The Prayer of Jesus Matthew 6:5-13, Luke 24:28-35 November 18, 2018

Next week, November 25 is known as "Reign of Christ" Sunday - the last Sunday of the liturgical year before we begin Advent and another cycle. This week November 18 sets us up for looking at the 'reign of Christ' through the lens of the Lord's Prayer.
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Several years ago, 2007 to be exact, I left the Lord’s Prayer out of the service. You would have thought I had cancelled church altogether. There were mutterings about the Lord’s Prayer being taken out of  schools, and now being taken out of churches too. One gentleman said there was no point coming to church if we didn’t have that prayer –so I asked him if there were restrictions on saying it whenever he liked. His response was it belonged in church. I asked why. He had no answer.

So that congregation learned what many congregations don’t realise –that when a question like that is raised, they need to have an answer. I challenged that congregation to tell me why the Lord’s Prayer was so important that it needed to be in every service. Not right there on the spot, of course, but after they had thought about it for awhile. Interestingly, no one took up the challenge. I let it go several weeks.

Right when they thought I’d forgotten about it, I did a series of four sermons exploring the history, language and use of this prayer. This sermon is a combination of two of those –and explores the prayer in the language Jesus spoke - Aramaic. I’ve said often that this is the most profound prayer - and if congregations really understood it, it would frighten them. So I want you to think about the words and how profound they really are, each and every time you say it.

And it’s critical to remember that the prayer we have today is a translation from Hebrew to Greek to English. The Bible was not written in English, and it’s pretty well accepted that the beloved King James was not an accurate translation. Anyone who speaks another language knows that there aren’t always parallel words in each language. About twenty years ago Norio translated a book by Reginald Bibby – called“Mosaic Madness”- into Japanese. English phrases were used which don’t exist in Japanese, either as words or as concepts, so words had to be made up to convey the meaning. Every single time we translate, meaning shifts a little.

Here’s a very simple example. In Hebrew, ‘ruach’ means Spirit, breath. Translating into German, Spirit became ‘geist’ or ghost –the phrase Holy Ghost’. But ’ghost’, spirit and breath’ aren’t quite the same.

Jesus was a devout practicing Jew; everything he said and did arose from his traditions. He would have learned to pray first from Mary. The first prayer a Hebrew mother teaches is 'Into your hands, O God, I commend my spirit' - to be said before falling asleep, and before death. Jesus used these words on the cross before death –every Jew used those words before sleeping, and before death. Jesus would have heard Mary at sunset on the Sabbath eve, blessing the lamps, 'Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the Universe, who has given us your commandments and bids us light the Sabbath lights'. He would have heard Joseph say 'Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the Universe, who has given us this bread to eat, this wine to drink, fruit of the earth, of the vine, and the work of human hands'.

 

Jesus’ disciples asked to be taught how to pray, and he gave them a very Jewish prayer. It was, in fact, quite commonplace for teachers to give prayers to their followers, particularly beginning or ending a teaching session. The Gospel of Matthew gives the prayer in rather crude Greek, behind which one can sense the Hebrew, Matthew 6:9-15:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

In Luke's sophisticated, yet far simpler, Greek version, 11: 2-4, this becomes:

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.

Mark gives us instead the Jewish Prayer of the Good Name, the Sh\ma ,12:29-31: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.’, then speaks of God’s name as blessed, and the kingdom as enduring for ever; then adds to it the prayer of loving God with all one's heart, mind, soul, and strength, from the blessed Tau Prayer (which is over the threshold of Jewish homes since the Exodus), and one's neighbour as oneself - phrases taken directly from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The Lord's Prayer echoes Jewish prayers to God, hallowing God’s holy name, speaking of the kingdom, and of the Jubilee - a forgiving of all debts, freeing of all slaves.

It is, in fact, not a very original prayer; it is a combination of formulas which were in circulation among Hasidic Jews. The first part, for the coming of God’s realm, echoes the Kaddish - the prayer for the dead – ‘May his great name be hallowed in the world which he created, according to his will, and may he establish his Kingdom, speedily and soon.’

The whole of the formula  ‘Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven’ expressed one idea common to Jews - that the Messianic kingdom would appear quickly, and always subject to the will of God. Heaven was not  “out there” ...heaven was where we belong, here and now, here on earth.

Back to the Kaddish, that the realm of God would be established quickly and at a near time. The realm is not a place or system, but a state of being, in which the sacred and holy gives meaning to everything. We pray that we may be brought into a state of being ‘in tune’ (thy will be done), that in the choir of the universe, we aren’t found to be singing flat!

There are then petitions in this prayer:  First, ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.’. In this understanding, heaven literally comes to earth. They are not two separate places. The word ‘tzevyanach’ can be translated as ‘will’, but not in the sense of willpower, or strength of will. Rather it means ‘heart’s desire’, harmonious cooperation among all things. Heaven and earth are one, from potential to actual. ‘Arha’ means ‘earth’, and may be the root of our word. It carries the meaning of  ‘all nature, all natural gatherings of mass and form produced by the universal force - power with movement.”

The second petition is ‘Give us this day our daily bread...’ The word for bread is ‘lachma’, but the word also means ‘understanding’. So substitute that into the sentence - give us the understanding we need for today. Or, give us the food for all forms of growth and for elementary life in general. The root of the word demonstrates growing vigour, green-ness, passion, possibility, and generative power. It became the word ‘hochma’ which in Proverbs translates as ‘Holy Wisdom’, the breath, and the embodiment of the feminine principle in everything. This reminds us that as well as the grand picture of unity in creation, we also need just food or understanding for the moment. It stands within the context of Messianic expectation, and is quite radical. It is reminiscent of Solomon praying ‘give us our apportioned bread’, or give us what we need for today. It makes a strong comment about having more than we need, over against those who have less. It doesn’t ask God to fill us up with everything we want - it says clearly give us what we need. Implicit in that is sharing what we have with others who need more than we do.

On another level it refers to something outside of the physical needs of the world. The Greek word used means something close to ‘the stuff we need to survive’, or ‘give us today tomorrow’s bread’ - and can possibly be read as ‘give us a foretaste of the bread of heaven’ where the universe is drawn together as one.

In the first part of the prayer we remember our blessings from the cosmos. In the second part we move to a new cycle of blessing, facing each other and remembering that we are all part of the divine Many, pointing to the earth which stands under and supports us. So if we live out the prayer, we treasure the source of the bread by not hoarding or demanding more from the earth than we need. That means we are, in fact, creation centred and aware of our >footprint= on the earth, now and into the future.

‘Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us –‘

Not only can the word ‘washboqlan’ be translated as ‘forgive’, it can also be ‘return to original state’, ‘reciprocally absorb’, ‘embrace with emptiness’. The prayer reaffirms that our original state is clear and unburdened, releasing those things which tie us down and prevent our growth. While Matthew’s version of the prayer translated the word as ‘debts’ or ‘offences’, it also means ‘hidden past’, ‘secret debt’ any negative ‘inner fruit’. Luke’s version can be ‘sins’, but could also be ‘failures’, ‘mistakes’, ‘accidental offences’ or even ‘frustrated hopes.’

Two dispirited disciples trudge along a road, all the stuffing taken out of them. How many times they must have walked the road from Emmaus to Jerusalem and back again. A stranger meets them on the road, and begins to talk - and they pour out their hearts and end up in tears. They reach their home in Emmaus, and persuade him to stay rather than walk a dangerous road after dark. A simple meal is set out on the table, and the stranger picks up the bread and says Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha olam, hamotzi lechem min haartez.....”, breaks and shares it.

The stranger breaks bread and suddenly they do know him; in both the meeting and the meal, their needs are met. They are fed with the spiritual bread they need, and then they sit down and feed their bodies. I cannot help but see action in this prayer. It is a symbol of the realm of God, in the here and now - on the everyday road of life, the road we travel so often, sometimes without thinking. How often do we pick up bread and just stuff it in. How often do we trust that we have enough? That we have been fed?

It isn’t enough, for me, to put the words into the liturgy just because they’ve always been there. ‘Because we’ve always done that’ isn’t good enough. It seems to us a simple prayer –but it wasn’t and isn’t. It was a radical prayer meant to change lives.. Jesus always, always pushed his followers not to be complacent, and it is the role of preachers to push you sitting in the pews not to be complacent, even if it makes us unpopular. We cannot afford to just sing or say the words. The whole intent of the prayer and the actions we take is to make us new people, in the realm of God, in the here and now.

O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos

Focus your light within us—make it useful.

Create your reign of unity now— through our fiery hearts and willing hands.

Help us love beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.

Animate the earth within us:  we then feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.

Untangle the knots within so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.

Don't let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.

Out of you, the astonishing fire, returning light and sound to the cosmos. Amen.

Sources: 1. www.jewishencyclopedia.com

2. Religion and Ethics: The Lord’s Prayer www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/prayer (Archbishop Rowan Williams)   3. Prayers of the Cosmos  - Neil Douglas-Klotz

"Remembrance” A Sermon based on Ecclesiastes 3 and Micah 4 Remembrance Day November 11, 2018

Play Gabriel’s Oboe

Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?  So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

Micah 4 But when all is said and done, God’s Temple on the mountain, firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains, towering above surrounding hills. People will stream to it and many nations set out for it, saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain. Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God – who will teach us how to live. We’ll know how to live God’s way.”

True teaching will issue from Zion, God’s revelation from Jerusalem. Justice will be established in the rabble of nations and settle disputes in faraway places. They’ll trade in their swords for shovels, their spears for rakes and hoes. Nations will quit fighting each other, quit learning how to kill one another. Each man will sit under his own shade tree, each woman in safety will tend her own garden. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so, and he means what he says.

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The Book of Ecclesiastes is part of a genre of writing in the Hebrew Scripture known as Wisdom Literature, which also includes Job, Proverbs, Psalms are other examples. This particular passage is most often read at funerals, but the more I hear it the more I wonder if we are hearing it with the right pair of ears. We tend to hear it as if everything is preceded by “God has ordained........” as if everything is out of our hands, as if it’s going to happen no matter what we do - and I am not convinced that’s what the passage means.

Ecclesiastes is a pen-name which means ‘preacher’ or ‘teacher’; and in this case the writer was pessimistic about life, politics, God, people - everything;

So for the writer  - the world is hopeless; and yet he says people are going to kill, but someone will come along who tries to bring life. A time to tear down and a time to build up -  but in the end it is all a test that God gives to prove humans are animals.

Does God cause war, and then the process of peace? Is this something God will do without us? Or is this something God will do together with us, once we have the will? Does planting just happen by itself, and harvesting? Or is it something we have to work at? Does loving and hating happen by itself? Does God make us hate? Does peace just happen? Is it just the absence of violence? Or is it a collective choice?

I think peace will only happen when people have such a collective desire for war to be ended that there will be no other option, and there will be the will to make it happen. It is not that the differences between nations cannot be overcome - it is that we make choices, and get so attached to believing in the rightness of our way, that we cannot see beyond those things to a different way of being and doing.

It seems to me that this passage is a perfect description of the human condition, and I suspect that was at the root of the pessimism in Ecclesiastes. For each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die - and there are times between birth and death where we have a life to live; when there is death we mourn and where there is new life we celebrate. But we also make choices in the life we are given..” The book of Deuteronomy says - “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

Look at the second part of this reading – wickedness present even in the places of righteousness and justice. This is another comment on the human condition – that the wealthy, the powerful, the politicians will manipulate even processes of righteousness. Is this something God makes happen, or is it choices made by human beings who know their choices are wrong? Jesus says beware of those who go about in long and fancy robes, praying in public and giving huge gifts to the synagogue, while the ordinary people who struggle from day to day give everything they have without complaint, even if it means giving their life. Extrapolating from that, one can read politicians and military leaders who are hypocrites in their search for greater power, at the expense of the ordinary people whom they govern.

If you look at the opening of Ecclesiastes, here’s what it says: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look - this is something new?’ It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.”

If we spent as much time and effort on making peace as we do on making war, we would have had real lasting peace a long time ago. As I watch the news, and people who have become so obsessed by power and control that they will crush others, it becomes almost too much to bear. Leaders who sell arms because of jobs, they say, regardless of the people who will die. Leaders who threaten nuclear war. People who really have no interest in other people.

Into this pessimistic piece comes the optimism of Micah. There WILL be a time when war ends. Weapons won’t be made or sold any more; instead we will make more tools for growing food, so whole nations like Yemen will not starve, children won’t die in pain and fear. God’s way is the way of peace, where everyone has a full and productive life. Micah says with certainty that people will learn to live the way God wishes us to live.

Linda’s story….

Each year in the Commonwealth countries, we stop on the 11^th of November to remember and honour those men and women who lost their lives in war; but for me, too often it stops there. Ive been going to cenotaph services almost all my life. We did in school when I was a child. Has war ended? One way or another, over the last 222 years, there has been a war.

The birth of Jesus, and the life and teaching of Jesus, were a statement that it *is* possible to choose love over hate; it *is* possible to choose peace instead of war; it *is* possible to speak out instead of choosing to remain silent. The question for us is, do we take the birth, life and death of Jesus seriously? If we do, we have to believe that life and death, blessings and curses - are ours to choose - and that God wants us to make the right choices - but make no mistake, the choices *are* ours. And we want to make sure that the generations which follow will remember those lessons, instead of repeating the cycle, as we have been doing. Doing nothing is also a choice we make, and with every choice there are consequences.

It seems to me that this passage is a perfect description of the human condition, and I suspect that was at the root of Ecclesiastes’ pessimism. For each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die - and there are times between birth and death where we have a life to live; when there is death we mourn and where there is new life we celebrate. But we also make choices in the life we are given..”  May it be so.

Who are the Saints? Sermon based on Matthew 5:1-12,Revelation 7:9-17 preached at Trillium United Church Caledon November 4, 2018

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Revelation 7:9-17 Again I looked and saw a huge crowd, impossible to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, races, languages. They were wearing white robes, waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and singing “Salvation to God on the Throne! Salvation to the Lamb!”

All who were there - Angels, the elders and the animals bowed and worshiped, singing “Blessing, honour, glory, power, wisdom and thanks to God always and forever!”

Just then one of the Elders asked me: “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?” I said “You must know.” He told me, “These are those who come from great tribulation, they have washed their robes, scrubbed them clean in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why they’re standing at the throne in the Temple, serving God day and night. The One on the Throne will shelter them: no more hunger, thirst, no despair or unbearable heat, or weariness. They will be led to springs of the water of Life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

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This past Wednesday was All Saints Day, also called All Souls Day – which follows All Hallows Eve – what we now call Hallowe’en. In some countries, particularly Latin American, there is a third day called Day of the Dead”. Contrary to what some would have us believe, these are all Christian religious holidays which are marked as feast days.

November 1, All Saints or All Souls, was the day my mother was born. Now, my mother and I had an often thorny and sometimes volatile relationship.  But as she got older she mellowed, and so did I, and when she died at 87 most of that was put aside. And as I remembered again on Wednesday, I realised I miss her more each year that I get older. 

Mom was born in 1913. She came from a wealthy family who were part of Toronto’s musical and literary ‘high life’.  My great grandparents lost everything in the depression, and from a large home in Rosedale, had to move into an apartment with all generations together. My grandfather stopped working and never started again. All the four children went out to work.

She was a talented musician studying at the Royal Conservatory when the depression hit – and never got her ARCT because of a lack of money for the final exam.  She worked as a waitress. She attended Toronto Bible College, married my father, went to live in Stouffville where he became minister in the United Church. They moved to a town called Kelvington, and then on to Saskatchewan – Assiniboia and Canora. Along the way there were three children, three miscarriages, and one stillbirth – something for which she felt guilty till she died. She learned to garden and grow vegetables, and preserve food for the incredible Saskatchewan winters; she learned how to cut and split wood, manage a horse and sleigh, and still kept music going, and taught students who could not find a teacher. In Prince Albert she was first violinist in the symphony – and there were plenty of good musicians on the prairies. In Winnipeg she played with many musical groups, and tried hard to be the model minister’s wife.

I realise my mother was a woman born out of her time. The traditional roles of society didn’t fit her – she wanted to do and be more. Eventually it led to my parents’ separation and divorce – the best thing that ever happened to both of them. She started again at 50 – found work and an apartment, sang with choirs, worked hard at music; learned how to open a bank account and manage money, do her taxes, and satisfy her need to learn more and be more. She moved west to Edmonton, became a Buddhist, learned Tai Chi, grew orchids – and at the age of 87 just before she died was still teaching Tai Chi to the ‘old folks’ at the seniors’ home.

Often on All Saints we tend towards the religious figures – those who have been sainted by the Catholic Church.  St. Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick, St. Christopher the Patron Saint of Travel; St. Jude, the Patron Saint of Lost Causes; St. Cecilia Matron saint of music. St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila. St. Kateri Tekakwitha – Matron saint of Environment and Ecology – a Canadian Algonquin-Mohawk. And that’s why I’d rather call it All Souls.

What about other people? What about our former Moderator, Wilbur Howard – the only black Moderator.  Or Sang-Chul Lee, the only Asian Moderator; or Stan McKay, the only First Nations Moderator?  Or all our multi-ethnic leaders?  Eleanor Scarlett, Susan Beaver, Laverne Jacobs, Tad Mitsui, George Takashima?

Even more important – what about all the people around all these others? What about the many who died for teachings we now consider quite normal ? What about the First Nations around Sister Kateri, who lost their identities and even their lives? What about the multitudes who were put to death for following what the church designated ‘heresies’ through the centuries? What about all those people who are erased, just because?

It’s the main reason All Saints is also called All Souls – because the ‘saints’ in the world are far more than some individuals designated by a church. This is a day to remember all the souls who have gone ahead. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews says “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything which holds us back and run with perseverance the race laid before us….”    “Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses…….” There's an image!

And that’s where I went thinking about my mother on her birthday. My mother was not only a pioneer – but a saint too. Because saints are more than religious figures. Saints are all those people in the world who just keep on going doing the right thing – usually quietly, no fanfare, not drawing attention to themselves, just doing what they do.

Think of our scriptures today – those often considered last and least,  are the saints. Those who are deprived, oppressed, starved, shut out. Those are the saints.  Those who struggle with starvation and death in Yemen;  those who are walking more than two thousand miles to find something better than what they left. Children who collapse too tired to go any more.

Ordinary people who step up on a train or a bus, and intervene in overt racism, sometimes risking their own lives.  Ordinary people who go out to stand around synagogues and mosques and temples – just regular people doing what is right.

And in John’s vision in Revelation, the saints who surround God in the new realm are the regular people who have struggled with life – struggled with themselves, struggled in living, and who even when they were hurting or poor had compassion and generosity to others  - ordinary people who were doing nothing more than living and trying to do what was right. Blessed are those who have compassion, blessed are those who work for peace. Blessed are the ordinary everyday people who work for what is good……

The ‘formal’ saints, let’s call them - were pretty much just ordinary people who worked in the world around them. The church elevated them to sainthood after their deaths, but in my mind they were already saints anyway.

And right down to our churches, our pews here – the history of our churches and those who brought us to this place. Those who brought synagogues, mosques, temples.  

Saints are not perfect people. Not one of those people was a perfect person.  Our great grandparents, grandparent, parents  - each person adding a picture of all the saints. All the saints, all the souls. For all those saints who now rest from their labours, for those saints still among us. For all ordinary people, with all their imperfections – who are saints in their own right. God recognises and holds them, and wipes the tears from their eyes. Through all the saints who have laboured and who continue to labour.

As I look back, my mother was a saint.

Amen.