My sermon from June 12 in two services in Mt. Uniacke and Beaver Bank, NS

Labourers of the Harvest
Matthew 9:35-10:8, Romans 5:1-5

One of the features of living on the campus of the Atlantic School of Theology is that there are often crews on-site filming various movies. This is both a pro and a con. The pros are, of course, that we sometimes get some pretty well known actors hanging about the school grounds. In just the last year we have seen Tom Selleck, Kathy Bates and, just this past week, Rob Lowe and Julia Ormond have been filming a mini-series to be aired later this summer. I haven’t seen any of these stars up close. The closest I’ve been was seeing Rob Lowe drive down the street the other day, which is fine since I am not the type to gush over celebrity types.

Now the cons are that with the movie comes a lot of traffic. There are countless people working behind the scenes, and the streets around campus are clogged with vans, boom trucks, cars, and of course, the trailers for the stars. I am surprised every time by the shear amount of energy and equipment that goes into filming a few short scenes at the school. They spend a day or two preparing the rooms that they will be using, then they film for a couple of days, all just to get what amounts to a few short moments of a movie only a couple hours long. Overall, it is a lot of work to share a story with people.

Jesus did not have access to this sort of technology during his ministry, and if he did, I am not convinced that he would have made direct use of it. That is not God’s way, at least not how I see Him working. Instead, Jesus realizes that he only has a short time to fulfill his ministry, to exemplify what it means to live in God’s image. There are a lot of people that need to hear the Good News, seemingly more than he is able to meet during his short time in the world. Matthew records that he had compassion for the crowds, so what does he do? He sends out his disciples to proclaim the Good News to the lost sheep of Israel.

This weekend Wim has joined with many people from across the United Church of Canada to explore ways in which we can share the Gospel with our neighbours in this great country of ours. There are workshops on preaching, music and other liturgical arts such as dance and drama.
Events like these are a great way to share how we have learned from our own experiences on how we can relate to people around us. However, I do have one concern when we come out of a conference like this, full of energy and new ideas… and that is we must be sure that we do not let the method overshadow the message. Let me share what I mean by taking another look at the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples.

“As you go, proclaim the Good News ‘the Kingdom of God has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment, give without payment.”

Seems like pretty dramatic stuff, but Jesus has only asked them to do as he has been doing. In the verses leading up to our reading from Matthew, Jesus has been traveling the countryside doing just those things, humbly serving our God. He is asking the disciples to simply to continue his ministry to those he cannot reach in person, traveling village to village proclaiming the Good News to all who will listen, to those who are open to hearing it. They did not need to put on a big show with schedules and planning committees, they just walked about the towns sharing with those around them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy and encourage these events. I also believe that we need to constantly reflect on and explore how we are being perceived by the people around us, and to be sure that how we share the Gospel is not taking away from the Gospel message itself. I am as open to trying out new things as anyone else, I just caution that we need to be aware of where the focus of our presentation is. I have experienced both great and poor examples of this.

Before I started my supervised field education through AST, I took the opportunity to visit different denominations to see how other churches worship our common God. In one church, the service began with the singing of contemporary hymns with which I am familiar. Great! The only problem was, I was totally unaware that the service had even begun! There was no welcome, and many in the congregation were still moving about and talking with others. The service just moved straight into a set of three or four praise hymns. The rest of the service continued much in the same manner. There was no clear separation in the service, everything seemed to jump quickly from one component to the next. The sermon appeared to be plopped into the middle of the service where it might be convenient. While there was a good message, I was still sitting there wondering what was going on. As I left the service, the word that resonated in my head was “chaos!”

I will contrast that service with another one I attended last fall. Where music was cleverly used, but was not the focal point. Did anyone attend the Franklin Graham Festival last October at the Halifax Metro Centre? In my opinion, they used methods that were very effective in spreading the Gospel. They used big name entertainers to bring in some very impressive crowds (about 10,000 per night!), but as the evening progressed, the momentum was building, the focus was on what was yet to come. In the end, after all the music and entertainment, there was a single, passionate, spoken voice. The voice of Franklin Graham, speaking the Word of God to the people of God, and the whole building was silent, focused on his words. As people left the festival, they left with the message that was shared by Franklin Graham, their focus was on God. Not on the music, not on Franklin for that matter, but on God. The Gospel was what people remembered from their experience there.

Much has changed over the last century. How we experience the world is much different now, there is television with all its channels, the internet, and radio to name a few, but there is only one way to experience the Gospel. We read the Bible, we pray, and we share with those around us. We don’t need anything fancy to do the work of Jesus. Most of us don’t have the ability to cast out demons, or heal the sick, but we all have the ability to share. To share the Good News of Jesus Christ, to share what he has done in our lives. That is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to be the labourers of his harvest.

Jesus tells the disciples that they should not expect payment for the acts they perform, simply because they never had to pay for those special skills. In today’s reading from Romans, Paul reminds us that it is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we gain access to the grace and peace that only God offers.

He tells us to celebrate our joys, but to also celebrate in our challenges and suffering. Why should we celebrate our suffering? Many people suffer greatly in their lives. What is there to celebrate? Paul says that to suffer is to build endurance, to gain strength to go on. In that endurance, we are able to build character, and in character we find hope. Hope for God’s love and grace in our hearts, poured into us through the Holy Spirit.

In last week’s bulletin, there were the results of the congregational vote on same-sex marriages [here | at St. Paul’s]. This was no doubt a difficult decision for a lot of people, and it was not expected to be easy. Many people across Canada have struggled greatly with the issue, and as seen in the results from the example in this community, there is a difference of opinion still. But that is okay, you have traveled together down a path that led to this vote, and I hope that you celebrate that journey. It was challenging, it built endurance and character, and I pray that it leads to hope. I commend you for taking that difficult journey, and encourage you to celebrate the journey taken together, no matter what the result of the vote was.

So, where do we go from here? If we are the labourers in God’s harvest, do we need huge production crews following us around, filming us in posed situations, then spend months in an editing room cutting and rearranging scenes? No, of course not. God calls us to simply share with those around us, to those that seek to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

This area of the province is going to grow a lot over the next 25 years. In 25 years, the Halifax Regional Municipality expects to have grown by 100,000 people. The Halifax Peninsula has no more room for growth. So where will people live? It will have to be in areas such as this, where there is room for growth. But what will the people do when they get here? Will they worship with us? Will they even know we exist? Do we have any plans on how to let them know about us?

Jesus commanded his disciples to not preach to the Gentiles or Samaritans. He told them to only speak to the Israelites, he was not trying to seperate Israel from nations, but rather he was encouraging the disciples to talk with the people nearest to them. To sit and talk with their neighbours, to teach them about the work that Jesus has done.

These are just some thoughts to think about over time as new neighbours move in. Because those people are the harvest. We, gathered here in the church are the labourers. All we have to do is bring in the harvest, from there we can let God take over.

My sermon from this morning service at Cole Harbour Woodside United Church.

Foundation and Faith

Matthew 7:21-29; Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28

So, what does it mean to have a strong foundation in faith? We all know that we need a solid foundation when building a home, or more recently in the context of this community, a church! But what does Jesus mean when he tells us that if we act on his teachings that it will be like having a foundation built on a rock?

The key for me is in the very first verse that Trisha read this morning. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Only those that do the will of God will enter the Kingdom of heaven. It takes more than just saying we know who Jesus is, but it takes our actions as well. Strong words? Absolutely! But as Christians are we not supposed to be doing this anyways? The focal point of Christianity is Jesus the Christ. In Matthew 22 Jesus sums up the 10 commandments into two simple laws. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and secondly, to “love your neighbour as yourself.” We are to serve God with our entire body, in all we say, and in all we do. And we are to treat those we come in contact with everyday, with the same love and respect that we ourselves expect to receive. In our daily life we are to be open to God’s calling, through prayer, through reading of scripture, and through the circumstances that we find ourselves in each day. Each of us has our own individual calling from God. Some may take years to find it, some may know very early on, sadly, some may never know. It took me 29 years to start to figure out what God has planned for me, and two years later I stand here on the path towards a life in ministry. I searched a long time before I felt I knew the path I am to follow.

Conversely, I have some dangerous friends! Now don’t take this as a threat! For in reality they wouldn’t hurt a thing. But they are in dangerous circumstances. They are mostly single, all work in high-tech companies, have significant incomes, and a fair bit of idle time on their hands. I was once like them, just Bev and I living comfortably in Ottawa with our dogs. We all were searching for meaning in what we were doing. We threw ourselves into our work, thinking that was where we had meaning. But it wasn’t. Maybe a new car would help? No, that wasn’t it. Oh, it’s got to be that new high-tech toy! Yeah, right! A new job? No, something still is missing. Maybe a move to a new home, or city would help? It helps for a while, it looks different, but something still is missing, there is an emptiness that we feel. We all went through various cycles of those I just mentioned.

I no longer am searching. I stopped searching about 5 years ago. 5 years ago I started to change my life, I began to focus on Christ, and I didn’t feel the need to look anywhere else anymore. I continue to work at being sure that I am on the right path, that I am not slipping off the path that God has laid out before me, but I no longer feel the emptiness that I used to feel. The same emptiness that my friends still feel.

So what about my friends? They are still looking. We don’t see a lot of each other anymore, as we now have spread out from Pictou through to San Diego. We still keep in touch, but don’t get together on a weekly basis like we used to. It’s hard to share what has happened to me with my friends. They don’t appear to understand what these changes in my life have done for me, and also they seem unwilling to go through the personal changes required to come into a life of faith. They prefer to focus on what they can change in their own environment, and to keep as much control as they can over their lives. But change is necessary.

Next weekend, Bev and I are going on a spiritual retreat with some of our friends that we’ve made since moving back to Nova Scotia. We have been asked to do a workshop on giving up control to God. It’s called “Let go and Let God” In preparation for it, I was reviewing a bible study we did a few years ago called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. In it he talks about giving up the control of our lives to the leading of God. That if we are open to God’s leadership in all aspects of our life, we are able to grow much closer to Him. The key to doing so, is trusting in God’s guidance in all areas of your life.

So change IS necessary. If we have a weak foundation, we need to move to somewhere with a strong foundation. Noah could not have built an ark if he continued with his daily life. Moses could not have freed the Israelites from Egypt if he stayed in the desert herding sheep. Peter, Andrew, James and John couldn’t keep being fisherman and follow Jesus. And certainly Saul (who became Paul) could not continue persecuting Christians as he preached to the Gentiles! Although wouldn’t that have been interesting?

So what of those we know and love that do not share that same strong foundation in Jesus Christ that we share? How do we reach out to them, to share that wholeness that only God can bring?

As I was reading the passage from Romans, it brought back to mind something that Roger said last week. “We cannot compromise our faith!” In Romans Paul wrote “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith…” We should not be ashamed in sharing with those around us what God has done for us. The offer of salvation is available to all. And our actions and our words should be reflections of the faith that we have in the risen Jesus Christ, a faith that we can share with those around us.

In our workshop, we will be challenging people to examine their lives to see where we allow God in, and where we keep Him out. In some areas conscious decisions may be made to try and keep control, other areas we may do it without even realizing. The challenge then becomes, once we see areas where we try to keep control, how do we give it up to bring our whole house onto a foundation of rock?

As you leave the church today, I hope that you will ask yourself some of the questions that we will be asking our friends next weekend. As you go to work, to school, shopping, or are at home, maybe with friends, or at meetings, ask yourself, where is God in this place? Have I made room for God in this part of my life? Is what I am doing reflective of my faith in the eyes of others? When I pray about this, how do I pray? Do I pray to get my own way, or do I pray for God’s will to be done here?

As you reflect on these questions, talk with your family and friends about what you find. Sharing your own faith journey helps you in your own growth, but it also helps others see what God is doing in your life.

Change is not easy, Moses struggled with his own limitations as he lead the Israelites, but God helped Moses through others who had the skills that he did not have. Pray for guidance, pray that God will lead you as you work and play, and be open to change.

If I had not been open to change, I would still be stuck in a desk job, still searching for meaning. I would not feel that I was doing all that I could be doing. There would still be an emptiness in my life. It was through prayer, and being open to the leading of God that I found my meaning, my firm foundation.

It is that firm foundation in Jesus Christ that we need to share. Not just with those in the church, but to let our faith be seen in all aspects of our lives. In all we say, and in all we do.

In the spirit of the weather we’ve had over the last week, I close by reminding you of the benefits of building on the strong foundation as we heard from the Gospel of Matthew: “The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.”

May we all share in the house built on the rock, the house that will not fall.