus still gives us peace – and peace is the power that allows us to move forward in faith, bearing witness to what we believe. The key to being a disciple of Jesus is to have the peace to take our belief out of the safety of a closed room and face the possible hostility or ridicule of the world around us.

     In some ways, things haven’t really changed all that much and we really aren’t all that much different than Jesus’ first disciples - which is both troubling and hopeful. They were very limited, very weak and very sinful people - but empowered by the Holy Spirit they accepted the commission of Jesus and went into the world to proclaim what they believed. Will we do the same? Do we have the peace to live our faith openly and honestly and with integrity? A challenge to be sure, but surely it’s the goal of every person who claims to be a follower of Jesus. But it’s not easy. There’s a lot of reason to doubt, and there’s a lot of people who want to raise doubt in our minds. Robin Wright - a scholar at the United States Institute for Peace, wrote that radical atheists today - who are growing in numbers - are determined “to make it not just uncool to believe, but cool to ridicule believers.” And ridicule is maybe the worst thing a person can have to face. It makes us question ourselves. So doubt is a powerful force - because when we doubt we doubt not just Jesus and not just our faith; we doubt ourselves and our own strength to be able to handle the jabs that might get thrown at us. Thomas had a lot of doubts - but was it just that he couldn’t believe something so wonderful as the resurrection had happened, or did he doubt his own ability to act as the resurrection would call him to act?

     Thomas is a special man. “What?” you might say. “What’s so special about Thomas?” That occurred to me as I thought about this passage. What’s so special about Thomas? Really. We usually call him Doubting Thomas - and that’s not a compliment. I’m someone who believes that doubt is an essential part of faith - that it’s doubt that pushes us ever deeper into faith, but even though Thomas can be used as an example of that, the story when I think of it still raises that question: what’s so special about Thomas? He got proof. None of the rest of us get proof when we start to have doubts. The other disciples had the same proof offered to them, but Thomas demanded proof from God. He wanted to touch Jesus’ wounds. Jesus invited him to do that, but the rest of us get told not to put God to the test. So what’s so special about Thomas? Why does he get proof to overcome his doubts while I’m left to struggle with mine?

     Or, maybe, thinking in a historical context, it might not be that Thomas was special. It might just be that his circumstances were different. These disciples, after all, were important. They were the eye witnesses; the leaders of the movement. With one (Judas Iscariot) already gone, maybe Jesus couldn’t afford to lose another. So a concession gets made - “you need proof? I’ll give you proof!” And, of course, I’m always struck in the story by the fact that in the end Thomas didn’t actually need the proof. He didn’t touch Jesus’ wounds. The encounter with the risen Jesus was enough.

     So far it’s been enough for us as well. We haven’t needed proof. We’re here, celebrating the risen Jesus in our midst. We’re convinced. I’m sure there are times of doubt for all of us. I’m sure we all fall into sin periodically. I’m sure we don’t always live as we should or as Jesus would want. But we do believe. And, when one reads the whole story, one discovers that Thomas wasn’t actually special because he got proof. The special ones are those that come after that first Christian generation. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I haven’t seen Jesus. I’ve encountered him, been confronted by him, been changed by him, been comforted by him and been guided by him - but I’ve never seen him. You could probably all say the same things. Which seems to earn all of us after that first generation a special blessing - not a reward, but that peace Jesus spoke of on that Sunday night so long ago when he appeared to his disciples. The point of the story isn’t that Thomas is either incredibly special for being given proof or particularly bad for having doubts.

     The point of the story is that doubt is OK, and that there's nothing wrong with us if – just every now and then – we wonder “is it really possible?” Miguel de Unamuno (who I quote in today's bulletin) is a Spanish philosopher, and in my opinion he hit the nail square on the head when he wrote that “Faith which does not doubt is dead faith.” It's dead because without doubt there is no growth, because doubt leads to questions and questions lead to deeper understandings. Jesus doesn’t abandon us just because we doubt – not at all. Blessings can abound in times of doubt. And ultimately our doubts can lead us closer to Jesus, so that we can look upon him and say, with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”