Welcome Back
September 4, 2005 - Food Bank Sunday
by Rev. James Farrell
I have chosen to
use the term "A Message" to introduce the portion of the service that you may
think of as a sermon because I recognize that the spoken word is one message that
you receive in the worship time. Another message
may be gleaned from the "Conversation Time" another from the music ministry that
frequently takes on different hues in the course of our worship…the prayers
offer yet another message and it would be fool-hearty to suggest that "the
message" God intends you to receive this day or any day would come from just one
place. Each of us has
different needs and they often change from moment to moment in our lives. The
unique relationship that we have with our creator also allows us to have unique
blessings given to us and these appear in countless ways throughout our days. So
it is my hope and prayer for you, this day, that the unique touch that you need
to receive this day will be recognized in your personal worship time as you are
open to God's messages and blessings for you. Last week Jane
spoke about Neighbouring: the ability to simply be in the presence of another
and to share the simple aspects of one's life with another…conversations about
the children, the garden, the weather, what have you... are all part of neighbouring. As we get
together this Labour Day weekend we are typically short some of the numbers of
persons who gather when the Sunday school starts up and those who use the Labour
Day weekend as their last summer opportunity to travel, or camp or visit family.
Still, those who gather today often feel that this is the first Sunday back into
the routine of fall that helps anchor us in a world often mad with greed or hate
or hurt or revenge. If we don't
gather to be together, to wrestle with life's spiritual issues then where does
our feeding, our 'nurturing' come from? Certainly not from global reports of
man's inhumanity to man. Certainly not from Hollywood's often jaded look at
life, and certainly not from secular humanism that, while seeking to offer
positive thoughts for our time often obfuscates the need of the spirit to have a
connectedness with other, and a connectedness with self and a connectedness with
"holy" other "the God presence" that moves us beyond who we are toward who we
can be. [The story is
told of two brothers who farmed together successfully. One was single and the
other was married with children. One day the
single one thought, "It is not fair that my brother and I share the crops
equally. He has many mouths to feed while I have only one. I know what I will
do. In the middle of the night, I will take a bag of grain from my storage barn
and put it in his. He will never suspect." As life
sometimes happens, the other brother was also thinking that day, "It is not fair
that my brother and I share the crops equally. He has no one to look after him
in his old age while my wife and I have many children. I know what I will do. I
will take a bag of grain to him from my storage barn and put it in his. He will
never suspect." Weeks went by,
but the number of bags in both storage barns remained the same. It was a mystery
until one night, half way between the barns, the brothers bumped into each
other. Immediately they understood and embraced each other. The rabbis say
God smiled upon seeing the love between the brothers and in the spot they
embraced, God told Solomon to build the temple. Unfortunately,
not all relationships are that loving. Matthew suggests a course of action when
we miss the mark in our relationships with a brother or sister. Matthew says,
1. Go to that person: if the situation is resolved, you have regained a sister
or a brother; 2. If the situation is not resolved, go to that person with two
or three others. If the situation is resolved, you have regained a sister or a
brother; 3. If the situation still isn't resolved, go to the congregation
with the person. If the situation is resolved, you have regained your brother or
sister. If the situation
is not resolved, treat the person like a Gentile or tax collector. This is where
the situation gets sticky. Some chose to say Gentiles and tax collectors were
outcasts in Jesus' society. But we must ask, how did Jesus treat Gentiles and
tax collectors? Remember the Canaanite woman? She was a Gentile. Wasn't Matthew
a tax collector? Yes, of Course. How did Jesus treat them? And in the words
of Jesus in another place – Go and do likewise… Jim Heikes] When it comes to
sharing the depths of our desires with another it is usually wrapped up in the
golden rule…which Christians don't have a corner on…in fact, it exists within
most cultures and religions. As we regroup
following summer it may serve us well to review The golden rule as it is
understood around the world. In everything,
do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the
prophets. (Christianity, Jesus, Matthew 7:12) We affirm and
promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a
part. (Unitarianism, from the Unitarian principle) We are as much
alive as we keep the earth alive. (Native spirituality, Chief Dan George) Do not do unto
others whatever is injurious to yourself. (Zoroastrianism, from
Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29) One should treat
all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated. (Jainism, Mahavira,
Sutrakritanga) What is hateful
to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is
commentary. (Judaism, Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a) Not one of you
truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself. (Islam,
Muhammed, Hadith) Lay not on any
soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for
anyone the things you would not desire for yourself. (Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah,
Gleanings) This is the sum
of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. (Hinduism,
Mahab harata 5:1517) Treat not others
in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. (Buddhism, Udana-Varga 5.18) One word which
sums up the basis of all good conduct…loving kindness. Do not do to others what
you do not want done to yourself. (Confucianism, Confucius, Analects 15.23) Regard your
neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.
(Taoism, T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213–218) I am a stranger
to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.
(Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib, pg. 1299) From a poster
published by Scarboro Missions, a Canadian Catholic Missionary Community, 2685
Kingston Rd., Scarborough, ON, Canada M1M 1M4. Being together,
seeking to be church, to be neighbors is all we really have…the rest in many
ways is ego and self-righteousness, attitude and innuendo …it is only as we
learn to be together…with honesty, humility, truth, love, and gratitude that we
can we really be co-creators with God. If we embody the love of God revealed in
Jesus of Nazareth, that is exactly what we are…co-creators with God!
Fifth-grader Brian Rusniak, is a member of a Uniting Church who
First Congregational UCC in Traverse
City, Michigan , is living what he learns at
church by serving as a "Playground Peacemaker" at
Silver Lake
his Elementary School in
Traverse City. Donning a distinctive hat and
jersey, Rusniak and other peacemakers help settle disputes during recess. "In the past few
years, there's been a lot of fighting and a lot of problems [at our school],"
says Rusniak, who completed 10 hours of training in conflict resolution before
taking his post on the playground. "I think our principal thought there should
be kids on the playground, helping solve problems. "Most of the
problems are with the younger kids, like if one is knocking down the other's
sand forts, or not playing with the others on the swing," he adds. Rusniak, in his
second year on the job, says most playground peacemakers work in pairs in order
to solve problems more effectively. When a conflict arises, peacemakers take
charge of the situation, setting ground rules for those involved. For example,
he says, "they can't say mean things to each other, can't interrupt, and can't
call each other names." Unfortunately,
says the young peacemaker, his position on the playground is secure. "I don't
know why kids fight like that," he says. "There's lots of violence out there."
From United Church News, March 2001
And "there" is
one of the bits from Matthew's gospel that remains unanswered…why are people the
way they/we are? We can't know all the hurts that have contributed to make
people who they are and our love must seek to be universal so that we don't have
to know or understand, we only need to treat others as we would wish to be
treated and hope that the spirit of God within our actions would stir something
within another to help them be who they need to be before God. This is the
gospel lived and this is what it means to be together. Amen.