Sacramental Life

Holy God, help us to find your truth through human words.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Once again we are asked to listen to Wisdom.  But what is Wisdom and how do we hear it?  Does Wisdom have the same message for everyone?

My answer for that last question would probably be yes and no.  Today I am going to share some of my thoughts about Wisdom.  I am not going to try to define Wisdom or to tell you what Wisdom says to me.

 

Our first question.  When I believe that I have discovered or understood some bit of God’s Wisdom is it helpful to share it with others?  Yes.  I find that talking to others about important things helps me to understand them better: to explore what they mean and to determine if they are truly important or just seemed so at the time.  It helps me to refine my understanding: to keep the wheat and discard the chaff.

I don’t believe that I have the right to keep God’s Wisdom to myself.  It isn’t mine to keep.  I am also sure that I am not perfect in identifying God’s Wisdom.  No one is.  The only way I can be sure that I have found some of it is to keep looking, to keep paying attention.

Second question.  Is it helpful to receive Wisdom that someone else has discovered. … Absolutely!  It does not always have the same meaning to me.  In fact it seldom does.  But the Wisdom found by others usually leads me to my own discoveries.  Even if I absolutely do not agree with what someone else sees as Wisdom from God I can learn about myself from that contrast.  I also have to remember that I may be the one who is wrong or that neither one of us is wrong.  There is a wonderful book called “You don’t have to be wrong for me to be right” by the orthodox Jewish Rabbi, Brad Hirschfield which explores the idea that everyone is a child of God.  We may be called by God in different ways, but we are all called by God.  Trying to understand what someone else believes and why they believe it can only help me understand better what I believe and why.

Third question.  How do I look for Wisdom?  Mostly I look for Wisdom by paying close attention to the world around me.  I try to live into the idea that every moment the world may reveal some aspect of God to me.  I often don’t succeed at this but I try.  This is part of what is called living a sacramental life.  Conducting ones life with the understanding that everything that we have is a gift from God and everything we do is a gift to God.  Every moment is an opportunity to draw closer to God.  The sacraments of the church are focussed examples of this.

Each of the sacraments tells us something about God’s call to us, about how we are reflections of God.  For example: in baptism, we find that we are called to be part of a community.  We are expected to care for each other.  To teach each other.  To support each other.  To love each other.  To come together and do all of this as a group exploring our faith together.  This insight into baptism is by no means complete.  We could do an extensive workshop on baptism, or on any sacrament for that matter, and still only touch on what it means.  This is part of the glory of God’s gift to the church.

 

Now what does all of this have to do with what we read together this morning?  James says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  I think this is a perfect quote to summarise sacramental living.  It tells us just how we can look for Wisdom.  God is always looking for ways to connect with us.  Unfortunately the society we live in teaches us to look for ways to disconnect.  I feel absolutely blessed by being here, North of Smokey, where this much less true that back in Vancouver.  Still, it happens.  I have to remind myself that it is only a short walk to get to the co-op and that I don’t need to drive.  By walking I remain part of the world I am moving through.  By getting into the car I isolate myself from it.  At the same time, the distance between Neil’s Harbour and Ingonish gives us the idea that we are separate from each other.  That same car eliminates the reality of this separation but we still act as if it was a two hour walk.

Every time we draw near to another person we draw near to God.  Every time we draw near to someone that we don’t know very well we learn something new about God, after all we are, each and every one of us, made in God’s image.

This brings us back to Wisdom.  How do we recognize Wisdom in each other and in the world around us?

Wisdom is more precious that jewels.

We trust Wisdom in our heart.
Wisdom does only good, never harm.
Wisdom works with willing hands.
Wisdom provides for us.
Wisdom never sleeps.
Wisdom makes the best use of what is available.
Wisdom is always worthwhile.
Wisdom keeps us clothed and safe.
Wisdom provides for those in need.
Wisdom perseveres in difficult times.
Wisdom can be recognized in those who embrace her.
Wisdom can be passed on to others.
Wisdom preserves the dignity of all.
Wisdom is never confusing.
Wisdom is constantly active.
Following Wisdom leads to rejoicing.
There are many good teachings but the teaching of Wisdom is better than all others.
Wisdom is not always the easiest or most appealing choice.
Wisdom is truly the most divine spouse that any of us could possibly have.  As we draw nearer to God, we find that God has already drawn near to us.

Thanks be to God!

No One and Nothing Left Behind

How was your summer?  I hear linger by the sea was a great success.

We had a great August.  Good family time.

Well now summer is over.  Many of our friends who summer here have gone away.  The kids are back in school.  The rain and the wind have come.  Everyone is starting to settle into their fall routines.  Life is getting back to normal.

Our readings today would be easy to interpret in the summer.  During the summer we would be talking about paying attention to each other and forgetting about the strangers among us.  These readings are not nearly as comfortable once the tourists have gone.

All of our readings warn us not to neglect anyone for any reason.  Poverty, disease, age, because we just don’t like them.  Even Jesus had to be reminded … Syrophoenician woman.

Who deserves our care?

Meetings to develop a community safety plan for N of Smokey.

Support each other.  No one left out.  No community left out.

Good start, but I think we need to go much further.  Has anyone heard of Silent Spring?  (by Rachel Carson about the dangers of over use of pesticides such as DDT, published 50 years ago, led to the modern environmentalist movement and the EPA, she was sued by Monsanto and others for publishing it)

Our actions and our inactions, things done and left undone, have consequences. ….

And so we pray – Gracious God, we give you thanks for this wonderful community that you have put in our care.  Help us always to be mindful of the needs of your people and show us how to care for your creation.  This we ask in Jesus name.  Amen.

Temptation and the Armour of God

Temptation – Armour of God
August 26, 2012 - Sandy Cove

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Last week I spoke about representing God to the best of our abilities.
This week I will speak about one way that God helps us.

 

Temptation … we live as broken people in a broken world full of temptations.

Some of mine are procrastination, logic puzzles, sci-fi / fantasy books / movies / TV.
Some of yours …?

Most temptations, like most things in life are OK in moderation.

What do we do when they begin to rule our lives?  (Adiction)

Reformation – Michael Sattler – Schleitheim Confession … Led to the Baptist and Mennonite denominations.  Those who follow it most strictly resist temptation by shutting themselves away from the outside world … think of the Amish and Anabaptists.

I think they missed the point of the Armour of God.

Paul is telling the Ephesians not to avoid temptation, but rather to accept it as part of our lives and to depend on God to help us live in the midst of it.

Long before 12 step programs, Jesus told us that we can’t do it alone.  With God’s help … give in to temptation in moderation because we are human … resist and recover from our addictions (we all have them) and be beacons of hope to the rest of the world … representing the power of God in our lives.