Winter 2019 - Called to be the Church

Passage: Luke 9:28-36 & 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:1    

  Description: How does one hold Paul’s words of great boldness and hope on the one hand and deal with the way he disses Moses on the other hand? It’s challenging to come alongside such a difficult text. And what is Paul referring to when he mentions Moses’s veil? How could anyone use the name of Moses negatively when comparing examples of the mystery of God at work? Paul’s words in II Corinthians seem to contradict the Gospel of Luke where Elijah, Moses and Jesus appear together in order to convey that profound connection between the message of Jesus and the traditions of the Jewish faith—the story of the transfiguration links the lineage of tradition and faith between the teachings of Jesus and the history Judaism. Huge hope here, great boldness in the gospel message. But Paul seems to struggle as he tries to effectively convey the same hope in his second letter to the Corinthians. Something is stuck for Paul. Let’s clarify Paul’s reference to the veil over Moses’ face. This story originates in Exodus Chapter 34. It’s a curious story. After Moses comes away from his encounter with God, the skin on his face shone because he had been talking with God (Ex.34:29). The people were quite fearful of this. So, after Moses finished speaking with his people, he put a veil over his face until the next time he went to speak with God when he would remove the veil. The veil is as way of mitigating the powerful effects of being in the presence of God. It softens the glow in order to make Moses’ face tolerable in the presence of his people. More generally, the veil also serves a symbolic role as that which mediates and separates the divine realm from the earthly realm. Consider for example the veil that is torn in the temple at the time of Jesus’ death on the cross. Paul however does not speak kindly of the Moses’ veil or perhaps wisely. But I think I understand what he was trying to say.

Passage: Acts 11:19-30    

  Description: Christians. Disciples. Believers. Followers of the Way. Saints. These are all terms that were used by the followers of Jesus in the first century, terms that we still use to this day. But what does it mean to be a Christian, a disciple of Jesus, a follower of the Way or even one of the saints? When you think of your faith, how do you name yourself?... So whether we call ourselves Christians, believers, disciples, followers of the Way or saints, the attributes that people should most notice in us are these two: radical inclusiveness and radical generousity. The sad thing is that Christian has come to be associated with something other than inclusiveness. The term Christian has become linked with judgement, with exclusion of certain groups of people, with moral pronouncements that lack compassion and understanding. I am not sure that non-Christians would look at Christians, in general, today and immediately say, “Those are the people who are radically inclusive and radically generous. They welcome everyone and they are always ready to share what they have with anyone in need.” I’m not sure that that is how others would define those of us who call ourselves Christian today. I tend to hear words such as hypocrites, judgmental, old-fashioned, and irrelevant. Or perhaps worse is that we aren’t seen as any different than anyone else in our society – nothing makes us stand out as Christians. Yes, we are to be humble, and not make a show of being Christian. But how do we, with our words and actions, show radical inclusiveness and radical generousity?

Passage: Luke 10:25-37    

  Description: Rev. David & Rev. Susan have a conversation about the core values of High River United Church - Compassion, Diversity, Respect and Courage, and how all four of those values are seen in the story of the Good Samaritan.

Passage: Luke 3:15-22    

  Description: As I thought about the passage from Luke referring to the peoples’ and Jesus’ baptism, my mind went to the threshing machine that was such a part of harvest time during my growing up years. The threshing machine was the precursor to the combine and for a young boy it seemed to have a life of its own as the many serpentine belts moved pulleys and sheave cutters. The coolest thing was the fan that blew the chaff away from the grain. It created quite a whirring sound and sure enough the grain came down the spout clean as a whistle as the straw blew out the stack at the back. It was dirty dusty work. Don’t get me going on the insufferable itch caused by barely dust. The threshing machine is really a mechanized version of the ancient threshing floor. The idea is the same… you need wind to separate the grain from the chaff. That’s what I appreciate about this passage in Luke—it is quintessentially rural. It notices the natural elements of wind, and yes fire, as actions and aspects of threshing. And we all know how grain dust and chaff are highly flammable. The fire is unstoppable. Luke uses powerful and natural images around the practice of baptism. So, let’s back up a little bit and begin with the idea that it’s the grain that matters to Luke. Threshing is about saving the precious grain by letting the wind blow away the chaff—the material that is no longer needed. Luke speaks of baptising with the Holy Spirit and fire. Do you recall that in the Greek, the word for wind and Spirit is the same word along with breath? We could say that Jesus will baptise with wind or breath and fire. The Spirit, Wind or Breath of God blows away the chaff and saves the grain. This is a refining process, I’d say. The unnecessary, the frivolous, the chaff is blown away and burned leaving the grain. If we think of baptism in that way… it’s a clarifying process, a refining moment, an action of alignment where by water, wind and fire the baptism names the people with Jesus among them as ones fully in relationship with and embraced by the loving intentions of God. This is unique to Luke. Unlike the other gospels, Luke does not name who does the baptism. He situates Jesus as one among the people being baptised. There is very little drama. What Luke does say is that after the baptism, Jesus was praying. And while he was praying the heavens were opened, the Spirit descended upon him in bodily form LIKE a dove. And a voice from heaven names him as the Son, the Beloved, and the one who is pleasing to God. Luke recalls the baptism this way—after which during prayer, Jesus has a mystical experience of the divine.