"Will Jesus Really Come Again?"

What does the season of Advent mean to you?

Nov 29 2015 Advent 1  readings:   Psalm 25   Luke 21: 25-36

It seems to me that no matter how hard I have tried, every year at the beginning of advent I along with others become preoccupied with the stress of doing.  Doing, doing, doing, often out of obligation to church, family or community.  How about you?   It appears that our mindless doings can cause us to become distracted from the real significance and meaning that Advent offer us.   Believe it or not, this is not, nor was it ever meant to be a season of rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off trying once again to get in our holiday shopping or pushing ourselves to squeeze in all the events and festivities that have become our traditions.  How many of us got taken in by newest commercial shopping tradition here in the western part of the world!  "BLACK FRIDAY".  Often for many,myself included it has become a time to lose our good sense of doing, spending, and indulging.   We often work ourselves to a frenzy trying to keep up the seasonal traditions of family, community, church and gift giving.   Are you with me Folks?  

Two elderly gentlemen are strolling: one shares.  "Live for the moment is my motto.  You'll never know when your time is up".  "You could step out into the street tomorrow and WHAM, you get hit by a cement truck!  You'd be sorry then if you didn't fill your bucket list.   That's what I say - live for the moment."  What about you,    "What's your motto?"  The older gent replies:  "My motto is, if you’re going to step out into the street, you had better look both ways"    

You know I think that is what happens too many of us at Christmas time, it is as though we have the blinders on and we don’t see it coming.  I mean the aftermath of what we are creating, with our doings in the moment.   I think that living for the moment might be an OK thing to do folks, but not if we are so busy that we get lost in the moment and don’t see the circumstances we are building around our doing.   You just might get hit with that cement truck.  I believe the essence of that saying, especially during this time of the year should be: be present to the moments in your life.  In order to be present, may I suggest that would include, understanding and reflecting upon your experiences of Christmases pass, along with looking to a future filled with hope.  Remembering that hope does not exist in past events, or in the things we now have or know, hope is reserved for things unseen and for those who can be transformed and changed for a new tomorrow.  

Christmas is not just all about the past, yet most of us live Christmas through our past.  Christmas is about being present to the moment and it is about our lives in the future. 

Each Sunday of Advent should remind us that the Christ is coming once again to transform and change many.  He originally came as an infant, Then he came again through resurrection as the Christ and is here now in the present and he will come again in the future.  May I suggest that the first Sunday in advent is a time to reflect on and re-evaluate the way in which we have responded to Christmases past?   But It is also meant to be a time when we look with hope to our future, a time for transformation and change?  It was never meant to be a shopping party downer.  

I would also like to suggest to you that many of us have lost the reality and true meaning of Christmas over the years.  Many have traded it in for a mixture of secular and Christian traditions and the commercialization of the season has stolen away its meaning for many Christians and their church gatherings.  The Advent season was not meant to be a repeat of Christmases past as many of our traditions demand but to re-evaluate what has become meaningless, mundane and extravagant.  The season leading up to Christmas eve is over flowing with excessive food, money and doing. Often we run the risk of burn out because we think we have to keep on keeping up with the many traditions of family, community and church, much of which is written in concrete obligations.  Things we feel we cannot, not do.  

Mary, Joseph, and Jesus would probably be appalled at what we have done to and with this loving intimate and transforming moment in our history.   Our hope does not lay in a

manger some 2000 years ago, it lay in the transforming risen Christ that has and will continue to come into our midst.  For the promise is, that He will continue to come again and again until every knee has bowed and every tongue confesses that Jesus the Christ is Lord 

of all. 

The Season of Advent is not meant as a time to relive the events of Christmases past, but to be present to the really of the Christ who is in our midst.   It is our hope that there will be a time as scripture states when he comes again to establish a kingdom free from violence, war, material wealth, power and control over its people for personal gain.  Christs’ kingdom will be a kingdom ruled by the HEART not he head and it will abide within the will of God.   My challenge for you during the season of Advent is this:  are you willing to accept his coming and begin to reflect on being present to the moment, with the hope that his spirit will transform and change  you this season.                                                     

                                                           " A song of Hope"

"EGO" Edging God Out

Can anyone name a place in today’s world where will you find a King or Monarch and his Kingdom?  There are a total of 28 you can google them to get the list.   What images comes to mind when you hear the words a King and his Kingdom?    

Nov 25, 2012       2 Samuel 23: 1-7  John 18: 33-37

Herod knew all about kings and their kingdoms.  In fact he himself was a king, the king of Judea was his title.  When he asked Jesus if he is the king of the Jews, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  In other words Jesus was saying the Kingdom he reigns over is nothing like the worldly Kingdom Herod knows and understands.  “If it were” Jesus tells Herod, “my servants would have fought to the death to protect me from being arrested.”   The King and Kingdom Jesus makes claim to, is not ego centered.  Herod as with many of us in today’s modern world, cannot comprehend a King or a Kingdom void of EGO. When we look around at the leadership in our world today within our governments, our political systems in the west or the dictatorships and Kingdoms of the East we see EGO dominates their core.  This is one of the reasons the Dalai Lama is hated and feared in the East.  Jesus further confuses Herod as he goes on to explain his kingdom is not of this world but it is in this world but has come from another place.   The open  discussion we had earlier about what comes to mind when you hear the words king or kingdom displayed how ego centered we think of our leaders are, be they politicians in the western world or kings and dictators who rule in the eastern part of our world.   In other words Jesus is describing a Kingdom free from violence, war, material wealth, power and control over its people for personal gain.  Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom ruled by the HEART not he head and abides within the will of his Father.   Same world but two different kings and kingdoms.  One who listens and responds to the voice of EGO {devil} and the other who listens and responds to the voice of truth {God}

Let us reflect for a moment upon one of the examples from the Old Testament, King David.  At first he is just a humble shepherd boy whom God has chosen to lead his people.  A humble fearless shepherd who is eager to slay the lion, one who would do no harm to his flock.  This humble shepherd boy would put his trust in the Almighty, then  face and defeat the giant Goliath.  He starts out listening to and following the voice of truth heard from a prophet and he obeys.  David's ego begins to feed on power as he becomes a King.  Something changes in him and he begins to build a set of circumstances that would bring havoc and kayos to him for the rest of his life.  His devilish ego would get the best of him in the end, as it brings him to covet another mans wife and he has him sent to his death. 
   

Eckhart Tolle in his book the “The Power of Now” describes ego as an entity that is part of our human nature that needs to feed in order to thrive and stay alive.  The interesting thing about ego is that it doesn’t care what it feeds on.  It could either be a positive or a negative feed, either way it is all the same to ego.  It has only one goal, to survival and that requires ego to feed on someone or something.  It cares not if the deed is good or bad, it just needs to feed to survive.       
                                    Eckhart and the Dalai Lama

I choose King David as the example here but you do not have to be a King to be plagued with the circumstances that your ego can develop.  At first glance, as the young shepherd boy we may not see the ego feeding in David’s life but as his story unfolds and the world creeps in we can see it beginning to take its dominant place in his reign.  This is a common thing in much of our lives as well, as we mature we often like to build ourselves up and we see it is a good thing to do now and again. We all do it, myself included but the question that comes to my mind is: does your ego help build self-esteem, respect I mean, for the true self or does it give us a false sense of self?    

I’m not sure how familiar you are with the story of Moses another great man of the bible.  In fact Moses is the most important prophet within Judaism.  Moses was considered a good but ordinary man whom God chose to free the Jews from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land.  Yet even he at the very end of his journey because of his ego would not accompany the Jewish people into the Promised Land.  This task would be bestowed upon his brother Aaron.  Moses makes a very poor choice in the desert during the very last leg of the journey.  The people are dying of thrust.  Moses prays for deliverance.   After receiving instruction from God, Moses taps a might rock with his staff and water comes pouring out.  But his ego gets the best of him as he boasts “here is the water I give you.” 

We run great risks when we steal away Gods thunder folks.  Not because God will punish because reward or punishment come from our choices which in turn build the circumstances around our own lives.  One of the most common ways this happens is when our ego takes the full credit for our accomplishments or our ability to acquire the things needed to sustain our lives.  When we boast about the generosity or our works or our giving’s or when we think of ourselves as superior.  Ego helps us to forget the fact that life is a gift, a gift from the one who creates life.   Your ability to do anything is also a gift given to you by your heavenly parent, your creator.  Arrogance, egos brother is full of its own punishment and can bring with it circumstances that feed and create kayos, another relative of our devilish ego.   God, our creator with infinite Grace has given us tools to combat such kayos.  Accepting our mistakes, surrendering and turning from those things that bring pain and suffering into our lives brings with it a sense of relief and wholeness.  
Here are the two the most important tools of all.   Repentance and forgiveness of self.  They produce in us a sense of humility and are precious gems l in the tool box of right thinking and living.   These two tools, can open a pathway back to the place where we can start all over again.  Here, no one is lost, and as Jesus described to Nicodemus, we will be born anew, forgiven, and we can once again start over.    
                                                "Hide me In your Holiness" 

   

"Is It Really All For Not Jesus"?

Jesus predicts that every stone in these buildings will come down
Not one stone will be left one on the another.

Ever heard the saying “Like the rock of Gibraltar” what comes to mind?   Something you can count on, never changing, solid as the rock of Gibraltar.  Well we all know that is not a reality for change comes no matter what.

What in your opinion is the most significant change that has taken place in our world during your life time?  

Nov 15, 2015 Readings:  Hebrews 10: 11-14, 19-25, Psalm 150 VU p 874, Mark 13: 1-8

As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left one on another." To the disciples this was bedrock.  Jerusalem was the foundation of everything they believed in.   Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus. 

We know today from history that the smallest stones in the structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons.  In fact the largest existing stone, is still part of the Wailing Wall, and you can see it today.  It is 12 meters in length and 3 meters high, and it weighs hundreds of tons! 

The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, well over

200 feet in one area history tells us. 

Do you think this passage is about the end times, a time when the world as they and we know it will come to its end, perhaps, but please do not stop there, for I believe that this was not Jesus’ only intent here.   I believe Jesus’ illustration was also challenging the very foundations of humankind, meaning the things they and we put our hopes, dreams and security in, could they possibly be all for not.  The things that we think are important for our future and are sometimes thought to be indestructible, as the old saying goes, solid as the rock or Gibraltar.   How many of you remember that saying, I believe it was the slogan for “Prudential life” in its hay day.  Well everything man made has its hay day, doesn’t it, but then change forces it to transform or come to its end. 

Folks if we are honest with ourselves we know from experience that nothing resists the forces of change, that everything mankind has ever made no matter how well designed or built it was in the beginning, eventually crumbles under the weight of change.  The earth is an organism birthed from the Universe, programmed to evolve.  Even the very building we are sitting in this morning is being affected by the changes that our religion will have to face tomorrow.  We will either accept and face the change and be transformed or die.  Yet our faith teaches there is one thing that never changes, and we can trust it to guide us in changes.  It is the same yesterday, today and will be there for all our tomorrows.  What is it!  God’s unfailing love for all his children, not just a few, not for a chosen race, but for all God’s children.  This is where our belief and trust belongs, with God’s unfailing love, I will never forget or leave you for I have carved your name on the palm of my hand, Isaiah 49.

Church buildings are closing their doors all around us as I speak and the status quo does not seem to know where these changes will take us.  But there are some who are facing this truth today and are beginning to take steps towards rebuilding their future.   “Is the Christian religion and its churches as we now know and understand them at risk?   Of course they are if we take Jesus seriously when he tells his disciples that the stones that hold their and our lives together will all eventually crumble.   We are mortal folks, and eventually under the weight of stress or age we too will be torn down.  

We don’t know when but our bodies will return to the dust from whence they came.  May I suggest that Jesus was indicating that all manmade structures and systems are doomed to fail the final test.  The stones in what we think the foundations of our lives are secure will be the dust of tomorrow.  You know this might be a good time for us to stop and contemplate our own mortality or the mortality of our church congregations. To start, we need to ask ourselves these questions:  What can we consider as stones in our foundation and how does our connection to these stones affect our relationship with God?   We have a stone of wealth.  How much emphasis is put on wealth today?   How much of our time is dedicated to securing buildings and the wealth to maintain them.  Take a look around at the homes that are being built today or the churches that had been built in the past and the cost of maintain them.  We have a stone of church doctrine and worship.   A stone of possessions, all that we have.  A stone of accomplishment, all we have done.  A stone of seeking to be loved by our families and friends.   A stone of what you personally would consider most important in your life or the life of your church.    

Imagine them as the stones in the building Jesus and the disciples were looking at.  A building containing thousands of stones, stones which represent those things that we seek out, those things we turn to for a sense of permanence, stability, for comfort, for peace of mind, all built into a building that, when there is trouble in our lives we make our place of refuge, and when there is joy we make the place for our thanks offering. "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." A hard image to get hold of is it not?   We, just like disciples, want to reject these thoughts.  For some - the question is - how could this happen?  For others the image is a challenge - something to work with not to resist.   Here we must learn to work together not as individuals.  God has not abandoned us, God has not removed our ability to bounce back by taking risks.  In fact when we have come to the edge of all that we know and are about to step off into the darkness once again, we can trust that one of two things will happen.  On the other side of our darkness we will find the light, something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly but we will not be forsaken or abandoned.  That we can trust in.  
                               " I Will Never Forget You My People"

"Remembrance day"

"Terry Kelly"

Nov 11 2010   Readings: Isaiah 11: 5-9  Micah 6: 7-9

Many will gather this morning all over the country to remember those who died and those who served our country in various ways in times of war. There is no way that we can repay them but we can continue the struggle for justice and peace for all.  May I suggest here that military might and weapons will not bring justice and peace to our world.  But if we could turn our weapons into plowshares and our military might into education, it might be possible.  
Numbers can not tell the story of Canada’s involvement in the many wars we have participated in, but the numbers of those who served or gave up their lives for our nation total over 1 and ½ million.  This is an outstanding number when you consider the small population Canada contained during many of those earlier years.  Remembrance Day is not only a time to remember those who died in the Great Wars, but a day to remember all those who have given their lives in the service of country and community.   I think of the many Police officers who have given up their lives while on duty in our towns, our cities or overseas.   I think of the many individuals: civilian volunteers, The Red Cross Workers, Doctors, Nurses, Priests, and Clergy who while serving in the fight against conflict, oppression, poverty and slavery have lost their lives.    I think of the countless number of women who kept the home fires burning during the Great War years, while being rationed when it came to household food items.  There were a great number of men and women who worked tirelessly in the factories to help support our man and women overseas.   Then one day in 2009 the war in Afghanistan became very personal for me.   I remember the phone call from my sister in Chezzetcook Nova Scotia early one morning in 2009 to let me know that her son Mark, my nephew, who was serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces was one of the casualties in a road side bomb explosion while on motorized patrol.  Fortunately for our family and Mark he survived the ordeal and his physical injuries have healed, but the emotional, and psyalogical effects of war, what he has seen and experienced have changed him forever.   Mark has since returned to active duty here at home.     

Remembering is why we gather today, but remembering is only one part of the equation. Remembering must always influence one’s present and future actions.  Many will show up at Canadian cenotaphs today and then go home.   But we are called to do more.  Our task is to work towards peace, not just as individuals, but as a nation.  It is up to us to see that our country is being built on a firm foundation.  A foundation that seeks justice and equality for all, where we strive to construct an educational system that is second to none.  We must prepare our youth for the challenges of tomorrow, a tomorrow that seeks peaceful means in resolving conflict.  We must strive to eliminate poverty where children go to bed hungry in a land of plenty.   We must strive for community programs for our youth that inspire a “ME TO WE” attitude.   “We have work to do Folks!  We need to work towards an improved health care system for our nation.    We need to strive for affordable education for all our young people.   One could go on and on about social concerns.  But let it be known that we who claim to be Christian serve a Social Gospel.   It is the way of Jesus, a way of social justice for all, especially for our children, the poor, the sick, the marginalized and the uneducated.   Let us not continue to live in a century where passiveness is the path of the majority, for we are still in need of people like Rosa Parks.  She was that young black woman, who through a simple act of sitting in the front seat of a public bus, changed America’s history concerning racial Justice.    Such people of courage are needed today to bring to our attention:  that for many, equality and poverty are unresolved issues in our world.   We must Remember why our men and women went to war in the first place—it was because they wanted a just and free society where all could live in peace and be assured of equal opportunity.   Let us not forget, but remember, and continue their fight for justice in nonviolent ways.   Remember that we too are called to serve – we are called to act justly, to have mercy and to walk humbly before our God.   Let us remember these words from our holy scriptures--- That righteousness should be our belt, faithfulness the sash around our waist.  That we are to work for the day when the wolf will live with the lamb, when the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf, the lion and the yearling together.    We must remember why and for whom we wear the poppy.  We must not falter but we must proudly carry their TORCH into all of our tomorrows.

Dr. McCray wrote in Flanders Field:  If we break faith with those who have fought and died, they shall not sleep even though poppies still grow in Flanders Fields.  Let us hold their torch high with pride and resolve and strive for a better community, nation and a better world.  Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   

"A Pittance of Time"

"Give Till It Hurts, Are You For Real"

                                            Nelson Mandela

                                      We make a living by what we get. 
                                       We make a life by what we give.

                         Blessed are those who can give without remembering

                            When you learn, teach. When you get, give.

                     That's what I consider true generosity. You give your all, 
                          and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.
________________________________________________________

 What does this old saying mean to you “give until it hurts” 

Nov 8 2015 Readings:  Psalm 127   Mark 12: 38-44

I would like to share two observations from the reading found in Mark today: 

At first reading, today's gospel passage from Mark appears to have a lot to do with money.  Jesus is sitting watching people put their offerings into the money box.  There were several boxes in the temple where money could be placed.  Some were for collecting the temple tax from Jewish males, others were for freewill offerings.  It was the freewill offering box that catches Jesus attention.  He notes that there is one who gives more than all the rest.  May I suggest here that what Jesus is trying to point out to his disciples and to us is that in giving it is not about the amount, for there are others who give much more than this widow gave.  The value of a gift is not determined by its size or it's amount, but by the spirit in which it is given.  A gift given grudgingly or for recognition loses its value.  This teaching is very difficult for many to achieve not only those within the church but for many outside the church as well.    

I think most of us would agree that it is good to give and we give generously.  Giving of our time, our talent or our money is good thing to do.  Not only for others but also for ourselves.  Giving offers hope to the recipient and it also helps to builds within us faith and trust in the promises of God.  The teaching is “We shall receive proportionately, according to our giving.”  Give generously is the call of the scriptures.  Blessed are those who can give without remembering, for it it is in the remembering that the gift can lose its value.  And if we take what Jesus says to his disciples about the widow seriously, we might even agree that giving till it hurts is good, in fact, giving till it has gone way past hurting may even be better.   Strange concepts, not only for the rich of Jesus’ day but for us also.  We must admit though, to give all, we would have to give until it hurts.   Not many and I must include myself here, are willing to trust God that far, at least not yet, but we are working on it, aren’t we.  

However, I believe that there is more to today's gospel than just the amount of money given in this situation.  Jesus isn’t condemning those who are making their offering from their abundance but, because Jesus is identifying himself with this poor widow and noting that she is giving of her poverty, this makes the status quo uncomfortable.  The poor giving more than we?   This financially poor women has given all that she had.   She held back nothing for herself.  Now, no one I know, gives their all without some understanding or reassurance, that somehow they will be taken care of, that their giving will not be in vane.   As I studied this piece of scripture the thought that came to me here was, can I trust God enough to give myself back to that which created me.  Can I give my all. 
May I suggest here that this women is not only generous but that she has riches greater than any amount of money, time or talent, what she has, is a faith rich in trust.  No one could give their all without it.  She must truly believe that she will continue to be provided for, even after she has given her last penny.       Now that’s Faith!!  

The challenge for those of us who claim to be faithful followers of Jesus, especially when it comes to our giving’s is this:  It’s not about the amount of the time, talent or moneys we give, the most important thing is, do we have the faith to believe that we too will be taken care of even if we were to give all we have, even our lives.  Many will be remembered on Wednesday this week for giving the ultimate sacrifice.  But not only the soldier for we must remember the police officer, the firefighter, the rescue worker, volunteers, doctors, nurses, pastors, priests and everyday folk who have also offer their lives for the sake of others.  We must never forget. 

Here is the other interesting observation I would like to add to the story today.  May I suggest here that by identifying with the poor, Jesus becomes very unpopular with the rich and the middles class of his day.  Why is this?  Because he is consistently bringing to the attention of the status quo the social gospel, which include racism, injustice, the conditions of the poor, the sick and marbleized outcast folk of his day.    This may sound ironic but  whenever people today begin to identify with the social gospel and the poor of the world, it brings light to our responsibilities concerning same.  At first they are lifted to hero status like Jesus was, but it doesn’t last long before all that changes.  Once the changes or giving begins to interfere with the status quo comfort zones, monies, power or lifestyles you may get labelled as was the apostle Paul Peter,  Thomas or in modern times as a Martin Luther King, Gundi, a Nelson Mandela, or a Desman Tutu and what happened to them- often they are discredited, gotten rid of, jailed, crucified or assassinated.  This is often the fate of those who give until it really hurts. Jesus knew this first hand.   You or I may not be called upon to go to war and offer ourselves for the injustices of our world.   You might not be called upon to march in Tienanmen Square, or to go to India and fight for rights of young women to get an education, but there is lots of opportunity for all of us to give and offer ourselves right in our own church, school, our town, village or city. Yes it is risky business folks but someone has to have the courage to offer.  Remembering that true giving has nothing to do with the size or the amount of the gift, but by the spirit in which it is given.

 We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

May God bless you in your giving’s.   

                                          "Go Make A Difference" 

                         Generosity insists that you meet people where they are. 

                          This requires some courage, like all forms of intimacy.