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Sunday, 9 April 2017

"We Reap What We Sow"

                                   Help Change the World by    "Changing Yourself"


Matthew 21:1-11,26: 14-27

From the beginning of time our names have been written on the heart of God. Our lives have been etched in the palm of his hand, Isaiah 49 tells us.  "I will Never Forget You My People I have carved you on the palm of my hand”. Today we are celebrating how Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt and was acclaimed by the common people as the Messiah. This may appear as a bit of a contradiction to many both inside and outside the church today.  Especially when hear talks about Justice for all, Christian love for one another, Jesus Saves , symbols posters and sayings all around us, yet at the same time knowing that the Christian CROSS also represents for many rejection, division, disgrace, even a sign of torture and death.  We cannot control all the circumstances surrounding our lives let along those around us or in other countries because choice does.  War bigots war, violence bigots violence, hatred bigots more of the same.   But, where love is sown it to bigots love.  Same goes for all positives compassion, justice, peace, joy, and hope.   We reap what we sow folks. 

There are many things that happen to us - and that happen in the lives of others that are seem contradictory to the ways and teachings of compassion, love, peace, and justice for all.  The mass killings of innocent peoples all around the world seem overwhelming at times especially today with us being so connected to the news media.   My heart goes out to the Syrian peoples and their relatives here now living in Canada and America. 

The young child or the elderly woman who have been maimed or killed in the market place by a suicide bomber.  Or here in our country as a graduating student loses his or her life after a graduating party being the victim of drugs or alcohol.  There are figures out today that suggest 25% of the children in our part of the world, in north America are living in poverty, imagine 25%. There is more than enough food produced each year to feed the entire world's population, yet millions are dying of starvation while in our part of the world millions die from over-eating.  It just doesn’t seem logical or right.   All these are signs of great contradiction to way of Jesus, the way of loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Yet we are still looking or hoping for a hero to come and fix it all and to save the world.  Many people today feel that President Trump is the next great hero and savior.  Fake news or not some people truly believe he is the chosen one even cheering over his recent retaliation, even though we know that violence and killing only bigots more violence more killing.  His way is not the way folks. 

How can we justify all this as we profess our faith in Jesus, his teachings and in our religion?  Well folks we live and breathe in a fallen and fractured world.   Yet we, the affluent peoples of this world, struggle to live in gratitude for the good things we all enjoy in this life, while at the same time blaming God for not stopping these insane atrocities that are going on all around us.  Why is it that we fail to recognize that we ourselves have made the bombs, guns, chemicals, and fuel our overwhelming desire for wealth and power?  These are the instruments of war folks.   Jesus knew as he entered Jerusalem to the welcoming shouts and cheers of his people that he would be rejected and killed within the week because he was trying desperately to make people aware of their choices.   Aware of the contradictions in their faith.  He cries out for us to be transformed so as to overcome our sinfulness, we who are often blinded by our own sense of righteousness.  The craziness in our world is the result of those who disagree with Jesus' way, the way of humbleness, of forgiveness, justice, love and reconciliation for all peoples within the world.  The signs are clear that our world today has fallen into the trap of desiring privilege without responsibility, honour without humility, profit at any cost, power without accountability and pleasure without having to share.  Jesus knew that these ways, the ways of the worldly were the enemy and that because of these ways, the people of God would sing songs of praise to him one day and call for his death the next.  During our Lenten time we need to ask ourselves this important question folks:  Do we really want to be save us from ourselves, to be transformed and change or are we to becoming more and more like the crowd?   Do we really understand what we are doing and asking for, or are we just wanting for someone, anyone, to come along wave the magic wand over the world and fix everything, so we can have a better, more comfortable life. God knew what the remedy would be.  The good life was not meant to be comfortable, because the good life takes risks, hard work, commitment and sacrifice.   You don’t have to die on the cross to save the world as did Jesus but you may be asked to give up some of your materialistic comfortable lives to help make this world a better place for your children and those who are less fortunate than we.   God wants to show us a new way to live and it is the way of Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t represent just himself on the cross, “Oh NO!” he represents all of the injustice in our world.  He represents the inhumane killing of the innocent, and the starvation of so many people that continues to exist on our planet.  He represents the lack of gratitude for clean water, shelter, and the resources that keep us and our families going.  He represents all the homeless, minorities and those on the margins of life everywhere.  You see the crowd was only cheering as long as things were going their way and it hasn’t really changed much since then has it.

 So then what can we learn today from this Psalm Sunday experience?  Let us not become just one in the crowd.  We cannot stop the wars in our world nor the chemical attacks on the innocent in Syria.   We cannot stop the genocide and starvation in Africa but we can begin here at home to take a serious look at ourselves to see what we can do to help those around us.  We can also write and speak out for the injustices that are happening right in front of our own noses and we can change ourselves to be better stewards of our environment and to help our fellow citizens.   You Change and the world around you will have no choice but to change.  That is the way change really works folks.  We can you see make a difference.     
                                                Go Make A difference.  

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