Love is the culmination of it all

  This is the last step on our journey towards the incarnation and the celebration that we as Christians commit to on a yearly basis. It is not the Xmas of commercialism that has become the tradition. It is not the paraphernalia of expensive gift giving and rites that have been debased to a frenzy of anxiety and fearfulness in the eyes of many. Rather it is a gathering together of the faithful in a celebration around the Christ Mass in its simplicity and welcome that reveals at its heart love rather than division, anxiety, loss and hate. Today we celebrate that love and renew it in our hearts so that we may join together once more to celebrate the coming of Christ into the midst of a world churned by violence and divided by hatred.

Community is about accepting the other into our hearts with love

Love is an ideal or at least we idealise it for ourselves. However, we need to fathom what it is for ourselves and how we can make it an actuality within the lives of, not just ourselves, but also those around us so that we can form better communities. I do not know about you but I am dreading the in coming Trumpian era as much as I have been repulsed by the paucity of truth coming out of the minds of his selections. The reason I am dreading this new Trumpian era is the total lack of respect and truth that will be peddled in our direction over a period of the next few years. It has inevitably kicked of early and brings a wet blanket to the joy we should be seeing this Christmas. If we are to have people lead us and the world, whether it is at local, state or federal or on the world stage, then they should by rights reflect our normative behaviours and the community's from which they come from. At present most politicians, or at least the ones striving for leadership and renown, I would not have in my backyard as a result of the lack of love, righteousness and peace they exude. Most particularly if they claim any form of religious belief.

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians lays out precisely what love should be and how it is to be expressed in the community. If we cannot begin at the basic level of honest communication and honest reflection of our neighbours then we should not be representing any faith community. At the heart of all faiths is this key concept of respect and love for the other over and above ourselves. The issue is that we often interpret things to our understanding and not align ourselves with God's understanding. It becomes more and more important for us that what we think is right is right. Thus, when we consider love of neighbour we often tack on a proviso tacked onto the end of the thought, "except...". No matter who we are we fall into this fallacy that love of neighbour means those that we consider worthy to be our neighbour. But as both Paul and Christ point out love is above our pettiness and covers all people made in God's image and all life made from God. How can we not include love for and protection for our environment if we love our neighbour?

If we lack the basic understanding that we need to both respect and acknowledge our neighbours point of view we also are unable to begin to express God's love for us. Even John in the womb recognised the other and leapt in joy and love when Mary entered the home (Lk 1:39-45). In preparation for next week we need to understand the basic fundamental of God's redeeming love is available to all despite what we, individually, may believe. Christ is incarnate as a human being not as a some extraordinarily different person or species. No, God incarnate that we celebrate next week, is a reflection of humanity as a whole. If  a single person in an age that was filled with violence and greed, just as today is, with petty politics and the grubbing for power, just as today is, can exhibit a love for each person they meet then so can we as human beings. It is not a hard thing to do but it is a hard thing to overcome the conditioning that the world has fed us over the many years of our lives. In our last week of reflection before we come before the Christ child to honour and praise God we need to understand this love that God has demonstrated to us in Christ. It is only when we can clearly demonstrate that love amongst ourselves that we can become a transforming community of God's love to the world. It is in that very community that we gather the strength to show love as without the support that each of us gives we will degenerate back into the selfish lives that we so often manage to demonstrate to the world.

Joy needs to be worked for

  It may seem strange that we talk about joy in the face of the reading from Luke that seems to emphasise the evil in people with their reward of fire and brimstone (Lk. 3:7-18). Yet it is sometimes that out of terror we find joy in a world that is beset by pain. In the last two weeks we looked at our faith journey in terms of hope that springs from the darkest moments in our lives and the peace that is brought as we journey in the midst of the desert. In the face of adversity and the horrors of violence comes moments that transcend everything around us and bring joy pouring into our hearts. One such moment is when we see the incarnation and the joy that the Christ child brings. This joy stems from the expectation that we all have when there is new life in the offing.

For many of us we just have to think back to the joy we experienced with the birth of our children to imagine the joy that comes with new life. Yet, we are talking about scripture that speaks of winnowing and threshing both violent and separating events. If we superimpose this on the violent and caustic world in which we live we can begin to entertain some of the understanding that must go with these two concepts. If we have too much concern over the violence we will miss the opportunity to find joy in the beginnings of new life. Even in the worst of situations there is often an overabundance of joy. I can remember touring one of the impromptu residential camps outside of Pretoria. Created not only from an overspill of people from other areas but also as a result of continual development pushing people further and further from the urban population areas. Whilst there was a lot of political resentment, this was in the new South Africa, there was also a lot of joy in the camp. From the birth of new children to the organised chaos of the resident children running and playing after what schooling was available. Despite the poverty and the poor conditions there was joy in and around the life that was lived.

Relax and understand God in our hearts

It is the acceptance of what we have been given by God that allows us to fully experience the joy that is in life. This takes courage (Zeph. 3:16) to live up to and exceed, even in the toughest of conditions, God's presence in our lives. It is God's delight in our lives and acceptance of Christ within them that brings joy not only into our hearts but the hearts of those who are part of God's community. It is often at the bottom of our lives that we really begin to understand God's presence and it is at that time that we begin to dwell in the joy that God's love brings. This is where the peace we spoke of last week comes as we embrace the presence of God in the worst of conditions. Being human there is a draw back to all this lovely talk about joy and that is that we tend to be anxious over every small set back in life that we have (Phil. 4:6). No matter what the condition is that has created our state it only increases our own anxieties as we have no understanding as to what the future has in store for us. It is only when we have God's love in our hearts that we tend to find joy in our context and allow our anxieties to melt away into the wind of chance.

We are each and every day encouraged to indulge in our anxieties. To exaggerate them until such time as they overwhelm and defeat us. In doing so we lock out the joy that should be present in our hearts when we take up Christ's burden and love ourselves and our neighbours in God's presence. It is only in looking forward continually and listening to the voice from out of the wilderness that is our hearts to we begin to appreciate the joy that is ever present around us in creation. We seldom look beyond our angst and anxiety riddled life that we can experience the joy that is close to our hearts. In leaving the things that concern us behind we achieve the fulfilment of our hearts. It is like going on a long expected holiday and actually taking time out to relax. We take holidays but we seldom actually relax. Many will be going off at this season to be with family whom they have not seen for sometime. Yet, I know that that will not necessarily be a time of putting away the concerns that trouble us. Nine times out of ten there will be concerns raised over kids and grand kids that will add to the concerns and anxiety. Rather we need to let those disappear, let our families relax and not burden us with the pettiness of life that raises our anxiety so that we can truly let go and let God.

Peace - our hope

 We spoke last week of prophecy and prophets which move us on in the Advent cycle to the candle that symbolises our yearning for peace and the journey into a place of new beginnings, Bethlehem. John cried out in the wilderness to a people who had lost their faith and were living in a time of violence. A prophet at a specific time and place calling in a setting bereft of life to bring new meaning and new life into the lives of the people of the covenant. A call from the deserted places of our lives to incarnate a faith that glows with the power of love and peace. In moving towards the incarnation we recognise that our faith journey often ends up in the wilderness. The wilderness of disappointment and solitude. A wilderness that is founded upon our own deserted dreams and aspirations burnt to dust by the grind of daily life in an era that does not understand faith and its fulfilment in our lives. In looking at John's call from the wilderness there is a point where we need to understand that the call that comes from God often comes from a wilderness experience.

The present day is perhaps very similar to the Middle East at the time of the incarnation in terms of violence and division. The nations of the world are divided in terms of how or what peace means; on how to manage or support environmental change and other needs that affect all peoples' peace. There is no possibility of dialogue within the true meaning of listening but rather a continual babble of wants and desires that affect the world's abilities to respond together as humanity; rather than individual needs and requirements for advancement or perceived progress in wealth and prosperity for a few. There are numbers that call from the devastation of their lives who live in deserts created by selfish others who look only to profit from the misery of others. We are more concerned with the desires of our own corners of the world in local politics, in national desires and in our work benefits.

Future peace lurks beneath the barrenness of our lives

In the deserted places of our hearts we have no peace and we yearn for something to fill the emptiness. Our hope that we carried over from last week is a nascent shoot in the middle of nothingness that we supply with our faith to help it to grow in a manner that brings peace rather than confrontation. God calls us towards peace not towards violence and as people who journey in faith we need to understand that our relationships need to be built on peace. Our current age allows and encourages us towards confrontation by giving us binary decisions to make, rather than seeing new beginnings in an atmosphere of listening and understanding. The desert allows us to remove all the clamouring from our lives and allows us to listen for the persistent voice that is quietly calling us to freedom and peace.  A call that has resounded through the ages and is culminated in the incarnation of Christ who shows us the way forward through acceptance and dialogue.

We ourselves cannot be complacent when we hear God call to us and just accept the status quo. Rather we must actively seek God's blessing upon us so that we can embark towards new ministries and new ways of doing things for God's rule. Only when we manifest God's love in our lives and open the dialogue that is necessary to bring reconciliation and healing between peoples in our communities will we begin the enact God's call. It is all very well for us to pray and speak about how wonderful God is but without changing how we act in our lives we will be no closer to bringing God's peace and encouraging our faith to burgeon and lighten the load that is on the community in which we live. We face a new world out there, one that has been forged in the fires of COVID and denial of change, resting on our past fears. In facing that new world we need to place our faith in God's presence and listen to God's voice leading us towards God's peace.

Hope is in God

 Today is the start of the new year for those who involve themselves with the liturgical church. The start of the year four Sundays away from Christmas. A time when we need to start looking forward into a new year of Christ's revelation and looking back to determine what we missed when Christ came past. The readings for this Sunday reflect somewhat this looking forward looking back. We look back as we turn to Jeremiah the prophet of lament (33.14-16). We look forward towards an unimaginable future with Christ (Lk 21.25-38).

Looking forward looks too much like the rear view unless we have faith

The problem is or rather the challenge is that when we are creative in our looking forward looking back we need to ensure that we are not captured by the one or the other. In looking back we may find ourselves looking into the face of Medusa and become paralysed so that we cannot turn towards the future but remain constantly looking back petrified in reminiscence. In looking to the future the same challenge presents itself but more uniquely as it turns us back to the past because of our fear of God's purposes in our future. We are once again petrified because of our uncertainty as to the future with an inability to place our faith in God's presence but rely solely on our own contrivances. The purpose of looking back is to understand where God has been and to remind ourselves that it is we who have missed the opportunities that God presents. Sometimes it is in our petrified fear that we cannot grasp what God calls us to and so we refuse the joy that would come in God's presence.

The missed opportunities that we need to look for are those times when we did not give joy for others to receive. When we were to wrapped up in our own miseries that we were unable to spend a few minutes with an other to perceive their pain and walk along beside them. How often have we failed to ask the question, so much so that we have to have a day dedicated to it, "Are you OK?". How often have we been a visible face of Christ to those in pain and we have missed the opportunity of receiving the joy that comes when Christ's love is expressed in the lives of another person? As the writer to the Thessalonians puts it "It is the breath of life to us" (1 Thess. 3.8), for this is where the joy is found. This seems awfully negative but when we look to the past it is to discover the missed opportunities so that we can ensure that we do not repeat them because if we do, then yes it is joyless, yes, it is depressing and yes, it is petrifying for we are not growing in faith, in love and in joy.

What then of the future? Is it as depressing as we believe or have we the ability to rise to greet Christ and find the joy of God's presence? Christ's apocalyptic words do not appear to be encouraging (Lk 21.25-36). Yet, the warnings are warnings of the past for if we recognise those moments that we have just relived we will have the opportunities of sacrificing ourselves for the other and find Christ's presence. It is only when we do not learn that the effects of dissolution and disappointment begin to effect all that we do. We look to the future with faith, constantly in prayer and recognising God's presence around us. We strive for the community to which we belong and sacrifice our own needs for the needs of the other. We refuse the enjoyments that we are used to and find ourselves with the joy of Christ as we minister and labour for the justice and peace to bring a community out of despair into Joy. We are the harbingers of Joy as Christ becomes manifest in the incarnation but only if we ourselves become joy bringers.

I look forward with faith, knowing God's presence in my life. I rely on God's guidance in the face of tragedy and I try to bring that faith into being as I minister to family, and community, friends and strangers. Only when we truly believe these statements, only when we manifest them to the greatest of our ability, only when we live as Christ will we begin to bring the changes that God demands of all God's people.

Celebrating God's rule

  At the end of the liturgical year we celebrate what has traditionally been known as Christ the King or more recently the coming of Christ's reign. At the same time we remind ourselves on White Ribbon day of those harmed in domestic violence, particularly women. It is perhaps strange that as we give honour to those who have suffered as a result of violence within the home our worship is formulated around kingship and male dominance. First we need to recognise that archaic world views and misogynistic interpretations of scripture have been instrumental in the creation of many situations in the past. It must be acknowledged that much of this has been the result of a male orientated view of faith and the representation of God in terms of male genderisation. In looking at the history of the church it can be seen that around the time of Paul and shortly thereafter there was a concerted push towards male domination of the burgeoning religious movement founded on Christ. Today's celebration is around Kingship because the main ruler was conceived of being a King in earthly terms. Actually. a nuanced mis-interpretation of the word basiliea. This word has been interpreted in terms of physicality of a kingdom rather than the more nuanced understanding of rule or dominion. 

This is made extremely clear in the dialogue between Herod and Christ in John's gospel (Jn. 18:33-37) which we have heard read today. In the normal translation we hear Herod asking are you the "king of the Jews" this could and perhaps should be translated as a question as to whether Christ is the "ruler of the Jews". This is a very different content as Christ goes on in the conversation to say that his 'dominion is not of this world' (Jn. 18:36). He is not talking about something physical but something much more abstract and perhaps powerful. By speaking in terms of kings and kingdoms, we are speaking in terms of physical constructs that are often associated with violence and domination within their sphere of influence. We are legitimising the use of such violence and when we intrude on that the concept of the home being the man's kingdom we beget violence and cruelty. This is an inherited and archaic way of looking at our current concept of society and one that is perpetuated through time by our acceptance and reliance on tradition.

We dance as a community to God's rule not kingship

Let us change that as we reflect this day on the concept of rulership and the concept of Christ's dominion in our lives. This is not a Kingdom but rather an authority which guides us and gives us the direction that leads us into a new way of doing things just as new growth occurs following rain and nutrients (2 Sam. 23:4). It is something we celebrate and not hide a way in shame as it rises above our worldly concerns and reflects God's love into the world. No matter what account we read of the life and teachings of Christ there is one thing that it characterises and that is the acceptance of women as well as a concern for the status of women in a predominantly male society. This teaching is continued into much of the early writings of the burgeoning church and it is not until later that a clear misogynistic view becomes increasingly apparent changing the course and theological understanding of human relationship. God and Christ's rule is clearly one that functions in love and peace rather than in violence and war. 

Christ's reign is not here as we well know from the abuse within the community and within families from all cultures and religious denominations. Our start as Christians is within the Gospel teachings of Christ that are based on God's love for all of creation and not on later theologising influenced by human society and world view. In our celebration of Christ's reign and rule we must be open to God's love and the dictates of the Spirit that tells us to love our neighbours as our selves. We cannot see our relationships in term of conquest or violence but rather in terms of love and building. It is not easy and it is not the common way of society because it means sacrifice of self over the other. A community that is built on this form of relationship, that is one based on the concept of God's love, is a community that is strong and freed of the necessity to hide its shortcomings and poor decisions as it learns through its mistakes rather than casting blame on the other for its own detriments. Such a rule as NT Wright has said is not an optional extra for those who believe in Christ but the essence of our community.

Lest we forget

 The year's roll round one after the other and history is constantly being written by those who survive the turmoils of everyday life. One of the continuing anchors of our yearly round is the knowledge that we will celebrate the heroes and the fallen in silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Indeed in Australia we have two days for this act of remembrance, yes each has a slightly different theme but each points to and remembers a past that is described by the winners. I do not in anyway demean or dis-honour those who have fought and died in violence that sundered countries and indeed the world. Yet, as a Christian I must ask myself a simple question, which I have on a number of public occasions, If Christ died in violence for us to bring God's kingdom and God's peace, why do we continually remember the violent sacrifices on the war zones of the world and not the life of peace? A simple question which is yet to be answered.

Is it the sea of blood or is it the widow's might that we need to remember?

The Christian call has always been to care for the widow and the orphan, those who have been disenfranchised through violence and death. Ruth the widow and her daughter Naomi, a widow, both struggle (Ruth 1-4) until the justice of the gate is administered and they are brought once more into the community (Ruth 4). Our focus here is on the justice that is meted out to the two of them not on the misfortunes of the past, not on death per se but on life. The injustices of the past are remedied by looking past the forming history towards a future that is calling in justice and peace. Christ's observations regarding the narrow focus of the ruling caste who bring about the injustice that is seen in the widow (Mk. 12.38-44) remind us again of where our focus should be. Injustice, because in the life of the world it is the widow who should be the focus of the rulers not the insistence on the finances of the Kingdom. The mite that she gives is her food and ability to live which she should be receiving from the wealth of the Temple. Yet, it is her mite and the might of the widows Ruth and Naomi that are examples for our future not the disasters that created the situations. It is their perseverance and good will that is remembered in history. It is there courage and sacrifice that becomes our guide into the future as we celebrate God's presence in our lives.

The reason for remembrance day, "lest we forget", is forgotten in the triviality of the spectacle; for we have in reality forgotten. The day has become a ritual of pride in service and sacrifice occurring in zones of violence that are not diminished but rather re-created every generation. Korea, Vietnam, Rwanda, the Balkans, the Falklands, Syria, Iraq...and so on it goes. Let alone, Lebanon, Gaza, Border walls, etc. The creation of more widows and more orphans rather than the peace that God brings. In our remembrance, "lest we forget", we are reminded of the perseverance of the widows in adversity, the damage to the orphans and the re-living of the violence within our own communities as a result of the lack that we have in showing God's love to the other. It is these forgotten "heroes" that we need to remember and care for in our remembrances of violence and not the heroes of violence perpetrated in history told by those who survived. Yes, remember their sacrifice but also, "lest we forget", the Christian message that is to bring peace to the consequential survivors who suffer as a result of our neglect in remembering the message of peace. Peace to those suffering from PTSD and the effects of violence in their lives.

Christ overturns the traditions of power, pride and honour that lead to violence to bring dialogue, peace and service that lead to a better life and community. Everything Christ does overturns the ruling histories of the age by imposing a different perspective that lowers the self to humility that seeks friendship and not authority. Just as Naomi, the real hero of Ruth, seeks to accompany her friend and mother towards an unknown future that reveals her strength and might we to need to seek the other in friendship and service to build the trust that is embodied in community.

Saints and Souls

 Today we celebrate All Saints and All Souls despite them occurring on two different days. In combining them we perhaps come to the realisation that both of them are integrally linked in that our Saints are or where the lived life of someone's past "soul", so to speak. So why do we make an effort to separate them out in our calendar of events within the church. For those of a greater Catholic persuasion All Souls is a day for not only remembering those that have died but is also part of the theology around the concept of purgatory. Thus for many this is a day when the souls of those who have died are prayed for so that they may move through the fires of purgatory to life in Christ. In thinking about it in this manner we are, I feel, denigrating our life in Christ and suggesting that we are not accepted into the presence of Christ. This is perhaps a difficult concept to believe or even attempt to celebrate.

Both days are part of Allhallowtide, which includes All Hallows Eve, now commercially celebrated as Halloween. We can perhaps be better of conceptualising this time as part of our yearly cycle that celebrates life and death, rather than any one specific aspect. By beginning on the eve of All Saints we begin the process of making holy, hallowing, ourselves for the days to come. This understanding has been overtaken by a misconception of the Samhain festival and the turning of the seasons. The beginning of winter was a time when the barrier between the dead and living was believed to be thinned thus allowing for a crossover. It was a time of great reverence and fear so preparations where made to hallow the days ahead. Death is part of life and we celebrate those that are deemed to be celebrated in the Christian life on All Saints day. The traditional Catholic understanding is that these were those that went straight to God's presence. For us today we celebrate these as the many that stand before the throne of God singing praises. Many of them known and of particular regard for us, here in Cairns, is St Margaret of Scotland. For others it is saints who have been recognised by the church universal in one way or another. 

A celebration of life and death

Whilst we remember the famous in All Saints we must not forget that we all will come face to face with our God. In knowing our closeness to God's presence through Christ's presence in our hearts we need to set time aside to focus our prayers and hallowing of those who have died in God's presence even if they are not well known. The saints of our lives and who are known to us in the commonality of life. In remembering them we need also to remember those whom we have excluded in some form or another. In doing this we are actually bringing to the fore all those who are part and parcel of the body of Christ. We cannot just lay claim to those who have died who are family and friends but also those who have died who are part of the body of Christ. In hallowing them we are hallowing the whole body. We are preparing ourselves for the Christic presence in our lives as we acknowledged the presence of Christ in those who have died.

The twenty third psalm tells us of the presence of God in our lives leading us onward even in the face of our mortality and death. It is in the acceptance of this presence that we find the comfort of the Spirit in our hearts and minds during the greatest trials of our lives. In remembering those who have died before us we remember that we are in the constant presence of God leading us in the world should we allow that presence into our hearts even in the presence of our own mortality and death. Let us than Hallow the season and make ourselves holy to God by giving thanks for the Saints and those souls who have died before us as they show us the way forward and that we are not forgotten in God's eyes.

Blind to love

 Blindness is often associated in the Gospels with the inability to perceive Christ and when the blindness is alleviated the person often either praises God or follows Christ (Mark 10.46-52). It is quite useful to use this category, without being detrimental to those with poor vision, as we look at ourselves and our lives in Christ. The very first thing that we actually need to do is admit our blindness. What! I am not blind. Well as soon as we open our mouths and state this it is obvious that we are. We are all well aware that for many things the first response is denial and once we have denied we have actually admitted that we have the issue, challenge, etc. It is only when we are honest with ourselves about our own perceptions and our own knowledge can we begin to fashion a comprehensive plan of action that enables ourselves and those around us to come into the light and see for the first time. Our challenge then is to freely admit that we are blind and need God's grace to heal our blindness and lead us into a new world; a world that God has deemed ours.

At the beginning of Job's trials we can see that he was blind to the truth and yet held on to his faith. At the end Job's eyes are opened to the truth and sees how his faith has assisted him in his trials (Job 42.1-6). It is only when Job confronts and is confronted by God's presence does he realise the truth of his faith. It is only when we allow ourselves to confront God and come into Christ's presence are we able to understand the truth and how this affects our faith. We can so easily give up; we can so easily give in; we can so easily rest in the lies that surround our everyday lives. These are the friends that console us on our journey, these are the friends that lead us away from our journey, these are the friends that lend their worldly wisdom to our trials with God. We bitch and moan at every turn of our lives because things are not how they should be. Yet, if we hold to the path that God has set we are able to overcome so much, just like Job, and we are able to forgive so much just like Job (42.9-10). In doing so we are given so much by God's grace who has asked so little of ourselves.

Are we ourselves blind to love?

Yet, our attitude is one of the age, the miracle of the secular age is ours to play with and to re-invent our lives forgetting the miracle that is God's grace promised to us forever. Ours is not the attitude of thanksgiving it is the attitude that it belongs to us; the attitude of the age. If you cannot pay your way in today's society you are nobody. Well, this is where we are asked for our sacrifice, if we want what we have, to continue. Only when we begin to understand the sacrifice that God has given will we begin to appreciate our need to sacrifice ourselves fully and totally to God's purposes. We find it excessively hard to speak of God in our lives just as Job does; we find it excessively hard to make a sacrifice of time, talent and tarnished gold to fulfil God's purposes in today's world.

What does it take to change our hearts from stone to flesh that holds love of the other above all? What does it do to remove our own parochial blindness to see Christ in our neighbour and enable ourselves to sacrifice our lives to God? It takes the one thing that we control ourselves. The one thing that nobody can take from us no matter what they do to us. We need to approach life with one thing knowing that it cannot be changed irrespective of what is thrown our way. It takes us acknowledging and owning the attitude that says that God is in my heart and I find joy in God's presence. It takes us changing our hard attitudes to each other and to the other from the blankness of granite to an attitude that encompasses everyone with the softness of a lovers embrace. It is ours to undertake, it is ours to do, it ours to control. Once we have changed our attitude we have begun the process of removing the blindness that we all suffer from, the blindness that allows us to say "we are not blind."

Seeking joy over happiness

 How do we determine the difference between happiness and joy in our lives? This is perhaps a difficult question for us to ask, especially in the midst of angst and sorrow. What can be suggested is that one is permanent and is found even in the depths of despair. The other is fleeting and is found wherever one can for a moment. God responds to Job by asking him questions not through levity and laughter but questions that are fundamental to our understanding of God's presence and joy in our lives (Job 38.1-7). Even when we are in our deepest depression, when all the world around us abounds in horror we can and do experience the joy that is God's presence in our hearts. It overcomes our deepest dread and our inability to give of ourselves to God in the most meaningful and sacrificial way that we can. Whilst it is an emotion that is deeper even than happiness it is without doubt an emotion that is linked to our attitudes and our hearts.

Happiness is an emotion that is available to us at the most trivial level. It is levity and laughter that is generated by others around us. We chase happiness the same way we chase our standing in society. We want only the best so that we can be happy. We want our friends around us so that we can enjoy the moment and be happy. All of these things are ephemeral and fleeting in our lives. We will find this feeling and often we are so obsessed with our need for happiness in our lives that we forget that it comes from outside not from inside. Just like a drug that gives us a momentary high. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with being happy, of course we should achieve happiness in our lives. We do however need to realise that happiness is fleeting and can easily be destroyed. It is something that others can assist ourselves in achieving or destroying through their attitudes and actions. Whilst happiness will lead us into joy, joy is much more than the fleeting insubstantialness of happiness.

Only when we accept ourselves at the deepest level do we find joy

Joy does not come through the antics of others. Joy is generated in the heart that is willing to sacrifice itself for others so that others may come to find joy in their hearts no matter the circumstances of their lives. It is a much deeper emotion and one that is understood through our own attitudes rather than through the attitudes of others. It is a fundamental change in our hearts so that we too may experience the suffering others feel to bring joy and love into the hearts of the other. Christ understands this when he his requested by the Sons of Zebedee to bring them happiness by elevating their status (Mk 10.35-37). The sons of Zebedee are looking for temporal happiness they are not looking for the deep joy that comes with the presence of Christ in our hearts.

This deep joy is also alluded to in the Hebrew scriptures and in the epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 1.1-10). The greatest joy to be found is in the sacrifice of the Priest Melchizedek, thought to be the son of Moses. It is not a simple sacrifice but a sacrifice of dedication to God beyond everything. It is our sacrifice when we allow ourselves to go the extra mile and not hold back our hearts and our efforts. It is Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross to grant us the grace of God's presence and salvation. If we are to find joy we need to adjust our attitude towards the other and not towards ourselves. If we are looking for Joy because we have lost it we are looking for the ephemeral happiness of the everyday rather than the deep joy of God's presence. It is our attitude towards each and every person who build up the community of Christ that expresses joy in the midst of disaster or destroys its presence. God asks us at our baptism and confirmation to sacrifice ourselves totally. It is only when we do this on a daily basis that we begin to experience the true joy which is God's presence in our lives.

An upside down world

 Conventional wisdom and the norms of he world suggest that being rich, powerful and selfish creates the perfect living arrangement. In being rich we have no worry about what we buy or eat; being powerful means that others do not come between us and what we desire; being selfish suggests that others are of no consequence. In light of the Gospel, the Good news, this convention is meaningless as all the categories that we thought of as being true are turned in a topsy turvey manner so that we no longer recognise what is true and what is false. We are not used to seeing things from this point of view as we struggle with perspective and understanding what it means to be a person of faith when our traditional views are turned upside down. This appears as if we have to look at modalities in the same manner we would look at Escher prints and the fantastical art from the Surrealists.

Are we prepared to see things from a different perspective

Christ states the opposites of what we expect when in Mark's gospel and in the others when he states "But many who are first will be last and the last first" (10:31). So how do we practically change our view point especially in a world that does not engender the best of faith. Christ's statement in Mark comes after the question from the rich man as to how to gain eternal life. This is followed by the disciples talking about how difficult this is if the rich are unable to enter and the story of the camel going through the eye of the needle. Our difficulty is in thinking that our talents and our riches pave the way into the presence of God. It is almost harking back to the question of works and faith. It is not quite the same however as here we are talking about the difference between our worldly wealth and the wealth we have in terms of faith and the spirit. It is not our worldly abilities that assist us in this case but rather our connection to God and our ability to see things from the perspective of God.

We take account of things only from our own build in worldly experiences but we are being asked to put that to one side. We cannot get rid of it. It is similar to us having a seat in the wings of the theatre and being offered the ability to see from the centre of the front row. Our seat is in the wings but we are being asked to take the perspective of the front row. The change can become a permanent one but for the moment it is just a temporary change until we can actually manage the swap and make it permanent. In enabling our ability to see from a different perspective we begin to see as Christ and discard our own view. The Hebrew's passage reminds us quite clearly with regards to the power of  God's word, perhaps as revealed in scripture (Heb. 4:12). In context to what we are referring to it is obvious that turning the perspective around reveals more to us then we would normally guess. So in this case let us just suspend our normal thought processes and try to see the world in a different light.

Let us take a look at how we see being rich and successful. Most would suggest that this is what we all strive for in some form or another. It is our way of getting the world to look at us for once. Instead of looking at it from that point of view let us look at it from God's point of view. Each time we look at the rich and famous we need to ask ourselves what would God want us to do if we were rich and famous? If we are truly servants of God and have left everything behind then riches mean nothing to us unless they are serving God's purposes. This is, perhaps, what Christ is attempting to get across. Not that it is a problem being rich but if we are not doing God's work with our riches then it does not matter. In today's world what God wants us to do with our riches is irrespective so long as we accrue fame and fortune. This is not giving away everything to follow God it is retaining everything to follow ourselves. By seeing the use that riches can be put to and changing our perspective we can begin truly to follow God.

Faith in the face of disaster

 Have we learnt anything over the past 2000 years or more? Probably not, even if we are meant to learn from history. Job was and is held up as a person of supreme faith within his community (Job 2.1-10) and yet as a result of that faith appears to have everything go wrong. On the face of it, like Job, we are always confronted with some form of disaster or another and are asked to overcome it in some way through our faith. The disaster may be a natural one such as the recent hurricane Helene or the various floods around the world including Europe, Africa and the Americas. On top of the natural ones we have the violence of wars perpetrated against innocents in Middle East and elsewhere. It may on the other hand be a change in our lives that has upset our equilibrium or it may be that our faith community is in the throes of struggle in an unending series of setbacks. Consider our response in each of these cases and any other that we may confront. We actually have a series of decisions that we personally have to make and these decisions impact on our lives and the lives of the community that we belong to.

What do you see? Despair, hope or picture

Response: Positive energy. In the midst of doubt when disaster strikes it is possible to find a path which consumes us with positive energy. Such a path is one that is generated by God's presence encouraging us to not only give of ourselves in time and expertise but also to give of ourselves to the greatest possible sense. This is the path of Job; the path of integrity to our faith and to our baptismal vows. It is a remembrance that irrespective of the good and the bad we are committed to the presence of God in our lives. We give thanks to this presence by in turn, dedicating our lives to the presence of Christ. This means that we give fully of ourselves in everything to our faith our work, our time, our finances, our lives, etc. It is not a part time commitment that is only as deep as our interest in the present time. It means that if we have committed to giving 100% of ourselves to God then we can not and should not fall away from that commitment. Often when we financially or time commit ourselves we often vary our commitment depending on our own circumstances in the world. Yet, God commits 100% of God to ourselves irrespective of the circumstances. Can we not do the same in our own faith commitments? If we say we will commit time to our faith can we not continue this no matter the circumstances or is our commitment to our faith journey but a move towards the supermarket? This is the hope seen in Job's response; the hope that is embedded in the shema. If we lose this, we just trash that which we do not use and move on to some other thing that becomes important to us allowing our faith to slowly become beached in the narrow shallows of some forgotten creek.

Response: Leave everything as it is. This is a very Australian way of looking at life. She'll be right mate, just leave it be everything will turn out ok. It has worked in the past it is guaranteed to work in the future. God does not give us the opportunity to grow God just allows us to be. We can keep on repeating and repeating the mistakes of the past and not worry because God will keep it going. Yet, God is the God of change and metamorphoses. God continually draws us forward so that we can willingly follow as children follow their inquisitiveness to discover the next thing in their growth. Just like children we are encouraged to explore the depths and heights not just sit and do nothing whilst surrounded by possibility. Christ blesses the children (Mk 10.13-16), not in indolence but in activity. In exploring the children invest themselves in the future so we to as members of Christ body, as children of God, need to invest ourselves in our faith journey and those instruments that assist us to grow. We cannot just leave things be but rather invest time, money and work into our tools and places that help us to look to God.

Response: Give up. This for some is the natural response. To lie down and roll over so that nothing bad will happen. For us as people of faith to do this means that we give up our response at baptism to Christ. We declare that every single vow or promise that we have made is void. This means even those promises that appear to be secular in nature. We give ourselves up to the void of depression and an endless cycle of grief and sadness. We all know of someone or some structure that has appeared to give up. Job in his response to disaster is also tempted by his wife to just give up (Job 2.9). This can never be our response as people of faith rather like Job we need to respond with an understanding that all things are possible even recovery in the deepest of disasters.

Half truths or half lies - What are we called into?

 In John's gospel Christ states that "I am the way, the truth and the life" and yet we often deny this as Christians in our lives. We often have very little compunction about telling things to people that will benefit ourselves and our friends rather than the truth. This is one of the most difficult things for us to undertake as our whole society is based on the telling of lies. If you do not believe me than listen to this story of an ethics class where telling lies was discussed. A student told the lecturer that she never told lies. The lecturer asked her a couple of questions: do you ever wear shoes that have increased your height in any way? the student replied , "Of course, I wear heels to go out to dinner" The lecturer then asked "Do you ever wear any form of make up?" The answer given was "yes most of the time". The lecturer than asked "how can you say you do not lie? You have said you lie about your height when you go out and each day you lie about who you are when you disguise your features with makeup".  These are minor social lies that we undertake each and every day in some form or another (gentlemen we are the same; just think aftershave, cologne, hair gel, shoes with a higher heel, etc). It becomes increasingly so when we begin to talk about advertising and politics in all of its forms. Our society is built on lies often hidden, often socially accepted and often blindly ignored even when we know the truth.

Half truth half lie - which is which?

Christ in Marks's gospel suggests various body parts to be cut out and put out if they commit sin (Mk 9:43-47) perhaps indicating how we can tell an untruth through our bodies but most importantly not to allow ourselves to become tasteless without the truth salting our body (Mk. 9:49-50). In James' epistle the author is clear about how we must habituate our speech pattern around the truth (James 5:12). In answering questions and delivering our opinions we are often guilty of  waffling our way towards the endpoint rather than stating our feelings or what we wish done. This again is something that society has suggested is the better way as then we will not upset or disrupt relationship. Yet, if we do not truth tell we will eventually cause the same disruption of relationship. Yes, we needs must take care in how we speak the truth but this is about wisdom and understanding rather than not stating the truth. Truth telling is not always about words and how we inform each other. Truth telling goes beyond this to how we actually live our lives to the fullest. In the book of Esther there is a clear understanding of what the cost of truth is not only for those telling it but those who have perpetuated a lie (Esther 7-8).

Just think about our own lives for a moment. The majority of us for whatever reason have a reluctance to share our lives with others, even with our family and friends. Even when we have things like RUOK day and other such ventures the understanding of privacy is so in built into our lives that we are reluctant to divulge and open our hearts. This is about truth telling of our hearts and minds and opening up to the presence of God. In James the writer goes on to speak about praising God if we are cheerful and praying if we are down, informing others of illness, etc (James 5:13-). This is about honesty in our own understanding of ourselves. This is telling the truth of our lives to others. It is not about divulging the secrets of secrets. It is about being honest about ourselves. This takes many of us a long time to understand and often we never come to this understanding of ourselves. We prevaricate and do not let others know our true feelings and were we are at in terms of our own health, spiritual, mental or physical. This has gradually become part of our lives over time and in some sense enshrined in the law of the land regarding privacy. We are reluctant to invite others into our hearts and life simply because we can shut them all out. In doing so we lessen our ties to each other and to the formation of community. It does not matter that we may dislike someone God asks us to love them irrespective of who or what they portray or are.

In order to be honest and pick up the cross to follow Christ we must pick up the burden of truth telling in our lives. It is no use for us to say yes we are OK when we are not for we then do not receive the support that the community can give us in prayer and comfort. As a result of this loss of respect and truth telling we have lost our ability to be empathetic. We no longer have the understanding of another's pain and circumstances since we have privatised our own pain and despair. Only when we can share in truth can we really begin to understand and empathise with others who are equally burdened and in pain.

Communication gets us into trouble

We start our faith journey when we are brought to baptism and those who sponsor children (parents and Godparents) are asked to do one thing and one thing only. This is for us a very difficult thing to do as our secular culture is mightily opposed to us doing it. The one thing they are asked to do is to show the child how to love the other, God and neighbour. This is highly contraindicated for a western culture that is derived from the self being the only thing that matters. Selfishness is inbred in us and can be considered to be a hereditary trait that would be considered evolutionary beneficial for the species as it ensured survival of the weakest from birth. Thus part of the child growing in faith is to be taught how to control their selfish needs and consider others especially when they begin to verbalise. This is because as soon as we begin to utilise our tongues for communication we begin to understand the nuances of deceit and power for ourselves through manipulation whilst using words.

 As we grow older, our self orientated culture primes us, in such a manner,  to achieve our desires to become more prominent in society or increase our popularity by doing and saying things to "win over" the majority. In other words, we do not necessarily tell the truth but only what our constituents wish to hear, so that we can attain our goal rather than the goals of the community. We allow our desires to overrun and manipulate our tongue, guiding our speech and our attitude. We have no control as we cannot control our desires and so we let our tongue run away with a multitude of promises with little truth. However, we need to learn to control our tongues which means we need to control our desires so that they conform with the desires of God rather than human desires. The tongue is the symptom rather than the causal root of the problem. Yes, like any good programme we do need to eradicate the symptoms but the better way is remove the causative agent. This is the difficult task of the Godparent and parent to guide the growing child in this process of control.

In our speech we also tend to forget that we have other ways of communicating and more often than not it is our non-verbal communications that constantly create the challenges that we find in life. How many times have, I wonder, we heard the cliche from an grieved person "I didn't say anything wrong". We scratch our heads and nod wisely when we actually hear the words agreeing that yes they did not say anything wrong. The issue is in how or in what manner that they stated the innocuous words. We can say I love you in so many different ways that some are loving and others convey our utter distaste. Children say what they mean without any form of or degree of attitudinal change as this is a learnt behaviour. Thus, parents and Godparents need to be quick to steer the growing child away from the issues that may begin to grow and foster as they repeat what others demonstrate. Sometimes the learning is unconscious as this is how they obtained what they wanted and were not chastised as a youngster. However, when we begin to acknowledge that we need to be aware of non verbal communication we can begin to correct our own behaviours as well as those around us. We need to mirror the attitude of the young child with their innocence rather than manipulate to obtain what we want through tone, and misplaced attitudes.

Can we control our tongues?

Everything that we do must be focused on the one thing that we profess as Christians. Our profession of belief in Christ and followers of Christ suggest that we should place before us the one single goal of love of God and neighbour. The singularity in this duality is the one word love. No matter what our thoughts, our deeds or our words may be they should be centred on this singular thing called love. The wife held up at in the last chapter of Proverbs displays this wisdom. Christ attempts to pass this understanding on to the disciples by his words and actions. Yet we still fail because our desires are not aligned with Christ or with the wisdom that is imparted. We still look to the symptoms of our loose tongues to remind ourselves of the control that is required rather than looking at our hearts which are the root of the issue. In participating in an act of communication we need to be aware that all our ways of conveying information are open to abuse. We just need to look at the Evangelical Christian voice as they criticise the Graham dynasty to see how easy gaffes create issues. In receiving others as a young child we welcome the unconditional love which is God's and begin to convey it to those in our community, we begin to prove our words by the wisdom and action of our hearts. It is not just the sleight of hand produced by our tongues. In controlling our communication we are more able to convey God's love and the Christ that lives within us.

Speaking about fractures

 I am fascinated, having worked now in a number of different dioceses in the world about three things. The first is perhaps the greatest as it hits hardest at the basis of faith and how we portray the path that Christ walked. This is the constant display of hypocrisy displayed by those who purport to lead the church whether in this country or overseas, whether as Anglicans or any other denomination. Unfortunately it is most obvious currently in the Australian Anglican church but is by no means constrained to that denomination. We are well aware that there are differences in the way we interpret scripture and some place more emphasis on particular parts of scripture than others. For example, it would appear that the basis of our faith walk is solely dependent not on love of God and love of neighbour, as one would perhaps expect, but rather on sexuality. Indeed it has become so politically charged that those who are invested in this idol appear not to read scriptures such as Luke 6.37-42 or even 2 timothy 2.14. We all have our faults but love is the commandment that we as faith holders for Christ's presence on earth should at least attempt to uphold as fundamental. Instead we politicise it to such an extreme that we wish to not form loving communities but sunder communities, see for example this article from the Church Times.

The unspoken fractures in the body of Christ

This article perhaps leads us into the second of my thoughtful fascinations is the very essence of the commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves. This rightly should mean that whatever and whomever we are as practising followers of Christ we should be demonstrating and upholding this commandment in our lives. How can any leader of a Christian faith community not pursue this commandment in all that they do? Paul makes the suggestion that we are the "Body of Christ" and should act as one body. It is clear that we do not act as one body but rather as a fractured community that often has no love for its neighbours and pursues its own inward looking selfish ideals. The commandment is to love not to like, not to disagree with but to love. This means that no matter how we might think, interpret the scriptures, follow a different denomination or faith, or have a different sexuality, etc. our need is love. Bishop Tutu emphasised this in terms of the colour divide in South Africa in his writings. Not everyone in a family likes their relatives but at the end of the day the majority will reach out to help when members need or ask for it. Not everyone in the family will cosily sit down at a meal but will more often than not still participate if invited to do so. Yet, it is clear that this does not extend to the leadership of some churches who cannot even participate in a service of worship and communion together, perhaps thinking about Matthew 5.23 and separation, rather than the centrality of love and bonding in difference. Paul emphasises the need for each part of the Body to support the other and goes to great lengths to fundraise for Jerusalem. Today's culture has pervaded the denominations to such an extent that it is impossible for separate dioceses / areas to support others unless they obtain a reward. However, scripture states that our reward lies with God and not on Earth with its politics of uncertainty (Lk 12:16-21) so generosity of wealth without attachments is our goal as we love our neighbour.

Third and finally in this thoughtful line is our shift away from the public square. The words of truth are never wanted to be heard and our apparent deliberate stepping back from speaking out is part of today's politeness. Christ was not polite when he chastised the scribes and pharisees of his day so why should the leaders of denominations, dioceses, ministry areas not speak out in truth. It seems that we have bowed to the popular opinion of society that faith is private and not to be seen and yet those not of the Christian faith are able to speak out because it would be rude not to allow them. Perhaps, our shepherds should speak the truth boldly into the public square knowing that we will be vilified but also knowing that we are following Christ by picking up the crosses of today to bring the truth to light not through our interpretation but by living up to the commandments of loving God and our neighbours as ourselves. Very few Bishops in my life have made a deliberate stands on political agendas in the public square. It appears we detest ourselves so much that we are unable to speak up against injustice, evil and violence within our communities.

Do we follow one or the other?

 There is something to be said about not mixing politics and religion but there is also something to understand about this statement. In suggesting that we must not mix politics and religion it says nothing about mixing politics and faith. These two are integrally entwined and cannot be divided as the one informs the other and without it there is little wisdom in politics. Most recently this debate in my mind has been sparked by our readings and by an article written in 2018 referring to Archbishop Justin's speech regarding economic policy. If we are to act in the community to bring God's presence closer to those around us we need to be aware of our own faith and how it interacts with our politics.

Our faith should by its very presence in our lives guide our decisions. Politics is about making decisions that affect the community. This is particularly so as we approach the elections this year. If we are to utilise our faith in works that enable God's presence then we must operate at the political level. However, there are an infinite variety of ways that this can take place and the choice of our intervention must conform with the faith that we hold. We can see this taking shape in the discourse outside Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8.27-38). Peter jumps in immediately following his announcement and belief in Christ. His faith is right but his actions that follow are wrong as they are politically motivated but do not conform with the faith he has just announced. It was his own agenda that was being followed or his political agenda and not his faith. The two must marry up in a complete conjugal joining. Our centre is God's call to us to participate in the Eucharist and to take this out into the world in the form of action. Eucharistic action that is filled with the wisdom of God and brings justice, peace and God's presence into the lives of the other.

We must choose neither one nor the other but forge our path according to both

We are often too quick to respond by using our own thinking rather than responding in Christ to which we have been baptised. Faith without works is too inward and leaves the practical wisdom of God behind closed doors. However good works that are without faith  have no life and do not bring light into the world. They may temporarily ease the pains of those we minister to but do not ease the soul which is slowly dying behind the false gratitude that is displayed. How can it  be anything less? To bring faith into our works we must spend the time to discern and walk with the other, it cannot be a quick fix either of faith or of good works. The quick fix of faith leads to a shallow religiosity often found in mega churches were there is little time for the individual or else we spend our time in retreat from the world pretending that what we are doing is spiritually rewarding but leaves us dry and unrewarded so that we move onto the next incarnation. The quick fix of works leaves us flitting from one good agency to another trying to help everyone by spending our money.

God's wisdom should pervade everything that we participate in. If we lock God out and rely on ourselves we become cold and heartless. Only when we are able to encompass the wisdom of God that is freely offered into our hearts we can then become true people of God integrating our politics and our lives into one. By divorcing the one from the other we make the misery of the world rather than bringing the light into the world. At the end of the day the question that we must ask ourselves when we throw ourselves into our good causes and our never ending cycle of programmes and  works is: does our decision conform to the faith that we believe in or does it arise out of what we perceive to be the right thing for ourselves. This question needs to be asked of ourselves when we act politically within the world. Are we acting in line with our faith or are we acting in line with our own wants and needs. If we are true to God our political decisions within our secular life must reflect our faith and not our party politics.

Inclusion of the excluded

 How often has the church been labelled as being exclusive and not welcoming of the other within its doors? For many the Church is perceived as being exclusive (which it is) but they often forget that it is actually extremely inclusive. How does this work? and how do we undo the work of ages to break down the barriers so that we who are within can see that our exclusiveness is not a barrier and should never be a barrier to inclusiveness. It is perhaps a condition of modernity that we only see the barriers rather than the pathways that lead us beyond the rules and regulations that are perceived as being barriers.

This seems to be getting very complicated but is in actual fact very straightforward. The reading from James speaks of a congregation that privileges those they deem to be similar to themselves or better (James 2.1-3). This is what we do regularly in many Christian congregations we place a barrier up to say you are not welcome. Indeed the first barrier that we tend to put up is that of baptism. Then we note those who are acceptable to our criteria, you have to speak in tongues, you cannot be LGBTQ, you can not be divorced, you have to accept..., you have to deny...and so our rules multiply much as the pharisees made rules which appear to conform to their way of thinking about God. In doing so we make our selves an exclusive club as you cannot be part of us unless you fulfil the criteria. Our rules are required otherwise there would be no order. It would be a farce as we actually would not know who belonged and who did not. Yes, sometimes rules are required but the rules are there to guide us not constrain us when they are given to us by Christ and God. Too often we use the rules to our satisfaction and benefit so that we can retain the power or authority or leadership in a manner that is beneficial to us and not the community we serve.

Who are we kidding when we say we are inclusive?

The two commandments we are given are simple love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. In trying to do the latter we create our comfort rules. God requires us to be inclusive because how can we love our neighbour as our selves unless we are inclusive. That means that our petty rules need to be abandoned for God's ever present love. We need to reflect on our own inbuilt barriers to inclusiveness. These can range from not accepting someone because of who they are to something simple like telling someone not to sign a card because they haven't contributed. God accepts all people including, and probably more than anyone, those who are outside of the system. We just have to look at Mark (7.24-30) to know that it is irrespective of who someone is as to whether they are loved by God or Christ. Is it right to set our barriers to the norms that we require?  No, its not. Those norms are often than not set by tradition rather than by the present. Tradition that we often cling to to preserve our walls and barriers for comfort sake. This is what our institutional community requires of us as it is often built on tradition. In these cases we exclude but we need to work around the corners to show that God includes them all.

No matter how we look at it some denominations are more exclusive than others. Simply because they adhere to a stricter form of human laws. If we are to truly to follow Christ we will be the includers in a regime that is fully inclusive of the whole of humanity. That is who we should be but we often see the wood rather than the trees. We keep to the rigid patterns of inclusion and exclusion thinking and perceiving that we are correct but not realising the fact the God has changed all the rules on us. Baptism is asked of us not as a requirement but as a choice. Membership is asked of us not as a requirement but as a choice. We do not exclude as a result as we are more than willing to accept all people, it is only a perception of yours that we exclude. In that perception we create the division that is the barrier to inclusion.

Listening rather than working

 Luther is famous for stating that it is not by works alone but faith or sole fide. Indeed much of the biblical text from which Luther derives this saying is supportive of the notion by faith alone. The basis / foundation of saving grace is faith in Christ and God. This is supported time and time again. Yet, the writer of the epistle of James is correct, also, in suggesting the alternate (James 1:22). The writer is telling us here to be doers, however we must not be complacent here and accept this as "Oh, we just have to do" because it does not work like that. Indeed the writer is most pedantic in stating that we must be listeners who actually do something as a result (James 1:19-25). In much the same way Christ says the same thing in Mark's gospel when he reprimands the Pharisees with regards to eating (Mk. 7:8).  So how can we bring this seeming contrary scripture into our lives today.

Too often it seems to me that members of faith communities, throughout the world, are often just doing good things in the community. For most this is the thing to do and maybe attend church at least twice a year to be a good Christian. However, there is more to being a Christian then this and often we neglect the faith side in favour of the easier route of works that are good. The hard part is not doing but as James' author puts it "let every man (sic) be quick to hear". We allow this part of the instruction to wash over us and get on with the practical. Just like any form of education the hard part is listening attentively to the instruction / lesson / lecture / seminar, etc. Effort needs to be put in and time needs to be set aside but few allow themselves that time and energy. This deprives them of the essentials which more and more people lack as we move into newer and newer generations. It is often the case that when education is arranged for those who want to put the effort in to obtain what is freely given to enhance and deepen faith most squander the opportunity believing that it does not concern them or we have not the time and will continue doing.

We sometimes need to listen with our hearts more than our ears.

In doing and not listening we are much like the Pharisees (Mk. 7:6b) and it is incumbent on us to be ones who seek God through study and increasing our understanding of what God requires from us. A couple of times I have heard the rejection of possible fun ways to gather being rejected because either it was too 'high falutin' or they just could not be bothered. We need to be like the bride looking for her lover and hearing his voice calling to us to rise and follow after listening to his voice constantly in our lives (Song 2:13b). It is this love that we are so lackadaisical  about when we hear the call but refrain from pursuing. We are drawn away by the raucous call of our secular lives rather than the gentle call of God's love. The promise of an instant prize or gratification rather than the long awaited gifts that come from God in surprising and often unusual ways. The insistent and persistent call of God is like that of a lover that comes quietly and unobtrusively in the early hours of the morning. We stand by the things that we do rather than taking an active listening role to endeavour to hear what God is actually calling us to and not what we think we are called to do.

The less and less we pay attention to God the less and less that we do in terms of what God calls us to. For in attending less to God we attend less to our role as listeners and doers and become simple minded doers for the sake of doing. It may seem strange to us in the modern era to seek God through the study of the scriptures and /or general study and discussion. The unfortunate thing is that in the modern era we have allowed the academy to become divorced from the reality of our lives. We also allow ourselves to choose which part of the academy we listen to and become followers of Peter or followers of Paul rather than followers of God. In other words we allow ourselves to be lured by one source over another when we should be listening to all sources so that we may find God amidst the multitude. In not undertaking the requirement to listen to God and then coming in to praise God  we are becoming even more like the Pharisee. Our lips proclaim God's glory but we do not uphold even a small part of what God calls us to do. In listening to God's call we can actively participate in what God is wanting us to do rather than just doing what we think is best.

Truth in a broken world

Christ states the truth of his presence in John's gospel (Jn. 6.56 ff) and it is the first thing that is proclaimed as the armour of God (Eph. 6.15) but as can be seen in John's gospel and in our own lives truth is a perception created from our own viewpoint. Indeed, Pilate is famous for asking "What is truth?" in the Johanine version of Jesus' trial. If, truth is as labile as it appears to be, how do we as Christian's respond when it comes to our own lives and the way we interact with our fellow citizens and companions. If we all have our own versions of what truth is how can we even begin to behave as Christ and bring the light of God to the citizens of the world? Perhaps our advantage is that we are able to form a community or rather take companionship along the margins of our society. Make no mistake, we as Christians are on the margins and not in the public square. Those that are in the public square are unable to voice the truth. If we are to form community and companionship on the margins then we must realise that it is only through fellowship that truth arises. This then is the truth of the Christian message, a truth that we can proclaim to all. The gospel is a Gospel (truth) of accepting the other and changing with the other to form the companionship and peace that is borne out of the Christic presence.

A change in our perspective allows us to meet the other in the limnal space

For us to be Christians in the truest sense we need to be people of hospitality for the other. It is in the acceptance of the other that we become truth bearers and truth formers. Stephen Pickard suggests that we are a verandah people worshipping a verandah God. The liminal space of the verandah between the outside and the inside is where we meet and commune. Each space that acts as a meeting place becomes a place of acceptance of the other; a place for the Christian fellowship to meet and become. In accepting the other we accept the bread of life and blood of salvation given to us in the life of Christ, who was forever accepting the stranger on the fringes. It is when our spaces become the verandahs of social interaction and the companionship of Christ's presence that we become truth purveyors. We begin companionship with acceptance of the other which means that our version of truth becomes changed to include the other's version of truth. In doing this we come closer to THE truth that is God's presence in our lives. Only when we have encompassed the other will we come to the truth of Christ's presence and not be bound by our individual truths. Only when we partake in companionship, fellowship and community do we partake of the bread of life and the cup of salvation. This is what is rejected by the scribes, the pharisees and Christ's disciples, the ability to accept the other and the truth of each persons life. We do this only because of our discomfort in the alternate of Christ's discomforting words and the rejection of the others perspective in our search for truth. We pursue that which is most gainful for ourselves not that which is of importance to the other. The burdens that we bear need to be lifted before we can act for the other. Yet, when we walk in truth and justice we immediately forget about our burdens and confront the real burdens borne by others. In this we have to act with boldness and not be bound by the chains that we place upon ourselves (our burdens) but speak out in truth and peace to the community that we serve (Eph. 6:20). This for us is a constant conflict that we must struggle with on a daily basis. 

Paul's description of the armour of God in Ephesians takes from the military of his day (Eph. 6:14-17) and is often seen as being militaristically burdensome for a mission of peace centred in love. Yet, if we are to walk this way then there is a certain amount of preparation that has to be undertaken. Both mental and spiritual, so in some ways the advice regarding armour is as accurate today as it was before. Truth keeps us on the right road, keeps the pants on so to speak, just like a good belt. Few people would think of going out without a shirt and when we talk about faith that shirt (no matter whether it is a Gucci or a T-shirt) should be our display of righteousness in the world. We cannot go anywhere without thongs or at least boots in the country and for a good walk we need wisdom and understanding that comes from knowledge of how to ensure peace in the community. A good Akubra hat and a short staff to assist our walk and protect us in need completes our adventuring outfit into the temptations of the world. The only other accessory that is a must, I do admit I have difficulty finding an adequate clothing analogy (handbags do not really work), so I suppose our best is that are electronic equipment best have the anti-virus shield of faith. Who can go without their phone so I suppose faith can be considered as our shield for electronic communication or rather any communication that is about God's presence in our lives, Yet, if difficulties arise these are no guarantees that we will not refuse the challenge and walk away from the path that leads us to God's presence. It is always the harder path that those who have faith must tread that is why it is so easy, like the disciples, to turn away from the path of truth and accept the path of the world.

Being different for God

 Have you ever thought to yourself as you are standing doing something for the Church: "This is weird"? I suspect that often many young people look at the church and think the same thing with perhaps the ongoing comment "You will never catch me doing anything like that." Yet, at the end of the day some of us who are older will at times look at what youngsters get up to and mirror those same thoughts. If we went back a hundred years and not even that our parents and grandparents at our age would have been saying the same thing. It happens in every generation as each of us explores the new fresh expressions of life that we engage in. Things that our parents and grandparents would never do let alone even contemplate doing. If we truly think about it in any way Mical's reaction (2 Sam 6:16) to David's dancing before the Lord is this same thing that each of us have had. Her displeasure with David is often the same reaction we get in seeing something we think is a bit weird or not in accord with what we presume to be our tradition. It may not be quite as virulent as is implied but that to can also be a reaction for some.

I can perhaps see the reaction of some in our pews to the idea of what amounts to an exuberant dance occurring in the aisle or chancel of our churches. Yet, God calls us to exhibit a kind of weirdness to the community and sometimes we need to extend that weirdness to the raucousness of David's dance. It is not that we should abandon everything that we have done or are doing it is perhaps that we need to extend our worship and praise, as well as what we do in the community, in alternate directions which we think are weird. For some, that may be extending worship into a new format, say, Taizé or plays or dramatic readings or, dare I say it, dance in the eucharistic service. These may seem novel or unusual for many of us and thus weird but others may feel comfortable and be drawn into an alternate expression of our spirituality. Interestingly far more younger people than older people enjoy the stillness induced by the Taizé service rather than the traditional form of worship. Like Mical we are sometimes so bound to what we know and what we think that we are unable to encompass something that seems strange to us but may well be an attraction to others.

What we think as foolish may be what God requires of us

In taking on something new we must proceed with a certain amount of caution because in our willingness to please we may end up in circumstances which are both controversial and against the way we wish to go (Mk 6:26). It is not about just jumping in and going for it. Rather there is a certain amount of discernment involved. Yes, we may well be called into the extraordinary but we need to be sure that this is actually where God wants us and not just another thought bubble on our part. If it is a thought bubble on our part then the likelihood is that everyone will look down on us and move away. If on the other hand it is something that comes from God and matures in the wisdom of God's presence then those who are ashamed by it will be out numbered by those that come to celebrate the new life that the idea, worship or whatever brings to the community. To often we are amongst those that decry a new idea to bring joy into the heart of our community. Simply because it is new, its unknown and also because we are loath to change.

We have an exceptionally hard time when it comes to new ideas. We would prefer things that we have done previously or even those things that we have seen others undertake. Why are we scared of taking on something new? Why are we hesitant about answering God's call into something new? We have a belief that we will belittle ourselves or that we will make fools of ourselves much as Mical thinks David is doing. We are too embarrassed or ashamed about what others think and so we prevent ourselves from taking on a new idea, a new style of worship, a new understanding of what God requires of us. We are presented with ideas to further our understanding of God, how we worship, how we interact with others to bring God's love into the world and yet we refuse to undertake that which is possible. This is due mainly to fear. We have not grasped what Paul understands with regards to the pledge of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:14). Everything is possible in Christ and in the presence of the Holy Spirit only we are embarrassed to embrace what we are called into. We are too concerned about what other people, like Mical, will think of us which may result in our egos being damaged and not what God wants of us. Let us answer God's call into what we think is wierdness only to discover God's glory and love.