Looking beyond the ephemeral

 We often overlook things in life especially when it is close to us. In finding out the excellence that has been hidden from us we quite often become total boors in our outlook much as the friends and family of Christ did when he preached in Nazareth (Matt. 13:53-58). Instead of praise we become jealous of that which has been hidden in plain sight but we have completely overlooked or assumed something that was different. This most often occurs within the family but is rife within our society and community. It can be seen in the way we react to difference and our assumptions as to what should and should not be present. The other side of the coin is as equally true in that those who are different often feel discouraged by the reception they receive from those who are assumed to know better. In this case the light is lost as a result of our own perception of unworthiness as we rely on the perceptions of others rather than on the perception of God's presence (Rom. 8:31-35).

In the love life of Jacob, we see how this playing out of perception actually works in the lives of people and because we are so often guided to see this story one way we miss the obvious undertones that are present (Gen. 29:15-28). We focus on the love of  Rachel and Jacob without paying much attention to Leah. Perhaps it is time for us to actually take a little more note of this hidden character because we have been taught to disregard this person, we know that she is there but she obviously has little bearing on the story as that is about how Jacob has been denied the love of his life Rachel. Do we really know any information other than the fact that she appears to be "dull eyed" (Gen. 29:17). How derogatory can we get? What does the story actually tell us of this person? Let us just imagine ourselves in her shoes for a few minutes. Here is a woman who has put aside any enmity she might feel for her beautiful sister despite being married to the same man. Here is a woman who actually bears the majority of Jacob's children and is obviously very much in love with him. We could almost say more so than Rachel as she does not appear to have any animosity towards her sister while the same cannot be said for Rachel's jealousy. Despite her looks she does more for Jacob then Rachel and is in some ways more honoured as in her death she is buried in the family plot while Rachel is buried on the road to Ephrath (Gen. 48.7).

Determining the value of anybody from what is seen is difficult without God's help

We are extremely quick when it comes to our relationships and how we see others. If things are not quite what we would like we are very quick to charge those that we do not get on with for bringing down the establishment. We often miss the jewels of God's love that works in all our hearts and minds because we judge only by what we think and not in prayer. Like Leah some people are just rough or rather have a demeanour about them that is problematic to our own way of thinking. They rub us up the wrong way because they either hold strong views as to the way things should be done or else they do things that we believe are wrong or disrespectful. The moment we set our eyes on others without seeing to the depths that God sees we lose sight of the gem that glows. This does not mean that every one is good, it just means we actually have to strive harder in love to see the good if it is obscured by our judgements. The merchant in the parable was able to see more than those around him to value the pearl. By selling everything he obtained the wisdom that the pearl represents. The question that this suggests is that can we see beyond our own prejudices and presumptions to see the pearls that are in those who we have rejected within the community in which we live? Just as Christ was rejected in his home town so we often reject those we have known within our own communities because we "know" them. The answer is that we do not truly know those in our own community until we have strived to be with them and walked beside them. We miss the pearls because "well everyone knows that (s)he is no good". Is that really the case or is it our imagination because we think or have been told it is the case? Are we able to put aside our past interactions and form a new relationship with those who are despised by others?

Immediate satisfaction or a long term solution?

 Christ tells us stories (Matt 13.24 ff) that come from an agricultural landscape that we are probably unfamiliar with in today's world of high tech and vicarious pleasure.  As with last week, it is story set in the seasonal growth of a agrarian growing period and not the fast paced www highways that extend around the world.  It is about looking towards a future that is down the long road and not immediate, it is about looking at our fast paced lives through the eyes of God.  The human agenda is strewn with details and minuscule events that in actuality turn out to be non-events in the bigger picture world that is the God story, the story of salvation.

We are sometimes pathetically upset by the long way round or we become fascinated by the view of time held by those who work the land.  We often fail to see the driving motivation resulting in an agitated state when the result is not immediate.  Not to be overwhelmed by traditional methods that take the slow way, we have moved this attitude of speed into our modern farming productive methods because we want to have immediate results.  A good example of this need for speed is found in the modern production of vinegar. Unfortunately, nature and God do not really work like that no matter how much we would like it to be.  Like God we need to start to look towards the future, it may not happen in this generation but if the seeds are correctly planted no matter what the vicissitudes of life there will be a harvest at the end.  We sometimes concern ourselves overly much, like the servants and the workers in the Matthew parable, with obtaining an immediate satisfactory perfection.  This can be applied to any situation within our spiritual as well as our mundane lives.  Yes, occasionally, there is a need to act with haste and immediacy but we need to remember that there is a consequence to every hasty action we take.

Can you tell the difference?  What is wheat in God's eyes and what is a tare?

The servants and stewards in the parable want to remove the weeds immediately but it is the sagacity of the owner who reminds them that in taking out one weed the probability of taking out good plants is high and therefore likely to reduce the final yield.  We want to focus on the irritants, we want to dive in and save the day with our programmes and our schemes.  Once again we forget that God is the one who is leading us along the path to redemption and salvation. We only have to look at our hasty actions of the past (reminding ourselves about the effectiveness of hindsight) when it comes to our goals in terms of the environment and our human sustainability.  We see the immediate benefits of something and jump in to utilise that for our benefit.  In this day and age it would have been thought that we would have learnt from the hastiness of the past and be more deliberate about how we take up new things.

Looking at our political decisions in recent years it is fairly obvious that greed is the motivating force behind many decisions and not the good of the world or for the long term benefit of humanity.  Even when we consider the benefits for a country we only consider the economic benefit in the short term not the long term.  We do the same thing within the church.  We look to solve the short term issue and not look at the long term issue.  Christ shows us God's view point in this parable, a viewpoint taken up by God in the vision that Jacob had on his journey (Gen. 28.10-19).  This is not a dream of the immediate goal but a dream of a long term vision.  A dream that takes Jacob into a blessed future but one that does not suggest that there will be no hardships.  In looking to the future whether politically, spiritually or in our everyday lives we need to hold to the dream not to overcoming the small irritants and details.  They have a way of working out but not the way we either expect or necessarily want in our own minds.  Yet, they will be what God wants.

Is the sower a professional?

 The old saying is that we reap what we sow in life. So what is it that you sow or have sown during your life? Looking back we often find that we have regrets somewhat like Esau, who sold his birthright (Gen 25.32-33), had later in life. Ours may not have been as great a foolishness but looking back it often rankles and hurts. Yet, sometimes what we perceive to be a disaster is what God is asking of us as he plants a seed to mature in the time to come. Retrospective looks back in time are said to be 100% and that is how we learn. Yet the ramifications from our regrets may actually be positive in the lives of others.

In the parable that Christ sets up in Matthew's gospel (13.1-), the sower does not appear to understand what it is that he is doing.  Seed appears to be scattered willy nilly all over the place.  Christ gives a very specific meaning to each type of ground the seed falls on, yet, I feel we are missing something if we take a simplistic view. Jewish midrash interprets the simple and finds some very interesting understandings as a result. They want to know the story behind what is written. Christ was a rabbi a known interpreter of scripture. Lets try thinking more laterally in this well known case.

The seed falls here and other times some falls there. Surely, one has to ask, when sowing for good yield shouldn't the sower be a little more deterministic when it comes to the scattering of the seed. If we want a good harvest we must direct the seed into good ground.  There is no point in scattering it around. I would have fired the sower, if it was my farm, I want a good yield not a bit of this and a bit of that (100% or nothing).  That is how we operate in today's world.  That is how any good farmer would want from his employer or himself if he was sowing the seed, care in deployment. No matter what we do, the expectation is that the out put of our work will be beneficial to the company for whom we work. I suspect in earlier times the same would also be the case especially with regards to the distribution of valuable seed. In looking at the church or the parish in terms of what we do, a recent trend has been to emphasise mission based programs.  We are told you have to do this, or you must do this or this is where you will achieve growth in the church, follow this evangelistic method / program / etc.

Let God direct the sowing of the seed not our own imaginations

God does not work with programs, God works with the world the way God wants the world to be.  God calls us into difference not sameness.  Each programme of evangelism that is promoted is looking for sameness not difference. God determines where the seed should fall, by placing all our seed into the one basket of programme evangelism we deny God access to the fruits of the seed.  Our evangelistic programme may well be scattering the seed on a well trodden path that does not allow for it to grow.  I suspect that more often than not, this is precisely what is happening; we continue to sow good seed onto the well trodden paths of human expectations only to find it trodden under foot.  It is only when we allow God to direct the sower of the seed that we begin to see the fruits of God's labour.  We talk of good and bad ground as if these were dualistic opposites.  Perhaps yesterday's poor ground will become today's good soil as God directs the seed and the growth.

Paul reckons us to live on the level of the Spirit not on the level of what has gone before (Rom 8.5-6) when we live in Christ.  Yet we tend to live in the world and ignore Christ except as a passing whisper or throw away line.  If something has achieved good results elsewhere then surely it will achieve remarkable results here in this place all it requires is the 'minister' to put in the energy.  Or if what has worked in the past should be re-iterated, again and again and again, then we will achieve the same results now as then. However, good soil soon becomes poor if we over produce again and again.  In undertaking these thoughts we also actually undermine God. We are second guessing where the seed that the farmer has granted to us through grace is to be planted by our knowledge not by the farmers understanding of the fields to be sown and then reaped. Only when we understand that it is by allowing God's hand in our work for God that we achieve the remarkable. It is not in following previous things or other programmes as these may not be what God is calling us to in the present. In living into the Spirit we live into Christ and we allow Christ's guiding light to be ever present in our hearts. We go where Christ wills not where we will.

Where has it gone?

Paul in a number of the epistles uses the terminology of the 'Body of Christ' to represent the Church. It has been a well accepted paradigm to reflect what the Christian church should emulate and more often than not we fail in this endeavour. In doing so we sort of shrug of the understanding and go on our way not really engaging with the spirit of the message or the purposeful meaning that Paul puts in the use of this analogy. It has become increasingly obvious that the Church has never really embraced this idea of the body and its understanding of cooperative purpose. Either across denominations or even within them as differences in dogma stymie the effort.

Indeed theological discussion whilst often referring to this understanding of community and neighbourliness  refuses to really engage as the modern philosophical trend has been towards the autonomous self. This very Western understanding of personhood is embedded in much of our traditional theological viewpoints so that we become mired in our individual uniqueness and miss the opportunity of seeing God in those around us. This is particularly brought home to those that tinker in the ecclesiological space when the structure of church governance is considered. Whilst Rome has come to tinker with an understanding of synodality as a result of Francis' push the Anglican church has been immersed in synodality for some time. Yet, the concept of travelling together has been lost over time in the Anglican church with its concentration on small empires whether they be op-shops, catering groups or individual parishes and councils.

In a lot of respects this lack of fostering the understanding of one body as seen in the various scriptural references of assistance and understanding is being highlighted in the Anglican church around the world with the GAFCON breakaway but also within the Australian Church. The very fact that it is reasonably well known that senior members of the clergy have been known to refuse to gather around the Christian table of fellowship and love is a clear indicator of the paucity of understanding in the concept of one body. This in itself is or should be unimaginable in the Christian faith journey but it becomes even more devastating when nobody  seems to understand the words that are prayed at the end of most Eucharistic services within the Anglican prayerbook. Each person prays to be a "living sacrifice" but as soon as they walk out the door they forget everything that faith teaches.

Are we one body or are we one building?

In a Diocese that is in dire straits in terms of not only claims arising out of the abuse scandals of recent years but also the result of National church failures to maintain promises in the late 1990s one would expect, from a Christian viewpoint, a certain amount of collegiality and coming together to steer through the winds of change. As we know change often means sacrifice and in Christian terms we would understand that through death comes life. Yet, it is obvious that however good leadership has been the concepts of togetherness and community mean nothing unless there is the stability of a building. It has been made very clear that the process with regard the debt means that property must be sold for the good of the body and should one property not be sold or forfeited than another property or properties must be found to compensate. Thus, our selfishness over the retention of one property could make another part of the body suffer, but then 'Hey its not us. Shame!'. Our treasures are meant to be in heaven not on earth yet we still focus our lives on our property. Perhaps, it comes from calling ourselves 'church' instead of an 'ecclesia'. 

The question is of course to be asked where is the National Church?  Or perhaps where is the greater body of Christ? Well not their problem as each diocese is an 'individual' not part of a community or the body of Christ. Of course, they are at liberty to state that the plan forward by the diocese some three years ago cannot take place but have to bow before the Supreme court when the same plan, in essence is put forward. This attitude of complacency and being the little finger on the body's right arm is especially so of the more affluent dioceses who not withstanding their riches on earth believe that they are the only ones who know God's word. Sounds a bit pharisaic to me.

To take up or not to take up

 We are told that we are to take up the yoke that Christ gives to us so that we may rest from the burdens that we carry (Matt. 11:29). This seems at first glance a somewhat paradoxical statement as the yoke, any yoke, implies some form of weight. If we are already overburdened how can taking more weight upon ourselves lead to rest. Perhaps we can see a glimmer of an answer in the story of Isaac and Rebecca's first meeting (Gen 24:58-67). In this section of the story Rebecca first sees Isaac in the field as she and the servant approach following the journey from her home. In this, as in similar Hebrew texts, the interpretation that we have is somewhat prosaic in comparison to the wealth of interpretation available in the Hebrew / Jewish interpretations. In this instance it is said firstly that Isaac was not just walking but rather there is a sense of his communing with God and perhaps recalling the akedah that was spoken about last week. In observing him Rebecca falls "in love" and falls to the ground in front of him because of the respect for his connection to God (much more romantic). It is however what comes after that needs our attention as in verse 67 Rebecca takes on the burden of Isaac's grief over his mother.

Rebecca is already burdened, if we think about it, with the re-location from a loving home into an unknown circumstance. She has given much up for the possibility of happiness with an totally unknown man and in a totally unknown culture. Yet, she willingly picks up the burden of grief that Isaac is suffering from and consoles him. This leads to what appears to be  a comfortable life or at least as comfortable as things can be within the harshness of nomadicity. Rebecca here makes a knowing sacrifice in love and lightens the burden not only upon herself as she becomes accepted within the new community but also that carried by another. This is perhaps what we need to understand when we are asked to carry the load. It is not that our concerns or worries are disappeared but rather by picking up the load we share our toils and our burdens with each other. In carrying our own burdens we actually destroy our lives both physical and mental. It has recently been brought home to me how anxiety and worry are easily manifested within the physical to such an extent that it incapacitates our own ability to function. If we decide to carry our own tears and our own anxieties then we will suffer greatly. It is often our response of not sharing that leads us to the physical dependence and pain we suffer in later years.

The yoke shares the burden or lightens the load

So how can we take the extra load and be relieved of the burden we carry so that the load becomes light? The main issue is not that we do not care but rather that our needs always predominate. The taking up of another load appears to be us to be something that is deleterious to our own health. In this case we are cautious if not downright over protective and selfish. We have to take real care here because selfishness leads us to act in such a manner that is overwhelmingly problematic for our community. Once we take this route we are on the mind bending logic that Paul uses to account for his ability not to do that which ought to be undertaken (Rom. 7.14-ff). The reality is that we need to take up the yoke that God calls us to take for this eases the burden not necessarily for us immediately but certainly in the long term. The reason for this is that the old adage " a problem shared is a problem halved" is so true even in the current day. In sharing the burdens of the community we are able to half the real issues that we think that we have to carry on our own. So often we have and start with good intentions that eventually become burdens usually because of our inability to share. 

Just think in terms of Parish councils or centre committees or any other sort of governance model that you wish to think of. The council / committee is often there to assist and share the burden of leadership. what so often happens is that it comes down to an issue of power and politics. The more power I have the less I wish to share and once I have power the less I wish to give that power up. The yoke that Christ asks us to pick up is so light because it is a shared responsibility. We do not take the burden on ourselves but share the burden with the other. Just as Rebecca learns to do and does with the burden of sorrow within the family. Only when we are ready for this sharing can we begin to understand how light God's burden is upon us as all of our brothers and sisters are able to share the burden with us.

To be a willing living sacrifice

 We pray at the end of our Eucharistic services for God to send us out as a "living sacrifice" into the world. I wonder what you think a sacrifice is in your life. We can think of anything that may be a sacrifice but most of us think of something that would in reality only inconvenience ourselves. To make a sacrifice is to make sacred that which you do. Quite often it may mean a giving up of something or at least entail some sort of real hardship for and in our lives. However, I suspect that it would not be as great a sacrifice that Abraham was preparing to make (Gen. 22.1-14), although in some circumstances it may entail an equal amount of heartache. Looking at the Jewish sources of interpretation of this passage, the Akedah test, (and there are many) there is a suggestion of inner paradox being played out (see Zornberg for example). How much do we give to God and how much do we give to ourselves? We often want to protect what we give rather than give to God as a sacrifice. We do not actually sacrifice but rather appease our own sense of worth in what we do.

We are often eager to complain about the sacrifices that we do make when looked at on a greater scale. The sacrifice we brag about is nothing more than an inconvenience in our lives. Abraham walked in the way of God, much as Christ did in a later age, and in doing so he is portrayed as the Father of the faith, not only Jewish but also ultimately the Christian faith. Yet, looking at the Jewish sources of interpretation there is an interesting back story to this passage. The possibility is that in walking in the steps of God and celebrating  God's presence while spreading the "good news" of God's presence in his life he neglected the simplicity of sacrifice after his son was born. He gave his all towards being a father and relinquished his giving of all to God. It is this that requires God to test Abraham. This is a dimension of Abraham's journey both inwardly and outwardly as he celebrates the presence of his son. Does the mere movement towards family suggest that ultimately we are moving away from God and forgetting to live up to God's requirement to sacrifice? Perhaps, this is where we are living in the current age. We do not see the purpose of "sacrificing" our time in praise and thanksgiving to God when we have family and lives to live. The modern turn allows us time for those things that encourage our happiness which in turns allows us to turn a blind eye to the injustices of the world. This extends to the term of "sacrificial" giving and other "sacrificial" things we do. The modern state has allowed us to sit back and relax in terms of our own personal sacrifices, which in turn has allowed us to sit back and relax in terms of the requirements of God.

We forget the sacrifice and continue to ignore the purpose.

In this we are often governed by a Law of Tradition. The reasoning goes somewhat like this, "We have always ... and that is the way we will continue to do ...". You can fill in the spaces with whatsoever you like that covers any form of sacrifice. Unless we hear otherwise tradition is tantamount to having come from God. We can always find an excuse for not doing what sacrifice asks us to do and this is always easier than actually making the committed sacrifice. In this Paul has it right in Romans (6: 12-13) if we are to label ourselves as followers of Christ. Christ sacrificed himself for us and we are obligated by faith to do likewise as we follow in God's way of love. All love demands sacrifice to a greater degree than we allow. Any family knows that in order for the family to grow certain things have to be let go, we term this a sacrifice but often it is no more than disallowing certain luxuries. However, on occasion it is a large sacrifice of everything that is normal for the household. In coming to terms with the enormity of the sacrifice we come to understand the harsh reality of sacrifice and can no longer consider the simple things we give up as a sacrifice. If we begin to really understand what it means to sacrifice in a simple thing like family, can we who dwell in Christ and accept the hospitality of Christ, not sacrifice for God. It is easy to say that we will become a living sacrifice at the end of each service in which we receive the hospitality of God at the communion table, a reminder of a greater sacrifice then we are able to give, but not so easily translated into our common Christian life. This is applicable to all of us not just a few. A real sacrifice means something that is more than uncomfortable or prosaic, it means that it will hurt us and we do not want to let that happen in our comfortable lives and thus we turn from God.

Growth implies change

 No matter how we look at the world around us there are a couple of certainties other than death and taxes. The most prominent one is the prospect of change in our comfortable spaces. No matter who we are the very thought of change makes us shiver and become somewhat afraid. It does not matter whether the change is one that is sponsored by ourselves, such as a change in direction, home, living arrangement, career, etc or comes to us from an outside source COVID 19, restructure of work environment, new laws, etc. The very mention of the word creates division and this was understood by Christ as he spoke of the future to his disciples (Matt. 10.34-39). As Christians who have died to Christ (Rom 6.3-5) we must expect significant change in our lives, not only when we accept Christ but also when we continue with Christ in our lives.

In speaking about change we seem to accept the enormous change that Christ brings because we have died but wish to negate that change when it effects our more mundane lives. It is as if we believe that what ever spiritual or faith change is undertaken our secular and normal lives must remain unaffected. This is clearly not the answer as the Gospel passage indicates. Christ lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that the traditional place of comfort, the family, cannot remain the same when we take up the cross and follow Christ. If our safe place, our traditional place of comfort and security is no longer a safe haven to retreat to then how can we expect the world to be a safe place amidst change. The disruption that has occurred to our lives and the changes that must happen as we move forward into the unknown future must for us become a force that allows us to increase our resilience in the face of the inconsequential upheavals that we face on a daily basis. Just think of the changes in the life of Hagar and Ishmael faced in the wilderness when cast out by Abraham at the behest of Sarah (Gen. 21:14-21). The indication here is that no matter how cast out from our family we are God has a greater purpose that shows us a path along which we must strive.

We change our diet as we mature otherwise we do not grow

Any young person faces the challenges of change in the  formative years of their adulthood. In leaving home they must strive to find their place in an ever changing society and yes sometimes the challenges in this process of change are significant. At other times we shelter them from the raw experiences of life so that they can find safety in the bosom of their family but... It is a big but for even the family cannot shelter us in the long term. Just as we cannot expect in naivety that what we have always experienced will always remain the same. Christ calls us deliberately into something that changes leading us away from our comforts so that we too can change our own way of thinking to bring the Good news into those areas which are not ministered to as a result of our neglect. We often have to find a new way to express ourselves, away from that which is comfortable, how else can we spread God's love if we do not enter into new places. Remaining within the comfort of what we know and understand places us into the sheltered space. Yes, occasionally we have to place ourselves in that space but we cannot remain there or we will stagnate and die. A pond that does not refresh itself with a stream of water is likely to stagnate and die. If a herd of animals remained in one place they would stagnate and starve. We will not get the same ongoing sustenance if we remain in one way of thought and it is quite often the case that we also stagnate and die.

Even when we want to be fed we automatically want what we have had before or what we believe is life sustaining for ourselves. Once again we fall into a trap because if we are to grow we need to seek out new richness in the food that is provided. Like a child or a baby we require so much more than our initial serving. Baby food cannot sustain our growth into adulthood and so the diet is changed: can we expect any less with our faith journey? Christ calls us to grow into God's presence and life this is not something that can be done if we only have the food that sustained the beginning of growth. Any farmer knows that crops have to be nourished and as they grow they get different feed. This automatically means change, something we need not be afraid of or hostile to but rather open and encouraging so that we can get a fresh vision of God's path.