Omar Khadr - the Modern Tax Collector

I speak to you in the name of the One, True and Living God. Amen.


- sing – Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
(He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
 for the Lord he wanted to see.
 And as the Savior passed him by,
 He looked up in the tree,
 And he said, "Zacchaeus, you come down from there;
 For I'm going to your house today,
 for I'm going to your house today"

 Zacchaeus came down from that tree,
 as happy as he could be,
 He gave his money to the poor,
 and said: "What a better man I'll be.")


What is it about tax collectors that makes them so attractive to Jesus?

Last week we were told that a tax collector was more deserving of the kingdom of heaven than an openly pious man. This week we hear that Zacchaeus, a man who has become rich by collecting tax for the Romans, has brought salvation to his house.

Why do we keep hearing about tax collectors?

I think that this is one of those times where our world just doesn’t fit with the world of Biblical times. We just don’t have the same kind of person in our society. We don’t have such a perfect target of social hatred.

Or do we?

During the cold war, the equivalent would have been a traitor, especially someone who was selling military secrets just for the money.

But who is it today? We have a perfect example currently in the news. Anyone?


Omar Khadr. Someone who is a citizen of a western country, who was born and grew up here, who goes somewhere else to fight against the west.


Think about how the US military has treated Omar Khadr and you know exactly how the people of Jesus’ time felt about tax collectors. If the people of Judah had not been under the thumb of the Romans, they would gladly have rounded up all the tax collectors and held them without trial until they confessed to being traitors. There was no question about their motives. There was no acceptable excuse for what they had done.


This is why Jesus choses tax collectors. Jesus uses them to show us what is wrong in our society. Jesus uses them to tell us that such an attitude does not fit in the kingdom of heaven.


So what does this tell us about how we should see the Omar Khadrs of the world?

Zacchaeus was a wee little man.

Omar Khadr was a child.

Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham, a member of the people of God.

Jesus tells us that we are all children of God, we are all beloved. Omar Khadr is no different. He is beloved of God.

Jesus tells us that we are to seek out and to save the lost. There is no question that Omar Khadr is one of the lost. He was taken as a child. He was told that God would reward him for killing in the name of God. He was convinced that his home country was his enemy. He was taught to hate.

Omar Khadr became a target for hatred. He is not the real enemy. The real enemy is an idea. The real enemy is the belief that one person can be hurt by someone else’s beliefs, not what they do, but just what they believe. It is this idea which leads to “cleansing wars.” This idea has no place in the Kingdom of God.


Most of us are never going to meet a modern version of a “tax collector.” But this Gospel can still lead us toward the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses the tax collector to show us that the most hated in society are part of God’s people. And if the most hated are included, then all must be included. There is no one who is not welcome at Jesus table. No one is so lost that they cannot be found. We are called to follow Jesus’ teaching. We are called to seek out the lost and bring them back to this (point) table. Back to Church Sunday is past. The invitations should just have started.

And as for Omar Khadr – I hope that he will not continue to be forgotten. I pray that someone will show him that he is beloved. He deserves to know that there is far more power to be found in love than there is in hate.

Thanks be to God.

Are you a Pharisee or a tax collector?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


How many of you here have ever used Facebook?


I’m glad to see I’m not alone. For those of you who do not use Facebook, don’t worry. What I’m going to talk about was around long before it ever hit the internet. In fact they were around long before the internet.


How many of you have ever taken one of those quizzes with titles like “Which character on the Simpsons are you?” (I’m Flanders). One of the latest quizzes going around is “Why is the inquisition after me?” According to that quiz, I practice witchcraft.


Well, today we are going to take a quiz called “Which character am I in today’s parable?” I am going to make a few statements. All you need to do is keep track of whether more of them are true for you or more of them are false. Here we go.


There is only one right way to do things.

If I study hard enough, I can learn the right way.

Some things cannot be forgiven.

Prayer needs to be done in a dignified manner.

Following the rules will make me closer to God.

Being a sinner will make God love me less.

I’m a better Christian than my neighbour who isn’t here.


If you answered true to more often than false, you are a Pharisee. If you answered false more often, you are a tax collector. I have to admit right now that I am a sinner because I envy those of you who can easily answer false to most or all of those statements.

I want most of those to be true. It would make following in Christ’s footsteps much easier.

I would love it if all of my study could have taught me the “right way.” I would love to have a list to follow that would guarantee my place in heaven and God’s favour on Earth.

Unfortunately that’s not the way it works. The only real difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is that the Pharisee cannot see that he is just as broken as the tax collector.

I am broken. I am a sinner. Sometimes I am a Pharisee. I hide behind my knowledge. I do all the right things and I believe that makes me better that those who don’t. When I do that, I am wrong. I am not better. I am just as broken. That is part of what it means to be human.


We – I need to learn from the tax collector. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”


I’m going to make a few more statements. Once again, keep track of your true / false balance.

It is possible to do things right.

If I trust in God, I can find the right way for me.

Some things are easier for me to forgive than others.

The way I pray feels right for me.

Following a set of guidelines makes it easier for me to feel close to God.

I am a sinner and God loves me anyway.

I am committed to trying to follow Christ.


Congratulations. If you answered true to at least one of these statements, you are on your way to being a tax collector.


Being a Pharisee is easy. It is comfortable. It is not dangerous. No one can hurt me when I know I’m right.


Being a tax collector is risky. As a tax collector I have to put myself out there. I have to invite others to attack me. I have to expect that I will do it wrong much of the time.

I have to hope that at least occasionally I am doing it right.

Thanks be to God!

Our Call to DO - And the Reasons Why

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


For about two months now, I have been talking about Back to Church Sunday.

We’ve talked about the studies which tell us that there are lots of people out there who only need to be invited to church by someone who really wants them to come.

We have talked about the huge success it has been in other churches in our own diocese.

We’ve talked about how it will only work if every single one of us commits to making it work. We all have to believe that there are good reasons to come to church. We all have to want our friends and neighbours to be here.

Well, it’s obvious that you believe that church is important. I got nearly ninety responses about this I they are all thoughtful answers.

I got twenty-three answers telling God and me what you are willing to do to show this to the community. Five of those were from people who were here from other communities.

I hate to say it, but I feel like the widow in our Gospel today. Coming to church is a very good thing, but it is empty if it doesn’t carry past that door. At the end of every service, we are called to go out and share the good news. We are called to go out and act on our beliefs. We are called not to just be but to DO!


For the next few minutes, I would like you to think really hard about what each of you are going to DO to share the good news. I don’t want you to tell me what it is. I just want you to do it.

While you do that, I am going to read a list of reasons why church is important. This list comes to me from a very reliable source.

A sharing of beliefs and talents
An expression of my small part in a greater world
Because I am a sinner
Belong to the church and pray for others
Church gives me a sense of the connectedness of all people
church gives me peace
Church to me is a circle of love, peace and joy
Closeness to God
Earthly good
Everyone could pray anywhere, but I need the feel of church and the people around me
Friends
Gathering with the community on a regular basis to share in the common cup
Gives me strength of mind and body
Gives me the spirit
God keeps me coming to church
Going to church gives me a feeling of peace and stability
Going to church makes me feel more a part of our community
Helps comfort me
I am comfortable in church
I am thankful for my family
I believe in God and I like to pray and give thanks to God for everything that he has given us in this world
I come for a sense of community
I come to pray and find it a peaceful place to be with others.
I enjoy being part of a family
I enjoy going to church. It keeps me happy and close to my friends.
I enjoy sermons - able to reflect on their meaning in my life
I enjoy the peace and sense of community it brings
I enjoy the services and the singing.
I enjoy worshiping with friends.
I feel a need to come
I feel at peace when I leave
I feel closer to god and my community
I feel nearer to God and my community
I feel the need occasionally to be with other people at time of prayer
I go to church to gather with others to pray
I go to church to hear the word of God and the prayers.
I keep coming to exercise my love of God in worship
I like to see and hear the lessons that are read and the word of God
I love God my creator
I need church in my life
I need Jesus in my life
I want our children to love church the way I do
I was brought up to go to church
I wish I could see Jesus
If I get up and don't feel like going to church, I talk to myself and say if it was a card game I'd be there, so I go
It begins my week with confidence
It gives me my own beliefs that I can control and cannot be influenced by others
It helps me feel closer to God and to learn more about him
It is a place where everyone gathers and I know I will always see familiar, smiling faces.
It soothes and reassures me
It was God who saved my life from addiction and from congestive heart enlargement
It's our duty
Keeps me whole and fresh
Make me feel good inside
My dad is the priest
My faith in God
My faith is my life
My faith keeps me coming to church
My need for glofifying God
Peace and tranquility
Peace, quiet, connection with God and other people in my community
People feel a need or connection when they go to church
Praise and prayers
Prayers
Respect for parents and other loved ones that cannot be here
Sense of belonging to a spiritual group
Setting an example for others to come
So many blessings to be thankful for
Spiritual guidance and peace
The chance to be with the family of our Father
The even keel it gives my life
The love and friendship of all
The opportunity to serve in any capacity I am able
To do good for my community
To expand my faith
To find comfort in praying in the presence of other people
To give thanks to God.
To hear the word of God
To help in church and parish life
To hold the community together and meed people
To keep me close to God
To partake in the Lord's Supper (obligation)
To please God and do his will
To pray for family and friends
To share my faith with my church family and to pray for others less fortunate
To worship and feel a sense of closeness with my community
To worship God
To worship God and make me feel great
Worship God who gave up his son for me and my sins


What a wonderful list.

Thanks be to God.

The Church has a Place in this Community - Let's Show Everyone

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Does everyone have one of the small pieces of paper and access to a pen or pencil? Good. You will need to use it by the end of my sermon today.


We first started talking about Back to Church Sunday a couple of months ago. Did anyone see anything about Back to Church services in the news in the last two weeks? Did you read about them?

Throughout the diocese, churches held this celebration and continue to do so. Many of them reported having double their normal attendance. On the same day we held our annual blessing of the book bags. That was a huge success too.

Thank you God.


Do you know why these events work? Why they draw people to church?


They work because they mean something to the community. People come to church when it means something to them or to the people who are important to them.

That is what Back to Church Sunday is all about. It is about showing people how church is important to me and to you. It is about helping people to find out how church can be important to them.

Now it’s time for your piece of paper. I need you to write three things on your paper.

1. Your name.
2. In a couple of words or a sentence, how is church important to you.
3. How are you going to show the community what church is about.

While you are doing this, I am going to talk about some of the possibilities for the third part. You can pick one of those that I mention or come up with one of your own.



Please put your piece of paper on the plate as part of your Thanksgiving offering to God.


Prayer Circle
Greeters (St. John’s)
Kid’s activities / kid’s greeter
Coffee / Tea
Writing notes to those who sign the guest book

Readers
Servers
Eucharistic ministers
Visiting (with me or by yourself)
Serving on vestry
Being available to serve on other committees as needed.


We have all been given many blessings in this life. We are all blessed with an abundance from God which we can give back to the glory of God.

Thanks be to God.

By the Waters of Babylon

Loving God, we know that you are there for us in good times and bad. Help us today to acknowledge the pain in our lives and give it to you. Amen.


By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept.
Sometimes life sucks.
There are days when nothing goes right.

As for our harps, we hung them up.
It is hard to rejoice when those we love are sick or dying.

How shall we sing the Lord’s song upon an alien soil?
How can we make ourselves sing when our hearts are breaking?
Sometimes the Lord’s song is a lament.
Sometimes what we have to say to God is full of despair.
Sometimes what we have to say to God is angry.

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
Those days when we feel like staying home, staying in bed, being entirely alone – those are the days when we truly need God.
When we feel the most alone, that is when we need to remember that God is always with us.

Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord, against the people of Edom, who said, “Down with it! down with it! even to the ground!”
Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting.
If we forget what has been done to us, we are fooling ourselves.
To forgive, we need to let it go.
We need to give it to God.

O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy the one who pays you back for what you have done to us!
It is okay to be angry.
It is right to give our anger to God.

Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, and dashes them against the rock!
Our true feelings can be ugly.
There is no safer place to share our feelings and our anger.
God is listening.
God hears us.
God shares in our pain.



Psalm 137

By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, *
  when we remembered you, O Zion.
As for our harps, we hung them up *
  on the trees in the midst of that land.

For those who led us away captive asked us for a song,
and our oppressors called for mirth: *
  ”Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song *
  upon an alien soil?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, *
  let my right hand forget its skill.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you, *
  if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord,
against the people of Edom, *
  who said, ”Down with it! down with it!
  even to the ground!”
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, *
  happy the one who pays you back
  for what you have done to us!

Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, *
  and dashes them against the rock!


Please keep your copy of the psalm at hand during today’s meditation. Refer to it as often as you wish, particularly during the third song (psalm 137 as found in the Czech-language Bible of Kralice.)


By the Waters of Babylon – David Drury (Russian)
By the Waters of Babylon I Drove My Car – Dudley Saunders
Ten Biblical Songs, Op. 99: No. 7 – Antonin Dvorak

Is Jesus really telling us to be like Robin Hood?

May the Words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Sometimes what we read in the Bible just doesn’t make any sense at all. Today in our Gospel reading we have a parable about a rich man. This isn’t unusual. There are a bunch of parables about rich men. There are even some other parables about rich men asking for an accounting of what they have entrusted to others. This is not the odd part.


The manager in this story has every right to be afraid of what will happen when he becomes unemployed. A rich man’s manager was better than a tax collector, but not by much. The only real difference between a manager and a tax collector was that the manager didn’t work for the Romans.


I can even understand the manager’s reason for slashing the bills of the debtors. While he still has the power to do it, he makes friends with the people by reducing what they owe. Kind of like a bank manager who knows they are going to be fired going through the accounts and removing all the service charges for the people who live near them. It’s not illegal. They have the power to do that if they feel it is justified, but under the circumstances it is more than a little questionable.


What I cannot understand is the rich man’s reaction. “And the rich man commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” Why is the rich man commending his manager instead of being angry with him for squandering the master’s wealth? In our other parables like this the master gets at least upset with their less productive servants, but in this one the master thinks he did the right thing.


What am I missing?

Context. This story does not fit easily into our current context. Many stories in the Bible do not fit easily into our lives. This can make them really difficult to make sense of. It can also lead us down paths of meaning that the writers never intended.

If we were to take today’s Gospel and try to force it into our lives without looking beneath the surface meaning of the words I read a few minutes ago, the good news given to us would look something like this.

“Go out into the world and give away things that do not belong to you.”

This could clearly be found in the gospel according to Robin Hood, but it doesn’t sound like Jesus.

Sometimes context is everything. That is why we have started reading introductions before our Old and New Testament readings. These introductions put help us to understand the world, or rather worlds, of our Bible.

Sometimes the Gospel needs to be put in context too. Today, I think it would really help. Even with all my Biblical education I had to look this one up before it made any sense.

It was against the law for a Jew to charge another Jew interest. There was, however, a way around this law. The manager could lend say 50 jugs of olive oil to someone. He would give them a bill saying that they owed 100 jugs of olive oil. There is never any discussion of interest, that is just what it will cost the person to get the things that they need right now instead of waiting until they can pay for them.

An “honest” manager would pass all of this profit on to his master. A “dishonest” manager would keep some or all of it for himself.

Now this story means something else entirely. The master isn’t commending the manager for stealing from him. He is applauding a shrewd business decision. The manager has given back to the debtors the goods that he wouldn’t be able to collect anyway after losing his job. The rich man is still going to collect what is due to him.

Jesus is not telling us to steal from the rich and give to the poor. He is telling us to give back those things that don’t belong to us anyway.

Jesus is talking to us about repentance.

This leaves us with a very different question each of us need to think about. What is my dishonest wealth? What do I have in my life at the expense of someone else? What have I become at the expense of someone else?

And then – how can I give it back in a way that makes things better?

We are human. We make mistakes. We hurt others. By the grace of God, we can return to God and make things better.

Thanks be to God.

Just Who Are God's People Anyway?

I speak to you in the name of the God who made us, the God who nourishes us, the God who never abandons us. Amen.


Just who are God’s people anyway?


The easy answer is us.

It’s true too.

We are God’s people. We gather here in his name to honour him and to be fed through his holy mysteries. We give of our resources of time and money to see that God’s work is done here in this community and throughout the world. At the end of the service I will send you out to continue to live life as God calls you to live it. Just before we share communion I even say: “The gifts of God for the People of God.”

We are God’s people.


But are we alone? Are we God’s only people?

No. It’s easy to see that there are more of God’s people around. Some of you have even married them. There are the United folk, the Presbyterians, the Roman Catholics, just to name the most common denominations around here. They, and all who follow Christ, are God’s people too.

We Christians are God’s people.


But are we alone? Are only Christians God’s people?

What makes someone one of God’s people?

Do they have to be free of sin? Do they have to avoid working for Revenue Canada? Not according to today’s Gospel. Jesus kept company with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus sought out those very people whom the “godly” avoided.

Do they have to be the right gender? Or the right social class? Jesus is quite clear about this too. If anything, it is easier to hear God’s call if you are in some way disadvantaged. The more elite you are in your society, the more distractions you have to pull you away from God.

Nothing we are or do makes us one of God’s people. It is by the grace of God that God names us as his. Not only that, but we cannot break God’s love for us. In our reading from first Timothy, we hear Paul’s voice telling us about God’s love. “Even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence” … “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Paul was not short of knowledge about Jesus. He knew a great deal about him and believed very little of it. Paul’s ignorance was of the vast scope of God’s love. He believed that he was one of God’s people. He found out just how much God loved him.

This love is what makes a person one of God’s people. Jesus makes it quite clear that everyone, whether they believe or not, is beloved of God. There is not a single person in creation who is not one of God’s people.


We are all here because we have been called as Paul was called. We have been shown God’s love in many different ways. We are called to share that experience. This is called “evangelism.”
When I was growing up, I spent considerable time with some of my cousins from Southern California. Their parents attended Pentecostal churches. They were Evangelists and they called me their favourite heathen. Their parents watched carefully to make sure that they didn’t start to believe the same things as I did and that they tried to “enlighten” me. This is not evangelism.


Evangelism is sharing the good news of God’s love in the way we act, both inside and outside of these walls. Evangelism is helping others to realize that God loves them too, that they are never alone. Evangelism is about opening ourselves up and letting others see what God has done for us.


At the end of October, we will be celebrating Back to Church Sunday. Evangelism is what this celebration is all about.

It is not about letting people know how much they need our church in their community. It is not about trying to build up dwindling numbers. It is definitely not about improving the offering.

Back to Church Sunday is about they shepherd going out in search of that one lost sheep. It is about going out to find that one precious person of God who is ready to see God’s love.


If even one person discovers the love of God, we will have succeeded whether that person comes to church with us or not.

If we can keep God’s love in our hearts and truly believe that God loves everyone, we will be a place where they want to come when they are ready.

Thanks be to God.