Winter Forest Walk: tracks, trees, lichens, birds

A recent hike with the Chignecto Naturalists' Club was a nice introduction for me to the Fort Folly First Nation, and the Medicine Trail that traverses their wonderful woodland. The weather was fine, with just enough snow on the ground to enjoy, without needing skis or snowshoes. We looked at the trees and lichens...

...as well as the tracks in the snow. Scouting the trail ahead of time, a few of us saw and heard some nice birds. On the day of the official group hike, the only feathered friend we saw was a grouse.

The group, above, and grouse tracks in the snow, below.

What a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Sermon: Perfecting the Rules

 10:30 am, Sun, Feb 12, 2023 - J G White / FBCA  (Mtt 5:21-48)

Perfect. The word ‘perfect’ is now rather common in day-to-day talk. We often don’t mean that something is completely right with nothing wrong in it. We just mean ‘that’s fine.’ How many times in a restaurant, when you order from the menu, does the waiter then say to you, ‘Perfect’?  Whew. I’m so glad I chose what I did from the menu; I’d hate to pick any of the other things that were less than perfect! 😉

Jesus makes perfect the path of religion. As Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Mount’ continues, today’s next section starts: 7 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Then he starts into it: the six bits six of us read just moments ago.

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ … (Of course they’d heard it said; it’s right in the Ten Commandments!) 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.

Jesus is a dramatic Jewish teacher. He said things in ways that got people’s attention, kept their attention, had an impact, and were memorable. We still remember, today.

How Jesus deals with rules sounds… challenging. He is going deeper than rules. Christ is talking about inner transfor-mation. Becoming the sort of people who do the right things, automatically, naturally, not because we are obeying every rule.

In this first bit, he takes the commandment about no murder and gets at the inner issues: anger and contempt. As we become more and more in the image of the God we worship, less and less we will be angry and hateful to others.

Next, Jesus says, 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. We might read this a few different ways translated into English. The Greek text has Jesus speaking of looking at a person with the purpose of desiring them. Even if you don’t manage to ‘sleep around,’ but you make that your goal on the inside, there is a problem. When we desire to desire, there is danger.

So, again, it is not about breaking a rule of behaviour (about adultery), or even of inner thoughts. Jesus is pointing to the possibility of being refreshed inside, so that our desires are better. Psalm 37 sings: Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. God wants to give us the desires of our hearts. So, God wants our desires to become wonderful and good.

Jesus goes on, again quoting scripture (Deuteronomy): 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus’ audience, when He spoke this teaching, was quite different from our society today. Their ways of marriage, and of divorce, were different from our societal norms. One thing that happened then, to women, was that they had very little hope of any normal, happy life, if they were divorced. It was brutal.

I have wondered how much of Jesus’ statements are simply acknowledging how people are permanently connected by their life together, long after they are apart.

And remember, there may be real intent and purpose in the order of this sermon on the mount. It may be no accident that Jesus deals with divorce after having dealt with anger, contempt and obsessive desire. Deal with anger and with despising someone in your self, and deal with obsessive fantasies, and think how many divorces would then occur? Life together could be much more possible.

What is the next step in Jesus’ series? 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool... This is all about making vows and promises, not about cursing, bad language. ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ should suffice. Truly giving our word, and keeping our word, does depend upon how we deal with anger, our desires, and being committed in our relationships.

Jesus next quotation from scripture is rather famous. 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also… Perhaps this could be the slogan for a nonviolent image of Christ. His own nonviolence reached its pinnacle at the Cross. There, Jesus did not resist evildoers. As a gospel song says,          He could have called ten thousand angels,

To destroy the world, and set Him free;

He could have called ten thousand angels,

But He died alone for you and me.

The last of Jesus’ six ‘You have heard that is was said’ statements is: 43 …‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… The five previous times, Christ is quoting from the Law, the Torah, our Old Testament. Here, it is not a Bible quotation, but a definite attitude that is common, the usual: love neighbour / hate enemy. No brainer.

But the mind of Christ is different. And the mind of Jesus is available to those who receive His preaching. I keep believing that everything Christ proclaimed – or sometimes whispered – was possible, and is possible, in our lives. To live a good life, in all these amazing ways, is not the impossible. Well, we could call it mission impossible – but with God all things are possible.

And the amazing life happens, by the grace of God, in day-to-day, down-to-earth ways. Theologian and author, Derek Flood, illustrates with an everyday example. The other day our 5-year-old daughter had a “meltdown.” She’s screaming, and I’m feeling triggered. My amygdala has kicked in now, but I do my best to pull myself together, and, taking her by the hand, I bring her to her room for a time-out. When we get there, she screams at me hysterically, demanding I give her a hug.

Now mind you, I’m not feeling compassion right then—I’m mad. In my head I’m rationalizing that emotion, thinking, “I don’t want to reward this selfish behaviour with a hug!” So I feel tempted to pull away from her, thinking it would be good for her to feel bad so she could “learn her lesson.”

…But something in me knew—as much as I didn’t feel like doing it at the time—that she really did need that hug. So even though I did not feel like it, I put my arms around her and held her. And when I did, a miniature miracle happened: All her distress, panic, and rage just melted away. She was able to calm down, and able to listen as we talked about what had happened…

This simple act of kindness broke the hurtful dynamic my daughter and I were both caught in. That’s the core working principle of enemy love: Do not be overcome by anger, but overcome anger with kindness. (Flood, 2014, Disarming Scripture, pp. 183, 184) Sound familiar? It’s echoed in Romans 12.  

‘Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.’ This truly is perfecting the rules. Completing the rules of religion that seem convoluted and sometimes oppressive. Being ‘perfect,’ in this life, is not a destination we arrive at, it is a direction we point to, and we keep moving. Once, Jesus summed up the laws of His religion saying, love God and love neighbour. And who is neighbour? Well, even the enemy.

Let us end this sermon with the beginning of a prayer for critics and enemies, by Serbian Orthodox Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic. This is but the beginning of a longer prayer.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them…  AMEN. 

SERMON: Salt, Light, Right

 10:30 am, Sun, Feb 5, 2023 - J G White / FBCA

(Is 58:1-9a; Gal 5:18-23, 25; Mtt 5:13-20)

 I borrowed a Himalayan salt lamp today because… simply because it is both salt and light. Today, Jesus gets into his ‘sermon’ telling the disciples and listeners they are the salt of the earth – to season and preserve – and the light – showing the things of God to the world.

“You are the salt of the earth…” Salt was more important in the Middle East, two thousand years ago, than it is to us today. They did not need it on the streets in winter, but they needed to preserve plenty of foods. We don’t imagine salt being unsalty – it is quite a point Jesus is making.

“You are the light of the world.” Most of our light is electrical, today, but not so, back through the centuries. Whatever the source, how hide the light of a town? Or why?

There may be a subtle critique here of a Jewish sect called the Essenes. They are famous to us today for having kept many Bible scrolls in some dry caves, which were found in the 1950s and we now know them as the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the time of Jesus, the Essenes called themselves ‘The Children of Light,’ but they had withdrawn from the world, living out in the desert in seclusion. They were a light hidden away for no one to see.

In contrast, the people of God are to shine with the goodness of Christ and season like a pinch of salt our neighbourhoods. We have this mission, should we choose to accept it. Jesus starts his preaching with this ‘you are the light’ bit; then his final words, given to us by Matthew forty pages later, include: ‘Go make disciples of all people, baptizing them, teaching them.’

So we all seem to be given this role – when we claim to be Christians – the role of sharing our Faith and spreading the News.    Start spreadin’ the news,

I'm going today

I want to be a part of God

Gospel, Good News

These vagabond souls have all gone astray.

Right for the very heart of them:

Good News, Good News…

‘Start spreading the news.’ Despite this being deeply rooted in the culture and history of Baptist Christians, it is not something very many of us seem to feel confident about, I’d say. A few people stand out – behind the pulpit and from the pews. A few of you are naturals: talkers, connectors, communicators, even evangelists (a NT spiritual gift).

Someone was talking about her adult son the other day and said he is a natural born salesman. From childhood he could, and would, do things like: put on a motorbike show, charge admission, and get the locals to come and pay to see him drive around the yard. I’ve seen adverts this winter for a young fellow with a hot chocolate stand set up in his front yard.

I’m not a natural born salesperson. Though I’m the son of a used car salesman, and grandson of a campground owner, I was different. A lot more shy. So I’ve often thought of myself as an introvert, one of those quieter people, with fewer friends, not the life of any party, happy to spend lots of time alone, and getting invigorated and refreshed when on my own.

Sort of. I may be somewhere on that end of the spectrum, but am a bit of a mix. I do like social gatherings, often, and get energized there too. But to barge in on a stranger and lead the conversation is not quite my nature.

So what of this ‘salt of the earth’ bit, and being ‘the light of the world’? Perhaps it is easier when you are given a script. Like Tammy’s today, from Isaiah. Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins. (58:1)

Isaiah’s call to the people of the day was to treat one another fairly, instead of taking advantage of the disadvantaged. Jesus’ call, in His ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ was more comprehensive. Join His movement, and shine with good news for all. And as we might see from following Christ, it is not all a matter of shouting out or being in-your-face evangelists.

There is a place for the quiet, the good example, the servant, the activist, and the person of prayer. To be salt and to be light can be quiet work.

Presbyterian, Rev. Adam McHugh, tells of learning to be an introverted minister. He wrote, “I see my function less as walking people through a formula of faith and more as dropping spiritual hints. In the first method, I am the one who controls the conversation; in the second, I try to give glimpses of God and enable the person to respond to the promptings of the Spirit who is already at work.” (p. 175)

McHugh says, “I began to pray differently. When I prayed for people who I knew were not Christians, I prayed less that God would give me an opportunity to explain the gospel to them and more that God would be touching those places of their lives that only God can reach…” That’s from his book, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. (2009, p. 177)

A better-known pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, wrote, “The question I put to myself is not ‘How many people have you spoken to about Christ this week?’ but ‘How many people have you listened to in Christ this week?’” (1989, The Contemplative Pastor)

I think that’s a great thing to remember. When you listen to someone, remember: you and God can be listening together to that person. Consider how that changes your listening.

It changes all sorts of things, as you know. Your thoughtful little gift for someone that you baked in your kitchen becomes something you and the Spirit of Jesus give. Your presence with people in a time of tragedy carries the awareness of Jesus present there.

Now, I titled this talk, ‘Salt, Light, Right.’ I have not yet mentioned the ‘right.’ Sounds quite demanding, where we ended, mid-sermon. “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” We may wonder if Jesus was saying: you must obey all the Jewish Old Testament laws completely to be accepted and welcomed into heaven.

He's talking about going beyond the teaching of this, into the doing of it. Jesus is completing what Isaiah and other prophets of old started. Don’t just preach about it: do it, do it, do it! Don’t just sing and pray about it: live it.

We are going to get quite a bit more from Jesus on this next week, from this chapter and the next. He’ll show us more about being salt and light. It is not about the rules. It is about the doing of something good.

It’s great that these two images Jesus uses first are quiet. Salt is silent. Maybe, in pure quietness, you can hear it crunching between your fingers. And perhaps you have a fluorescent lightbulb that makes a faint hummm. Light is quiet. Even the old hymn, ‘Immortal Invisible,’ says this about God:

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;

Almighty God can rule in this universe as silent as light. Surely a lot of your impact for good, and mine, can be quiet too. Yet we must make our impact. We cannot be salt that has little taste or power, light that is shaded and hidden away. Shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Mtt 5:16) Others don’t even have to see you, but people need to see good things happening.

Before I finish, let me tell you about Mabel. Mabel was an energetic woman in here nineties when I knew her. She came to services with her daughter. She came bowling with us. She was quiet, she didn’t stand out in a crowd, but she had spunk. She went through some miserable suffering in the days before she died. Then, at the funeral, her nephew spoke. Brian is a devoted Christian layman. He talked of the wonderful influence of his aunt, and how she brought him to the Windsor Baptist Church. ‘Because of her,’ Brian said, ‘I met Jesus.’

The Fruit of the Spirit, you may notice, in today’s ‘list,’ is not a litany of extroverted qualities, or introverted. They are things that can grow in each and every one of us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With these, we shine in our corner of the world. With this, we season the place where we sit.