Sermon

St. Mary Nanoose Bay

February 24, 2019

Luke 6:27-38    

A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran away and so the farmer and his son had to plow their fields themselves. Their neighbours said, "Oh, what bad luck that your horse ran away!" But the farmer replied, "Bad luck, good luck, who knows? "The next week, the horse returned to the farm bringing a herd of wild horses with it."What wonderful luck!" cried the neighbours, but the farmer responded, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?" Then, the farmer's son was thrown as he tried to ride one of the wild horses, and he broke his leg. "Ah, such bad luck," sympathized the neighbours.  Once again, the farmer responded, "Bad luck, good luck, who knows?" A short time later, the ruler of the country recruited all young men to join his army for battle. The son, with his broken leg, was left at home. "What good luck that your son was not forced into battle!" celebrated the neighbours. And the farmer remarked, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?" "Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken."

Our reading today from Genesis is the story of Joseph. Do you remember the story? Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, the boy who was given the beautiful coat, the one who was hated by his brothers and sold him into slavery? Joseph who rises to power in Egypt and finds himself in the position to help his family when they are forced by famine to come to Egypt for food? Joseph who disguises himself so he is not recognized by his brothers until such time as he chooses to reveal himself ……which is the  part of the story we heard today. He says, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And not do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life; to preserve for you a remnant on earth, to keep alive for you many survivors….. so it was not you who sent me here, but God.”            

What a story! It serves to remind us that we can never know what God’s plan is; we only have the tiniest perspective. Just think about your own life….. can you recall an event that seemed terrible but over time, you see that it, in fact, served life? Either your own, or someone else’s? I just heard the story of Jan’s brother who qualified to represent his province at a national competition only to have his lung collapse days before the event. Terrible, you think. And yes, it was painful and terribly disappointing if you stop at that moment in time. But who nursed him in the hospital? ………  the woman who would become his future wife!            

So if it’s not for us to be able to fully understand, or judge, life’s events, what is ours to do?            

Our other readings today give us a clue.            

Our psalm, for starters, tells us, “Be still before the Lord” and “wait for the Lord.  The Lord helps and rescues them …. because they take refuge in him” (Ps. 37: 37:7,9,40) . In other words, if in our lives through linear time we are unable to see the whole picture, then our best bet is to listen and respond to God’s nudgings and direction in our lives. The psalmist continues, “Commit you way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act.”  So in taking the time to listen to God, that still small voice inside, we will be guided to live fully into our highest purpose.            

So waiting and listening is one thing that is ours to do. We call that “praying”; spending time aligning ourselves with God’s will. And strengthening our ability to hear and see God’s movement in our lives. Many people don’t really believe that praying is something worthwhile. And my hunch is that prayer is more powerful than we imagine. Prayer does more for the world than many well intentioned actions that are not well-timed or needed.  After all, if we don’t have the whole picture perspective, our best bet is to listen to what is actually needed in that moment, and only then, respond faithfully.            

So listening and waiting is one thing we can do.            

In the reading from Luke, we hear about another thing we can do. We can respond to the events in our lives instead of reacting. Jesus says, “Listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” In other words, develop the muscle of responding rather than reacting. Don’t just fly off the handle and say or do the first thing that comes to your mind. Because you actually don’t know what’s going on in the other person. Learn to control yourself, and then choose how you will respond. Don’t fall victim to simply reacting to life’s circumstances. Choose love. Respond with love, live love. And living this way, you won’t be trying to control life, but will be controlling yourself. And then connected to God’s will for you, it becomes possible to, as Jesus suggests, “to expect nothing in return.” In this way you are trusting in God, and not needing gratitude from others. You will be living in the dynamic of mercy to which we are called – “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.”             

So learning the art of responding is another thing we can do. We cannot control life, but we can learn to control our thoughts, and choose our words and actions carefully and lovingly. And this takes a life-time to master!            

The third thing we can do is found in our reading from 1Corinthians where Paul describes our bodies as seeds. Seeds that are perishable yet full of potential; seeds that need to die in order to live.            

We can glean several things from this image. Firstly that we are all in different stages of growth, so why judge each other? We are all fulfilling our potential in different ways, at different speeds. Some seeds will not survive; they were sown on rocky ground and had no chance of survival. Others were sown in rich soil. It’s how the seed were thrown. So why compare ourselves to others? If we focus on that, we either feel victim or see ourselves as somehow more worthy. Neither is true. Our focus needs to be on responding to the Sun/Son and growing a strong core to support the fullness of who we called to become. Another part of the image of the seed that is obviously true but that we often resist– is the knowledge that we are all going to die. Yes, all of us will die, yet our lives will continue. We will shed the outer form and live on in another form. And we do that shedding either with our dying breath, or we learn to let go of our finite view of ourselves and live into that other life; life eternal. The kingdom of God that was, is and ever shall be.            

So to sum up, it is not for us to understand or judge God or each other. What we can do, and can learn to do well, is to wait and pray and then respond lovingly to the situations and people that we encounter. To surrender our own puny ideas of how life should unfold, leave that to God, and work to be faithful, loving responders. Like first responders, giving life and light wherever we go.            

My hope is that this is what we do here in this community of St. Mary’s –that together we pray for wisdom as we wait for the Holy Spirit to guide us; that we help each other live fully into the potential sown in us at birth; that we learn to respond lovingly to each , and that we pray for, respond to, and bless all God’s creation.          

I’ll end with a quote from the author, Bo Lozoff:   Don't overlook the significance of your smallest opportunities for civilized behaviour throughout each day. The future has no bigger moments than we experience right now. The world changes for the better with every act of kindness, and for the worse with every act of cruelty.              

Let us continue to participate in God’s plan for the world by waiting, praying and responding with love. And blessing others, as we have ourselves been blessed.            

Amen.