Benediction Online

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Yes, God, Yes

Luke 19:1-10

It must have given Zacchaeus a terrible shock. He had climbed a tree to get a better look at this famous preacher and healer when suddenly the man stops underneath him, looks up, and says "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." Not only was Jesus planning to go to his house, but he knew his name.

Zacchaeus was obviously a better housekeeper than me, or more likely he had a wife, because he didn’t immediately start worrying about whether his home was clean and tidy enough for Jesus. He was immediately ready to welcome him. Then when Jesus came, his life was transformed. He changed his behavior radically – this would be like Bernie Madoff paying back everyone he cheated– not just what he owed them but even more.

Most of us are not like Bernie Madoff. We are not, in the words of the prayer book, notorious sinners. We are very ordinary and mundane sinners with unexceptional sins.

I wonder what difference it would make if on your way out of church this morning you found Jesus waiting for you and he said, “Hurry up, for I must stay at your house today.”? Would you be pleased? Would you welcome him? Or would you immediately think of a dozen different reasons why today is not convenient?

I would certainly worry about the state of my house. It is rarely pristine. But if Jesus knew Zaccheaus’ name, he probably knew where he lived and what his house was like. If he showed up and announced that he was coming home with me, I think I could assume that he knew what he was in for, piles of paper, cat fur, screeching cockatoo and all.

God comes to us in many different ways. I wonder how often we jump up and rush to welcome her, and how often we think that this really isn’t the time, that we have to get ready first, that there must be some sort of mistake. When you get the inkling that God is speaking to you, when you catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of your eye or catch the scent of her perfume, do you say “YES”. Yes God, come? Whatever it is you have in mind, however unprepared I feel, yes God yes?

What would it mean for you to say unreservedly, YES to God?


I read an article the other day which said that we don’t have to ask all the time what is God’s will for me. The author said that we just have to learn to discern between good and bad and then make the best decisions we can. God gave us brains and trusts us to get on with using them. To some extent I agree with him. I don’t think there is usually only one right decision, only one right person to marry, one right job to get, one right doctor to consult. If there were only one right decision then we would not have free will.

However my understanding of our faith tradition is that God is always inviting us into closer relationship. It is God’s joy to be working with us, to have us on board as co-creators. I often ask my close friends what they want to do – to find out when they want to get together, whether they want to play golf, see a movie, go to a play. Because unless I know what they want and they know what I want then we can’t agree how to further our friendship.

When we are serious about following Christ, about serving and worshipping God, then we are going to be serious about asking God to show us what to do and what to say each moment of every day. And sometimes we’ll hear clearly, other times we’ll just trust that since we prayed God will be guiding us and other times God will say, it doesn’t matter, you choose.

We don’t need to be anxious about doing God’s will, after all, if God wants the very best for each one of us then how can her will be something that would not be for our very best?

And yet we are. We wonder how we can know what God wants for us. And then there are times when we really don’t want to know, or we don’t want to be bothered today. There are times when if Jesus is standing on the veranda at coffee hour we just don’t notice. Don’t bother me now I’ve got things to do. Don’t bother me now, my back hurts so bad I can hardly stand. Don’t bother me now, I need to rest.

If Jesus shows up today as you’re leaving church and announces that he’s coming home with you, will you say “Yes”, “Yes, God, yes?”


There may be reservations in your mind. What if he asks me to sell everything I own? What if he tells me to make amends to everyone I’ve hurt? Or there may just be a general “I don’t think so”.

Our resistance to God gets in the way of our healing. It prevents us from being able to fully receive God’s gifts. Only when we are fully open to receiving all that God has for us, and to living the life that she calls us to, can we live as we were made to. But God is able and willing to remove our resistance and to bring us healing so that we can participate fully in his resurrection life. God’s incredible and extravagant love is available to transform us. But as Mother Julian said Christ is courteous and never forces himself into our lives. We have to be willing.

Willingness is not so difficult. We can be willing to want to invite Jesus home. God will honor our willingness to welcome him into every area of our lives, not just the public well-kept ones.

So this morning as we pray for healing for ourselves and others, let us pray that God will gracefully remove from us the things that get in the way and prevent us being able to say with joy “Yes God Yes. Come home with me today and stay for ever as my honored guest”.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

God's Faithfulness

Lamentations 1:1-6 Lamentations 3:19-262
Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10

God’s providence touches every part of our lives and so we sometimes find ourselves contemplating God’s touch in two quite different areas.Today we have an interesting study in contrasts. We are celebrating St Francis day by honoring our companion animals but our readings are considering something quite different – the role of faith in our lives, and the readings started with a real downer.

The Book of Lamentations in Hebrew scripture is a series of five lengthy poems of inexpressible sadness, raw pain, and deep sorrow. The poets put into words our ancestors’ experience of living through enormous public and personal suffering as the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C.E.. For our ancestors, that city was the focus of hopes and dreams, the sign of God’s presence, the promise of God’s fidelity to them; its hills, its Temple, its walls and gates all spoke to travelers and residents alike of what they treasured. And now it was gone, and they wept.

We have all had times when the focus of our hopes and dreams has been taken away; through the loss of a spouse, the loss of a job, the failure to pass on exam, the onset of ill-health. And we have wept.

It often takes us a while to reach that place of faith:

this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

In today’s gospel reading Jesus’ disciples were obviously wondering about faith. They were beginning to understand that following Jesus was not going to be all feel-good preaching, miracles and praise. It was going to take an unusual faith, because being disciples of Jesus for many people, then and today, means facing persecution and suffering. For those of us blessed to live without fear of persecution, it still means being willing to face your own shadow side, being willing to acknowledge your own pain and that of the world around you with compassion and without turning away.

As we look at the planet today there are many reasons for lamentation. Flooding, landslides, oil leaks, hurricane and earthquake, war which never seems to end, suicide bombing and hatred-mongering, melting ice packs and climate change. It is easy for us to get compassion overload and to turn away with a sigh. It is easy for us to become paralyzed and do nothing.

Faith gives us the ability to get up every morning and face the pain. Faith also enables us to work for change. Many of the great leaders and reformers have been people of faith. People who believed that God was doing a new work and that they were part of it. Even a very small amount of faith, Jesus reminds us, can be enough to make huge changes.

We use the word “faith” in a number of different ways. I’m not talking about believing in a particular world view or a particular cosmological system. I’m talking about the kind of faith the writer of Lamentations found:

this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

This is faith based in a relationship. It is faith based in a knowledge of the character of God. I think it is analogous to the faith that our dogs and cats and birds place in us. We provide for them and they are dependent on us. I don’t think that my dog Sam ever worries about whether there will be breakfast. He knows that it will be provided. He doesn’t like it when I put stuff in his ears, he doesn’t much like it when I go out without him, but I think he knows and trusts that I am faithful and will take care of him.

This is the kind of faith that provides us with hope and joy even when everything around seems black. It is never too early to start cultivating this kind of relationship with God. If you wait until disaster hits then you’re scrabbling around hoping that the whole faith thing is real and that God really cares about you. Now is the time to experiment with developing a deep and trusting knowledge of the divine. It takes time. When Sam came to us from Woods he was grieving. His former human had died after ten years of companionship and his life had been turned upside down. It took time for him to develop a new relationship of trust with us. It takes time to develop faith in God.

There’s another kind of faith. That is listening for God’s voice and then doing what it says. Sam has never quite developed the art of doing what I say! And now he’s so deaf he rarely even hears my voice! We can be deaf to God’s voice or we can cultivate the ability to hear and to listen. Then faith is having the guts to do what we hear. This kind of faith is asking every day, “God, show me what I should do today, where I should go and to whom I should speak, and give me the words.” Then following the inklings. At first it may be difficult to distinguish God’s voice but it comes with practice and through the daily discipline of asking and of giving your life and will to God.

These days Sam always sticks pretty close to my side but when he was a little younger he liked to take his own route along the beach, often veering a hundred or more yards away from us. When he returned, occasionally he would be so pre-occupied with his own thoughts that he would tag along behind two complete strangers for several minutes before suddenly realizing that he had made a terrible mistake! Sometimes we do get off track, we think it’s God but it’s actually the voice of our own little ego. That’s OK, it’s all part of the learning process. It’s what confession is for. You look up, realize that it’s not God you’re following and head back in the right direction again.

As you watch the disasters of the world unfold it is appropriate to lament. But for people of faith it does not end with lamentation. It moves to hope and faith and trust.

this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

Yet this is not a selfish personal peace but one which is to be shared. The gospel calls us to action. We are here to serve God not just to feel good.

As the gospel tells us we don’t need to be heroes but to serve faithfully. Our side of the covenant of faith is to serve God each and every day so that we each come to play our rightful role in the redemption of this planet.