It's the little things that count (Sunday, June 20, 2021)

Reading:  I Samuel 17:1-40 

After getting off to a promising start, the brand-new kingdom of Israel is in trouble.  Saul, the first-ever king, has begun his reign with a series of military victories over the Ammonites and the Philistines – two troublesome neighbouring kingdoms.  But the Philistine army quickly regroups and comes back looking for revenge.  Now, Saul and his army are on the defensive.

Also, dissent is beginning to form against Saul within the kingdom as his high-handedness starts to show.  Samuel, the priest and prophet of God who anointed Saul to be king in the first place, has split from him and has already given his blessing to an unusual successor – David, the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse, whose main job so far is to be shepherd of the sheep and servant of his siblings.

The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah.  Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in Elah Valley, where they got ready to fight the Philistines.  They were on one hill, the Philistines on another, with a valley between them.

From out of the Philistine camp there came a giant of a man named Goliath, to challenge the Israelites.  He was over 9 feet tall, wore bronze armour weighing 125 pounds, and a bronze helmet.  Bronze armour protected his legs, he had a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder, and his spear was as thick and heavy as a weaver’s loom.  A soldier in front of him carried his shield.

Goliath shouted at the Israelites, “Why are you lined up for battle?  Choose one of your men to come fight me.  If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves.  If I win and kill him, you will be our slaves.  I challenge you: pick someone to fight me!”

When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified.  For forty days – day after day, Goliath came out and challenged them.  And for forty days – day after day, no one from Saul’s army came out to meet the challenge.  Even when Saul offered a big reward, the hand of his daughter in marriage, and the rank of nobility for all the family of any man who would defeat Goliath, no one stepped forward.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, Jesse asked David to come in from where he was watching the sheep, to take supplies to his brothers who were part of Saul’s army, and to bring back word of how they were doing.  When he arrived at the lines, he saw and heard what was going on and that for forty days no one from the army had yet gone forward to meet the challenge of Goliath.  He couldn’t believe it.

David’s oldest brother saw David’s curiosity, and told him to go home and watch the sheep.  “Just go do your job back home, and leave this to us.”  From each one whom David asked for any information, he got the same answer.

King Saul heard about this curious shepherd-boy in their midst, and called to see him. When David stood before him, Saul also told him to go home, and leave the fighting to the warriors.

“Your majesty,” David said, “I take care of my father’s sheep.  When a lion or bear carries off a lamb, I go after the animal and get the lamb back – even if I have to take it out of the wild animal’s mouth.  If the animal turns on me, I grab it by the throat and kill it. And I will do the same to this Philistine.  The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; the Lord will save me from this Philistine.”

So, Saul agreed to let David meet the challenge of Goliath.  David had no armour, so Saul gave him his and had his servants help David put it on.  David tried to walk in it, and couldn’t.  “I can’t fight with all this,” he said.  “I’m not used to it.” 

He took it all off, and he picked up his shepherd’s staff.  He picked up five smooth stones from the stream, and put them in his bag.  With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.

The images are from the Morgan Bible of the 1240's, and show 

David volunteering (upper left), being given Saul's armour (upper right), 

David taking it all off (lower left, and close-up),

 and going to face Goliath as himself and with what he he is used to (lower left).

Meditation                   

He picks up his shepherd’s staff.  He picks five smooth stones from the stream and puts them in his bag.  With his sling ready, he goes out to meet Goliath. 

And thus, marches David into the pantheon of the human gods among us whose trust in the desire of God to save others from the goliaths of their time inspires us all.  Is there any story more classic and more captivating than that of David and Goliath? 

When I told Japhia this was the reading for this week’s worship, her immediate response was “I love that story.”  As a child it spoke to her exactly the hope she needed about prevailing against oppressive and dominating power, and she has loved it ever since.

I remember also when I read a selection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales to young Aaron as bed-time stories, and after having read enough of them, let him choose which one he wanted, it seemed his favoured choice was “Jack the Giant-Killer” – a Grimm version of David and Goliath in one way, and no doubt a much-needed ray of hope in his own life (hmm … Happy Father’s Day, dad?) about the little guy doing in the big mean guy.

And even as adults, don’t we give special attention to stories like that of Greta Thunberg, only 18 years old this year and for the last 3 years, known for protesting outside the Swedish Parliament for real climate change action, saying “how dare you” to a United Nations assembly of world leaders, and taking her passion for addressing climate change into the heart of Alberta and Wild Rose country?

Or the story of Ashley Jenkins, the temp nurse hired in 2020 to help Rosslyn Place long-term care facility comply with health regulations, who instead, for the well-being and survival of the residents there, blew the whistle on how irredeemably bad the conditions were, and helped wake up all of Hamilton and Ontario to the travesties of long-term care in the city.

People like that stand out, as do so many others, like those in a photo included by Pete in last week’s online worship – descendants of settlers and recent arrivals to the Stoney Creek area, wearing orange t-shirts and standing at the First Nations monument in Battlefield Park in solidarity with members of the First Nations grieving and lamenting the discovery of the bodies of 215 First Nations’ children buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School – daring to face the ogre of racism living all these years in the basement and in the very foundation of Canadian society.

Or like so many others who dare to stand up for a friend against a bully, who confront a co-worker who shares a racist or sexist joke, or who stand with, rather than against or just apart from a schoolmate who comes out and faces harassment or exclusion because of it.

They stand out.  And I wonder if this also is one of the points of the David and Goliath story.  Not just the conflict between David and Goliath, but also the contrast between David and King Saul and the whole of his army.  Between David – a shepherd-boy, the least of Jesse’s sons (and who is Jesse?), and King Saul (the tall and brave) and all his army (lined up in battle dress, armed to the teeth) in fearful silence before the challenge of Goliath?

Is it maybe their very reliance on their armour, their weapons, their marshalled ranks and their military strategy that is the reason they are not willing and are afraid to step out and meet the challenge of the great and fearsome Goliath?  They know their weapons, their armour, and their strength are no match for his.  And because they have so committed to their weapons and armour and strength and strategy, have they forgotten what it means to trust in God, and in the desire of God to work through and work with those who honestly give themselves for the well-being of others?

As a shepherd, David knows he is really no match for lions and wolves who want to steal the sheep of the flock he cares for.  His staff, his sling and his stones, the puny strength of his own hands and arms will never overpower an animal of prey.

But he also has come to know that as he uses what he has and puts himself on the line for the sake of the sheep’s well-being, God is with him, protects him, works through him, and helps him prevail – helps him and the sheep find their way through to a good end.

Is that something available maybe to all of us, in one way or another?  To be like David – a stand-out for God for the well-being of others, rather than a stand-back with King Saul and his army in our own nervousness, in the face of some challenge from a goliath of our time?

Last week in a United-Church webinar about ministry and mission in a time of pandemic and post-pandemic, I learned that one of the greatest dis-eases of our time afflicting the lives of almost everyone we know, including ourselves, is the feeling of being unwanted, and the sense of being un-needed.  It’s a giant shadow that lies upon the lives of many around us, and a challenge that shadows our lives as well.  It makes us all just want to withdraw, and find a quiet place of small meaning and personal comfort.

But maybe, like David, does our experience of God and our trust in God’s desire to use us for others’ well-being, help us let go our fears, let go the temptation to rely on high-tech and high-end solutions to everything, and just pick up what we have – something maybe as low-tech as a phone call or a front-step conversation, as human as a casserole or a cake left at a front door, as humble as the loan of a book or a magazine article that meant something to us, as ordinary and risky as a community cooking class – just to break through someone else’s giant despair; to undo someone else’s dark sense of being unwanted, un-needed and unimportant; to bring the dark giant of loneliness in their life to its knees, and help them stand up and live again with a sense of being important and cared for.

Maybe that’s goofy.  But on the other hand, maybe it’s true that God gives us all a pouch of smooth stones to use for the good of others in life, and that as we use them, the pouch itself is refreshed and they’re never used up.

Some like Greta Thunberg and Ashley Jenkins, probably are meant and are well-positioned to sling their stones as hard as they can at the foreheads of some of the corporate and global giants of our time that run and ruin the lives of many, and much of life on Earth.

For most of us, it’s likely enough to spend our time just dropping or gently casting our little stones as we are able into the pool of other’s lives, to stir the water, create some gentle ripples, and but by bit invite them to feel the movement of God’s Spirit in their life too, telling them they are wanted, they are needed, and they are important.

Do you believe we all come into this world with a little pouch of smooth stones?

And that it’s up to us whether and how we use them?

Shenanigans in Bethlehem (or, getting to the heart of the problem) -- June 13, 2021

We came to worship this week with three big things on our minds. 

One is the number of families in our city living in poverty.  June is Case for Kids month at Fifty, where we reach out to children, young people and families who live in poverty in Hamilton through support of Wesley Urban Ministries and all their programs of support and help – everything from support for young moms, early childhood centres, and help with food and housing and education.  The link is https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/wesley-urban-ministries-inc/p2p/caseforkids2021/team/team-fifty/

A second, still being absorbed in our national psyche, is the 215 First Nations’ children who were buried in unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

A third, still fresh and raw, is the murder of a Muslim family in London by a man who ran them over with his pick-up truck as they were out for a walk. 

These last two are stories of terrible tragedy suffered by people because they are not regarded as equal members among us.  Not seen, not welcomed and not treated as beloved brothers and sisters in the family of God that we are.  Rather, mistreated, targeted, and made to suffer because they are different.  But different from whom, and from what?

Reading: 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13 

This reading tells part of the story of how Israel became a kingdom, and how difficult a time it was for everyone.

When the people were first led into the promised land, God established a house of priests to rule over them and govern all their affairs.  The priests stood between God and the people, and helped the people know the right things to do.  But over time, as happens, the priests grew self-centred and corrupt, and the people suffered.

The people didn’t want the priests to be ruling them anymore.  They asked God to give them a king instead, and God did as they asked.  Samuel, the chief priest at the time, didn’t like it.  But he obeyed God and anointed Saul – one of the strongest leaders of the day, to be king.

Very soon, though, Saul began overstepping his authority, as kings will.  Samuel noticed it immediately, and withdrew his support. 

So the kingdom was now in conflict.  New king, still on the throne, on one side – the old priest, who used to be in charge, on the other.

What were they to do?

When Samuel turned against Saul he went to Ramah – one of the cities of the tribe of Benjamin, and Saul went home to Gibeah – another city of the same tribe.  And as long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king, but lamented how bad a choice he had been as king.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you go on lamenting that Saul is king?  I too have rejected him as king.  But now get some olive oil and get over to Bethlehem to see a man named Jesse; I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

Samuel said, “But if Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord answered, “Take a calf with you and say you’re going there to make a sacrifice to me.  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and then do what I tell you.  You will anoint the man I show you, as king.”

So Samuel did what the Lord told him.  The leaders of Bethlehem, knowing the conflict between Samuel and the king, were nervous when he arrived.  But Samuel said what God told him to say, he set up the sacrifice, and he invited Jesse and his sons to it.

When they arrived, as soon as Samuel saw the eldest son – the natural heir – and how tall and handsome he was, he thought right away this would be God’s choice and he was ready to anoint him king. 

“Not so fast,” God said.  “I don’t look for leaders the same way people do.  I look at the heart.”

So Jesse then started bringing to Samuel his next son, and next son, and next son after that – until all seven of his eight sons who were with him.  And every one was not chosen by the Lord.

After rejecting the last of the seven, Samuel asked Jesse, “Do you have any other sons?”

“Yes,” Jesse said.  “The youngest.  But he’s out taking care of the sheep.”

“Tell him to come here,” Samuel said.  So Jesse sent for him, and he came in.  He was a good-looking young man with eyes that sparkled, and the Lord said to Samuel, “That’s the one.  Anoint him.”

Samuel took the olive oil, and anointed David in front of his older brothers.  Immediately the spirit of the Lord came to life in David, and was with him from that day on.

And Samuel?  He went back to Ramah. 

 

Meditation 

Prince Caspian, the fourth of seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, is a story about the world being set right after a time of unlawful rule and terrible disorder –as timely a theme today as it was seventy years ago when it was written.  And it’s not at all unlike the story we’ve just heard about Israel in the time of Samuel.

Prince Caspian is the rightful heir of a line of good kings.  He has been deprived of the throne by his usurping uncle who killed his father, King Caspian IX, seized control of Narnia, and has brought death, disorder and despair upon the land.  Prince Caspian has has to flee for his life and fight for the good of the kingdom from its edges.

Aslan is the great Christ-figure Lion of the whole series, who long before freed the land of Narnia from the grip of the White Witch, brought life back to the land, and established the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve as rightful kings and queens in perpetuity for the good of all.  Now, in response to the current crisis, Aslan is afoot again – mostly in the background, to help the tale turn in a good direction. 

And things do turn, as they will.  The usurping uncle overplays his hand.  Caspian’s small forces are triumphant.  The way is cleared for the prince to ascend to the throne.  Aslan appears and Caspian is brought before him, to be set at last on the throne for the good of the land. 

“This is Caspian, Sir.”  And Caspian knelt and kissed the Lion’s paw.

“Welcome, Prince,” said Aslan.  “Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?”

“I – I don’t think I do, Sir,” said Caspian.  “I’m only a kid.”

“Good,” said Aslan.  “If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not.  Therefore, under us and under the High King, you shall be King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands.  You and your heirs while your race lasts.  And now, your coronation …” 

If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof you are not …

I haven’t been present at an ordination service for United Church ministers for some years, but at the ones I attended, one question always asked of the candidates for ministry was something like “Are you worthy (or maybe, do you feel worthy) of this calling to which you are being ordained – worthy of the ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral care?”

And the answer was always, “Yes, I am worthy.”  Or maybe it was “by the grace of God, I am worthy.”  But even with that qualification, I wondered how they could feel so sure.  But then, maybe I did too, when I started out. 

I wonder … might a better response be one like that of Bette, one of our lay members, when she was asked to take a position on the Church Council?

First, she asked for a few days to think and to pray about it.  Then, a few days later when she accepted the position, she told us her first thought was “No, I don’t have what it takes – neither time, nor experience, nor the skills for the job. But then I thought, they think I am qualified and have what it takes; I can ask for help when I need it; I can learn; and if it really doesn’t work out, at least I’ll have tried and helped out as well as I could until they find the person they need.”

Francois Fenelon, an early eighteenth-century French priest wrote, “it is false humility to believe ourselves unworthy of God’s goodness or God’s call on our lives, and to not dare respond to him with trust.  True humility lies in seeing our unworthiness and giving ourselves up to God, not doubting God can work out good results for us and in us.  If God’s success in what God intends to be done depends on finding our foundations already laid, we might well fear nothing good will come of what we try to do.  But God needs nothing that is in us.  God can never find anything there except what God himself gives us.”

Mother Teresa put it more simply:  God is able to fill an empty vessel with good and for good, more easily than one that is full.

I wonder in the story we read today of Samuel, Saul and David, what kinds of vessels each proved to be at different points along the way.

Samuel early on – especially in the stories we have of his childhood apprenticeship in the Temple under old Eli, was very much an empty and open vessel, ready to be used by God in whatever way God would call and for whatever purpose God would equip him.  “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” was the mantra of those years in his life.

But as time went on, as it will, and he became established in his rule and his control of the people, did he start to get more and more full – full of himself, full of good intentions, full of principles and prejudices, full of party loyalty and dynastic ambition?  Hence, the way he so scrupulously studied Saul, the new king, for weaknesses and reasons not to support him.

Saul in the beginning, was also exactly the king the people needed against the terrible state they had fallen into.  Into him they poured all their need for someone tall, strong, decisive, courageous and imposing to take charge of the land, and clean out the Jerusalem swamp.  He was an empty vessel ready to be filled with whatever the people projected onto him, until, as it will, pride began to seep in, ambition began to crowd out love for the people he was to serve, and soon he was so full of his own importance that he was no longer of any real good to the greater good of the kingdom, and he and Samuel were simply locked into an ongoing struggle for c0ntrol of the land, each convinced they had God – if not on their side, at least on a string.

And is not David the same?  At first, this wonderful wunderkind from the meadow, this shepherd of the sheep called to be just as good a shepherd of the people.  But read on in the story, and he becomes just as prideful, selfish, and immoral as the rest. 

Why does God choose him and make such a fuss over him?  Maybe only because neither Samuel nor Saul were really receptive anymore to God’s real leading?  Both of the usual suspects were too full of themselves to be opened to God’s true will, and God’s way of making things turn to good?  So, someone unusual, someone from outside the normal circle, someone no one would think of, someone humble enough to be useful for the good of all, was exactly what the doctor ordered and who God went looking for.

And then God left it to Samuel and Saul to get on board and accept the new direction, or not. 

I see three quick lessons in this.

One: God cares about how things go in the world.  Whether on the levels of country or city, community or church or family, God cares whether things go well or poorly for the good of all – especially for the good of the weak and powerless, and God will work – mostly in the background, to help the story turn towards the good.

Two:  Very often it’s the unusual suspects – the ones on the edge, the forgotten and excluded and devalued ones, the ones no one thinks of consulting, who God works through and works with to make things turn in the needed, good direction.  And then it’s up to the ones used to being in charge to open themselves to God’s new direction, and get on board with the way God is working to turn the story towards the good … or not.

And three:  It’s good to give prayerful discernment to who the unusual suspects might be today and among us, as God works to help make our story make a turn to the good?  Who are the ones on the edge, the ones not usually consulted or included, the ones not normally listened to, whom God is now anointing with authority among of us, for the good of all? 

Might it be the First Nations?  Might it be Pakistani immigrants?  Might it be the poor?  Might it be any of a number of “unlikely candidates” whom we normally see just as objects of charity? 

And what will those (like me) who are used to being in charge need to be emptied of, to be open to God’s working, and to be able to get on board with God’s steering of the story to turn out for good?

Love: Is There Anything Simpler ... and Harder? (June 6, 2021)

Welcome

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,

all things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

This hymn as our opening song for the online worship seems perfect for the time of year we are in.  We feel the spring warmth, already leaning towards summer.  We revel in the world’s greenness and vibrancy, and its variety and diversity.  The world is good, and shows the good will and purpose of God who has called it into being.

But not all is good in the world.  There is much that is wrong, hurtful, broken, tragic and evil.

Just over a week ago, the discovery was made of the bodies of 215 children in unmarked graves in an unrecorded cemetery at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. 

It is the latest of many stories to be added to the history of the residential schools in Canada, and it leaves us surprisingly still shocked, saddened, angry, devastated, searching for ways to respond, hopefully committed to finding ways to live together – as hard as they may be, towards truth and reconciliation.

I confess that having begun a few years ago already to read Volume One: The Summary, of The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, I stalled at page 55 of roughly 400 pages of text, plus endnotes and bibliography.  I also know there are 94 recommendations and Calls to Action, some addressed specifically to the churches – like the United Church of Canada – that were involved in the history of the schools.  But I can’t tell you what they are.

Come fall, and into the new year Fifty United plans to start learning about truth and reconciliation in our relations with the First Nations of Canada.  I expect we’ll be reaching out online with some of it, and I hope wherever you are, you’ll be willing to learn and become involved as well.

In the meantime, knowing that the only way through any difficult situation is simply to do the next right action, let us begin by acknowledging that this place where we gather to worship God is on traditional land of the Anishinabewaki, the Attiwonderonk and the Haudenosaunee peoples.  They lived on this land, and cared for it and for all its life, long before we arrived.  We are grateful, and we seek to know the way towards truth and reconciliation with them.

Let us pray, using the words of one of our traditional prayers, from the old green Service Book of 1969.  But fifty-two years later, it still speaks to our hearts, and calls us into a life of openness to the love and good will of God.  Humbled openness before God is timeless.

Opening Prayer

God the Father (and Mother?), God beyond us, we adore you.

You are the depth and the fullness of all that is.

You are the ground and the guarantee of our being.

God the Son, God beside us, we adore you.

You are the perfection of humanity.

You have shown us what human life is to be like.

God the Spirit, God around us, we adore you.

You are the power within us and others.

You can make us the men and women we are meant to be.

Father, Son and Spirit; God, beyond, beside and around us;

We adore you. 

  

Reading:  1 John 4:16-21 

This letter, dating from around the end of the first century, was written to help congregations of believers to discern between true and false teachers, and to know whether their own fellowship with God was genuine or not.

God is love.  Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them… There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.  We love because God first loved us.

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Meditation

That reading is short and to the point.  As quick and to the point as making a donation this year to Wesley Urban Ministries to support all their ministries and programs to help and support children, young people and families living in poverty in the downtown core of Hamilton.

At the beginning of worship, I mentioned the discovery of the bodies of the 215 children buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.  It was reported in the Hamilton Spectator on Tuesday, and that same day The Spec also included an eight-page annual report from the Hamilton Community Foundation titled “2021 Vital Signs.”  The main point of the report?

“From the outside, the city’s façade seems strong as ever…  Behind the façade, though, there’s another Hamilton … where people are struggling to hang on 15 months into a global pandemic that has scrambled daily life.  ‘COVID … has exposed … that we are not all in this together,” the report says, “It hasn’t been the great equalizer.  In fact, what it’s doing is compounding the inequality by wealth, by neighbourhood, and by race.

“Some of us who have secure employment and own our own homes ironically will emerge from this in a stronger financial position.  But that will be a very different experience for people who are precariously housed, who have precarious employment, who don’t have food security… COVID has compounded those inequalities, and it’s going to be a very long and difficult recovery for folks who are on the wrong side of that fault line.”

One of the ways we have of making a difference for good in the lives of people in our city on the wrong side of that fault line, is through the work of Wesley Urban Ministries.  And one of the way we have of being part of their work is through the annual Case for Kids campaign, in which once a year we raise funds and make donations of our own to help support and pay for all their programs for children, young people and families – more than 20 different programs in all to tackle hunger and homelessness, addiction and a need for good medical care; to provide support for pregnant moms, early childhood centres for their children, camps for the summer and tutoring for school, gathering places and mentoring for young adults, and help of different kinds to enter the adult world as strong and whole as they can be.

Normally on this first Sunday of June after worship we would go downstairs for coffee and a few cookies, maybe a sandwich, and then a bunch of us would head over to Bayfront Park to join with hundreds of others from churches all across the city, and spend a great afternoon walking, running and riding around the Bay to raise money for a year’s worth of programs and outreach.

With the pandemic, things change.  Not the need, nor the desire to reach out in God’s name and with God’s love.  What changes is how we do it.

It’s as quick and painless as the reading about loving our brothers and sisters was short and to the point.  Go to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/wesley-urban-ministries-inc/p2p/caseforkids2021/team/team-fifty/ and just follow the directions to contribute whatever amount God invites you to give.

The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.   It’s as simple and easy as that.