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Hespeler, 10 April 2022 © Scott McAndless – Passion Sunday, Baptism
Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14-30

Nicole and Charles, I just have to begin this morning by thanking you for sharing such an important event in the life of your family with us today. It really means a lot to me and to us that you should have invited us into this very meaningful moment. And yet, while I greatly appreciate you, I cannot help but acknowledge that you have given me an enormous challenge today precisely because you’ve given us such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a joyful event.

The Season of Lent

Here is my problem. Normally, in the church, we are only too happy to focus on the positive and promising things of life. But today is the final Sunday in the season of Lent. And Lent is a bit of a different time for the church. It is still a joyful time of the year, but it is also a season when we do feel it’s important to dwell on the simple reality that there is a lot of darkness and discouragement in the world too.

For how can we be a truly joyful people if we do not come to terms with some of the very real struggles that people have in this world? And so, during this season, we do turn towards difficult questions like what do we do about violence and poverty and hatred. How do we deal with the challenges of living with everything that life can throw at us?

A Difficult Season

And, yes, during this Lenten season we have really embraced that struggle because the situation kind of demanded it. As we entered into the third year of a global pandemic, as Canadians became more sharply divided over questions about how to deal with it and as we dealt with the reality of war in Ukraine and a less peaceful, more chaotic world, we acknowledged those realities. We have symbolized the growing darkness of this world each week by extinguishing a candle each Sunday.

In many ways, this Sunday is meant to be the moment when the darkness feels the greatest. The tradition in the church has long been to read the entire account of the suffering and the death of Jesus from one of the Gospels. I mean, how dark is the world when an innocent man is being tortured to death? And somehow, I need to find a way to connect all of that to the joyful and lovely celebration of Charlotte’s new life that we have just had.

Plans Go Astray

Let me be clear, Nichole and Charles, that I do not blame you for the timing. I know that you didn’t plan it this way. In fact, you tried to make it happen earlier in the year or even tried to make it work last week. But guess what happened to all of those plans. That same thing happened to those plans that have happened to a whole lot of plans over the last couple of years. Covid happened, together with all of the restrictions, guidelines and limitations that it brought. A whole lot of us have thrown out a lot of plans over the last couple of years, haven’t we?

But despite all of that, I am so glad that we got to do this today. I’m convinced that, even though we didn’t exactly plan it to work out this way, that God did. I’m pretty sure that God has a message for us that speaks to us right at this moment.

A Dark Moment

In our reading this morning from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and his disciples have come to a pretty dark moment. They have come together to celebrate the Jewish Passover, which should be a moment of celebration, but it doesn’t particularly feel like one.

Ever since they came down to Jerusalem for the festival, tensions have been extremely high. The disciples are not complete idiots. They have seen just how much trouble Jesus has been getting into. They understand that he has made a number of very powerful enemies in the city. It is really looking as if this whole story is going to end very badly – maybe even on a cross. And then Jesus takes the bread and starts talking about how his body is going to be broken and then he takes the wine and talks about his blood being poured out. I don’t know about you, but this is not sounding to me like a light and happy celebration.

A Stressful Time

So, I do feel as if the disciples are in the place where we all are at the end of this season of Lent. The stress of the situation is getting to us. We are exhausted by the experience of a pandemic that just doesn’t want to end. We are frustrated by the limitations and strictures that we’ve all been putting up with for way too long. We are frightened and angry with Vladimir Putin and his decision to victimize the people of Ukraine and take the whole world to the brink of disaster. Add to that some inflation, a housing crisis and various other economic factors and you have a perfect storm. I know that some people might not want to admit it, but the simple truth is that all of this is stressing us out and we’re understandably not really handling it all that well.

And so, what do human beings do when things get that stressful? It is actually perfectly predictable. In the initial phases, as we saw at the beginning of the pandemic, people will pull together and support one another. But as the situation goes on and on, we get into another reaction. We start to turn on each other. We saw that happen during this Lent here in Canada – we literally saw it on the streets of our capital city in the supporters and opponents of the trucker convoy. That is just a very concrete example of what’s been happening in many places in our society most recently. We are cracking up under stress.

Turning on Each Other

That’s exactly what happens to the disciples too. With that whole world turning against them, instead of supporting each other, they start fighting. “A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” And isn’t that just typical? They don’t want to face up to the people who are actually trying to kill them and so they start making enemies of each other. What’s more, they specifically start fighting over which one of them is most important, which one gets to have his way. This is so on the nose about where we are as a society right now that it is kind of scary.

Jesus’ Response

So when Jesus – who, don’t forget, is the actual target of this entire dangerous situation – responds to what the disciples are doing, I think we ought to pay very close attention. Since they are arguing over questions of leadership, he reminds them that he came to model a very different kind of leadership than what they seem to be imagining “‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors,” he says. “But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.”

True Leadership

He is saying, first of all, that true leadership is not what the world generally assumes it is. The world assumes that it is all about power and dominance. But I suspect that Jesus is saying that that is not a reflection of true strength but rather of a deep weakness and insecurity on the part of a leader. We certainly see that on display in the world right now as everything that Russian President Vladimir Putin does to cow the world with displays of power and force only seem to convince the world of what a poor leader he really is.

But I am particularly interested today in what Jesus has to say about greatness. It is, I think, the more important issue given the challenges we are facing. I really do think that many of the failures of leadership that we have seen in the last couple of years (and I don’t think I need to convince you that there have been many, many such failures) have all come down to various leaders trying to convince themselves and the world that they matter – that they are great.

True Greatness

So what does Jesus teach us about greatness? “The greatest among you must become like the youngest.” And this is what I love about Jesus’ teaching. He doesn’t just offer a definition or explanation of greatness – he shows us something. He promises us that if we look closely at the youngest among us and seek to be like them, we will find greatness.

That is why I am so convinced that Jesus has sent Charlotte as a prophet to us today. There is no question that she is the youngest among us. What’s more, she comes among us at a moment when we have not seen a lot of young people in the sanctuary for quite a while. Jesus sent her to us to teach us about true greatness.

How We Got Here

In order to catch that lesson, we need to perhaps step back and look at the bigger picture of what brought her here. It started with a passion for excellence. Nicole, her mother, had a passion for highland dance. She wanted to be one of the best and to be able to represent her country of Canada. That dream took her to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo where she danced in celebration of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday.

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, Charles was pursuing excellence in his own ways – including by serving his country in the military. His distinguished service led to the prestigious position of serving in the Queen’s Guard at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in honour of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday.

Was it just random chance that took both of them to that same place and time as they both achieved great personal accomplishments? Some would say so. But I say that God was planning to bring Charlotte here to teach us all something about true greatness. All of a sudden, their pursuit of personal excellence was transformed into a brand-new challenge – a harder one in some ways – building something in partnership.

Parents’ Hopes

I asked Nichole and Charles to share with us today what their hopes and dreams are for their little girl at this moment in time and this is what Nichole wrote to me:

“As parents, our hopes and dreams for Charlotte is for her to live a full, content and happy life. We hope she discovers her passions and hobbies and may they present her with many opportunities. We hope that she has the courage, determination and confidence to always choose the right path. We hope that she is resilient throughout all of life’s ups and downs, stays true to herself and that she shines bright wherever she goes.”

In some ways, I know, that is similar to what many parents might say, but I think you’ll agree with me when I say that those words take on special meaning when you know a little bit about the people who are saying it. You just know that they are going to let her have her own personal passions and will do it with an expectation that something very special (and perhaps surprising and unexpected) will also happen as a result of that.

Charlotte’s Message to us

So, what, then, is Charlotte teaching us about greatness today? Well, she comes among us today in great weakness. At this point in her life she is entirely dependent on others. I think she is telling us something about the true strength that is found in vulnerability.

But she also comes to us as a huge bundle of possibility. As her parents have pointed out, she could grow up to do anything. And as she comes terms with who she is and what her particular passions and talents are, it may lead to some big surprises (just like a chance encounter in Edinburgh led to big changes) but can also bring great new things into the world.

The darkness of these present times can be overwhelming – so much so that they begin to mess up our relationships. Only true leadership and greatness can lead us out of that kind of darkness. We affirm today that Jesus came to offer us that leadership and that kind of greatness. Charlotte, too, has come today to demonstrate that kind of leadership and greatness – a symbol of hope and new possibility during the challenges of a difficult time.

For families this week.

Here's our spring newsletter!

This week's Lenten Activity is meant to prepare us for Holy Week. You will start with Station 1 on Sunday, April 10 and continue to Holy Saturday.

You can view or download these 2 resources to help you with this project. The Holy Week Stations will help you build your own Stations of the Cross centre and the Story verses file will give you bible readings and reflection questions for each of the 7 days.

If possible, please take a photo of your centre and send to Joni ([email protected])

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Hespeler, April 3, 2022 © Scott McAndless – Lent 5
Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14, John 12:1-8

How many people are there whose first reaction to our reading this morning from the Gospel of John is to say, “Ah hah, I knew it”?

The story is about, or at least it appears to be about, the whole question of whether or not we ought to give money and resources to the poor. And I suspect that there are a lot of people out there – and I’m not necessarily talking about people out there in the sanctuary this morning or people watching on zoom, I’m talking about people out there in the world at large – who do not want to see their hard-earned money going to support the poor. They don’t want to see it taken in their taxes and spent on things like welfare. They don’t want to give their money to feed or clothe or otherwise help the poor either. It’s their money; they want to keep it.

The Need for Rationalization

It is not an unusual sentiment, I suspect, but it’s also not really one that very many people want to own. Nobody wants to seem unkind or cheap or cruel towards the poor. And so, they’ve got to find a reason not to give to the poor. They need a rationalization. And our reading this morning from the Gospel of John seems to offer two really extraordinary rationalizations. In fact, I think they are the main ones that people offer. One comes to us from Judas Iscariot. The other one comes from Jesus.

So, let’s take a look at these two very biblical reasons not to give to support the poor. When Mary comes in and begins to lavish this really expensive perfume on Jesus, pouring it out so wantonly that the scent of it fills the entire room, it is Judas it brings up the topic of giving to the poor. “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” he cries out to Mary.

Bad Spokesperson

And the first problem with that is obviously the spokesperson. I mean, it doesn’t seem like a very good endorsement to put the suggestion of giving to the poor on the lips of the most vile, hateful and despicable character in the entire book. If Voldemort made the suggestion that everyone should go down to the beach in a Harry Potter book, it wouldn’t make that seem like a very good idea, would it? And if Pennywise the Clown suggested that we all go down and play in the sewers, I don’t think that would be a big endorsement. So, when we hear Judas making this suggestion, it certainly doesn’t make it seem as if giving to the poor is a good thing to do.

But, of course, it is actually even worse than that because we are also told exactly what Judas’ motivations were. “He said this not because he cared about the poor,” the gospel writer tells us, “but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.” And that has got to be the number one excuse that people offer for why they don’t want to give anything to the poor. They are pretty convinced that there must be some sort of theft involved. And this is where I see such people looking at this passage from the Gospel of John and saying, “Ah hah!”

The Assumption of Theft

This is, of course, an assumption that you run into all the time when you are involved in helping those living on the margins of society. There are always stories or suspicions about people stealing – which is to say about people getting benefits that they are not entitled to or that they don’t use in the ways that we want them to. We run into this sometimes here at St Andrew’s. There have been accusations, from time to time, of people taking more clothes than they can use and then selling them on Kijiji.

Often people make observations concerning the lifestyle of people who come. Maybe they observe that they are driving a car that seems like it’s in good shape or that would have cost too much. They also make comments when people have expensive habits like smoking. So, the argument seems to go, if there are some people who don’t look or act poor enough or they use the resources in ways we don’t like, that is stealing and it invalidates the entire exercise, even if only a small percentage of the people are doing it.

Government Programs have the Same Problem

We also see the same argument being employed on larger scale efforts to alleviate poverty. Welfare programs have often been cut back based on accusations of people using drugs or not wanting to work. In a number of jurisdictions, things like drug testing and rigorous requirements that people be searching for work have been put into place.

Now I am not saying that there should be no restrictions or regulations surrounding people accessing programs. And obviously it is not sufficient simply to provide the monetary support without giving people the tools and assistance they need to move towards supporting themselves. But the fact of the matter is that, when punitive measures have been put into place because of the perception that generosity leads to theft, they have generally failed. Programs, for example, that have required drug testing for people to receive welfare have been an enormous failure. The numbers of positive tests were ridiculously low, and the programs did not save any money, they made the whole program cost a lot more. All of that makes me feel as if this tendency to suggest that programs to help the poor are ridden with theft is not really about a concern for any theft itself, but rather a way of justifying not doing anything.

Second Rationalization

So, that is one rationalization, the accusation of theft, that we should be wary of. The second rationalization is also found in this gospel passage. What’s more, it is actually Jesus who says it this time. “Leave her alone,” Jesus says. “She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” And I know exactly how a lot of people will interpret that saying of Jesus. They will understand Jesus to be saying that it is okay that the money was not given to the poor because the problem of poverty is not going to go away. They would take him to mean that we shouldn’t give money to help the poor because the problem of poverty is intractable. So, this quickly becomes another excuse not to do anything for poor people and it even seems to have Jesus’ endorsement on not doing anything.

But is that really what Jesus is saying? No, he is not. One of the main reasons why we can know that for sure is because this saying does not have its origins with Jesus. What Jesus is doing here is quoting from an Old Testament passage. The passage is found in the Book of Deuteronomy 15:11 where Moses says, “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land.’”

The Context in Deuteronomy

When Jews did that kind of thing, when they quoted one line from their scriptures, they did it with the expectation that their fellow Jewish listeners or readers would recognize the quote and go back and read it within its larger context. So, when he quotes this passage, Jesus does not expect the disciples to take that quote alone but rather to go back and see what it was that Moses was talking about around that.

That passage in the Book of Deuteronomy is a description of a specific law in Ancient Israel known as the Sabbath Year law. It describes a series of measures that were to be taken every seven years. These measures included things like canceling debts and giving freedom to those who had been sold into slavery because of their debts. The Sabbath Year law was a series of measures, in other words, that were intended to address the systemic problems in society and in the economy that tended to push people into a state of permanent poverty that they could not find their way out of.

Addressing Systemic Problems

There is evidence to indicate that this law and others measures like it were very active in the popular imagination in Jesus’ time. They were popular because the people in general were very aware of the kind of systemic issues in society, things like inflation, income inequality and the structure of taxation that had made it quite impossible for large portions of the population to escape from endless cycles of poverty. So, essentially what Jesus was doing by directing his disciples’ attention towards this law was saying something very important about how we ought to address the problem of poverty.

Jesus was pointing out that there is a problem with focusing only on giving money or doing things like running food banks and giving away clothing. That kind of charity is obviously essential when people can’t feed or clothe their children, but it doesn’t actually solve the problem behind poverty because most of that problem comes down to the system, the way that society is set up and the economic and political policies that are in place. The ancient law of the Sabbath Year was an effort to address some of those larger systemic issues.

That is not to say that such a law is a perfect tool to address those issues or that the ancient law would actually work in our modern society and economy. I am pretty sure that it wouldn’t work and would probably make things much worse. But the principal is an important one. It is not enough to just give to the poor without addressing those larger systemic issues.

The Danger in Just Giving

I believe that we are truly blessed in this congregation and in the church in general when we are able to reach out in compassion and support people who are really struggling to get by. It is actually a privilege to be able to have that kind of ministry. But there is a danger that comes with such a ministry; we may fail to look at the bigger picture. If we really cared about the poor, we should be advocating for policies that address the systemic issues in our society. We should be involved in pressing for changes in how people are compensated and respected in their work. We should be involved in addressing income inequality.

And I do realize that some of that is a bit problematic for a church that does not want to become directly involved in partisan politics. We are not in a position where we can endorse a certain party’s policies about these things. But none of that should get in the way of us speaking out and informing ourselves as citizens because these really are systemic issues that affect the whole of society. I think it is important for us to understand that Jesus was saying that, as good as giving to the poor is, it is not the whole response that we need to be making.

Changing the Atmosphere

Perhaps a good image for what we need to be doing about poverty would be that woman, Mary, and her jar of expensive perfume. Yes, that perfume was costly, and the money could have been used to support many struggling families. But what did she do with it? I think it’s significant that the gospel writer points out something that she did accomplish with that perfume. He tells us that, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” He notes that she literally changed the atmosphere in that entire house. And I think that that is what we need to aspire to as we address the problem of poverty in our society. There is a need to change the atmosphere.

People will always find excuses and justification for not giving to those who are in need. The accusation of theft is often a handy excuse, but when you look at it closely you recognize that it is mostly based on misrepresentation. The excuse that poverty is an intractable problem and that meeting the needs of one poor person will not fix the systemic issues is definitely one that requires more thought on our part. If we really want to pay attention to what Jesus is saying in this passage, I believe that we need to find ways to balance the need to respond to immediate problems with the imperative of addressing the larger issues in our society and the way it is structured by actually changing the atmosphere and the way that we and others think about how the system needs to work.

For families this week.

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Hespeler, 27 March 2022 © Scott McAndless – Lent 4
Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

For two long years he had nursed his grudge. He had done so, he felt, for very good reason. He had always known that his little brother was a bit of an idiot. And I know, I know, almost all big brothers believe that, but he knew it was especially true in this case. Even as an infant, the boy had been wasteful about everything. When big brother was called upon to help out and feed his little brother his lunch, the food – cheerios, dunkaroos, brussels sprouts – would always end up strewn all over the floor and yet the boy would still be asking for more.

Proddy and Parsi

When he was about eleven years old, big brother found a dictionary. He looked up a word that would perfectly describe his brother. That was when he stumbled on the word prodigal: a person who spends resources in a recklessly extravagant way. It seemed perfect, and so from that day forward he resolved that that was what he would call his brother. Soon the nickname caught on with the entire family – Prodigal; they started calling him Proddy for short.

The next day, the younger brother sought some revenge on his elder and tried to come up with a nickname for him. He took the dictionary and looked up a word for someone who was stingy and unwilling to give anything. He found the word parsimonious and gave that to his brother. That one stuck too: Parsi for short.

A Wasteful Lifestyle

Proddy didn’t really mature as he got older. Anything that he did – any job or chore that he took on – he managed to carry out in the most wasteful way possible. When the time came for him to go out for some higher education, of course he chose to go for the most expensive program that would never lead to any sort of lucrative job opportunities. That’s right, he went for a theology degree.

Proddy just never seemed to learn. But what really bothered Parsi was that his father never seemed to learn either. He just kept on enabling Proddy. Whatever crazy scheme he came up with, somehow their dad just found a way to go along with it. And so, he was somehow not all that shocked when Proddy told him about his most ridiculous idea yet.

A Bad Idea

“Hey, Parsi, “Proddy said one day, “you know how Dad is getting a little bit long in the tooth these days. I’ve been thinking. Someday, when he’s finally gone, everything that he owns will be passed on to us. And I know, that you, as the eldest, will get the biggest share. I don’t see how that’s fair, but I know that’s how it’s going to be. So, I was thinking. What if I were to go to the old man today and ask him if I could have my share of the inheritance now while I can still have a bit of fun with it. What do you think?”

“Oh man, this is it,” Parsi thought to himself. “Proddy has finally gone too far. When he goes to Dad with this idea, he is going to freak out. I mean, it’s almost as if he was telling Dad that he wishes he was already dead.” So he told his brother to go ahead and ask and see what happened. Imagine his surprise, therefore, when Proddy came back a few minutes later and he asked, barely able to contain his glee, “So, how did it go?”

I don’t think I need to tell you that his jaw dropped when his brother responded, “Fantastic, Dad said that he was fine with the idea. He said to just give him a couple of days to get his affairs in order and he’ll have the money ready for me.” “Fantastic,” replied Parsi.

Proddy Leaves

It only took a matter of days, once Proddy had received his inheritance, for him to pack up and head out into the big wild world. The older brother tried to talk to their father about it, tried to convince him that this was going to be nothing but a disaster that would bring shame on the family name, but the father would hear none of it. He just said that, someday, Proddy would come to his senses and come home. He would wait for that day and welcome him when he arrived. In fact, since Proddy had left, the old man seemed to spend every hour he could standing and watching the road approaching the house. Everyone knew that he was doing nothing but waiting for the first glimpse of his son.

But Parsi was not going to just wait. He knew that this was going to be a disaster and he resolved that he would document it and throw it all in his father’s face when the day came. Through his father’s business connections, he managed to put together a network of informants who would keep an eye on what Proddy was doing with his inheritance. They began to report back at regular intervals and every time he received the report, Parsi got more and more enraged.

Bad Reports

He somehow wasn’t surprised to hear all of the ways in which Proddy was wasting his wealth on parties and luxuries. He was scandalized when he got word that he had been spending money on prostitutes, but he made sure that he got all the proof of it. Oh, how superior he would feel when he showed that evidence to his father.

After a while, he began to receive a very different kind of report. Apparently, Proddy’s money had run out and there had been a famine in that far off land. When he heard the report that Proddy had been reduced to working for a pig farmer, his brother laughed and laughed and laughed. He had the most intense experience of schadenfreude – of joy at the misfortune of somebody else – he had ever had in his life.

Surprise Party

One night, several weeks later, the older brother was coming back home after a long day’s work in the fields. He was just expecting to have a late supper and a few quiet hours at home before turning in. But, much to his surprise, the house was anything but quiet. He heard music playing and the sound of people dancing. Everyone seemed to be having a grand old time. He quickly called over one of his father’s servants to ask what was going on and the man joyfully explained that Proddy had finally returned home. The father had sacrificed his best young calf and everyone was busy feasting and celebrating. It was a party, and the older son should come and join in.

I don’t think it will surprise you when I say that Parsi was not happy. He absolutely refused to come any closer to the house. Finally, his father came out and began to beg him to come in. It was at this point that Parsi gleefully pulled out all of the information he had been documenting on his brother for the past few years. He had been carrying it with him every moment of every day all this time waiting for this very opportunity. He began to relate all of the irresponsible things that Proddy had done with their father’s wealth. He ended with a flourish, pulling out a huge stack of copies of receipts from various brothels in the distant land. “Look, Father,” he cried, “can you believe what Proddy spent on prostitutes alone?”

But the father just looked at him sadly. “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” he said. “But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

What we Should Call the Parable

The parable that we read this morning is popularly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Of course, Jesus never called it that and neither did the author of The Gospel of Luke in which it appears. It was tradition that decided a very long time ago that this parable was all about the younger son, the prodigal or Proddy for short. But I am pretty sure that tradition is wrong about that.

Oh, there is no question that the younger son’s story is very important and meaningful. In fact, it is a wonderful story that has brought a great deal of comfort to people down through the ages. It stands as a great teaching that, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, how much you have messed up your life and done everything wrong, there is always a way back to God and God is ready to welcome you with open arms and perfect love and approval.

So what Proddy went through is important, it is just not the main reason why Jesus told the story. He told it, apparently, because “the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” He told it specifically because there were people who were criticizing the fact that Jesus was celebrating and partying with the wrong sorts of people. He was telling it to a bunch of party poopers. And who, do you suppose, is the party pooper in this parable? This is not the Parable of the Prodigal, it is a parable of the sanctimonious Parsimonious brother! It is the Parable of the Party Pooper.

Did he Go to the Party?

Let me just ask you the only question that Jesus’ parable leaves open: did the elder son go to the party? Did he give into his father’s pleas and join in the celebration? Or did he just keep sulking? In a way, that’s the only question that matters. Because, if I understand anything that Jesus is saying with this and other parables like it, the point of the parable is the party. The kingdom of God is what you discover in the middle of that kind of celebration. The message of the parable, therefore, is that even if you make all kinds of mistakes, even if you waste every opportunity that is sent your way, even if you make some wicked choices, you are not cut off from the promise of God’s Kingdom because God is like that father in the story. God is gracious and welcoming to those who lose their way.

But if you hold on to your resentment against those who, in your mind, don’t deserve to be forgiven, if you are much more interested in cataloging the sins of those who have gone wrong and telling them their mistakes and sanctimoniously declaring how they are not worthy of God’s love, you are very much in danger of cutting yourself off from the celebration, which is to say from the kingdom of God.

How we Cut Ourselves Off

Now, please do note what I’m saying here. I’m not saying that God is going to cut you off from the kingdom. I’m not saying that God will refuse you entrance. I’m just saying that you’ve cut yourself off. To understand the difference, let’s return to the parable and imagine a certain outcome. Let us say that the father somehow convinced his eldest son, Parsi, that he had to come into the party. Perhaps he made him feel as if it was his duty or turned it into an obligation in some other way. But, because it was simply an obligation, Parsi attended while still holding onto all of his resentment, judgment and grievances against his brother.

How do you think that Parsi would have looked as he sat in the corner at that party? Yes, pretty much like that. Is there any sense in which someone who looks like that is really attending a party? Oh, they might be in the party, but they are not in the party, if you know what I mean.

Do we Make the Same Mistake?

And it would be one thing if it was just him who made that mistake. And I suspect that he made that mistake. But how many of us make it too? So long as any of us are obsessed with making sure that people who, for whatever reason, we think are undeserving do not get what they need, we are cutting ourselves off from the kingdom of God that Jesus was talking about. A kingdom, by the way, to be found first and above all in this world.

And that includes wanting to cut people off from having enough money to subsist in this world because they haven’t worked hard enough according to our definition of what hard work is. That includes wanting to cut people off from our generosity because maybe they’re not poor enough for our standards or because they have been so damaged by the system that they’re no longer willing to play by its rules. Oh, we find all kinds of reasons not to want to extend God’s grace to certain people. If we really understood what Jesus was saying in this parable though, we would understand that what we are really cutting ourselves off from it is the celebration of life that is the kingdom of God.

For our families this week.

We invite everyone to participate in our Lenten activity

https://youtu.be/3l1u6ZjgFbg

Hespeler, March 20, 2022 © Scott McAndless – Lent 3
Isaiah 55:1-9, Psalm 63:1-8, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9

Come on down to Crazy Scott’s Discount Emporium today! You won’t believe the deals I’ve got for you. You better grab them while you can, before they take me away for being so crazy!

Would you like to have some gasoline? That is right, I am talking about that precious liquid that, as of last night, was selling for $1.70 litre at the local gas station. At Crazy Scott’s, you can have as much of it as you possibly could desire! Want to fill up your Humvee? Here you go! Heck, if you want to fill up your swimming pool you can do that.

No Money

What’s that? You want to know how much it costs? Well, that is the truly crazy part because this gasoline is not being pumped based on how much money you have but rather based on what your need is. In fact, let me say this: “You that have no money, come, buy and guzzle!”

In fact, let’s not just make this about gasoline. What if you are in need of the basics of life: bread, meat, vegetables or wine? Or how about water? Everybody needs water! We’ve got all of those things too and you can get them right now at the amazing, unbeatable price of, well, no money at all – no money down, no payments, no interest. I’m sure you’re all asking how do I do it? Well, if you are asking that then you haven’t been paying attention because there is only one explanation: I’m just plain crazy!

Inappropriate Commercial

So, what would you think if you saw a commercial like that right about now? In the middle of some kind of economic crisis, at a moment when inflation seems to be galloping out of control, there are a lot of people, especially those who are living on fixed incomes or whose pay has been depressed for a very long time, who are really struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile people all over the place just can’t afford to live in homes anymore. How would that make you feel?

You might take it as some kind of joke, perhaps a bad joke, but at least as an attempt at humour. Or you might receive it as something in pretty bad taste. How cruel to make fun of people who are struggling to get by making a joke of giving all of this stuff that’s getting too expensive away. You might even say it would be inappropriate to include it in a sermon. But what if I were to tell you that that commercial was inspired by our reading this morning from the Prophet Isaiah?

The reading starts out very strangely. It starts with about the closest thing to a television commercial that you could find in the ancient world. Basically, back then, the only way that merchants had to market what they had to sell in the marketplace was to literally call out to the people passing and tell them that they should buy their wares. It’s the kind of thing that still sometimes happens in marketplaces to this very day. But back then, it was really the only way to market. So, the really weird thing is that this prophecy from the book of Isaiah begins with one of these calls that merchants traditionally would have made in the marketplace.

The Merchant’s Call

“Ho,” they would cry out to passers by, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” One would call out. And then, from another booth, “You that have money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk.” Still another would be calling, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food!” Everyone would have been very familiar with these cries; they heard them all the time.

But, although the prophet is clearly imitating these cries, he’s not copying them precisely. And that is because of what was going on at the time that this prophecy was made. There was an economic crisis. Inflation was out of control. As a result, huge numbers of people were just unable to afford the basic needs of life. They were being forced into debt that they would never be able to pay off. People were losing their homes and even having to sell family members into slavery.

The Prophet Changes it

So rather than call out what all the merchants would have called, he does the Crazy Scott’s Discount Emporium version of the traditional market call: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

Now, the really unfortunate thing about these ancient prophecies is that all that got retained and written down were the words. Nobody wrote down the stage directions. Nobody wrote down what the prophet was doing as he or she said these things. But, in this case, I think it’s pretty easy to imagine what he was doing. I am pretty sure that he actually set up a stand in the marketplace, probably in the big marketplace in Jerusalem, and he stood there alongside the other merchants and he was literally giving away his entire stock to anyone who needed it. This was actually the kind of thing that ancient prophets often did in Israel.

And of course, it was ridiculous. No one is going to sell their goods in the marketplace for nothing. And can you imagine the reaction of the other merchants who were trying to profit from all the inflated prices on everything? They must have been livid.

Why He did it

So why did he do it? He did it for the same reason that a prophet did anything. He did it because he was trying desperately to get a message from the Lord across to the people. And it was not a message that was just about spiritual realities that were totally disconnected from the physical struggles of people’s lives.

I imagine that he really was giving away free water and bread and other things that people couldn’t afford to buy. But, at the same time, he was not just playing at running a food bank. He was proclaiming something really important about God, and especially about what God cares about when people are really struggling to make ends meet.

Reacting to a Bad Economy

What happens when we are living through trying economic times? We see the reaction very clearly in our world right now. The worst economic effects in the last while have been in Russia, of course. Because if you think that we have been experiencing inflation lately, the Russians – reeling from sanctions and a plummeting Ruble – would probably tell you that we ain’t seen nothing yet.

But we see the extreme reaction to economic disaster on full display there. There have been runs on the banks. People, who cannot even exchange what they have for foreign currency, have been desperate to buy anything they can possibly get their hands on. They’re buying anything that might actually maintain its value. Basically, it seems, the present crisis has shown up just what an illusion the entire economic and monetary system is. The things that we thought had all the value, things like money, turn out to be almost without value and we are desperately searching for something valuable to replace them with. It is kind of a metaphor for the whole of modern society.

The Message We Need to Hear

So, what message is the prophet trying to get across, because I’m really starting to think that it might be a message that we need to hear. I believe that it particularly comes down to this verse: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?” We have all been caught up for so long in this endless cycle of working in order to get the good things in life. But we don’t get the good things in life. We get money, and money, it turns out, does not necessarily equal value. The value can just disappear. Even more important, having the money, even if you spend it on things, does not mean that you will get the satisfaction that you truly need.

Yes, we are all struggling to get by in difficult times. It is heartbreaking to watch families having trouble feeding their children. It is disheartening to watch those who are on fixed incomes as their purchasing power gets less and less. But what we are discovering is that the things that we have built our economy on have a lot less value than we have been led to believe. They have value that can disappear so easily. We are learning that we cannot put our trust in these things.

What We Can Trust

So what can we trust instead? Well, that is really interesting, because the prophet reaches out to these people all around him who are just struggling to get by, and he tells them what they can trust in. “Incline your ear, and come to me; Listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” The one thing that you can count on, in other words, is God’s commitment to you. God has made an everlasting covenant and so will never fail to love God’s people. The world teaches us to trust in money, but money will fail us.

We are seeing it happening in the world right now. I know that many would consider it foolishness to trust in God instead. I would argue that, at the very least, it is no less foolish to trust in that than in the false and potentially vanishing value that is found in money.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, And the unrighteous their thoughts.” Of course, our tendency is to do the opposite. When we discover that our way of doing things is empty and meaningless, what do we do? We tend to double down. We bail out our currencies, we take measures to build up their false value because we are afraid to let go of the illusion of value. But we really ought to take advantage of times of crisis like this to be willing to look at the entire system and just ask the question, can we really think of value in a very different way?

“Let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” I think we would all be better off putting our trust in a God who is forgiving rather than a currency system that is anything but – that never offers any grace for those who fall through the cracks of the system for any reason.

The Prophet was Crazy

Was the prophet crazy to do what he did? Did everyone think he was being just plain foolish? Absolutely. But he was trying to shock the people who were living through a crisis into seeing a fundamental truth about God’s ways. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” So high above the ways of this world that, yes, they certainly do seem like complete and utter foolishness as far as this world is concerned. That was kind of the point of what he was doing.

And, I’ve got to tell you, I think we’ve seen some of that foolishness here at St. Andrews. We have become a key place in this community for people to turn to when they are struggling to make ends meet. They come here, not because it’s the only place they could go, not because there are more resources available here than any place else.

They come here because we try to do our best, and the incredible volunteers we have here try to do their best, not to treat people as the world treats them. We try not to judge them according to the system of this world and how they measure up within it. And make no mistake, my friends, that is pure foolishness. That is craziness according to this world. And yet by the grace of God, we have seen good things happening here in people’s lives because of it. God’s love has been made real in countless incidences.

I do not say any of this in order to toot our own horns. We have done nothing really apart from being in the right place at a time of need. We have just been fools who have rejected the wisdom of this world. And God has brought blessing into our lives and into the lives of others as a result. There is real value in that, just not like the world measures value. No, the world is pretty sure that we are crazy.