Epiphany 2 - Sermon

18 January 2009

By Paul Tinker

I speak to you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Amen

 The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. ^{(1 Sam 3:1b)}

 This is the prophetic setting in which we start our account from 1st Samuel today. The context is that a boy named Samuel – given to the temple by his ‘thought to be barren’ mother in a promissory prayer… prayer - where if God gave her a child she would dedicate him to the temple. So she did, and he is ministering with “the main priest” – Eli

In a time where Eli and his sons were corrupt and ‘did what was right in their own eyes’

Eli not as much as his sons, yet God held him responsible for both his and their actions. This is a time where God’s word was rare, and visions were not widespread.

            It is into - this unlikely situation that we hear of God directly speaking to one of us. To us – mere mortals God speaks… And God calls out patiently.

Then we have our Gospel account today with what is often understood as “the Call of Nathanial” – Nathanial one of the lesser known disciples, who starts out challenging the claims of his friend Philip by making racist comment… “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Yet Nathaniel experiences a personal miracle – a transformation. “When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he said of him,

“Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” How did Jesus know that? That Nathaniel was an “Israelite without any Jacob in him’ - truly an authentic faithful Jew

Notice the question that Nathaniel asked Jesus, “Where did you get to know me?”

Nathanael doesn’t deny how Jesus has characterized him. He is struck by the claim and asks –how Jesus knew. Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”  That’s it! Nathanael is sold, and Jesus’ claims affect him immediately. Nathaniel replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” He has been so swept away in the situation and transformed - that he declares that Jesus is the ‘Son of God’

             Do we believe these are true stories?             Do we think that God spoke to a boy sitting watch over the Ark of the Covenant? Do really believe this child heard voices in the night?             …hearing voices, people look at you funny when you make claims like that?

Do we believe that believe Jesus spoke to Nathanial’s heart and transforms this skeptic by telling him he saw him under a tree.

I will start with myself when I say… I do – I believe God spoke to Samuel, both as a boy in the temple and then through-out his life. I believe that Jesus in that moment with Nathanial reached him in a way ‘that blew his socks off’ – if only they had socks in those days. Why? … Why would two stories from thousands of years ago; about an all powerful being calling out repeatedly to a boy in the night and the story about the call & transformation of one of the first disciples of Jesus be something that is important for me to believe? – And I would claim - important for everyone to believe.

There are several answers to that but they can all be under the two categories: Who is God – Who are we (don’t worry I won’t tackle that completely in the short time that we have) - Now the easiest answer as to why I believe, is that ‘it is in the Bible’ – A simple faith in the Bible being the word of God and therefore trustworthy for all it contains - and I will explain more as we go - So the first is that God speaking to us matters to - How we understand God. How we are in relation with God. - Secondly, it is important who God chooses to speak to and why? - And finally I will share with you two accounts of God directly speaking to someone…This last one is the trickiest of them all

How do we deal with those that believe God told them something?

When I was a student in my final placement at St. John’s Locke street – Bishop Ralph was visiting one Sunday, and since we were in transition after Steve Hopkins had moved to St. Christopher’s, I was the point person for liturgical details. The organist wanted to know if Bishop Ralph would be saying or singing the “Serum Quarta” The first part of the Eucharistic prayer. Bishop Ralph said to me “you tell the organist that God came to me in a dream and that I should be saying the “Serum Quarta””. Now many of you will appreciate Bishop Ralph’s humour and did so for many years here – but in different settings… “the Holy Spirit told me to do this or say that…” is a tricky thing to deal with.

Why believe God speaks?  - First - How we understand God – how we are in relation to God. God communicating to us – is what God does! Last week in our Old Testament reading we had the first five verses of the Bible and we heard: God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God Said …and it was so… God creates by speaking.

From John’s Gospel “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It is important to believe that God spoke to boy serving in the temple and transformed Nathanial because it is important to believe in God and in God’s way.

There is a common myth among unbelievers and also among some Christians alike that God is some “Spy in the Sky”. God is some cosmic watch maker – that created everything, wound it up, set it in motion and then God’s presence left. This has been popularized by a beautiful but erroneous song: “God is watching us… from a distance” – many of us know the Bette Milder version. “Spy in the Sky” – watching over – yet removed at a distance. This is not what we Christians believe. This goes against the very central point of who we are. We are Christians – Christ –ians – we are disciples of Jesus the Christ – Christ is not His last name, but a word for Messiah. The Son of Man – the Son of God. Immanuel – God in the midst of us. God came as one of us – was incarnate

God is not “from a distance”.

And so God speaking to a boy in the temple makes sense – thousands of years ago or right now. God loves us so much that He comes and speaks with us directly and indirectly.

The second reason I believe in both of these stories is because of who God chooses and why? God chooses a boy and God chooses a racist straight-talking skeptic

Through-out all of scripture God’s ways are not what we would expect and God’s chosen people are not - who we, with our earthly eyes, would choose. God repeatedly surprises us with unlikely people and ways. God chooses the youngest shepherd son of Jesse – David, to be the greatest king ever of Jerusalem. God chooses a farmer who works with trees – Amos… – or Hosea, a priest and husband to a prostitute to be His prophets

God chooses a peasant virgin girl to bear His Son. And that Son is born in a stable – with his first bed - an animal feeding trough. Yet God employs the work of the census of Caesar Augustus to bring Joseph to his hometown – fulfilling the writings of the prophets

God also chooses great scholars / the magi - to witness and bring the gospel back to Persia. But just when you are thinking that God chooses only the unlikely. God also uses Moses, once thought to be the son of Pharaoh, King of Egypt – with all the privileges and education he would have had. Or Esther, a Queen. The list goes on and on in the Bible, surprises of who God chooses - and surprises of God ways. This is not so that God can win “the trickiest-ever prize”. But it is, to show a contrast from our worldly/cultural ways - to the truth… Found / delivered and available “to and for”,  and if we accept the calling,

by potentially everyone. It is perhaps the still greatest surprise yet to be fully appreciated and acted on. That God is providing the offering for everyone - “that has ears to hear”

Finally I believe the stories that God speaks to the boy Samuel and to Nathanial’s heart because of the testimonies of others (one, of which, I will share) and because God has both spoken to me and to my heart.

A Colleague shared this story of Malaysian man named Suresh that stopped by to visit her church one day late last fall. He told her that he had been raised a strict Hindu. 

One time when he was fasting and praying, he heard a voice say, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  He did not know who was speaking and he felt rather strange about the experience. The Hindu religious leaders told him that the voice was a devil and to ignore it.  But he could not shake the experience. Eventually, he was at a party where he met an Anglican priest, with whom he shared the voice saying, “I am the way the truth and the life.”  The priest was able to tell him that the voice was none other than that of Jesus our Lord. In John 14:6, we have recorded these very words of Jesus: I am the way, the truth and the life. God the Father led Suresh to know Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Suresh became a Christian while his wife and children remained devout Hindus.

Of course Suresh told his wife about Jesus but she did not believe at first. He told my colleague that he prayed earnestly for her conversion for about 6 months. Then one day, his wife came to him and said that for the sake of their family she would start going to the Christian church. She would follow the path Jesus laid out and see if it lead to the truth. 

Evidently she found that it did, for Suresh told my colleague that his wife is the treasurer in their Anglican church and that his teenaged children are servers.

My own story of God speaking directly to me is this: When I was 16 I was going through a lot of teenage stuff – more then I could cope with by myself. In going to Church one Sunday morning when things were at their most difficult and I was at my most vulnerable. The Priest, in seeing me coming in, knowing my situation and feeling and seeing my hurt, knelt to pray in the middle of the first Hymn. It was during his prayer that I felt, what I can only describe as the Holy Spirit wash over me and I heard a voice say – that I would be okay – that I was in God’s plans – and that I would serve God later. This of course this stuck with me and from that point my load was lightened. Then fast forward 16 years – I was again in church and again during the first Hymn. I felt the Holy Spirit wash over me – and again I heard a message that - It was now - that I was serve the Lord. I was left weeping uncontrollably for the rest of the service. Unable to explain to Kelly, on my right and Kelly’s dad on my left what had ‘gotten over me’. At the end of the service – when most of the people had left – a lady that I didn’t know too well at the time came up to me, put her hand on my shoulder and said – “it’s your time and you know it”. When I asked her, several months later, if she remembered that day and what she had said. She said she remembered it well and told me that she saw me hurting and crying and that she wanted to tell me that “God loves me”… …But that is not what she said. And I believe that the Holy Spirit employed her to affirm for me the message that I needed to hear.

Now, in both, Suresh’s story and my own, there is God speaking directly – personally. But there is also the slow gradual speaking to Suresh’s wife:…

Through Suresh - through the moral values of unity in marriage & family - and through church community that she experienced…There are so many ways in which God speaks – another example in my life, was shortly after being called into ministry. My calling was affirmed by all three of my applications to seminaries being accepted – even though I didn’t have the academic prerequisite. – God spoke by the doors that were opened up for me…

And I speak to God in prayer and God speaks to me every day in many ways in the responses to prayer. Sometimes fairly immediate and many times in the scriptures of my daily devotions – but mostly through others in conversations and what happens in life – and sometimes in the beauty and wonder of creation. Our responsibility ‘in the relationship’ is to train ourselves to ‘have ears to hear’…To be spirituality tuned to God’s frequency.

We do this by being an active participant in the relationship – in prayer. And - we do this by opening ourselves up to hear God’s revelation. By reading the divinely inspired words of God’s truth and ways found ‘for all time’ in the Bible. You can’t recognize God’s ways unless you have learned of God’s ways. And lastly we do this by looking at the world, our lives and the lives of others and hearing the innumerable ways in which God is always at work.

We must always remember that God speaks to us because it…is… His… ongoing… way, That God makes ‘the offer’ for all and ideally potentially by all

That God speaks to us in many ways everyday – all the time, “if we have ears to hear”

And that we can Trust in the testimony of others, that God does speak “by the means in which we need to hear Him”

To Him, “all hearts are open, all desires are known and from him no secrets are hid.” He sees our potential and our prejudices, our talents, and our sins; and chooses us … To communicate to us all… – in the quiet of the temple or even in our noisy scepticism and distractions. God’s voice is never silent …. Amen

Baptism of Jesus - Shining God’s light.

St. Luke’s Church, Burlington

11 Jan 2008

By Stuart Pike

Today's lesson speaks to us of the meaning of baptism. The Old Testament lesson gives us the link that exists between water and the spirit, and God's creative force. God speaks the word, and it is so. "Let there be light", and light is created. God brings order out of chaos and for the Hebrew people order was a sign of divine presence. In some translations of the Hebrew Bible it says that God's act of creation was a mighty wind sweeping over the waters; other say that God breathed on the waters. We have the image of the word of God escaping from God's lips in a breath as God commands the primal elements to form out of chaos. Still other translations have the spirit of God moving over the waters. All of these translations are correct for the Hebrew word "Ruach" means all of those things ‑ wind, breath and spirit.

 

The Psalmist picks up on the same theme ‑ the imagery is of the voice of God. As at creation ‑ speaking and doing are one. it is the voice of God breaks the cedars and creates waves, causes lightnings to split the sky and thunder which shakes the desert. This is the God which creates out of nothing. This is the God which lead the Hebrews out of slavery with a swirling column of smoke and fire.

 

The description of Jesus' baptism by John in the river Jordan contains the same elements as the creation story. There is water, there is God's spirit, and we hear God's voice. This is what baptism is about. It is about connecting us back to the very beginning of time. It is about bringing all of the elements of creation together with a living human being. What is celebrated in the act of baptism is a re‑creation of the person. It is a new creation which we celebrate at baptism.

 

At Baptism we celebrate our becoming people of a new age, and becoming citizens of the New Kingdom. And at baptism we take on the responsibilities of this citizenship. By our baptism, we are all called to be servants of God, doing the work of Christ in our lives. That is why in the service of baptism, we have the people of the Church who are already baptize welcome the newly baptized with the words: "We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood."

 

Just as Christ's baptism immediately preceded the beginning of his ministry. So each of our baptisms is a call to us to share in Christ's priesthood ‑ not only those of us who are ordained Priests, but all of us who are baptized.

 

Perhaps one of the problems of the Church today is the misunderstanding of so many people that the ministry of the Church is to be done by the Priests. Nothing could be further from the truth. The ministry of the Church belongs to everyone who is baptized. The Priests are supposed to play one small role, while the majority of the ministry must be taken by the people of the Church, if it is to be done at all.

 

Each of us who are baptized are called to find our ministry and to perform it for the glory of God. It is this way that we become involved with God's plan for the world. What a privilege it is for us to be co‑creators with God of the New Kingdom.

 

Today we celebrate Jesus' baptism as well as our own. The Gospel story tells of the beginning of Jesus' glorious ministry ‑ yet this began his trials and hardships as well. It is the same for us. Our baptisms are a sacrament of belonging, yet they require of us our labour and our loyalty for the New Kingdom. It could mean hardship. Yet ultimately it will mean glory everlasting.

 

THE MEANING OF LIFE

 

          A story is told by Robert Fulghum, a Unitarian minister, about a seminar he once attended in Greece. On the last day of the conference, the discussion leader walked over to the bright light of an open window and looked out. Then he asked if there were any questions. Fulghum laughingly asked him what was the meaning of life. Everyone in attendance laughed and stirred to leave. However, the leader held up his hand to ask for silence and then responded "I will answer your question." He took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a small round mirror about the size of a quarter. Then he explained "When I was a small child during World War II, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun could never shine. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places that I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I grew up, I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.

 

As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game, but a metaphor of what I could do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light ‑ be it truth or understanding or knowledge ‑ is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it. I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world ‑ into the dark places of human hearts ‑ and change some things in some people. Perhaps others seeing it happen will do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life." (1)

 

Do we reflect the light of Christ into the darkness of other people's lives? Will the world be a better place for our having been in it?

 

From It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, by Robert Fulghum. Ivy Books, 988. 

4 January 2008 - Epiphany

Epiphany Sunday

The Rev. Canon Sharyn Hall

4 January 2009

Matthew 2: 1-12

 

            Now that the wise men have arrived at the stable, the nativity scene is complete. Or is it? We have the baby in the manger, Mary and Joseph, a few animals, and the shepherds standing by. This picture comes from the gospel of Luke. Today we celebrate the journey of the magi to find the baby in Bethlehem. This story comes from the gospel of Matthew. Our nativity scene is built around the birth narratives in these two gospels, but there is more to the Christmas story, because Jesus has been born again and again in nativity scenes around the world for centuries.

 

            There is a tradition in the city of Naples in Italy to expand the nativity scene to reflect the birth of Jesus into the whole world. The baby Jesus and the Madonna have a central position in the scene, but there are other interesting figures as well. Since Mary and Joseph were of the working class in Galilee, these nativity scenes include ordinary people of Naples. For example, it is acceptable to place a farmer’s wife cooking spaghetti next to the three magi.

 

The tradition of creating large nativity scenes has flourished over the years. Today there are numerous shops in Naples selling figures and objects for nativity scenes. In the local museum, you can see the largest nativity creation. It contains eighty animals, several angels, about four hundred and fifty miniature objects and one hundred and sixty–two people, including politicians, celebrities and a pickpocket. The most popular miniature figure found in nativity scenes this Christmas is Barak Obama.

 

You may find this idea of everyday figures in the nativity scene inappropriate or even outrageous, but there is an element of truth in these overcrowded nativity scenes. Although we picture the nativity in an ancient setting, the birth of Jesus should not be trapped in a time and place two thousand years ago. The presence of Jesus in the world has continued as the world has changed. If we confine his nativity to a small window, we may not see the universal application of the Christmas story.

 

We may want to create an idyllic and peaceful scene of a few figures in a stable, but we are told in the scriptures that the reason the baby was lying in a manger was that the town of Bethlehem was overrun with people forced to travel to fulfill the census of the Roman occupation. Jesus was born into the chaos of humanity. Among the people pouring into Bethlehem, there were Roman soldiers, merchants, labourers, slaves, and probably a few pickpockets, women, children, old people and infants, people of many races and many religions.

 

Into this overcrowded town, came poor shepherds on a quest to find a special baby in an animal stall. People would hardly notice them. They would melt into the crowds. But people might notice three or four wealthy men in exotic robes. Obviously they were travelers from far away, perhaps from Persia, men of learning, magicians, followers of a religion which saw prophecy in the stars. In our two  biblical narratives, we have the message that God sent Jesus to the world as it was, a world as diverse and fragmented and violent as our world today.

 

We can picture Mary and Joseph and the baby and the shepherds and magi, but also we can picture fishermen, carpenters, scribes, High Priests, Roman Generals, tax collectors, prostitutes and beggars who peopled the times and places where Jesus was born and preached and died. God sent Jesus to all those people. As the centuries past, the nativity of Jesus was a constant reminder that Jesus was sent to bring wisdom and hope and love to all people.

 

So why not put more figures in the nativity scene? Why not put the rich and the powerful, the poor and the powerless, the famous and the forgotten, those who seek God and those who ignore God in their daily lives? The list of possibilities is endless. It is something for us to ponder. In our world today, who would you place in the nativity scene? a loved one, a sick friend, an Olympic athlete, your favourite actor, or maybe someone who needs God’s love right now. The nativity scene continues to be a constant reminder to generations of people, whether they are church-going Christians or not, that the message of Jesus transcends the diversity of human society. The birth of Jesus is about God coming to us, here and now, reminding us that we are loved by God, and because we are loved by God, we are called to care about God’s world.

 

In the most recent issue of MacLean’s magazine, there is an article entitled, “The Recession that saved Christmas.” As we all know, the global economy is on a downward slide. People are worried about their jobs, their savings, their investments, their financial future. The retail business was prepared for a decline in revenue as people were less willing to spend lavishly on gifts this holiday season. Some people concluded that the recession would make Christmas far from merry, but there has been an increase in the Christmas spirit. “…with tough times comes and opportunity to reimagine the holiday. There are many who see this as the recession that saved Christmas, a chance to scale back the spending and search out the optimism of our inner Tiny Tims.”

 

Christmas is about hope in the face of adversity. Christmas is about giving of oneself to others, whether that be the time and effort to make a special gift, or to console a friend, or to share a meal. Christmas is about giving to others, and it seems that the recession has not dampened our generosity.  “…a recent poll found 82% of Canadians plan on giving as much or more to charity as they did last year…It’s not the Canadians are out of touch with the financial crisis; to the contrary, 65% say the economic downturn has made them more likely to help the less fortunate.”

 

In the months ahead, there will be hard times for many people in our community, in our nation and in places where people already live in poverty. Let us carry the Christmas spirit and God’s love into our world now, and throughout the new year. Imagine who is in your nativity scene. As Christians, we all have a part to play in this nativity story in this 21^st century. Epiphany is about revelation. The magi saw God revealed in the heavens and in a child born into a chaotic world. We need to see God revealed in our chaotic world, to thank God for the promise of this holy child, and to do our part in sharing God’s message of hope and love to all people.