The Growth of Faith

I was in my kitchen the other day and looked out at my back yard.  For some reason, the deer this winter particularly enjoyed that space, and now that the snow has melted, there’s a lot of proof that they found nourishment between our compost pile and the dry grass of our lawn.  Lots of proof. Enough proof that I need to get out a rake and work away for a while tidying up after them.  I wish I had the passion for yard work and gardening that some of my neighbors do, or the members of the Garden Club do.  Where do they get their passion from? Their knowledge?  Their commitment?  Their energy? And quite frankly, that stretch of lawn feels overwhelming. Did I say there’s a lot of proof?  Our lawn looks like the Easter Bunny scattered a lot of unwrapped chocolate eggs or maybe glossette raisins very liberally EVERYWHERE!

I hear that a lot of people are also feeling overwhelmed these days.  Service clubs are looking for people to join, community organizations like PRAAC are short of volunteers, weekly gatherings of different groups are bemoaning low attendance, and the Senior’s Centre attendance has been up and down like a yoyo for their different events.  It doesn’t help to hear that hospitalizations are rising, people are still succumbing to Covid and the war in Ukraine keeps becoming more and more deadly.

We live in a complex time and that isn’t going to change any time soon.  Some folks have experienced trauma as a result. They are grumpy and tired and easily triggered emotionally.  In fact, it’s surprising when given everything we’ve faced as a human race in the last two years, that we are not more emotionally triggered than we are.  Trauma is challenging to deal with and the emotional stress can be more difficult to deal with than the disease.  Isolation, loss of community, and loss of purpose have all taken their toil.

That’s where I find Thomas so relatable.  He too felt overwhelmed by the events that had overtaken him.  Losing his beloved rabbi in such violent circumstances, no matter how much Jesus had warned him ahead of time, must have been intense.  Just like us, he grieved.  When I hear this scripture in 2022, I don’t hear the voice of a sceptic, I hear the voice of a grief-stricken man in a state of shock. And to be quite honest, a stubborn man who doesn’t want to grab the hope that his friends have handed to him.  

Just as I envy the Garden club members and my neighbors for their commitment to blooming and growing the community environment, Thomas was envious of the other disciples, their energy and renewed excitement in the mission that Jesus gave them.  Maybe he was feeling sorry for himself that he hadn’t experienced what they had.  Maybe he was angry that they were moving out of grief too soon, in what must have seemed ridiculous and disrespectful.

Faith, when we come right down to it, can’t be handed to us.  It can be shared with us.  It can be talked about and pointed to, but it’s something that we work through in our own ways.  And like a garden, it needs constant fertilization.  And maybe doubt is our sign that we need to add some more fertilizer to our faith garden, maybe it’s the sign that we are being called to wrestle with our understandings of God and spirituality and our place in the world.  

Growing our faith, like cleaning up our yards after the snow melts, can be different every year.  Some years, it’s a lot, some years there’s not much to do.  Sometimes the doubt is strong and needs a lot of intentional weeding and fertilizing, sometimes it is not so strong, and less challenging.  Either way, it’s an invitation to grow our faith to sustain us through the challenging times, the winters of our souls until we feel new growth arising.

One of the things that helps with growing my faith every year is being part of a wider community of thoughtful souls wrestling with the same questions as Thomas.  Whether it is here locally or with national leaders and thinkers, there are a lot of wise people gathering to ask questions and listen for answers that bubble up when our doubts arise.  Notice in our reading of Acts today that Peter didn’t address the court by himself but as part of a group of witnesses, the disciples who together saw and experienced the First Easter.  Maybe that was why Thomas was first left out.  He was not with them.  He was separated from their companionship.  It wasn’t until he gathered with them again in a safe space that he had an encounter with the Easter Jesus.  And it was when they were together that they had the courage and wisdom to speak their faith to their scoffers and detractors. 

Part of our group of witnesses and community is not just this congregation, but the many United Churches across Canada, as well as other Christian denominations.  One witness statement was first developed in 1968.  It was refined to eliminate sexist language way back in 1980.  It was added to in 1994 to reflect the growing concerns with the Earth.  And it has been shared beyond Canada.  It is in the United Methodist Hymnbook in the United States, interestingly enough.  And it is not a rule book, a list of “Thou shalt believe this and not that”, but more like a compass that points to the North when we’re not quite sure which direction to go.  It guides us and inspires us.  You could even say it fertilizes us to help us grow in our faith.  Whatever metaphor we use, it can remind us that together, we have a strong mission, ministry and hope.  To make a difference in the world, working with God in partnership and in trust to celebrate that we are not alone.  The creed is a witness to us, and becomes our witness to those outside these walls. It can inspire and energize us and give us hope.  Just as Thomas found Jesus when he least expected him, we can find courage in these words that grow our faith.

From the Dragon's Den - Doubting Thomas

2^nd Sunday of Easter

John 20:19–31

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

Name: Good morning, everyone. Happy Easter! I wonder if Robbie can help us with the gospel this morning? Let’s call them. 1, 2, 3…Robbie!

Robbie: <Name>, can we tell a story together?

Name: That’s perfect for our Theme Conversation, Robbie. Do you want to start?

Robbie: All right. This is a story about a man named Thomas: “Don’t ask so many questions, Thomas.” That’s what Thomas’ teachers said in school.

Name: Teachers, eh? I bet Thomas’ parents said that at home as well.

Robbie: That’s what Thomas’ friends said too!

Name: But Thomas couldn’t help it. When the teacher told them things in school, Thomas often asked, “How do you know?”

Robbie: Sometimes that frustrated the teacher. “I know just because I know. It’s true because I say so,” said the teacher.

Name: Thomas sounds like a dragon I know… But Thomas couldn’t stop asking questions. When Thomas grew older, he became one of Jesus’ special friends. He became a disciple. Thomas liked Jesus, because Jesus never told him to stop asking questions.

One day Jesus was trying to explain what was going to happen. “I am going away,” said Jesus. “I am going to get a place ready for you. God’s house has room for you and for everyone else. You know the way to God’s house.”

Robbie: “No, we don’t,” said Thomas. “What is the way?”

Name: “That’s a good question, Thomas,” said Jesus. “I am the way. If you really love me and love each other, then you know the way.”

Robbie: I still don’t understand all of it.

Name: Is that you, Robbie or Thomas speaking?

Robbie: Uh… Both, actually!

Name: “That’s okay,” said Jesus. “Just keep asking questions.”

Name: Not long after that, Jesus died. He was killed by people who didn’t like the way he said that God loved everyone. Thomas was very sad when Jesus was killed, so when some of the other disciples said Jesus was alive again Thomas really wanted to believe them.

Robbie: But he just couldn’t. His mind kept asking questions: “How can somebody be dead and then be alive again?” <Name>, I’m with Thomas. I is pretty hard to believe!

Thomas asked, “How can you be sure it was Jesus? How do you know it wasn’t somebody else?”

Name: “But we saw him with our own eyes,” said the disciples.

Robbie: “Maybe,” said Thomas. “But I have to see for myself. I have to see the places in Jesus’ hands where they put the nails. Otherwise I won’t believe it.”

Name: A few days later, Thomas and his friends were together. All the doors were closed, but suddenly, there was Jesus in the room with them. He smiled at Thomas. “Come here, my friend. Touch the places where they put the nails. It really is me.”

Robbie: Thomas did what Jesus said and was so happy to see Jesus. “Oh, yes, it is you Jesus. I am so glad. Now I know that you are alive again. I won’t ask any more questions.”

Name: “Oh, don’t stop asking questions, Thomas,” said Jesus. “I am glad you are able to see me so you can be sure. Then you can believe. But there will be lots of people who won’t be able to see me. They will ask questions, too. It will be hard for them to believe, just as it was hard for you to believe. I will need you to help tell them my story.”

Robbie: “You mean, you’re not angry because I didn’t believe right away that you were alive again?” Thomas asked.

Name: “No, I’m not angry at all,” said Jesus. “I like it when people ask hard questions. But you won’t understand everything, Thomas. You will never find answers to all your questions. Just remember that I love you and that God loves you. Nobody can prove that part, but it is the part that is the most true.”

Robbie: Mmm. Most true! Amen to that.

The amazement continues!

When I was a teenager, I stumbled upon a book in my dad’s collection with the provocative title, “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.”  A lot that was in it became the inspiration for the book that inspired the Da Vinci Code, and was excellent fodder for a budding young atheist like me.  John Allegro, the author, wrote that the Jewish faith was based on an ancient fertility cult that worshipped hallucinogenic mushrooms.  These mushrooms were talked about in codes that supposedly became stories of the risen Christ.  The mysteries of the empty tomb were caused by the disciples eating the mushrooms in a sacred meal before Jesus died.  And there was no Jesus.  Just mushrooms.

Jesus did not exist, wahoo, I could stop wondering about the Easter experience and get on with my life.  Except that there were inconsistencies with his logic and renowned biblical scholars thoroughly discredited his conclusions, rather like Eric von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods which claimed humans were too stupid to design pyramids.  Jesus was back in the picture.

And I’m suspecting that I’m not the only one who has lived through the yoyo of theories of who Jesus was, how real he was, and how real the resurrection was.  Theories go in and out of fashion, debates rage in the media one moment then are forgotten the next. Albert Schweitzer wrote about the fashion trends in thinking of how we interpret Jesus.  We also yoyo between seeing Jesus as a mortal, flawed human walking the earth during a tumultuous time and Christ, the word of God made flesh, somehow more than just human.  But Jesus is more complex than the latest trends.  And if we believe Jesus was special, how do we relate to other spiritual traditions and paths that don’t see Jesus the way we do?  Colonialism and racism can seem like a natural offshoot of Christianity if we assume Jesus is the only way to God.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  We can have a healthy understanding of Christianity beyond colonialism, beyond racism, and even beyond literalist understandings of who Jesus was.  Paul, I think hit it on the nose when he said that we Christians are most to be pitied if we only think our faith in Christ is about getting the best in the here and now for ourselves.

It’s that bold statement that all will come alive in Christ Jesus that I have seen happen in so many people.  When we remember the core teachings of serving, loving, and respecting our neighbors, when we care about others as much as we care about ourselves, when we do our best to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the disciples, we do find our lives full of meaning, vibrancy, community, and love.  We find healing for our tough times, and courage for the scary times.  We find strength for the times when we feel uncertain, and support when we feel unsure.  We find inspiration and wonder when we come face to face with the mystery that is the Easter story.  We find that we can still be amazed when we discover the surprises that God has in store for us.

It’s easy to become cynical and dismiss much of what we see and hear as nonsense.  It’s easy to give up on hope.  Especially when we see so much tragedy in the news, so much selfishness, so many people solving their problems by taking a gun out into a subway or invading a non-aggressive country.  The arrogance of billionaires who think they know everything about free speech and can use their money to influence culture in the way that they think best. But Christianity challenges that cynicism and despair.  It's not for the faint of hearted.  It’s not for those people who want easy answers or quick fixes to the immediate problems they face.  But it is a grand adventure that heals the broken hearted, inspires bravery and courage, reaches out to those who need compassion and healing and grows community. 

We have a crazy hope.  One rooted in ridiculous claims that seem like nonsense.  And yet, and yet, more than the discovery of chocolate eggs, more than the emptiness of living from paycheck to paycheck, following in the footsteps of Jesus, being open to the possibility that there was more to Jesus than just a storyteller with a few tricks up his sleeve, gives hope and meaning to our lives if we so choose. 

Easter is an invitation to a grand experiment that is still going on.  An experiment in living as if death has been defeated, living as if nothing can ever stop the compassion and love that our loving creator wants to gift us with.  Easter is a surprise waiting to burst open our hearts just as Jesus burst out of the empty tomb.  This Easter, what will you experiment with?  Who will you serve with compassion?  Who will you forgive with love, who will you inspire with hope?  Who will you reach out to with good news?  Who will you ask forgiveness for?  Who will you hold in prayer?

All will be made alive in Christ.  Not just you, not just me, but all in God’s world.  Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, all are on a journey of discovery.  Together we are invited to discover that:

We are not alone, we live in God's world.

 We believe in God:  who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

 We are called to be the Church:  to celebrate God's presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.

We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

Shouting Stones - Luke 19:28–40 Jesus enters Jerusalem to cheering crowds

 What an image Jesus paints.  There is so much excitement and so much momentum that there is no containing the call for change.  That even killing him will not control the people hungry for hope.  Hungry for new ways of being in community.  Hungry for peace and freedom from fear and anxiety, tragedy and trauma.  That hunger was so strong they threw their coats down on the road and cheered a simple peasant riding a small untrained animal in public.  And so there was so much momentum that, like a snowball rolling downhill, picking up speed and size as it accumulates more snow, that it can ultimately flatten everything in its path, the crowd grew and cheered louder and louder.

No wonder some of the officials tried to silence the crowd.  His challenge to all in power was on full display.  And to be fair to the Pharisees who challenged him, they feared that this rally would degenerate into open rebellion and the Romans would slaughter everyone indiscriminately.  They were right to be afraid, as 30 years after Palm Sunday, the first Jewish-Roman war destroyed Israel as an independent nation until 1948.

They were right to attempt to dial down the rhetoric and the passion.  But Jesus was right to say that nothing would silence the people.

This is one of those stories that makes me wonder how one ordinary human being could be so clear on their purpose, so brave, and so determined to go through with what he felt called to do.  We are in awe of the sheer determination of the Ukrainian people right now to do what needs to be done for their country.  It’s like that, but I think it’s more.  Jesus had no hope that he would survive Good Friday.  His people didn’t understand that.  Even when Jesus bluntly told his disciples again and again, they denied it, scolded him, or tried to make him think in more positive terms.  They thought he was heading towards Jerusalem to replace Pilot and Herod, to create a political solution to their problems.

They were caught up in their small hungers, the hunger for power, the hunger for significance, the hunger for personal freedom.  Jesus was thinking of the larger hungers, of peace and healthy relationships, of accountability and authenticity and community.  Jesus had a sense of the historic, seeing that this was a time to push for radical change. 

Just as Moses saw his people enslaved in Egypt, being treated as tools to build pyramids and temples to stone Gods, or Jeremiah facing down the politics that had brought the Babylonians to the walls of Jerusalem, or Ezekiel having a vision of dead dry bones that needed to be preached at, or Isaiah guiding the exiles back to a devastated and destroyed city, Jesus saw that the situation was dire and people needed something fundamentally different.

Not unlike the times we are living in today.  At our Lenten Book chat on Wednesday, we talked about ethical dilemmas, and how many we face.  Even something as simple as which grocery store we walk into and whether we wear a mask when we go in, who do we sit next to, do we go for coffee, these many decisions become weighted with possibility and risk and challenge.

It’s exhausting to have so many decisions.  Sometimes it is downright depressing.  Some of us search for good news about Ukraine, some of us debate about who to vote for in the upcoming UCP leadership conference, some of us struggle to decide how to cast our ballots for our union recommendations, some of us celebrate the new union at Amazon, some of us lament the power of unions, some of us wonder about how to live more intentionally into the understanding that we are all treaty people.  And some of us wonder how we will get our kids to do their homework or how we will survive their brand-new school recorders.  And just like the ancient Hebrew people in Egypt, the exiles in Babylon, beleaguered Jerusalem, it’s too much; we need some hope.

So we call out “Hosanna” like the people watching Jesus on his colt.  Hosanna means help us or save us.  While it’s not mentioned in Luke, who was a Greek and wouldn’t necessarily know the Hebrew language, it is in all three of the other gospels.  Save us.  Help us.  And Jesus told the authorities that the need for help was so great that even the stones would cry out.

Not unlike now for many people around the world.  Afghanistan women crying out, first nations people, our young people who may never be able to afford their own homes, Koreans tired of war, Syrians struggling to get out of their country which is no longer in the media spotlight, people of color dealing with racism in Europe, and so on.  We call out for help even when it seems most helpless.

And while I would like to promise that all will be well, and all manner of thing will be well, we do need to call out for help in times like these.

Our faith story is full of communities asking for help.  The answer comes in unexpected ways.  Moses, a convicted murderer, leads the people on a forty-year hiking trip, Jeremiah starts a real estate company in the middle of a war, Isaiah inspires the grandchildren and greatgrandchildren of the exile to return home and rebuild. Unexpected help still appears today.  I stumbled across a poem written in Cologne Germany in a basement during the Second World War.  It was scratched in the wall by refugees hiding from Nazis. It goes “I believe in the sun, though it be dark; I believe in God, though He be silent; I believe in neighborly love, though it be unable to reveal itself.”  When we are calling for help, it is a reminder that we all can still call for help, and help comes.

When amazon workers ask each other for help, unions start to form.  When people in war-torn countries ask for help, dictators get kicked off the UN Human Rights Council, and when friends of Lee and Kelsey Thunder ask for help so that their graves will not continue to be unmarked, it is answered with stunning speed and generosity!

Jesus encourages us to call for help to build a world of peace for everyone regardless of the language they speak, the God they follow, the temple they worship in, the dream that have for the future.  Let us cry out Hosanna and be ready for God’s surprising answers us in this time of need. May it be so for us all!

Two Sides to Every Story

 A one-act play with two characters based on Luke 7: 36-40, 44-48 and John 12:1–8 - To see our play, check out our Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGOciyyHXKzVL_yF27AXy3Q 

Setting: a press conference with reporters, cameras, microphones.  A disciple of Jesus approaches the podium, followed by a well-known lady who owns a perfume company in town.

Disciple: Welcome to today’s press conference, we wanted to clear up the misinformation around the incident last week in Bethany.  Get the story straight, as it were.  There are lots of rumors flying of conflict and division within the followers of Jesus and I’m here to tell you that we are not breaking up, we are a closely knit group who love and serve Jesus no matter what.  I’ve asked this lady here to clear up any misconceptions.  We’ll give you our statements and take questions at the end. 

Let me start by saying that the rumor that tempers flew and slapping occurred is completely wrong.  People lost their tempers, true enough, but nothing physical happened.  We had a disagreement over an impulsive action that we were concerned was sending the wrong message to our followers.   These things happen from time to time.  Really, it was a pleasant dinner with friends and nothing more than that.  Sure, discussions got a little intense, but you know what it’s like when you are sitting down at supper and there’s been a glass of wine or two.  We got relaxed and as always, we got into a debate about propriety and appropriateness.  Nothing more.  It’s the same kind of debate we have come to expect.  With Jesus, everything that happens becomes a teachable moment.  Am I right? (turns to lady beside him at the podium.)

Perfume seller:  A teachable moment? That’s one way to put it.  Many of you know me, I sell perfume and ointments in town.  Some folks think it’s scandalous for a woman to be the head of a business, especially one that sells smells for a variety of reasons.  Oils, perfumes, the usual stuff.  It’s nobody’s business what the buyer uses them for!  Sure, some folks look down at me because my customers include ladies of ill repute, but a tanner wants to smell nice when he goes home to his wife and kids.  Phew, that’s a stench anyone would want to cover up.  But I did not go to the dinner to start a fight.  I’ve been following Jesus, saw him a few times in person.  My heart went out to the guy.  He gives hope to everyone, and I got this feeling he needed someone to be generous to him.  That day I had a sense of foreboding that he’s in for rough times. He looked so tired too.  That story he told about the prodigal family last week had me in tears, and I just grabbed the most expensive stuff I had and crashed the dinner.  My favorite scent, used as a gift of love in times of need. Totally spur of the moment!

Disciple: a gift of love?  You got to be kidding!  More like a trauma trigger. Poor Judas really flipped out.  Last time he smelled that was when they buried his dad and brother.  It all came flooding back to him.  Some Roman soldiers didn’t like their looks and picked a fight with them.  Of course Judas’ dad didn’t have a chance and the brother was just a kid.  That’s why Judas hates Romans so much and wants a king to take over the country and chase them out.  He was not the only one.  (turns to perfume seller) Many of us felt upset with you popping the cork on a funeral oil and slathering it on Jesus, his head and feet. It’s ridiculous to walk around beside a living human being who smells like a funeral home.  And the cost of that stuff!  A year’s wages!  Judas wasn’t the only one to think that splurging on such an expensive product in such a bizarre way was a waste!  Ever since we’ve been following Jesus, we’ve heard, “Share this, be generous with that, take care of the poor, feed the hungry, be like the widow woman who tithes from what she has, give your clothes away, don’t store up treasures on earth.  Honestly, the only thing Jesus likes more than talking about money is physically healing people.  Curing blindness, leprosy, mental illness, bleeding, you name it, he’s healed it.

Perfume seller:  Well, your welcome wasn’t very healing or generous to me.  But I’ve felt the healing of Jesus firsthand.   There have been times when I haven’t been the nicest person in the world.  I have cared more for my business profits than for my customers.  I have cared more about making a quick buck out my back door when the officials or tax collectors weren’t looking.  I have cared more about my standing in society, even if no matter what I say or do, I’m still seen as lesser than some of the holier-than-thou scholars who don’t know how hard it is to make an honest living, okay mostly honest living as a female.  And I didn’t crash that dinner party to get anything from Jesus.  I crashed it because I felt that Jesus needed love and courage that day.  He is so kind, but he is so human, too.  And I lost it.  I cried for him, I cried for my own brokenness, and I cried for how blind we can be when someone so precious to us, worth more than all the perfume in the world, is taken for granted.  We need to listen to him, hear his stories, change our ways.  He’s onto something here, and he’s changed my life for the better! I’m sorry that it hurt Judas and you, I never thought of it that way.  I will think of how my actions might impact others next time. I want to be a better person, and what Jesus told me that night is helping me be that better person. Thanks for sharing your point of view!

Disciple: Well, it’s been eye-opening hearing your side too.  As a follower of Jesus, you’d think I would know by now that there are many viewpoints, many sides to every story.  And yours is just as valuable as mine. I need to be more generous in my welcome, and not jump to conclusions about peoples’ actions quite so fast.  On that note, I think that wraps up this press conference, folks.  Thanks for coming and hearing the two sides of this event!

End scene