Either/or brains, Both/and Gospel.

A few weeks ago a perplexed and frustrated friend asked rhetorically, “Wouldn’t life be simpler if people were simply either good guys or bad guys?” I had to agree. It would.

Either/Or creates far less complexity and tension than Both/And. And our lazy brains don’t like complexity or tension.

When it comes to what salvation means, some Christians would say, “It’s about saving souls”. Others insist, “It’s about making life on earth better”. Practically speaking, it’s Either/Or.

But the readings for The Third Sunday of Advent would insist it’s not as simple as Either/Or would suggest…it’s Both/And.

The Lords Patience

Patience has been described as, “The quality you admire in the driver behind you, but can’t stand in the driver in front of you.”

For most of us, the virtue of patience is hard…and not something we’re very good at. But in the time leading up to Advent, and during Advent itself, we’re told over and over again as part of our preparation to wait with patience for the coming (the advent) of the Lord, both first and second.

And so it’s a nice contrast in this Second Week of Advent, that we, along with the original recipients of St. Peter’s second letter are strongly encouraged not to work on our own patience, but to instead savor and rejoice in the gracious patience of the Lord as a fulfillment of his loving purposes.

Turns out he’s very good at it.

Wait and intercede

In this lesson we learn four things in intercession: Listen, see, wait and remember. We explore these through Isaiah and how he recounts the ways of God: His nature, His character, and His vision for Israel. Isreal’s history is our history. God does awesome things we do not look for. We should be wary and alert, Jesus tells us this very thing, therefore we should learn through history and how it aligns with Jesus teachings as well and use that in our prayers. We wait for the Lord in our intercession. Dive in with us as we learn together how to grow through the parallels of history shaping our prayers for His kingdom to come.

Seasons of presence

Christ is a King of a far greater kingdom than we could ever imagine. Through the liturgical year we follow the life of Christ and this is the very last Sunday of Pentecost. Each season of the liturgical Callander we learn how to reflect on his presence. Join in with as we dive into a direction of these seasons and how we join together in the church to grow through liturgy. Nurturing our relationship with christ season by season.

The talents

In this sermon we learn about the parable of the “talents,” or rather “kingdom assets.”   All belongs to the master.  Each is given to the servants as they can handle it would seem. Its about how one uses what is given, Open and dynamic or closed off and hidden. What does this mean? is the lesson intended for final judgment or for now perhaps both. There are things that need our tending our love and our attention. Join in with us as we dive in to this parable with the true master and how we can apply it to our lives.

Oil for my lamp

The parable Jesus tells in this week’s Gospel reading gave me fits for years. For years, I kind of beat my head against that parable to no avail.

I mean, its tone is very urgent and its conclusion quite shocking, but its “therefore” just seems rather mundane and esoteric…and candidly, a real challenge to preach compellingly. “Be prepared. You don’t want to get caught without “oil” for your lamp (or “gas for your Ford”, or “wax for your board”. BTW if this makes any sense to you at all, you’re welcome for the ear worm).

Anyway, something I was witness to thirteen years ago—early June, 2010—gave me some profounder insight into what I believe we can take away from it…what’s at the heart of what Jesus was saying. And there’s nothing mundane or esoteric about it at all. It’s gritty and embodied.

No idle question

The Beatitudes are among the literary and religious treasures of the human race. We can savor them, affirm them, meditate on them, and engrave them on plaques to hang on our walls. But a major question remains: How are we to live in response to them? This is no idle question. Misunderstanding the “blesseds” given by Jesus in Matthew 5 has caused not a small amount of pain and confusion down through the ages that continues today. Strangely enough, his blesseds have not uniformly been a blessing.

It will help us to know what to do with the Beatitudes—and what not to do—if we can catch a glimpse of what Jesus was doing with them.

Give to Caesar what is his and to God what is HIS

In this weeks sermon we are taught by Bishop Julian who talks about Jesus’s discussion with the Pharisees and Herodians about whether or not its right to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus cannot be played and as we go through this passage it puts us in wonder of how magnificently Jesus goes about answering not only questions but those questions intended to trap Him. With Jesus, the answer tends to have layers and we see this with fresh eyes today. Join us as we dive in deeply to a question about taxes that have puzzled many and what our Lord calls us to be ready for.