Our service began with the act of remembrance found over at "Prairie Preacher"
Our music for the day were the following hymns:
Make Me a Channel of your Peace
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
Amazing Grace
Walk with Me
I Come with Joy
Joyful, Joyful
And our readings were:
Exodus 14:19 – 31
Psalm 114
Romans 14:1 - 12
Matthew 18: 21 – 35
The Sermon for today:
In Shakespeare’s play the role of the Fool is important to the plot and to the lives of the main characters. Often the Fool speaks the words of truth that would otherwise be missed. In the early 1990’s American comedian Bill Hicks made an observation. He said of our world:
The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose
to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace
There is sometimes a prophetic truth in the words of our jesters and fools. Often they can see more clearly what we cannot, and they and WILL speak the truths we want to overlook. Bill Hicks was no fool, and his words speak a truth – they remind us that we live in a world full of fear.
Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the events known now simply as 9/11 where in 2977 people died, and TRILLIONS of dollars have been spent since in attempts to make us feel more secure and safer in our country. And those numbers don’t account for the untold Billions spent on armed conflict in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere in the world.
According to the Globe and Mail last week Canada has spent 92 BILLION dollars on security since 9/11, and we are about to have a return to the anti-terrorism legislation enacted in the weeks following the horrific events in New York.
Are we any safer? Are we any less afraid?
We continue to live in a world full of fear … and violence … and conflict, and if anything, we feel less secure today than we did 10 years ago.
Yet, there is still a whisper of hope that challenges us – That CALLS us to a better way. It is the whisper that resonates with Hicks’ counsel to step back and see that ‘it’s just a ride’.
In the early 1980’s John Rice, a minister in the United Methodist Church attended a Conference on the effects of Homophobia within the Church. He listened to the stories told by Church members and leaders about how they had been treated within the Church because of their sexual orientation. He listened as minister talked about being removed from their positions, and losing their place in the Church, while others spoke of being denied ordination ALL because of their sexual orientation.
He listened, then later sat down and penned the words of “Walk with me” that we shared a few moments ago … the proclamation of “walk with me, I will walk with you and build the land that God has planned where love shines through …”
What powerful words. What a powerful thought that in the face of the anger, fear and outright violence embodied by homophobia in our society and in our church, John Rice sat down and offered a hopeful, hope filled and faithful vision of what not only COULD be, but what SHOULD be.
We are the Church, we are the body of Christ, we are a community of faith who are called to go into the world and proclaim the transformative power of the Gospel that says over and over “with God all things are indeed possible.”
With God the waters of the Red Sea can be held back and dry land will appear allowing the Israelites to flee to safety.
With God the whole of creation trembles in awe at God’s holy presence.
With God we can forgive not seven times, not seventy times, but seven times seventy … for the legal minded, this is not a concept to be taken literally – that you hit 490 or 4900 or even 49 000 and that’s it, you won’t forgive any more. But rather, it is a concept of forgiveness as something that is without limits. Jesus tossed out a number that was to his audience unimaginably LARGE, and so he wanted them to realize that in faith, you never reached that place where forgiveness was no longer an option. God’s forgiveness, and our’s is limitless.
So with God, all things are indeed possible, and we are called to create a place full of love, overflowing with forgiveness, offering the promise of wholeness and permeated with Holiness … yet, when we look around our sanctuary, our community, our world, and even our own lives we are perhaps wondering where is it?
Where is this Kingdom we keep hearing about and being challenged to embody and share? Where is it?
It is all around us if we dare to open our eyes to it … Bill Hicks, raised in a strong Christian home stepped away from things Church as an adult, but still held to the idea that the ultimate calling of our faith is to set the world free from the nonsense … he likely didn’t realize it, but his view of the world as a ride is perhaps far more faithful than many espoused from Church pulpits … we are ultimately called to be about sharing the Good News – the Gospel of God’s Shalom.
Shalom, not as simply an absence of war and conflict, but Shalom as a life altering, world transforming and conscience changing concept that is far more than just no war.
Scripturally Shalom is a greeting – saying hi. It is a wish for health and wellness you offer to friends, strangers and family members. It is a blessing for a good life and safe journeying during that life. It is a call for good relations between people, communities and nations. It is a call from God for righteousness, fidelity to laws and good government. It is a prayer for tranquilty and contentment. It is the bond of friendship. AND last, but certainly no least Shalom is a descriptor for standing in the very presence of God and having communion with God’s Holy presence …
Shalom is not just one of those things, it is simultaneously ALL of these things. It is an absence of war and conflict, but so much more …
So, as the Church - the very presence of the Risen Christ our world, we are called to not only experience Shalom, but to embody it, and to help create and share it. We are to build the world where God’s love through …
It seems like a daunting task, but it is truly a task we are part of everyday whether we’re aware of it or not. This Kingdom of Shalom stirs when we fall to our knees in prayer … this Kingdom stirs when we take seriously our calling to care for the forgotten and marginalized … this Kingdom stirs when we welcome in the stranger and extend our circle of community in friendship … this Kingdom stirs when we respond to appeals for help from far flung corners of the world … this kingdom stirs when we live our faith with each breath, each moment, each action …
We are called to be the Kingdom of God – a place where God’s love and Shalom pour out into the world in abundance and the first step at realizing and celebrating that truth, is removing from our eyes the lenses of fear that have clouded our vision for too long.
There is no room for fear in faith … faith is about love, compassion, care and most of all SHALOM … and shalom is a transformative power that ebodies those words spoken almost 20 years ago when Bill Hicks ended his stand up routine saying:
we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace
Ten years ago today, our world watched the events of 9/11and we foolishly opted once again to choose fear over love … today as people of faith, our calling is to continue proclaiming the necessity of LOVE. The words of a Holy Fool call us … and it is perhaps time to listen …
May it be so – thanks be to God … Let us pray …
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