On Entering the Kingdom of Heaven

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.' Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell - and great was its fall!" Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

One of the most enjoyable things about the Christian community (in the widest sense) is that we share our faith with men and women who lived thousands of years ago, and use (mostly) the same holy texts to serve as a guide in our spiritual practice. Although we are nearly two thousand years away from the words that were written in the New Testament (and even more than that for the Old Testament!), we have fellow sojourners who were much closer in time (and worldview) that have recorded many of their connections and interpretations. Often, these readings are quite different from the connections and conclusions I'd come to on my own simply because folks don't read in the same way now as they did in the first few centuries of Chistianity.

This week, however, there's nothing novel about the connection that Justin Martyr and Origen (who wrote in the second and third century respectively) make between this week's reading from Matthew 7 and a later portion of Matthew's Gospel - it's just that I wouldn't have thought to go there. Given that Matthew 7 is the conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the natural tendency for me would be to reflect on what Jesus has said already rather than look ahead to what he will say. And as we've seen over the last several weeks, what Jesus has said hasn't always been easy to understand! Now he's talking about who will enter the kingdom of heaven, so things sure aren't getting any easier:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

The obvious question is, "What does it look like to do the will of the Father?" Jesus just finished saying that describing him as "Lord" isn't enough by itself. He then tells us that prophesying, casting out demons in his name, and working miracles aren't sure signs either. These things were (and are) so often considered signs of God's power and blessing that it must have been astonishing to hear the miracle-worker himself turn the tables! And to top it off, he doesn't actually give his listeners an answer! As with so many of his teachings, the listener is called on to reflect.

This would be a suitable enough place to conclude. Jesus has just finished some very difficult teachings and now calls on his hearers to struggle with the most difficult parts. An yet, since the connection that Justin and Origen make to Matthew 25 doesn't make the process any easier, it seems to me that it's well worth looking at:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then 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; for 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, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And 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.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The otherworldly (angels and demons; eternal punishment and eternal life) and paternalistic (Father; Lord; King) elements in this passage don't make this an easy read for modern ears, but the teaching offers tremendous insight into what Jesus believed to be the will of God: compassion. And not just pulled heartstrings, but actually doing something for those who are hungry, thirsty, alone, naked, sick, or imprisoned. There's a bit (okay, maybe more than a bit) of cognitive dissonance for when I embrace a man calling on me to be sacrificially compassionate... or else! but dwelling on that would be an excuse for me to ignore the ways in which I (and the society in which I live) ignore or even exploit the very people Jesus is talking about. Dealing with that is much more difficult.

February 23, 2011 – First Things First –‘action’ and ‘faith in God’

As I read the bible passage and your note Will my first thoughts are of the simple phrase that I have heard on and off over the years – ‘let go and let God’.  

For me that phrase is another way of conveying the message in the passage  of  ‘For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.’  We can worry about a lot of things, or want something we don’t have – does worrying over it help?  No. Lifting up the need to God in prayer and remembering that God knows our needs is an issue of faith.  Putting worry aside isn’t that easy, if it were, none of us would be anxious about a thing in life! Right!!

I do think that there has to be a balance in life, and priority. It is easy to assume ‘let go and let God’ should be interpreted as a call to forego ‘agency’ or ‘action’ in your life, for ‘complacency’ or ‘inaction’ because ‘God will take care of it’.  Another interpretation, and my own approach to that balance and priority is to put God first and ‘let God’ lead you, which allows you to ‘let go’ and move forward in faith.

Verse 34, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” speaks to me about living for today, and the present circumstances and dealing with issues as they arise.  Again, do I just confine my thoughts to living today, and not worrying about my future?  No.  I read this passage as a call to not let worry consume my life.  If I did, I would probably be stuck in inaction….waiting for the worry to be over……..   Again, faith is needed.

In the church I don’t think that we can approach the growth of the church community simply worrying about the finances, and forgetting about the spiritual health and wealth of our congregation members.  I think that if we look after the spiritual ‘wealth’ of our congregation so that they can engage in the work that we are called to do as a congregation then opportunities to tend to and provide for the financial health and wealth of the congregation will emerge.  Again, faith is needed.

The ‘consider the lilies of the fields’ passage isn’t calming at all or simply a matter of sitting back to ‘smell the roses’.  Where do ‘action’ and ‘faith in God’ start and end……or intersect….or are they on a continuum?

Deborah

First Things First

We are coming to the end of our series, "The Heart of Christianity" based on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew's gospel. This week we hear the oft-quoted, "Consider the lilies of the fields..." passage. http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+6:24-34&vnum=yes&version=nrsv Here's one that speaks pretty much directly to our market driven mad mad world. "You can't serve God and wealth." "Don't worry about what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear." "Seek first the Kingdom of God..." and everything else will be ok. So how do we actually do this? Am I supposed to just not pay attention to RRSP season? Is this a simple "don't worry- be happy" message or is there more to it.
Some would say that this is a question of balance. If you get too obsessed with material things, then your life will become materialistic. But if you aschew material things, your life can become unmanagable. It is a question of balance.
However, I think it is a question of priority. Seek first! Seek first and foremost that you have your heart in the right place, that when push comes to shove, you will choose a light hold on stuff and a firm hold on God. I am guessing that I will run out of money before I run out of time in this life, and I am hoping that having lived well, all will, indeed be well.
And what about our communities of faith. Do we "seek first" to pay off the mortgage, to deal with the deficit, or do we seek first to be in line with our calling and trust that, with enough commitment, the mortgage and the deficit will not sink us. This is hard stuff for us personally and for us as churches. Sorry folks. No simple message of "Don't worry, be happy" here.

Monday on Wednesday

So you will notice that Sun day's sermon is not archived yet. This is because there was no "sermon" on Sunday. There was however a great celebration of the ministry at Northwood in all it's diversity and colour. I will post the link to the introduction to that celebration based on the "Bread not Stone" quote from Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. It is genuine nourishing bread we seek to offer and share here at Northwood. Sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically, but always genuinely. Now the task is to find a way that the children of Libia get a renewed diet of bread not stone.

^{So it is Wednesday and I am posting my tuesday post giving you scriptures to think about and offering my first thoughts for the coming week. We comtinue our look at the Sermon on the Mount but this week we step out of order because at Northwood we are gathering as a community for our annual meeting. I have "cherry picked" a set of teachings from later in the sermon for us to hold alongside our work as a community, Matthew 7:7-14. Here it is:
7}“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? ¹⁰Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
¹²“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. ¹³“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Clearly Matthew is gathering disperate bits of teaching and stringing them together, not because they form a thematic whole but more likely because they were seen as authentic to Jesus and bearing the mark of the master.
For me, here is where the Sermon on the Mount shows Jesus' teaching style- the master of the one line zinger. The golden rule, the narrow gate, standing at the door and knocking, give bread not stone. These are the kinds of one liners that you can walk around with in your pocket, folk wisdom to orient your days around. And on the annual meeting day, we ask, how is it that we are offering bread, and not stone? How is it that what we offer at Northwood is a reflection of the genuine generosity of God. Are we taking the narrow way or the "Broadway?"

An ethic of the heart... and a little fire

I asked Scott on Sunday evening, "So what are your thoughts on the sermon from this morning?" Basically, he agreed with my biblical analysis and thought I stepped back from the more gut churning parts of Jesus' message. Fair comment. Take a look at the scriptures, the sermon and see what you think. Upon reflection I gave little air time to the provocative way Jesus was speaking. "If your hand offends, cut it off?" Really? "Consigned to hte fires of hell?" Really?
Yes, Jesus is saying following the rules is not enough. Not nearly enough! Having utterly righteous intentions is where he is going and he bates his opponents with wild speach. Yes, he is saying look to your heart for true righteousness, but he is saying it with a kind of fire in his eye that might be a little scary.

"Litany" by Billy Collins recited by a 3 year old!!! Amazing

Earlier in the week I posted Billy Collin's poem "Litany." Here it is recited by a three year old. Oh to have such young and supple grey matter!!! In wonder and awe...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVu4Me_n91Y

Dan's Prayer page begins

Look up... way up... to the top of the page where you will find Dan Hearty's "Prayers with the Choir." Each week Dan writes a prayer to begin the choir practise. I have found them gentle, whimsical, and in the ebb and flow, sometimes whirlwind of life, grounding. Prayer is an intimate thing and public prayer a risky thing. These prayers ring with Dan's authentic voice, and I am grateful that he is willing to share them so freely with you.

"The Heart of Christianity: re-writing the rules"

Let me put a few situations out into the mix. Deborah wrote yesterday, "what internal framework do we each use as tools to sort through ‘sticky situations’ and make the ethical choices? Are those frameworks similar or very different? What part does experience play in helping us to set ethical boundaries?" Great question Deborah, and we only know for sure what our framework is as we expeirence, and pay attention not so much to how we would like to be making choices but how we are actually doing so.
It seems to me Jesus is re-interpretting the ancient rules, re-working the way rules are applied and choices are being made. "You have heard it said...., but I say...." And I believe everyone must to do exactly that. We all "hear it said" that some things are right and some things are wrong, and at a certain point we have to finish the sentence for ourselves (But I say ...). Yes Deborah. Experience, along with scripture, tradition, reason, and a whole lot of conversation teaches us what we wil say, and do.
Hmm... Brings to mind a prayer.  "May the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, and the actions of our lives be acceptable in your sight O God, our strength and our redeemer."

First Thoughts for Sunday Feb. 13th

This is the third week in a five week series based on the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, called "The Heart of Christianity." We are exploring the core of the open hearted way of Jesus as Matthew gathered it together in this amazing collection. Today we read the rest of chapter 5, verses 21-48.
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+5:21-37&vnum=yes&version=nrsv
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Matthew+5:38-48&vnum=yes&version=nrsv
There is a common, fairly cynical perception out there that most politicians lack integrity. They say one thing during election time and do another the rest of the time. Often Christians are accused of something similar kind of hypocracy, holding strong convictions on Sundays that we can't live up to in the rest of life. I have a friend who once said, "Of course I'm a hypocrite, and I know it. I'm a Christian." Jesus set the ethical bar really high, and none of us attain it. That is why grace is so important.
This week, we see just how high he set that ethical bar. This is his arguement to those who say he is watering down the law. He picks a series of hot button issues: anger and conflict, lust and sex outside of marriage, divorce, punishment (eye or an eye and all that), treatment of enemies. Each time he lays out the common teaching, and then offers his approach, and each time, his approach does two things: it sets the bar higher, and it sets the bar inside the person, in your heart and mind.
So Jesus' ethics are not about meeting the letter of the law, the outer requirements, but meeting the spirit of the law, the inner requirement. That makes ethics a spiritual practise.
At first reading, these teachings feel harsh, unrealistic, super-human. There is no way I can measure up. But is it a question of  "measuring up" or a question of the inner world lining up with the outer world? What do you think?

Monday's look back

Ok, perhaps this is tuesday's look back, but here it is with a little add on.

The Heart of Christianity: Who are you?"

"You are the salt of the earth... you are the light of the world."
Who tells you who you are? Do your parents? Does your boss? How about your teacher, or your children, your spouse? Does the market tell you that you are not enough? Does anyone tell you that you are  too much? Who tells you who you are?
Jesus gathered with his friends and said, you are not what they will try to turn you into. You are not what they will paint you out to be. You are who God says you are. You are salt, invisibly within, perserving, taste-giving. You are light, making visible what can't be seen, giving light to darkness.
The Heart of Christianity is an identity given not by anyone, even ourselves, but given by God, and that is such a good thing.
Here is an addendum, a lovely stroll down a slightly different path. Billy Collins writes about our identity, the things we are and the things we are not in "Litany." Check out the Youtube link as well

You are the bread and the knife,

the crystal goblet and the wine.

You are the dew on the morning grass

and the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker

and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,

the plums on the counter,

or the house of cards.

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.

There is just no way you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,

maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,

but you are not even close

to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show

that you are neither the boots in the corner

nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,

speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,

that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,

the evening paper blowing down an alley,

and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees

and the blind woman's tea cup.

But don't worry, I am not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow-- the wine.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVu4Me_n91Y

Happy New Year

Greetings Word in the World followers,

We have made it through a season of Celebration and we begin a new year. In our Scripture readings each Sunday that means that we are into the season of Epiphany this Sunday and looking for insight.

In September we launched this blog style bible discussion format as something of an experiment. The goal was to engage with people in discussions rooted in scripture but branching into our lives in the world. We had hoped that the online format would engage people who could not attend a bible study at the church, and that the format would inspire a different kind of reflection.

So, here we have a new year and an opportunity to look at this experiment anew. We would love your feedback on ways of doing online biblical discussion that would not only meet your needs but would engage others in reflection and discussion. What works well? What doesn't? What changes would enrich both the format and the content.

Over the next two weeks we will review this experiment and make changes. Please consider and offer feedback. I will be back with my biblical reflections on January 18th.

Peace, Will