Sermon July 14, 2013: WHich Wolf Will We Feed

There is a story from North American native Indians – I guess you could call it a proverb. 

An old Cherokee told his grandson: “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.”

The boy thought about it, and asked: “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied: “The one you feed.”

That story is applicable to both the epistle and the Gospel for today.  In the Epistle from Romans, Paul is telling is that we have a war within us about which side we will serve – will we be slaves to sin or will we be servants to righteousness?  The Gospel tells of one of the well-known events in the ministry of Jesus when he feeds the multitude with five loaves and two fishes.  The multitude is satisfied abundantly with more than enough left over – more than they started with.  In effect which side in the battle will we serve – which wolf will we feed?  How will we feed our souls with material food or spiritual food?

The epistle (Romans 6:17) tells us that if we feed the evil wolf we are slaves to sin.  However, if we feed the good wolf we will be servants to God.  One interesting thing about this comparison is the Greek work for servant and slave.  The New Testament - when it was finally written down - was originally written in Greek. 

One of the things I remember from my course in Greek at seminary was that the Greek word Doulos means both slave and servant.  We have the same word being used differently – the translators used slave in one place – slave to sin.  The other is servant to God.  I’m sure they used the two different words in translation because of the context in which they are used.  There is a definite difference for the context of a slave and the context of a servant. 

When you are a slave to something you have little or no choice in the matter.  We don’t consider slavery much these days.  After all, slavery was defeated in the 18^th and 19^th century for the most part.  There was the great civil war in our neighbours to the south a hundred and fifty years ago that emancipated the slaves.  Unfortunately the United States is still dealing with many of the consequences in their relations between blacks and whites.  There are still two wolves fighting in many ways in that land.  Of course we Anglicans can be proud of the role of William Wilberforce an Anglican reformer who was the force behind the abolition of slavery in Britain in the 18^th Century.  He was inspired in part by John Newton the author of Amazing Grace and a reformed slave ship captain.  However, slavery was an integral part of the world in Jesus’ time.  The first Christians including Paul accepted slavery as normal part of society. 

So today, how do we relate to slavery that Paul talks about?  Well even though physical slavery has been abolished in the Western world we have many other kinds of slavery.  We have many things in society that we can be enslaved by.  We can be enslaved to money or drugs or material possession or even power.  When we become enslaved to something like alcohol or anything else we lose our choices.  Someone who is addicted has lost control of his life. 

The addict may believe that that they are in control – I can give up x any time I want to - but in truth the thing they are addicted to is controlling them.  They have becomes slaves to sin.

When we think of sin we often mistakenly believe we are taking strictly about moral behavior – committing adultery or stealing or any of the ‘nots’ in the Ten Commandments.  However, I find that the best way of thinking of sin is ‘something – anything that separates us from the love of God and from leading the life that God intends for us. 

This brings us to the Gospel and the image of being fed by Jesus.  We have the wonderful account of Jesus feeding the multitude with a few loaves of bread and even fewer small fish.  The account presents Jesus feeding the bodies of those that gathered to hear him.  Their bodies were indeed fed by the bread and the fish but they were fed in another way.  Their souls and spirits were undoubtedly fed by Jesus.  That is why they were gathered to be with him.  They recognized that their spirit was not being fed by their present lives – by the religious leaders of their community.  The Gospel tells us that many had come from distances to experience Jesus.  They knew on some level that their spirits were hungering for the bread of heaven.   Just as we are fed by the body and blood of Jesus when we receive the Eucharist they ate and were filled in their bodies and their souls.

So the question remains which wolf are we going to feed in our lives?  The one that is Evil – the one that is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego.  Or are we going to feed the one that is Good – the one that is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.” 

The boy thought about it, and asked: “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied: “The one you feed.”

Amen.

Reading the Bible 27: Genesis 34 – The Sign of a non-Covenant

This episode in the story of Jacob is one which seems on the surface to be an old familiar one.  A young girl is abused – raped by someone in a neighbouring community.   This act is ultimately avenged by the girl’s family who see it as an affront to the family honour if not to the girl.  However, the events in between these two parts of the story are anything but simple.  It is stuff of obsession and stalking as well as family feuds and wars between tribes and nations. 

 On one level it rings true as an example of how human relations are complex and anything but simple; of how desire and lust can rule people and lead to acts such as rape and obsession and revenge and unintended consequences.  On another level the level there are events that clang in our ears as strange and unfamiliar.  Why would a tribe or nation submit to having every males circumcised as a condition of friendship with another group that has entered their territory?  You have to wonder what they were thinking when they agreed to what seems like an outrageous demand by what in effect were invaders albeit seemingly peaceful ones.  It raises the possibility of history being written by the winners or something being lost in translation over the generations.

What I find most intriguing is the use of circumcision in the story.  This was originally a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and had been practiced by Abraham and his descendants.  This covenantal act is now used by the sons of Jacob as a strategy – a very cleaver one - to gain revenge on their enemies.  This has the flavor of an army marching into battle declaring that God is on their side.  OF course there was no question of YHWY being on the side of Abraham’s decedents but |I wonder how he felt about his sign of the covenant being used for this purpose?  Given his later declaration about how the inhabitants of the Promised Land should be treated it may not have bothered him in the least.  Putting aside that semi-serious possibility, it raises the serious issue of the danger of believing that we can use God for our own purposes.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of believing we know God fully and being absolutely sure that God approves of what we are doing.  This of course is hubris which has led to many people falling great distances.  It is always good to err on the side of humility rather that hubris. 

Reading the Bible 26: Genesis 33 The Prodigal Brother - A Fatted Calf of Another Kind

On this reading of the reunion of Jacob and Esau I found it striking how I was reminded of the reunion of the Prodigal Son with his father.  The return of the outcast family member is greeted by the injured party without hesitation and with literal open arms.  As with the father, Esau does not stand on ceremony and custom and rushes to meet Jacob.  The careful preparation by both son and brother are moot as the true outpouring of affection and emotion overrules all.

Despite these very similar reunions the two stories take markedly different turns.  The difference appears to turn on the lack of a fatted calf.  Jacob has prepared a gift of reconciliation for Esau.  While the Prodigal Son had nothing material to offer to his father, Jacob plans to offer Esau a portion of what God has blessed him with.  This seems to be on the surface a gift from the heart.  However, there is an undertone that Jacob has not met Esau with an open heart.  He is still using his wiles to ensure his safety.  He is depending on himself rather than God who he says has been gracious to him.   

This position of Jacob’s is confirmed when he again uses his wiles to separate from Esau again.  He uses the fragile state of his children and flock as an excuse not to journey with Esau saying he will follow at a slower pace.   He then follows a different path which may have believed he must follow.  Regardless he is still not able to put his trust in Esau or perhaps God.  When faced with a challenge he still falls back on his trickster nature and depends on his wiles to save him.

We can perhaps have one of the most difficult things for people to do is to accept that we cannot control everything in our lives.  As the success of 12 step programs show we need to acknowledge that there is a greater power than ourselves before we are able to move forward from a place where the illusion that we can do it alone is no longer enough.

Sermon Luke 6: 36 Judge Not

Have you ever felt judged?   That is really a silly question because we all seem to be judged throughout our lives.  We are judged by our parents when we are growing up – and often even when we become full blown adults with grown children of our own.  Isn’t it amazing how we can become like little children when we are with our parents – and not in the good way that Jesus was commanding us  - unless you become as little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

We are judged in school by our teachers and when we write exams.  We are judged in our work.  I worked in a setting before I was ordained that had annual performance appraisals.  Your manager would check off the boxes and give you ratings in different area – unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good or excellent.  The joke was that you needed to walk on water to get an excellent rating.   We are judged by our spouses – do you remember the first time you dated the person who you later married – or your first date with anyone for that matter?  You wanted to make a good impression so you went out of your way to make sure you looked you best and were on your best behavior – that’s because you knew the other person was going to judge you.  It’s interesting but not surprising that after  you get to know someone what you don’t make as much of an effort. 

That’s probably a good thing overall because you are letting the other person know more about who you really are – not everything but more.  It is too bad however, if you  give up completely in making an effort to show the other person that you care about what they think about you.

I imagine that many – if not all of you are judging me this morning.  How is this new priest going to do?  What will his sermon be like?  Possibly Father Peter and Father Ralph were judging me when they met me to see if it was safe to let me lose on their unsuspecting flock.  Of course having roast preacher over Sunday dinner is a long standing tradition – it comes with the territory.

So judging and being judge certainly seems to be what we do naturally.  Here we have Jesus telling us in no uncertain terms that we should not do that, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged”.   What Jesus is calling us to do and be then is something radical in human relations.  Jesus lays out what he expects of his disciples – and of course us.  Judge not and ye shall not be judged; condemn not and ye shall not be condemned; forgive and ye shall be forgiven; give and it shall be given unto you.  As Father Peter mentioned last week the Gospel reading for the season of Trinity focus on Jesus’s parables.  Today’s Gospel is no exception.  Jesus follows up his lesson by giving his disciples a parable to illustrate the point.  Jesus knew that this was the best way to get his point across. 

To paraphrase, he tells them why do you worry about the speck in your neighbor’s eye when there is a beam in yours?  Now a speck is very small and a beam is very big.  Jesus doesn’t mince words.  Stop criticizing others and look to yourself.  Have you ever noticed that some people will annoy you at first sight?  Sometimes you take an instant dislike to people – first impressions and all that.  You may not even know why – or perhaps you will have a good idea.  In any case you are judging them instantaneously.  A similar process happens when someone does that make you react completely out of proportion to the facts.  You will explode in anger or other emotions in a way that seems to be almost unrelated to the circumstances.  This happens when we things in others that we do not want to see in ourselves.  We are seeing a speck of something in the other person that is the beam – the big things we don’t want to see in ourselves.

This is not to say that judgment per se is wrong.  We admire people that show good judgment in their lives.  However, that is people who do not make a habit of judging others – usually negatively.  It is people who make good decisions about what to do in their lives.  They judge what is right for them – they judge what they should do to live a good life – for Christians this means following the example that Jesus give for us. – living the life that God intends for us.  That is good judgment. 

Bad judgment is judging others harshly when we should be judging ourselves to determine if we are living the life we should. 

Watch out for those beams in our eyes.  They may be preventing us from seeing ourselves and the world as God sees us.  Amen

Reading the Bible 25: Genesis 32: 22-32 What’s in a Name?

Jacob’s wresting match with the angel – the messenger of God – is a story most of us who are familiar with the Bible know – or think we do.  The encounter comes at a time of crisis for Jacob.  Jacob has sent his family and all that he has away across the stream as he prepares for his fateful meeting with his brother Esau.  He hopes it will be a meeting of forgiveness and reconciliation.  However, he fears the worst – that he might not survive the encounter.  He alone with his God.

How often when we have hit bottom and have reach the end of our tether do we have an encounter with the divine – with God?  It may not seem as clear as Jacob’s encounter but could well be as dramatic in its own way.  One of my favourite scenes from the move The Life of Pi is when the hero Piscine (Pi) finally realizes that despite all his efforts and all his ingenuity there is nothing more he can do and gives control over to God.  It is similar in the 12 step program of AA and any other form of addiction.  The first step is to admit that we are powerless to control our situation.  Then we must give over control over to God - the power greater than ourselves.  It is very hard for us to let go of the illusion that we are in total control of our lives. 

What is may overlook in this epiphany is the significance of names.  Jacob has his name changed to Israel by the heavenly messenger.   He is given this name as he ‘has striven with God and with humans and have prevailed’.   That is a name which anyone would be glad to be given.  It is at this point that Jacob is certain that he has encountered the divine and knows that God is with him.  The messenger also refuses to tell Jacob – now Israel – his? name.  This is because God is not to be named i.e. as Moses will find out i.e. I am who I am.  Some things are not meant to be named because when we name them we begin to make assumptions about them and believe we have defined them.  As we are told, ‘For I have seen God face to face and yet my life is preserved.  Looking back on the times in which we have had to let go of our illusion of control we can be amazed that we have survived.  We are not the same as Israel went away limping we will will changed by the encounter but by the grace of God we will survive.

Reading the Bible 24: Genesis 32: 1-21 The Prodigal Brother

Jacob has just parted company with his Father-in-law Laban – which was done on good terms – something of an accomplishment considering their less than up front and amicable relationship.  Now he is faced with meeting the other member of his family which he had also left on similar less than ideal terms - , his brother Esau.  A very dark cloud hung over Jacob as he approached what he realistically might be his doom.  His chickens had finally come home to roost after all these years and he realized he must face the consequences of his earlier trickery.

Jacob had reached a point here he could not move ahead in life without turning back to face his brother.  For him there was no choice.  I see this point in Jacob’s life much like that of the Prodigal Son when he finally faces the reality that he must return home if his life is to move ahead.  This may seem strange on the surface as Jacob seemed to be is a very different situation from the Prodigal Son.  Prodigal Son had physically hit bottom.  He had wasted his inheritance on wine, women, and song.  He was reduced to hoping he could eat the leftovers from those he served – the swine.  Jacob on the other hand seemed to have it all.  He had wives and children; servants and flocks.  Seemingly all anyone could ask for – the very picture of success.  However, he too knew he must repent of his past and face the consequences if he was to move forward.  He had hit spiritual rock bottom rather than the material one. 

Both the Prodigal Son and Jacob prepare for the day of reckoning.  However, there is a significant difference in their preparation.  The Prodigal Son has nothing material to give. He can only offer that which he has.  He plans to throw himself – mind, body and spirit on the mercy of his father and beg for forgiveness.  Jacob having much materially plans to use that material wealth to try and gain Esau’s forgiveness. Or at least what limited forgiveness he can hope for.  In this Jacob seems less noble than Prodigal Son.  There is a holding back which has the taint of bribery.  However, there is a noble aspect in Jacob’s effort as Jacob knows that he is putting himself in the hands of the one who he wronged and may very well not survive.  However, Jacob seems to be depending on his material possessions rather than the giving all that he has. 

There is a happy ending for both Jacob and the Prodigal Son.  Forgiveness breaks through as a blessing from God.  Blessings are always unerned and no less so in these cases.  The power of God’s love that can bring about reconciliation to the brokenness of our lives is God’s greatest gift to his children.

 

 

Reading the Bible 23 Gen 31: 22-55 The Grace of God That Passes All Understanding

Families are the places where all is revealed and all manner of things are not well at least some of the time.  However, some times the differences can be resolved and harmony can reign and peace can be restored.  I believe that this is what God desires but it sometimes feels like  the exception rather than the rule.  This is of course because people see things differently and one person’s goose is another’s gander.

In today’s reading we have the final confrontation between Jacob and his (two-fold) father-in-law Laban.  Jacob is trying to make a fast get away from Laban.   He doesn’t trust Laban to let him leave for his homeland with what Jacob feels is his due – the wages he has earned for twenty years of labour.  This includes Laban’s two daughters and their children as well as the flocks that he won by some dubious means.  Laban catches up with the fleeing Jacob – it is rather hard to make a hasty get away with hundreds if not thousands of sheep and goats after all.  In any case we have the two men expressing their indignation and astonishment at the other’s actions. 

Laban at first expresses his hurt feelings and anger at Jacob’s actions, “²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword. ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.²⁸ And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish.”   Right after this he answers his own question, “²⁹ It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’”  He is unable to see that this is exactly why Jacob did what he did – Laban had the power to do Jacob harm and apparently would have if he hadn’t received the message from God which apparently came in a dream.

Now it is Jacob’s turn to show his indignation.  He angrily states his position and tries to justify his actions claiming innocence, “³⁶ Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods?”  Thrown into the mix is Rachael’s dubious actions –stealing Laban’s household gods and concealing them successfully from the search.  Rachael is certainly suited to be Laban’s daughter and Jacob’s wife.  It turns out she can be just as much of a trickster as her father and husband. 

What we have in all this is the tangled web woven over twenty years of deceit and underhanded dealing within the family - trick upon trick and resentment upon resentment that has finally come to a head in a full- blown confrontation.  However, we also have a resolution once things are out in the open.  Laban makes the first move at reconciliation – perhaps due to the intervention of God in the matter, ⁴³ Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me.”   There is a reconciliation which leaves it in the hands of the God of each man,” ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor”—the God of their father—“judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear^[g] of his father Isaac, ⁵⁴ and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.” 

This passage is for me a wonderful example of the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about inspiration that leads to reconciliation of seemingly irreconcilable differences brought about by the desire for the Ego to be in charge.  It is truly an example of the grace of God which at bottom passes all understanding.