WHEN CHRISTIAN FAITH DOESN’T TAKE

 

 

We will always have difficulty with the people who identify their Christian faith with the ceremony of baptism or the label of their religious belonging from childhood.  We live in a time when our secular culture challenges us to be what we identify ourselves to be.

 

Believers have always asked the question: How can people claim to believe in God and yet are so racist towards our First Nations peoples, or black, Asian or immigrant people? Why do they pray and yet put these people down others in word and action? Can you actually have religious faith and be a racist?

 

Jesus has some very harsh words towards the religious leadership (i.e., the powers) who lived lives of double-standard. His teaching of respect and equality come out of some terrible fights. Is it any wonder that his enemies brought him down in a criminal frame-up? He stepped on their religious toes and he paid the price!

 

Human beings can be very blind to their own darkness and sinful attitudes. They may limit their religious faith only to ‘doing’ prayers and things like that in a church building. 

 

The community of the Church is a sinful church. We are a long ways from perfection. This journey of faith is a long one. We are in the process of conversion. It is the Holy Spirit working on each one of us that will bring us to greater transformation into Christ. Religious faith is all about change and transformation. Some days that Holy Spirit will pull us along, kicking and screaming!

 

The journey of faith on this side of the grave is not always successful. People might give lip-service to their religion. They may say all the right prayers and then go out and exploit the poor and weak of this land. 

 

Authentic prayer is not saying the correct words. It means entering into the heart and life of Jesus Christ. It means being exposed to his great love for the poor and the wounded of this world. It means sharing his pain at the suffering of others and his compassion to the hurting and the forgotten.  

 

In the Church people are coming at it from all directions. There will always be people who put very little effort into living as a disciple of Jesus. There will be failures to give of our lives to Jesus, Son of God among us.

 

One of the hardest parts of our faith is to believe that the Holy Spirit is living and working among these people! Sometimes their racist attitudes or their selfishness are blatant! Sometimes their actions drown out any sounds of the Gospel. 

 

It is all true. We lament and suffer by such moral failings.

 

And that is where the Holy Spirit challenges us. There are so many instances where there is moral failure, but God does not give up on double-standard people. 

 

The Holy Spirit is giving us the strength to believe in the power of God-among -us, even when there is much failure among us. We believe that the Holy Spirit is working among us, a very weak and wounded people. It is only God who will make us holy.

 

 

 

CHRISTIANS HAVE ALWAYS HAD TROUBLE WITH WAR

 

We are living in a time of great uncertainty, confusion and fear. We are also living in a time of great evil.

 

The invasion of the Ukraine on February 24 of this year by the Russian army has hurled the entire world into a state of war. 

 

Our history has been so filled with wars that we to easily roll over and allow the guns to do their damage.   Do not let anyone of the hook. How should we evaluate the war in the Ukraine in light of our Christian faith.

 

Over the centuries we have tried to justify war by the ‘just war theory’ first spelt out by St. Augustine in the early fourth century. Countries can always justify entering a war to protect their people from harm, to prevent the takeover of their country or economic structures or defend another county suffering from an unjust invasion. This theory has been used over the centuries to approve countless wars.

 

In today’s world humankind has become so powerful with long-range ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons and the possibility of germ warfare that it is very difficult to ever justify war.  In the last thirty years we have been lulled into thinking that war was only a faint possibility in today’s world. Putin has proved such thinking wrong-headed.

 

The war/invasion going on in the Ukraine is totally wrong. It is very evil. 

 

Count all the soldiers who have been killed or wounded (life-time of suffering). Count all the civilians who have been killed. Count all the building that have been bombed, the electrical power plants that have been bombed. Even though both sides in this conflict will not release any figures of the number of solider killed, the price paid for this war/invasion is staggering. In your imagination stand beside any family member that has lost a soldier or walk with the wounded ones. What is your pain and suffering telling you?

 

Our Christian faith is correct in staunchly affirming the command given by Pope Paul VI at the United Nations in 1965: “War, never again war!”

 

Canadians have been very generous in responding to the suffering families in this war. We have opened our country for their safety and prosperity. We have supplied weapons, winter clothing for soldiers and training. 

 

What more can we do?

 

The mission of Jesus Christ was to build peace on this earth. His life and mission are the very opposite of the forces that make for war in the Ukraine. Jesus has come (present day reality) to energize us to build and make peace happen on this earth. 

 

In all the bad news, be firmly rooted in the mission of peace. Be committed to making and building peace on this earth, during your own lifetime.

 

Our prayer for peace is not something that is merely a ‘wish list.’ We pray for peace that we may be instruments to help bring peace about in this time and place.

 

 

 

GOD IS STILL AT LARGE!

 

Last month we had a criminal on the loose for four days. Every hour the new headlines blared out the fears and confusion that such a criminal on the loose presents to our society. There was real fear. Where is this man?

 

The English expression “still at large” is an excellent way to describe our God. 

 

God can never be corralled, manipulated, controlled or even bought-off. The life, work and energy of God is always beyond us. God is actually like the Saskatchewan wind. At this moment is it blowing against the right side of your face. In a few moments the wind might be blowing against the left side of your face. 

 

God moves where God needs to move. Our task is to pay attention. There is no such thing as a control game when it comes to the actions of God.

 

If God is still at large, look for God working in your neighbor. Perhaps this person has been helping people very quietly in the district. There has been no fanfare or self-advertising here. The spirit of God has been working when your neighbor helps an elderly person get to the specialist in Regina and then drive back home again. 

 

And your co-worker reaches out to help a Ukrainian family get settled, find work, get the kids into school and helps them make sense of the Canadian banking system. This is all extra time and energy but it comes from the goodness of God working in your co-worker’s heart. 

 

Then you have that irksome grandson who brings up the topic of the over-consumption in the First World. He is bothered by the destruction that human beings are inflicted upon the world Sometimes you wish he would go back to his studies and leave us alone on this issue.  But here again, in some irksome words, there is the Spirit of God at work. (Sometimes the message from God feels like a pain in the butt!)

 

You are a resident in the nursing home. It feels so good to wheel yourself outside in the warm sunshine and just listen and enjoy the children in the school yard across from your residence. The yelling and screams are such a sign of life. It is so good to be close to children, alive and playing. In the joy of the school yard noise is the life-giving power of God. There is life. There is a tomorrow!

 

We have turned this negative expression in a new awareness of how God is working in the world. No one can control God. God will always be as free and unpredictable as the wind. Our task is to pay attention. 

 

Spend a little time today reflecting on the unexpected moments you experienced God working and moving among us. Where did the goodness of God, spring up in surprise?

 

If God is at large, where have you spotted God moving? Uplifting down spirits? Moving selfish hearts? 

 

Where is God in the unexpected moments of your life? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!

 

If you are a news-junkie, count how many times you will hear people blaming people in authority on news broadcasts. The economy goes down, unemployment is high; immediately you hear everyone blaming the government for these economic troubles. There is a serious accident at one of our street corners and you hear people blaming the city council. 

 

Many times, the government structures have been slow to secure safe street corners. But the human need to call out blame is immediate. We are a blaming animal.

 

Blaming is too often a part of our spiritual lives. Something bad happens and we yell out blame towards God. You should be doing something to prevent this. You (i.e., Almighty God) should change this terrible situation!

 

But there is another side that we must give our attention to today. This is the whole area of human responsibility.

 

There is a war going on in the Ukraine. No one should look toward God to make the war stop. The first thing we must do is recognize that this war (and all wars) is a human creation. A human being, with full freedom, declared the invasion of another country. He (and his government officials) ordered in the army. The soldiers were sent to bomb, kill civilians and destroy countless homes and factories. 

 

Never blame God for any explosive that did damage or any bridge that was destroyed. Human beings must be responsible for each and every one of these destructive actions.

 

One of the grade twelve students from your school gets high on drugs. He speeds through a red light, killing one pedestrian. This is not an act of God. This is the action of a human being. God is not responsible for this. A human being drove a vehicle through a red light!

 

God gave every human being the power to act freely. We have control over our decisions and actions. If God is getting blamed for the creation of war, we need to call such blame into question. No one should ever be cheated of being a responsible human being. 

 

In response to the six months of war that the human race has endured so far, we need to come before God and beg for a change of heart. Ask God to work in Mr. Putin and his government to work for a settlement to this invasion. Ask God for the energy to work towards peace. Ask not just to have the guns go quiet and return to their original storage sheds, but ask that the energy directed towards fighting now be directed towards restoring the Ukrainian society and economy.  Put down your guns and plant potatoes/food for the poor and hungry of this country. Ask God to restore peace within the Russian society, upset by this war.

 

Our Christian response to evil is not to push it off and blame God what too often is a very evil human action. Name where responsibility must be placed. 

 

Then instead of anger and blaming we want to plant justice, respect and fairness in this world. We want to take personal responsibility to make this world a better place; simply because we have walked on this earth. 

 

We take seriously the pithy words of wisdom and apply it in the face of evil decision made by human beings. “Better to light one candle than to ever curse the darkness.”

 

 

 

BEING AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD

         

Two mornings this past week I was invited into the K to grade 8 classrooms. What an enjoyable morning. I asked the kids: “Where is God?”

 

Immediately they pointed to “up there.” 

 

From that response I lead them to see that God is everywhere: outside, in their classroom, within their own home. Is God within you? I tried to point out that God filled their heart and their mind. Then, to underline he point more firmly, I pointed out that God was in their big toe! “Tonight, when you go to bed, look at your big toe. God is in your big toe!”

 

I know they will remember that instruction.

 

We have a strong need to alert out people to the presence and the working of God. Too many adults locate God into the church building or into the hospital waiting room, but have a very absent sense of God’s presence in their ordinary working day.

 

Our religion wants to lead us to an awareness of the daily presence of God. The entire earth shakes and is moved by the daily presence of God. We need some reminders to look and see how God is moving around us. This exercise is so much like your mother instructing you when you were looking for your gym socks as a kid. “They are right in front of your nose.” If you do not look for it, you will not see it.

 

If you are not looking for God, you will miss God’s presence every time!

 

Go for a walk in nature. Observe every leaf that moves in the breeze, every Canada Goose that flies over and every blade of grass. This is all created by God. Take a leaf in your hand. Examine it very carefully. This simple leaf is known by the Creator God. This leaf is loved and cherished by God. Hopefully there will arise in you a sense of wonder at how great creation actually is. 

 

If you have an opportunity on a very dark night to look up at all the stars, and the Milky Way, and be awed at how great creation actually is. God has not finished with creation. The vastness and the brilliance of all the stars will make your heart shake with appreciation. How could all this exist? Your mouth drops in awe.

 

And then you come to humanity. We have been entrusted by the Creator God to care for the earth: all the water, the soils, the plants, all the birds and animals, and all the bacteria in the soil. Look how God believes and trusts humanity with creation. 

 

This is where we need to take people: to daily sense the presence and working of God everywhere. It is not that God is absent from us. God is absent from us because we are not looking for the presence of God in the autumn winds, the migration of the geese and the laughter of children. 

 

God is so close. God is everywhere.

 

Our daily task is to pay attention. God is right in front of your nose.

 

 

GRIEVING IS A STRONG HUMAN NEED

  

Many people were so surprised at the outpouring of public grief that followed Queen Elizabeth’s death. She was a very public figure, nationally and internationally, and the consequent grief was very public.

 

At this point in our Canadian history we need to give some reflection about grieving. Are we doing well with the loss of our loved ones, or are we trying to shield ourselves by denying that we are suffering any pain?

 

Whenever we lose a person in our life through death there is always a part of our own life that dies. You lose your spouse through cancer. This is just like having your right arm torn off. You hurt. You are confused. Life seems to be crashing into a brick wall.

 

As a human being, you can never grieve alone. The only way to handle grief is with others, with trusted family and friends. There are no boundaries when the grief will end. This is personal journey that each person must go through. Tears and anger are part of this process.

 

There are many people who clearly direct “no funeral.” We have learnt from long experience that this is a very unhealthy plan. 

 

First, the funeral is not first of all for the person who has died. Funerals are for the living. We need a process (i.e., a ritual) to help us deal with the pain, the loss and the memories. Funerals can take many forms: religious or simply secular, organized or very casual, simple or lasting several hours. What is at issue here is that we have space to support each other and carry each other’s loss. 

 

People can be so disconnected from a faith tradition or from a living community. That they do not know what to do when their loved one dies. 

 

I experienced the value of a simple funeral some years ago. The old man who died has been the grounds keeper at one of the local golf courses. We gathered at 7:00 pm in the parish hall. His niece gave a brief but meaningful eulogy. We had some Scripture readings and prayer. Then the grandson handed each participant a little bag of grass seed (connection with his many years looking after the golf course). We had juice, coffee and cookies. It was very simple but provided everyone space to share their memories and appreciation of the man. His wife was very pleased.  In all its simplicity it was a wonderful farewell.

 

It fulfilled our need to show our appreciation of the man’s  life and to support his wife and children.

 

We need to educate people on the importance of gathering together to remember, support and give meaning and recognition to the life of the person who died. 

 

The funeral time is meant to be a letting go and a time to re-embrace our lives. As one wise writer put it so well: “The funeral is to put the departed where they need to be ,and send the living to where they need to go.”

 

 

 

HOW DO YOU REACT TO MASS MURDER?

 

It has been almost two weeks since we heard that terrible alert over our phones that a violent person was moving somewhere in Saskatchewan. We heard shortly that there was a murder of ten persons on the James Smith First Nation. Then there were four tense days that we followed the police as they tried to locate and arrest the perpetrator.

 

Every adult must try to process this unbelievable carnage. What does our Christian faith offer us as tools to process such evil?

 

At the roots of our faith is our God who comes precisely in the mess of humanity. God is not distant, tut-tuting us for the killings and robbery that we do to each other. The spirit of God is moving among us. The spirit of God is moving among the terrible suffering of these crime scenes.

 

Stand with two feet on the ground. Evil is very real. We often turn away from a frank and blunt discussion about the reality of evil but it happens; and happens right around us. What is more difficult for most human beings is to be honest enough with themselves to recognize that they are capable of evil. This is the black side of our personality. We too could inflict evil on another human being. 

 

This is not written in the Bible but we have always believed and interpreted that whenever one human being does evil or caused destruction towards another human being, there the suffering of Jesus on the cross happens all over again. Christ suffers among us. Christ suffers the evil that one human being inflicts on another. Christ is moving among the soldiers involved in the war in the Ukraine. Christ is in the killing fields!

 

We have not given this enough attention in the past decades but we, not only must not divorce Christ from human evil, but we must locate it where Christ wants to be. Christ is among us in these evil episodes.

 

Our response in Saskatchewan has been one of compassion toward the victims, the family and all those injured by knife wounds. We also want to be understanding towards the police personnel, all the medical people and government people who were involved in this evil storm. 

 

What our Christian faith supports us with is the closeness of Christ to the victims and all the compassionate people who lament such evil. In faith, we are trusting that Christ walks with us in these tough times. We may never understand why this carnage happened but we trust that Christ is with us in all this suffering. 

 

This is not cheap Pollyanna stuff but is motivated by a strong conviction that Christ is with us and Christ will support us through this time of trial. 

 

We do not buckle under the weight of evil. We need to be very truthful about the reality of evil but recognize that our Christian faith moves us towards life and goodness.

 

It is not written in the Scriptures but it empowers us to change evil into life-giving forces. “Better to light one candle than to ever curse the darkness!”