Sermon – July 25, 2010 July 29, 2010
Posted by Teresa Charlton in News.add a comment
The Lord’s Prayer
Based on Luke 11:1-13
It had been a different kind of a day. Perhaps Jesus and the disciples had found a quiet spot, undetected by the crowds; or perhaps there was some sort of celebration in the local village which was keeping everyone occupied. Perhaps it was raining, and the disciples and Jesus had found their way to shelter where it was quiet…or at least quieter than usual. And after a time, one of the disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray”. Now as good Christians, we would not find this unusual for a disciple to ask of his Christ. But look a little more closely, and you will not find that the disciples ‘asking questions’ nearly as often as you might think. Jesus ‘tells’ them a lot. The people ask a lot. But the disciples do not ‘ask’ as often as you might think. So I pondered that for a while. I imagined large crowds gathering daily, surrounding Jesus to get a good look, or to hear what he had to say; rather like when a successful rock star or hockey player comes to town: the crowd pushing inward, the security guards pushing back, and the hot dog salesman off to the side making money left, right and center! The disciples, I imagined, must have spent a good deal of their time acting like the ‘roadies’ for the ‘Jesus show’: keeping some distance between the anxious crowd and Jesus, looking for food to feed everyone ( you do remember the story of the loaves and fishes, don’t you), or searching out a place to sleep that night. For as much as we are given an image of Jesus quietly wandering from town to town preaching the Good News, somebody had to be behind the scenes preparing the road for Him, so to speak. And when the questions did come, I hate to say it, they were often the wrong ones: “What do you mean Jesus, how am I supposed to find enough food to feed five thousand men, women and children? Who is the best of all of us, Jesus? Who gets to sit at your right hand, and who gets to sit at your let? And where will the others sit?” Or there were the questions from the teachers of the law and the temple, designed to trip up Jesus in some kind of word play, or trap him into a political tight spot.
But on this day, the disciples asked, “Jesus, teach us to pray”. And the prayer he gave that day has been with us ever since. It has changed shaped and wording from generation to generation. Our Catholic friends finish the prayer as we read this morning, but we Protestant stock add a couple more lines to the end. Then of course, there is the debate as to whether we should forgive ‘our debts’ or ‘our trespasses’. But the biggest controversy of the Lord’s Prayer is whether Jesus meant that “you should pray this prayer, this way, and only this way, with these words, and only these words” or whether he meant that “here is an idea about how to pray and what to pray for…that when you pray, you should include things like respect to God, thanks for things given, and requests for things on your mind”. Can you see the difference? One method is very rigid and structured; the other is simply a template or a pattern to which you can create your own prayers that make sense for you and your needs at the time.
So which is right? The first understanding has made the Lord’s Prayer into one of the cornerstones of the church today. Many churches around town will include some form or the Lord’s Prayer in their weekly services. And it is the most common public prayer that you will find at funerals, or community memorials of all sorts. We need this kind of strength in the church today. And if the Lord’s Prayer helps us to find and remember that strength, then that is a good thing. The second understanding of the Lord’s Prayer, on the other hand, gives us the freedom to pray as we need to, with the honest feelings that are on our mind: we can cry out our prayer in a locked closet, or silently give thanks for a beautiful day while peeling potatoes for supper. We can have a quick moment to stop and reflect while blow drying our hair, or spend a half hour at the end of the day in a quiet corner of the house, or on bended knee by your bedside. We can help our children give thanks for a special treat or activity, or in a light hearted manner tell your neighbour “I’ll pray for you”, when in fact, you both know that there is more going on then just a light moment in conversation. The reality is, your interpretation of prayer depends a lot on the translation of the Bible you read, the religious tradition you are familiar with, and how important prayer is in your spiritual journey. So which is right?
Well, perhaps we are not yet ready for that question, because Jesus did not finish his teaching at the end of Verse 4. It is easy to get lost in the metaphors that follow the famous words of the Lord’s Prayer, but in the middle of them Jesus said in regards to prayer, “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”.
You see, you need to ‘ask’ for what you need in prayer. And we in North America are not very good at asking for help, are we? But scripture tells us that we need to approach prayer humbly, thoughtfully, honestly, and ask Christ for what is on our mind. You need to be persistent in your asking. That’s what the two metaphors in the story are about. You need to ask, and you need to ask, and you need to ask again. And once again, I will say it: we in North America are not very good at asking for help, even to our Creator himself. We are taught to be independent, self-minded and resourceful. And our scripture is telling us to throw all that social nicety stuff down the drain and humbly ask God for what you need, and ask Him again, and ask Him again. Are you feeling uncomfortable yet? Because we aren’t finished.
There is one final instruction from scripture. We need to ask in prayer. We need to persist in prayer. We need to receive in prayer. Scripture tells us that our prayers will be answered, but are we ready to receive the answer given? Or are you like a certain red headed preacher I know, always trying to tell God how you want your prayer to be answered! Are you ready to receive the answer you are given, and go forward with that answer, even if it is not the answer you were looking for? Are you feeling uncomfortable now? Well, we’re almost finished.
For me, there is one last piece missing. It’s not in scripture, so you can take it or leave it. But for me, prayer is not complete, without a word of thanks at the end: thanks for prayers answered; thanks for listening; thanks for having the vision to give me what I need, and not just what I think I needed. A word of thanks, to finish my prayer; to remind me of who really is in charge of my life; thanks for all the many blessings I have in my life, despite my anxiety over some issue at the moment.
So are we ready for the question, now? Or perhaps we should be asking ourselves a different question. Do we have to choose one kind of prayer over another? Can our spiritual journey be deepened by having both formal and informal prayers? Can we pray with our hands in our laps and eyes closed as well as singing a praise chorus with our hands raised towards heaven? What is more important: the words of the prayer, or the process of asking, persisting, receiving and thanking?
`Father, help us to honour your name. Come and set up your kingdom.
3Give us each day the food we need. 4Forgive our sins, as we forgive everyone
who has done wrong to us. And keep us from being tempted.’
(Contemporary English Version)
Sermon – July 11, 2010 July 29, 2010
Posted by Teresa Charlton in News.add a comment
Dare to be a Daniel
Based on Daniel 6
While on my holidays, I was able to take the children back to my Grandmother’s farm. The kids played in the barn, petted the kittens and combed the horses. And then we went for a walk in the woods, back to the ‘old fort’ from my childhood. There is not much left of the fort these days, but the walk brought back warm memories of Sunday afternoons with my cousins. When I was kid, Grandma’s house was the Sunday retreat; the men would go golfing, the sisters would drink coffee and eat sticky buns, and the grandchildren would go to the fort in the woods. As I reminisced in my mind, I remembered how we were always the last ones to arrive at Grandma’s, because we went to church first. No one else in the family but my parents cared much about going to church, and there was a fair amount of family pressure to skip church once in a while so that the family could be together, ‘proper like’, on these Sunday visits. “It’s summer after all”, I remember hearing once in a while, “God won’t mind”. And as a kid, I remember thinking, “What’s the big deal? Can’t we miss church once in a while like everyone else?” But for Mom and Dad, this was their ‘line in the sand’ so to speak. Family was and is very important to them. But their Christian walk, and their Christian family have always been just as important. And for them, going to church was one of the ways that they reminded themselves, and those around them, about living in God’s way, while still enjoying family, friends, and activities. The answer then, as it continues to be today, is always polite but firm: “We would love to join you; we’ll see you right after church”. Their ‘line in the sand’; their version of ‘walking the talk’. It’s a lesson I have never forgotten.
The story of Daniel is too long for us to read in its entirety today. But from what I can gather by skimming through the whole book this week, Daniel must have been an old man by the time he spent that night with the lions. Daniel, amongst thousands of others had been captured as part of the spoils of war against the Babylonians. The famous King Nebuchadnezzar was clever; once he sorted out the various precious goods and slaves he had won, he took some of the most promising young Hebrew men and courted them for three years; gave them access to the palace, the good food, the fine clothes; education and status. Why, you ask? Well, probably in the hopes that these leaders, would grease the wheels so to speak, between the demands of the King and the use of Hebrew slaves to accomplish these goals. One must assume that it was a tried and true method of securing tacit support from the slaves, and hopefully preventing uprisings or complaints.
Daniel was a wise man, and said to be the interpreter of dreams. He and a few of his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as we remember them, quickly rose to the top of the heap for their sound management of resources and people. More and more power was given to them, along with more and more privileges within the palace. But somewhere along the way, Daniel and his companions made it clear: while they enjoyed many of the privileges of palace life, it was not their desire or aspiration to become lost in them, and lose focus on what was important to them: living in God’s way. Daniel predicted King Nebuchadnezzar’s downfall in a dream, and a year later, the King was gone. He predicted the next king, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, would fall in a similar fashion, and Belshazzar was murdered in his own palace. Each time, the king of the day had been haunted by dreams, and each time Daniel had predicted a horrific outcome if the king did not changes his ways, live a more God’ like life, and treat his people with justice and humility. Each time, the king, relieved to no longer be haunted by nightmares, gave praise to the God of Daniel. And each time, the kings had reverted back to their old ways. Every generation, Daniel’s wisdom grew, his name more infamous, and his rank in the palace higher. King Darius rose to the throne, and the cycle began again. Darius respected the reputation of Daniel, but his advisors could take it no longer; they had to get rid of Daniel to gain full access to the King. So, stroking the ego of the King’s own need for power, they trapped Daniel in political intrigue to which there was only one way out. Darius was trapped. Daniel was trapped. The advisors gloated…and waited.
But, as the story goes, the outcome was not as predicted. Daniel’s ‘line in the sand’, praying three times a day to his God did not waver. The King had no choice but to keep his political face. And the lions, well, it seems that the lions were not hungry that night. God’s power and ability had superceded political intrigue, and “catch 22’s”. The message of the story is clear, even to a child: living God’s way is the best way.
We have just been part of the sacrament of baptism, a time to reflect on the promise and possibilities that children bring to our lives today and the generation of tomorrow. We live in a world that is not terribly unlike Daniel’s world of ancient days. While we don’t live in a palace, we all have a home we consider to be our ‘little palace’. And while we don’t enjoy the food and fare like that of our Queen who recently visited us, we have all enjoyed fine dining from time to time to celebrate great events in our life. Our world is full of many distractions, options, and choices, just as was Daniel’s, just as every generation from his time to ours. There are so many things to do out there, to entertain, to socialize, to educate and to enjoy. And I think that indeed, our God has helped us create a life with many things to give pleasure and contentment to our days. But somewhere along that stream of choices and pleasures there comes another question: “What things will I chose to do, and what will I pass on?” And somewhere in those choices is another pretty important one, if you consider how long eternity is: “What choices will I make in my Christian walk?” In other words, “Where is your line in the sand?” Where and when do you say to yourself, or decide as a couple or a family, that this event or this activity must be attended, or this opportunity must be grabbed because you feel that God is leading you to do so, and you believe that your Christian experience will be enriched because of it? Where and when do you say to yourself, or decide as a couple or a family, that this event or this activity must be passed by this time, or this opportunity must be avoided because you do not believe that it is part of what you represent to the world as a member of the Christian community? What message do you want your children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews or neighbours or coworkers to understand is your ‘line in the sand’, where the spiritual and the secular part company?
Am I trying to say that everyone should give up Sunday morning activities so they can attend church first? Of course not…well, maybe I am, and just don’t realize it! What I am suggesting, is that you consider where your ‘line in the sand’ for Christ sits, and make decisions here and there, as to how you will choose to express your Christian walk in a busy and distracting world. How do you ‘Dare to be a Daniel’ and say to the world, ‘hey, my faith is important to me. I’ll catch up with you later’? It may be that you join an organization striving for justice. It may be a new routine for your family that incorporates prayer time. It may be reading the Bible, or reading it again. It may be volunteering time to the elderly, or yes, deciding that you will join the crowd for brunch after church.
When King Darius saw that Daniel was alive, Daniel declared, “my God kept the lions from biting me. They didn’t hurt me at all. I love my God very much, and I try hard to live in God’s way. God is with me when hard things happen to me.” Where is your line in the sand? Amen.
Sermon – June 13, 2010 June 22, 2010
Posted by Teresa Charlton in News.add a comment
Choose the Children
Based on Galatians 2:15-21
Everyone these days, seems to have an idea of how to fix what ails the church…not St. Andrew’s here in Richmond, specifically, but the church overall. Everyone seems to think that they have the solution to getting large crowds of people out of their cozy bed on a Sunday morning, foregoing brunch, and singing their way through worship, leaving large amounts of money in the collection plate as they go, solving all the woes of the financial burdens churches now carry.
Some say the solution is programs…we need to have more programs…and if those programs don’t work then we need better programs. But no one yet has found the secret program that works for every church in every community in every denomination; so we are all still looking for the perfect program! Some say we need a book club, a prayer club, a quilting club, baby-sitting club and an after school club. Some say we need tutoring, and some say we need mentoring. Some say we need Moms-and-Tots clubs, shopping clubs, men’s breakfast clubs, and day trip clubs.
Some say we need a gymnasium to solve all our problems, and make up house league teams like used to happen a generation or two ago. Some say we need sports camps in the summer; some say we need to sponsor a local sports team, and get our name on the back of every player. Some say we need lunch every week after worship; some say we shouldn’t have anything after worship, since after all we are not here to eat but to worship! Others say we should have coffee urns in the back of the sanctuary, and others say that Christ never stopped for a coffee while he was preaching so neither should we! But as an aside, I know of a church that just spent $10,000 on a cappuccino machine for their hall…yes, you heard me right, $10,000…so members of the Board, I’ll see you in my office after I’m finished preaching today!
Some say we need contemporary worship, traditional worship, youth groups, mid-week groups, diverse Sunday school groups, with lots of splashy, colourful booklets, magazines, take home pamphlets and amazing crafts with all the latest gear, beads, sparkly glue and googly eyes. Some say we need to hook up the internet, and get the kids interactive with games and chat groups with other Sunday school classes. Some say the technology should overhaul the entire worship service; others say technology should never be allowed into the worship space. Some say worship has to loosen up and others say we need to batten down the hatches against the evils of society. Some say we need to be more welcoming and transparent about how we live day to day with Christ; others act like it is a big secret, and unless you follow all the rules, you are going to Hell, literally!
And speaking about rules, some say the solution to the church is to get back to all those great rules from the past, while others suggest we should get rid of all the rules and regulations, since Christ never spoke so much about rules, as He did about loving one another. Some people say we should have more committees; some people say there should be no committees at all. Some people say we should get rid of the pews. Some people say we should get rid of the church building altogether. Some people say we should have old hymns; others say new hymns; some say praise bands; others say there is no place in the Sanctuary for a set of drums and an electric guitar. Some say we should pray with our hands in our laps and our eyes closed. Others say that if we only lifted our hands up in praise more often that we might get a little life back into things.
The reality is folks, that you don’t have to read to terribly much, or attend too many meetings of Presbytery, or chat with too many friends from different churches in the neighbourhood to realize that there are just about as many ideas of what is the best thing for a church to do to succeed as there are people in this Sanctuary. The possibilities are endless, and the possible success rate is infinite, theoretically. It’s just finding the right combination of things for a particular group of people at a particular time in history that is the tricky part. Everybody has an opinion. And everybody thinks they have the right opinion. The truth of the matter is, there is a hint of success and a hint of truth in many of the suggestions. But how do you stay focused on the truth, and not get bogged down in the delivery, and the diplomacy, and I’ll probably get in trouble for this…the occasional ‘dingbat’ whose ideas are way out in left field <grin>. Oh come on, you were thinking it; I was just brave enough to say it!
This is the mess that Paul walked into in Galatia. The church had been established some time earlier. And things got off to a great start. But Paul left town, to start another church down the road, and after a while, different leaders started having different opinions about what the correct decisions were for the church in Galatia. And since they couldn’t really agree on things, they started to squabble, and since they didn’t know who to blame: they blamed Paul when he came back into town. Paul set the record straight, quickly! “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. “Hey guys”, said Paul, “It’s not about rules and regulations. It’s not about being labeled a Jew or a Gentile. It’s about Christ. It’s supposed to be about your faith in the risen Son of God”. “It’s not about the perfect program or the model worship service, or the nicest building, or the splashiest Sunday School curriculum or the best laid table of goodies in the Hall. It’s about Christ. It’s about your journey through life with Christ by your side. It’s about praising Him, thanking Him, holding on tight to Him, praying with Him, and crying with Him, asking forgiveness by Him, and receiving that wonderful feeling of release when you know He has taken your burden away from your shoulders. That’s what church is about”.
Which brings me to the children. What can children teach us about church? Probably more than you think. You see, the most wonderful and annoying and embarrassing thing about children is that they say it like it is. If your breath is bad, they’ll tell you so. If your socks don’t match, they’ll point it out to you. But just in case you were wondering, if a child’s socks don’t match, it’s because they intended it to be that way! If I child sees something beautiful, they will remark on it. And if something is not fair, they will stand against it. Children have not yet learned that wonderful adult ability to paste on the smile, be polite when we don’t want to, or skirt around issues we don’t want to tackle with politically correct statements. Children will tell you that the social niceties that we adults get so hung up on, are simply silly most of the time, and we pull down many of our greatest achievements in life ourselves, because we get caught up in the politics of the matter. If you see children, you will see truth. And I see children here at St. Andrew’s; children of all sizes and shapes and ages and needs. And these children are happy to be here, for the most part; anxious to make church part of their weekly routine. Which tells you something very important: Christ is here too, and something at this church is going right; because these children wouldn’t be here if that were not true.
So I challenge you in the coming months, as the summer will alter our schedules and routines; as we will come and go from cottages and vacations and day trips and trips to Grandma’s house, to think carefully about what these children are experiencing in their Christian walk; here and away from here. If the children are our barometer, then we must be doing something right. Maybe we do have the ‘perfect program’ and just don’t know what to call it yet! Keep the children close to Christ these coming months, however you can touch their lives, however you may encourage their participation in the work and worship of St. Andrew’s. Keep Christ alive for them. Amen.
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