That all may be one?

This week I got into a, shall we say, ‘intense’ discussion on Facebook.  Someone posted about how ‘those parasitical churches ought to pay taxes just like everyone else in the world,’ and I mentioned that churches have a large economic benefit for the community.  Of course, someone challenged that, and I dug for some research and statistics to back up that statement.  Which I found, by the way.

There were a lot of comments that started like “The church is” and described all the evils they had heard of.  Comments like “The Church destroyed indigenous people and their culture”.  That is true on the face of it, but Lutherans, Mennonites, Orthodox (Ukrainian and Russian), Baptists and other groups had nothing to do with residential schools. Should they be blamed for what the Anglicans, Catholics, Uniteds and Presbyterians did?  And other comments developed, I’m sure you can predict them, “All Christians are anti-abortionist,” or “science hates religion” despite the United Church having Nobel prize winning physicists in their congregations. Or my personal favorite “No progressive Christians spoke out against ‘fascist white brethren’s rants” to which I replied, “where were you when I was preaching ad nauseum against a certain red-haired president who didn’t even rule my country?”

And of course, we have the nauseating example this week of a young woman calling out her pastor for having sexually abused her when she was underage, the pastor tearfully confessing and the congregation rushing to forgive him and forgetting her.  And many folks in the states are saying that they are tired of prayers when it comes to school gun violence and racially motivated shootings.  “When do we do something?” they rightly ask.

Churches get blamed for witch hunts, crusades and patriarchy.  Case closed, churches are bad and the sooner we get rid of them, the better.  History proves it.

Or at least one very narrow way of looking at history. It ignores the history of ordinary people of faith whose daily living is shaped and sustained by their commitment to God. Ordinary people like Lydia who are transformed by a casual encounter by the river one day.

Do you remember Lydia?  Not the tattooed lady of Groucho Marx’s affections, but quiet Lydia in the town of Philippi? Not many people do.  There were no crusades in her name, and no cities named after her, no priests that ran inquisitions on her behalf.  But she points to a different kind of Christian history worthy of being followed.

She was a person of status, an independent businesswoman that was in the unusual position of being the leader of a household.  She was a seeker of meaning to life in general, and was looking for a God worth believing in.  She had gravitated to meeting on the Jewish Sabbath with other women, and the mere fact that they met outside the city meant that there were not enough Jewish men in the town to have a synagogue of their own.  It also meant that they were not comfortable discussing faith inside the city walls.  She was used to leading a household and dealing in valuable commodities like the rare dye to make royal purple, and she was a leader in a time and a culture that did not permit women to own things, and treated women as things to be owned.

Enter Paul.  He thought he was looking for a man from Macedonia.  He thought he was looking for a synagogue.  He thought he was looking for his fellow countrymen who were steeped in scripture and who already knew God through the covenantal love shown Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Leah and Rebecca, Moses and Miriam and Aaron, David, Ruth and Esther.  Instead, he found a seeker who was a gentile and a woman.  She also was the first European to be converted to the new message of love and hope. 

What a hope it was!  From being a seeker in the wilderness, she became a baptized member of a community.  From discussions outside the city, she became a hostess demonstrating unheard of generosity.  From being an entrepreneur, she became a leader of the church of Philippi.  From being an ordinary, non-descript woman, she became a saint!

Paul loved these people and took inspiration from them to continue his mission.  In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote, “As God is my witness, how I long for you with the compassion of Jesus.”  He also thanked them for their generosity, seen in Lydia’s offer of accommodation. Their generosity continued as he also wrote, “You Philippians know that in the early days of sharing the Good News, when I left Macedonia, no churched shared with me… except you alone.  Even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once… I have been paid in full and have more than enough.”

The city of Philippi is now a world heritage site after earthquakes and wars.  There is a lovely little church for baptisms nearby that is named after Lydia, the first person in Europe to be baptized into the Christian Faith.  At times like these where so many awful things are happening around the world and close to home, let us remember humble Lydia’s story.  Her love and hospitality laid the groundwork for a faith that would develop hospitals for the sick, hospices for the dying, schools for children whose parents could not afford private tutors, and compassion for those who were seen as unimportant.  Her faith survived plagues and wars, famines and natural disasters.  Her faith spoke to her neighbors, encouraging them and inspiring them, and transformed her whole household into a family of love.

When we remember the root principles of Christianity, love, hospitality, compassion and service, we strike a chord in the people we talk to.  The people on Facebook are shocked to hear that we care about the well-being of our community, and that we are compassionate to the powerless and the abandoned.  When we are united in love, we can make a difference that withstands the challenges of history and the tragedies that life can throw at us.  In life, in history, in life beyond history, we are not alone.  Thanks be to God!

Scars and Locks April 18, 2020

When I was taking my biology class in Grade 9, it seemed like there were two kinds of students.  The ones who got right into the poking and prodding of dissected frogs, and the kinds (far fewer) who stuck their noses in the textbooks.  I enjoyed the Latin and the lists but not the smells or the sights of squishy things pickled in formaldehyde.  That science class seemed to go on forever, and I was relieved to get to high school where I could safely indulge in physics and chemistry, and the closest I got to biology was the adjoining door between the two science classrooms or the friendly chit chat between the two teachers.  I thought the biology teacher was wonderful, but not her subject matter.  My classmates thought I was weird for having such a squeamish attitude, especially the ones who grew up on the farm.  Even my mom, who hated collecting slimy wet eggs from under the hens first thing every morning was less squeamish than me.  So this scripture passage in a time of social distancing is hard to fathom.  Touching Jesus’ wounds would be hard enough at the best of times, but right now when we are not able to touch anyone, it’s unthinkable.

No wonder Thomas isn’t recorded as taking Jesus up on his invitation.  He spoke rash words in haste to stop the other disciples from badgering him with what he thought were ridiculous claims, and like most rash words, they came back to haunt him.  But also to heal him.  We can relate to Thomas for we too are inundated with claims and con artists, false news and clever phone calls designed to catch us unawares.  I have lost track of the number of phone calls I have recently received on my cell phone, saying that they are from Croatia or Dominica.  They hang up immediately and I fight the temptation to call back because that’s what the scammers hope, then they can charge long distance rates and rake in the cash.  Once it was a crying woman on the line sounding like she was in a panic too.  Turns out this was happening all around mainline Vancouver.  There are even people becoming famous on the internet for taking calls from scammers and playing with them, stringing them along and wasting their time so that the scammers don’t have as much time to get other victims.  The impact is real.  Seniors are especially targeted, and with the internet, it feels like we have to be increasingly diligent.  More like Thomas than otherwise. 

And yet Jesus said that we who believe are the blessed ones.  We who learn to trust in something we have never seen, who learn to turn to God with the innocence of a loving child.  Who may not always have concrete evidence or proof pickled in formaldehyde.  We who like Mother Theresa, roll up our sleeves despite our doubts and do the things that God would have us do to make this world a better place.  We who persevere despite what the doubting Thomases of the world might say or ridicule us for doing.

Today we are all locked in rooms of isolation and anxiety.  We do not know what the future will hold both for us as individuals but also for us as a community, a nation, a world.  On one hand, we are coming together for things like the “One World Together at Home” or the Friday night thank you parade honking for health care workers and grocery store employees, on the other hand we are seeing protesting demanding that curfews be lifted and jobs be reinstated.  Or the policies of companies like senior’s care facilities or meat-packing plants.

How do we deal with the doubt and the anxiety?  Sometimes we, like the disciples, need to lock ourselves in our rooms.  But God enters our isolation, God disrupts our assumptions of what the world is really like, God shakes up our understanding of what is real and what is important.  God is present right where you are, in this very moment.  In your space! 

Take a breath, a deep breath into your belly.  Look around you for five things you can see.  A crack in the ceiling, this piece of paper, Five things.  Breathe.  Four things you can touch like the doily or table cloth.  Breathe.  Three things you can hear, ticking clock or maybe a goose flying back north.  Breathe.  Two things you can smell, the smoke from your candle perhaps.  Breathe again and notice one thing that you can taste, not just yet.  Maybe the bread and juice that we will be sharing shortly.

We have an opportunity to practise this simple form of prayer, 5 sights, 4 touches, 3 sounds, 2 smells and one taste whenever we feel locked up and anxious.  We can practise opening ourselves up to God more intentionally in our day.  And we can remember that Jesus became present and real to Thomas not through his perfection, but through his wounds.  When we see wounds, we know the experience is real.  When we share wounds, we have the ability to heal.  When we admit to God and a trusted friend or family member that we are hurting or afraid or anxious, we can learn that we are not alone in our struggles.  There in our locked rooms, God is with us.  In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone, halleluiah!

The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God.

Have you ever been so lost that you didn’t know what to do next?  I had a moment like that.  As some of you know, I can be worse than the most stereotypical absent-minded professor when it comes to practical matters.  So I was very proud this summer in Vancouver when I figured out how to take a bus from University of British Columbia where I was taking a course, to the science museum.  I was supposed to meet Tim, who had taken the sky train, to the science museum, for a 2 o’clock show.  And for once in my life, I made it without any problem, arriving around 1:30. Half an hour early!  Woo hoo!  So not like me, right?

Got in, paid admission including the 2 pm show, but that’s when things went sideways.  I texted Tim, saying "I’m here, where are you?"  He quickly replied, "right by the phone booth in the lobby."  "What phone booth", I shot back.  Turns out there’s two science museums in Vancouver, the Telus World of Science next door to the old Expo site on False Creek, and the H. R. MacMillan Space Museum near Grandville Island.  And you guessed it, I was at the wrong one.  Drat!

Well, more than just a drat, actually.  It would take more than the now 20 minutes I had to get downtown and figure out which train to catch, and would miss the 2:00 show no matter what I tried, short of taking a taxi.  So, feeling quite sorry for myself, I went up to the planetarium, and sat down grumpily to watch the 2pm show. 

There’s nothing quite like a tour of our solar system to put one’s problems in perspective, and to come away with a renewed amazement at the beauty and complexity of our Milky Way Galaxy.  We soared over Mars, dove in and out of the rings of Venus and Saturn, looked at the shrinking Red Spot on Jupiter and toured some of the closer constellations in the summer sky.  Wow. 

By the time the show was over, I felt a lot calmer and was able to find my way to the train station, Tim, and even back home where we were staying for the week.  It’s truly breath-taking and still as mysterious as when the folks writing the Psalms and the Book of Job looked up at the sky and saw the Hand of God at work in the music of the spheres, as they called it then.

Planetariums have come a long way since I was a kid.  They could only project stars on the roof of a big domed ceiling and a guide would point out different constellations with a flashlight.  Now with computers and a touch of a button we can be zooming through a colorful kaleidoscope of breath-taking images from the Hubble Telescope.  Our knowledge of space has grown and our computers too.  50 years ago it took computers the size of this church to land people on the moon.  Now we have the same computing power as that room in a device small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.

50 years ago today, the first astronauts to land on the moon finally came out of quarantine and could safely reconnect with their families and friends back home.  Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins returned to earth as heroes.  Nasa had managed to do the impossible, send humans into space and back again.  They did it with careful planning, by being prepared for as many different scenarios, and by testing their equipment over and over.  But they also managed to do it with faith. 

Not too many people know that the first food eaten on the moon was bread and wine.  Before Neil Armstrong left the Eagle for his famous walk, Buzz Aldrin opened his tiny box of private items that each astronaut was allowed and pulled out a glass much like this one, a bit of bread and a little vial of wine.  He read from a tiny piece of paper, “I am the vine, you are the branches.

Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.”  Then he ate the bread and drank the wine, making Communion the first meal to be eaten on the moon.  The cup is kept in a special case in a Presbyterian Church in Houston Texas that likes to call itself ‘The Church of Astronauts’.  Every July, they celebrate communion on the Sunday closest to July 20^th just like they did in 1969 with Buzz Aldrin.

How often do we hear that science and faith are incompatible?  How often do we hear of Christians scoffing at scientists or scientists writing books about how delusional it is to believe in God?  There seems to be in most people’s minds a sense that we have to choose one or the other.  I’ve even heard stories of Christians telling children not to waste their time on science because it’s not true.

Yet so many people find no such dichotomy.  Dr. Donna Strickland won the Nobel Prize in Physics this year and was featured in Broadview Magazine as a faithful member of a United Church in Waterloo.  She’s not alone.

Here’s a quick quiz for you: Who said this, a scientist, a theologian or a philosopher?

“The question of whether there exists a Creator and Ruler of the Universe has been answered in the affirmative by some of the highest intellects that have ever existed.”

–Charles Darwin, the founder of evolutionary biology

“It may seem bizarre, but in my opinion science offers a surer path to God than religion.”

“People take it for granted that the physical world is both ordered and intelligible... However, even the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act of faith that the universe is not absurd, that there is a rational basis to physical existence manifested as law-like order in nature that is at least partly comprehensible to us. So science can proceed only if the scientist adopts an essentially theological worldview.”  –Physicist Paul Davies

“In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Sir Isaac Newton

“I believe that the more thoroughly science is studied, the further does it take us from anything comparable to atheism.”  “If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.”

—Lord William Kelvin, who worked on thermodynamics, the concept of absolute zero and the Kelvin temperature scale.

And last but not least, “The more I study science, the more I believe in God.” by none other than Albert Einstein himself.

These are just a few of the top physicists and scientists who have concluded that there is more to our existence than happenstance or coincidence.  That this big beautiful planet we live on with just the right balance of water and carbon, heat and cold, liquid and solid, spin and tilt is no accident, and that the psalmists were scientists when they said,

When I look to the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their places, what are we mortals that you should be mindful of us, mere human beings that you should care for us?  You have made us little less than divine, and crowned us with glory and honour.       You have made us rulers over all your creation, and put all things under our feet.

May we learn to be as faithful as scientists and live with respect and gratitude in this beautiful universe that God has created.

Science and the bible

I found this link on Wondercafe today, a youtube video interview with Reverend Ted Haggart and Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and author of The Selfish Gene. The video is interesting and scary, but sad and funny in a way as well, since Ted's male friend recently revealed the Pastor's interest in same sex massages, etc. In the end, it will be the congregation members that suffer the most I think, for they felt that they had a personal relationship with him that bouyed up their faith. But in some ways it sounds much more like a cult than a church, with the focus around a charismatic leader, chanting in unison, emotional highs and intoxicating music. But I'm no expert on cults, nor should I judge fundamentalists. Although I have a good lightbulb joke...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkUi6dhwWx0