Wednesday Wondering - November 15, 2023

Isaiah 1: 17

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Ephesians 2: 10

10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Reflection

The scripture passages today speak to the work that we are called to do as God’s followers in the world. It speaks to what we, as humanity, were created for in the world and in many ways it speaks to the creation of a world that is much different from the one in which we currently live. So often in this world it is easy to just go along with the way things are going, it sometimes seems easier to just go with the status quo. I have been wondering about this idea of status quo and what the means for us, I wonder if, in some ways, it stops us from thinking in a new way. I wonder if it stops us from embracing change because we just sit back and say that “this is just the way it has always been.” I wonder if it stops us from dreaming of something different for ourselves, for others, for the world. I would like to share with you this quote from Harriet Tubman; “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and to change the world.” Harriet Tubman was born in 1822 into a life of slavery. She escaped and made 13 missions to save 70 others who were, at that time, slaves. She was a political activist and ardent abolitionist. She dreamed of a new life for herself and others and she found the strength and courage within her to life into that new life.

In our scriptures we read the stories of the prophets, those who were chosen by God to speak truth to power and to the people. Yet I believe that we, too, are called to speak words of truth to the world. Walter Brueggemann, the American Old Testament Scholar and Theologian, speaks to our call in the following way, “The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in  a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair.” It is in doing all of these things that we speak of something new in a world that seems so tied to the status quo of anger, hatred, war, and violence. It is to speak in a new way to the world and to envision a new lift, not only for ourselves, but for the world.

That is what I believe God has created us for, to live into a new life that God has created, and is creating. for each and every one of us. A life that is based in God’s love, compassion, care, justice, and mercy. We have been created in love, to live into that love each and every day of our lives. We need to trust that we have the strength, the patience, and the passion, to do this important work in the world. We are challenged to approach all of this work, trusting in God to guide us, so that we might live into what God calls us to be each and every day. We are called to live into, not the status quo, but rather our dreams for our lives where we truly reach for what God desires for each of us. We are called to the prophetic task of offering a new vision of the world so that we might see that something else is not just possible, but that it is desperately needed in our world today. To live into God’s call for our lives, to speak prophetically to the world about a new future, for us all, and to be people who transform rather than live the status quo, that is doing God’s work and that is work that might just change the world.

Prayer

God who created all things, help us to live into the life that you dream for each and every one of us. Help us to not be satisfied with the status quo but rather always dream of a new world. Be with us as we continue to work to live into the world that you have called us to make, guiding us, offering us strength, and companionship. We ask all of this in the name of the one who came to make all things new, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - November 8, 2023

Scripture

Matthew 25: 34 – 40

34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Meditation

This week we approach what should be a day of reflection for us as it is Remembrance Day. It is a day when we are called to shift our gaze from ourselves to others and in particular those who have sacrificed for what we have today. The reality is that this is not always the case, in our own live or in our history. Our faith stories speaks to the need to look beyond ourselves and to see the wider world. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel has stated, “The Prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” It is a call for us to see our history of war, and what is happening in the world right now, in a different light. We all have a part to play in our collective future. But our world can be a lot different than this, can’t it?

It has been said that we live in a world where everything revolves around the “Me!” We hear sayings such as “if you don’t look after yourself, no one else will!” There seems to be this notion that we need to grab and hold onto whatever we can get for ourselves because that is our mission in life, to enable us to acquire more, more things, more possessions, bigger, better, newer. The reading from Matthew is a direct call for us to shift our gaze from ourselves to those around us, to those who might be marginalized in our world, those who might be hungry, naked, without a place to live. I suppose the question that I have is does it stop there, or is there more?

I will be honest, we do well with charity, churches, and the United Church included do well with offering charity to those who need it, we feed the hungry, we clothe the naked, we visit that lonely, we do well and that is good work, but should there be more. I found this quote from Mark Van Steenwyk which challenges me to think in a new way; “Charity isn’t justice. Charity accepts the status quo. When we do charity, we give out of our affluence to help the poor; we don’t actually sacrifice our affluence to destroy the distinction between the rich and the poor. We mustn’t settle for charity when justice is required.”

If we were to look at Jesus’s life we would see someone who challenged the status quo of his time. We would see someone who worked not only for charity, but for true justice for those who are marginalized, those who are outcast, those who are poor. Jesus lived a life of social transformation and I believe that we are called to live that same type of life. The work that we do is good work, it matters to those who are hungry, naked, cold, and lonely, but we are called to be more, we are called to be people of transformation. We are called to be people who will pull down that which keeps so many living in our world hungry, cold, lonely, and without a safe place to live. We are called to be people of true justice for all people. We are called to be people who challenge the war and violence that has torn our world apart too many times. We are called to be people of peace and true justice in a world that so badly needs it now.

Prayer

God of all people, help us to see that the work that we do in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the lonely, speaking for peace, is only the beginning. Help us to become Your people of transformation, working in the world for true justice for all people. Help us to see those places where injustice has become the norm for society and help us to challenge those structures that work to preserve the injustice that exists. Be with us as we challenge the status quo so that all people might live in the abundance of life. We ask all of this through Jesus, the rebel, the one who lived a life of true transformation. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - November 1, 2023

Micah 6:8

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

James 2: 14 – 17

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Matthew 25: 34 – 40

34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

Reflection

I don’t’ usually use three pieces of scripture, but I thought that these three together illustrated an important point for us. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this thing that we call faith. What really is our faith? We often look to our faith as a set of beliefs that we hold tight too. Then we gather together with those of similar beliefs to worship God. I believe that this is how many of us view our faith and yet I wonder if this is really what our faith should be about. There are a number of Christian traditions where they expect that one will accept Jesus into their hearts as their personal Lord and Saviour and in doing so we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. There are other faith traditions who worship Jesus, Mary, the saints, as God. But again is this what our faith is supposed to be about?

Yes, I believe that we are called to enter into relationship with Jesus, but as an example of how we are to live a Godly life in this world. Jesus always spoke of God as the one deserving of worship and to engage in true worship of God, we must follow Jesus, follow Jesus’ example. I don’t think that Jesus asked us to believe anything, other than to believe in God. What Jesus asked us to do was to follow his example and become people of action. Jesus calls us to do, not to believe. The scriptures I picked are also all about action. Micah says that what God requires from us is to “do” justice, to “walk” humbly with God. In the scripture from James this is brought to action as we are challenged to work to supply the needs of those who are less fortunate. Finally in Matthew, chapter 25 we hear that what we do for those who are hungry, naked, sick, in prison, we do for God. The scriptures are full of examples of what we are to do. We are called to be put our faith in action, not just sit comfortably within a belief system not doing anything to change the world. Jesus spend much of his time either with those who were marginalized, or critiquing the religious authorities of the day and their rules and regulations.

I don’t recall Jesus ever asking anyone to build a church. What Jesus did ask was that people follow him and do as he did. I am not saying that churches are bad. It is good to get together with like-minded people and in doing so we might pool our resources and are better able to change the world. The challenge is that there are many who have retreated into their faith, their systems of belief, and truly believe that that is what following God is about, existing solely within their system of beliefs and not moving out into the world. The late Archbishop Oscar Romero, one of the driving forces behind Liberation Theology, speaks to this idea of a faith in action in the following way, “A church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a Word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, what kind of gospel is that? Preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed do not light up the world.” Our faith calls us to action and sometimes that action can be uncomfortable. But God, through Jesus, has called us to action. God calls us to action now so that we might change the world, so that we might bring God’s mercy, compassion, justice, and love to a world that is hurting and has been hurting for millennia. It is who we are supposed to be, people of action, people who are working to change the world. So let us be those people.

Prayer

God who calls us to action, let us open our ears, our hearts, our minds, and our souls, so that we might truly hear your call. Give us the courage to move beyond the comfort of our beliefs to places of action where those who are marginalized are seen, heard, loved, so that we might work to bring your kingdom to this world. Give us the wisdom to see that you never asked us to build complicated belief systems, rather you just asked us to follow. Help us to once again hear that call and answer as best as we can. We ask this in the name of the one who came to show us the way, your son, Jesus. Amen.