Tuesday, September 8

At some point in my childhood, I encountered an object lesson based on a pencil. I might have heard it from a grade school teacher or a sainted aunt, or possibly I read it in my cherished monthly copy of Highlights, the “Fun with a Purpose” magazine.

My recollection of the story was vague. As I remember it, the pencil was offered as a symbol for purposeful living, proper attention, and good effort and achievement. I remembered only a few details: we must be sharpened like a pencil, which isn’t always nice, but necessary; with correct use, we can leave our mark beautifully and meaningfully; and if we mess up, we always have a way to undo our mistakes (having a built-in eraser). At this time of year, I always think of this object lesson, especially when I see a new box of pencils amidst the back-to-school advertising.

Still the memory was sketchy (pun intended), so I decided to see if the Internet had any insight on this. It was a bit of a shock to me to discover that the Parable of the Pencil has been around for a while and is fairly well-known. Furthermore, the story that I thought was simply a secular lesson on how to be a good student was in fact a parable about the Christian experience and our relationship with God.  I encourage you to follow the link above (or google it) to read the parable for yourself, but in short it goes like this:

The Pencil Maker tells the pencil:

• You’ll do many great things, but only if guided by a hand.
• You will experience painful sharpening, but this will make you a better pencil.
• You have the means to correct any mistake you make.
• The most important part of you is what’s inside.
• Everything you do will leave a mark, and you must always continue to do that, no matter what your circumstances.

These five instructions are given in various order in the various versions I looked up. The Pencil Maker’s instructions can be understood as direction on being a good disciple and leading a life of faith. You need only think of yourself in place of the pencil:

• You will do great things upheld by God’s hand and under God’s guidance.
• You will occasionally find yourself painfully sharpened by adversity, but will become a stronger, better person for it.
• Mistakes can be wiped away, by your own spiritual understanding of forgiveness and through God’s great mercy and grace.
• Your inner heart and core values—what’s inside– are most important.
• Everywhere you go, you leave a mark, and no matter what the situation, you must continue in that purpose by sharing and showing Christ’s teaching.

It’s an analogy that is easy to grasp and with lots of room for extension and amplification. Of course, it’s not one of Christ’s own parables. The modern pencil wasn’t invented until 1564, and pencils weren’t mass-produced until 1662. Only by the 1890s were pencil manufacturers starting to paint pencils and imprint them with their brand names. Depending on your age and place of childhood, you may be able to conjure up some of those names: Faber-Castell, Steadtler, Berol, Dixon (now Dixon-Ticonderoga) and the General Pencil Company.

I can imagine by now you have a specific image in mind of a neatly packed box of standard HB number 2 pencils, smelling faintly of cedar and graphite, all perfectly symmetrical and uniform.

But let me derail that image and add something more to the parable of the pencil.  The fact is some of us are pencil crayons. Some of us are pens. Some of us are highlighters or sharpies or novelty pens or wax crayons. We are not all the same, and we are certainly not all new in the box. The Maker has created all kinds of instruments, which make their marks in the world in very different ways. We’ve all been set to work as Christ’s followers in different contexts at different times.

You need only look at a pen jar in your kitchen or study right now to see the rich variety of writing instruments that congregate there. I am not going to unpack the metaphor further here. Instead I encourage you to look at an everyday pen jar as a symbol of a faith community. Spend some time this week on your own in prayer and reflection on this object lesson.  If you’re reading this on the webpage, you’ll find I have included a few pictures of pen jars from around my house, in case you don’t have one of your own. (These aren’t staged! We actually have this many pen jars and they do look like this!)

As you look at a pen jar’s assemblage of pencils and pens and other stray objects (in my case, screwdrivers, paintbrushes, scissors, and inexplicably, a purple long-handled magnet), pray for not just for the sharp, reliable go-to pencils in the bunch, but also for

• • the ones that bring colour or highlights or interesting textures or aromas
  • those that are unique, but rarely called into service
  • those that are dried out, broken, worn down, or slightly chewed up
  • those whose purpose or usefulness isn’t immediately obvious or commonplace
  • those that aren’t like the others and maybe don’t at first glance seem to belong but that fit right in all the same

As Christ himself prayed for the unity of believers, “may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

Prayer:

Heavenly Maker, you have created each of us as wonderful, unique, and full of promise. We trust you to guide the marks we make in life each day. Help us know our purpose and to see the inner gifts of those around us. We give thanks that you forgive our mistakes, and we ask that we may faithfully be instruments in your hand.  Amen.

September 3, 2020

Some years ago I led a party of pilgrims to the Holy Land and visited the place that is identified with the Cana of Galilee at which the miracle of Jesus turning the water into wine is alleged to have taken place. In the church at Cana we did what pilgrims regularly do; the married couples in the party gathered around the altar, joined hands and renewed their wedding vows, after which I repeated the marriage blessing over them. Whilst the married couples enjoyed it all, a few of us who were either widowed, divorced or single felt left out and for some there was a great deal of pain, particularly one couple who were going through problems and felt they just couldn’t take part.

When I reflected that evening on the day’s activity, it struck me that the miracle was not about the wedding and marriage at all but much more about God’s inclusivity and overpowering generosity – have a quick read of the Bible verses John 2: 1 – 11. So, maybe it would have been much more sensible to have celebrated Communion around that altar rather than a renewal of marriage vows. Everyone in the party of pilgrims would have been included and it would have reflected far more the true meaning of the miracle. For the marriage that the story relates is the marriage between God and His people, Christ and the Church. All are invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, and no one is excluded.

The wine of Cana is the joy of union with God in Christ. It should be – can be – more profound, more ecstatic than any other experience we may have. For me, both when I was a lay person and since I have become a priest, receiving the bread and wine has always been the time when I feel closest to Jesus and His Spirit. But this is not all about me! It’s about all of us because Cana and Holy Communion are about celebrating a corporate as well as an individual relationship. The underlying joy that should mark the individual’s awareness of union with Christ should also mark the whole Church. As I said in my sermon on Sunday, the Good News of Christ’s message will not get through to others unless it is proclaimed by loving Christians setting a better example. Together with this must be a display of the joy we have of being aware of God’s generosity and inclusivity as we follow Jesus’ instruction to us, “ to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Prayer (anonymous from the 14th century):

Soul of Christ, sanctify me,
Body of Christ, save me,
Blood of Christ, inebriate me,
Water from the side of Christ, wash me,
Passion of Christ, strengthen me,
O good Jesu, hear me,
Within thy wounds hide me,
From the malicious enemy, defend me,
In the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to thee,
That with thy saints I may praise thee
for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Tom Hanks starred in Angels and Demons in 2009. Several sports teams at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina are named the Deacon Demons. Perhaps you had an older aunt or grandparent who may have affectionately referred to you as a cute little demon. Well, the Anglican lectionary for this day schedules a Gospel reading from Luke 4: 31-37 that sees Jesus, while teaching in the synagogue, encountering a man possessed by a demon. 

Such a story was not unusual for Luke to record. Michael Patella noted in his 2005 commentary The Gospel According to Luke, “Every good story needs an antagonist and Luke elevates Satan to this position. Consequently, Christ’s miracles and cures are more than kind deeds, they are attacks on the Evil One and his diabolical force. In other words, Christ is in a relentless pursuit of redeeming the world from Satan’s clutches.”  

Today’s passage is referred to as The Ministry in Galilee – the fourth part of an eight-fold narrative in Luke’s overall gospel account depicting the full life of Jesus on earth. Our Lord had left the threatening environment of Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, a small city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. There He was teaching on the sabbath in a synagogue. Luke notes that those present there that day “were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.” (v. 32) The Rev. Robert Deffinbaugh noted two sources of this authoritative voice. He stated that Jesus spoke in a simple and straightforward manner as opposed to the scholarly and obscure narratives of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus also relied on earthly stories and parables that were familiar to his audience. People heard Him and grasped His words in reference to the teachings of the Bible. Rev. Deffinbaugh further stated, “Jesus taught as the author of Scripture, while the scribes and Pharisees taught as mere students, and not good students at that! The difference between Jesus’ teaching and the rest was the same as hearing the author of a book speak about his book and hearing another person speak about the same book.” (2012) 

On this particular sabbath occasion, “there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon.” (v. 33).  Patella noted that demons and the devil, while representing the same Evil Force were not the same entities. So, in today’s story, this minion of Satan has taken possession of the man who confronts Jesus in a loud voice. The intention of this “shout out” was likely to disrupt Christ’s teaching. Deffinbaugh suggests here we see a “spirit v. spirit” clash, a “good v. evil confrontation” where the demon recognized who Jesus really was, “I know who you are, ‘the Holy One of God’.” (v. 34), in a manner revealing a frightened, cornered evil entity fearing ultimate destruction at the hands of God.   

In Luke’s noted crisp writing style, he does not prolong this confrontation, but rather describes the immediate reaction of Jesus in rebuking the demon saying, “Be silent, and come out of him.” (v. 35) Some versions of Luke’s gospel depict a violent convulsive exit of the demon from the man, while others avoid any such description. No matter, the beneficiary of this exorcism in one of Jesus’s early miracles is left unharmed. Biblical scholars suggest a number of reasons for the swift response by Jesus against the demon in this story, First, the demon created a scene in the synagogue interrupting, and drawing attention away from Jesus’ teaching, thus taking away from His purpose and ministry here on earth. Secondly, this account appears in the early ministry period of Jesus. It was not yet time to declare the divinity and messiahship of Christ.  Dr. Ralph F. Wilson wrote the term “Messiah” had strong political connotations in 1st century Palestine and to so proclaim Jesus prematurely would keep people from hearing Jesus’ essential teaching. Jesus also seldom spoke of Himself as the “Son of God,” but rather the “Son of Man.” Using the term “Son of God” would cause Him to be accused of blasphemy and sidetrack His ministry. The demons at Capernaum were wittingly or unwittingly involved in subverting Jesus’ own timetable for His ministry and self-disclosure; explaining His swift and unequivocal action in dealing with the man with the unclean spirit.  

Today’s gospel story tells of those in the Capernaum synagogue who witnessed the confrontation between Jesus and the demon as being amazed and left wondering who this Jesus was and by what authority and power could He command unclean spirits to come out from those so possessed. You and I have the benefit of knowing who Jesus is and are also amazed at how He interacts with us in our lives. For me, and perhaps for you too, Luke’s account is made relevant today in the words of the Irish Jesuit daily prayer website, Sacred Space,  

“Jesus seems to live within a world of hostility; political and family divisions as well as if the conflict of good and evil were the context of His life. Somehow, He transcends but is involved in the conflicts. He seems to face conflict head-on. He does so, not only with the power of His own personality, but with the power of his Father so that He can command evil and it flees. Some of our evils can be dealt with only through prayer in the power of the risen Lord.” 

 Prayer: 

 The Light of God – surround us.
The Love of God – enfold us.
The Power of God – protect us.
The Presence of God – watch over us.
The Mind of God – guide us.
The Law of God – direct us.
Wherever we are – God, be our strength and harbour. 

from: PrayRay.com – Prayer for Protection 

Amen.

Thursday, August 27

In my Thought of August 18, I spoke about how we all had various gifts and used I Corinthians 12 as a chapter that spoke about this. On Sunday, we read from Romans that the body is made up of many members and not all have the same function.

In I Corinthians 12, Paul uses the analogy of our human body to describe the church and how it should function.

Author Ray Stedman makes an interesting observation in his writing on this chapter. He observes how we refer to the church as the body of Christ. Our bodies are made up of two parts – a head and a torso. Both parts are necessary for the body to be complete. Nowhere is the church referred to as a head, therefore head (Jesus) + torso (us) = body (church).

Jesus is the ‘brains” of the operation but He needs us to carry out His work here on earth.

We have all suffered with a cold when our nose is so clogged that we can’t smell and we have to breathe through our mouth. We are miserable and part of the reason is because the nose isn’t doing the job it is intended to do.

A number of years ago, I ruptured a tendon on my right hand. My ring finger “fell” over and was totally useless.   I had an operation to repair the tendon and spent weeks in physical therapy to bring back some use to that finger. The finger was never totally functional again.   It was quite an object lesson for me as I realized just how important each part of the body was.

Life would be very dull if we all had the same gifts. Can you imagine the chaos at a meeting if everyone wanted to be the chairman or no one wanted to be the chairman? If everybody was a great organizer a wonderful party could be planned but who would bake the cake?

As I said in my last thought, I believe it is not the what we are being called to do that is important but how we respond to that call. Have you ever heard yourself say “I could never do that”? That may be true but chances are somebody is saying that about something you can do. Instead of concentrating on what we can not do we need to value what we can do! There is plenty of work that we as Christ’s body need to do for all of us to play a part. Just as each part of our physical body has a role so we too have a role to play. All Saints’ will be moving back into our building soon, what role do you see yourself playing? We will start Advent by welcoming a new priest into our midst, how do you see yourself sharing in this ministry? How can All Saints’ minister to the community around us, to each other and to the world?

Teresa of Avila wrote the following:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world.
Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good.
Yours are hands with which He is to bless His people now.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you that we are part of your body. Thank you for the unique gifts that you have given each of us.
Help us to resist the temptation to compare ourselves to others but rather give us courage to use our gifts to your glory. Amen