There Has To Be A Better Way…. Matthew 5:3-9,21-22

   Fred was well on in his eighties when I got to know him.  He was a lovely old chap, and we had some good talks together.  One day he told me about his experience of going to war and how he had served in the Pacific in World War Two.  His descriptions of some of his experiences of living in the jungle had me awestruck   Fred had seen some terrible things, and I might say had done some terrible things.  I suspect I only heard the sanitized version.  To kill even in times of war is not something that one crows about. For him it was something that had to be done, but I suspect it left him with many many sleepless nights.  As we talked one memory that really seemed to bother him was going to Hiroshima just weeks after the war ended to survey the damage and assess the effects of the atomic bomb.  The devastation he said was like nothing he had ever seen or imagined..  He described how the nuclear explosion had sucked all the air out of the area and then when it rushed back in everything was flattened, even huge factories. 

   He admitted he had not liked the Japanese.  He spoke of a friend who had lived through the brutal treatment of prisoners.  Fred believed the Japanese deserved the atomic bomb, though as he said few of them really understood what it was.

   But then he saw Hiroshima.  He recounted how he and a mate had walked though the flattened rubble.  Passing by a small pile of bricks that had been sort of fashioned into a small shelter they saw a small girl behind a wall.  As Fred spoke there was a quiver to his voice.  She was, he thought, about 5 years old, and her clothes were tattered rags falling off her body. Her eyes were sunken and she was terrified of these strange white men in their military uniform.  Of course she had no English and they had no conversational Japanese. As far as they could tell she was alone with no-one to take care of her.  She was obviously scavenging for survival. I could sense he could still vividly recall the scene as if it were yesterday.  He recalled his feelings of helplessness as he realised she was just a little child and probably her parents were dead along with any extended family. Here was a little five year old alone, helpless, and fending for herself. None of this was her fault, and yet he knew she would soon die of exposure to radiation.  Fred a soldier who had seen it all, shed tears.  That’s war, and that’s why I hate it he said.  He still believed we had to defend ourselves and fight for our freedom, but why he asks did they drop the bomb on a civilian target with little military significance.  Why couldn’t they have found an area not so heavily populated.  Fred went on talk about more recent wars in Iraq and the lies that were told.  There has to be a better way he said.

There has to be a better way.

   As we gather on another ANZAC day we remember those like Fred who have served in armed forces to protect and defend a way of life we hold dear.  Some of us will remember family members or friends that never returned.   For those that did return this day is a day of mixed emotion.  No one who has lived through war want’s to glorify the killing, but we do want to honour the ideal of sacrifice for the common good and the standing up for what we hold dear.   Out of control madness and evil sometimes needs to be forcibly stopped, but let us ever forget the plea of Fred that there has to be a better way.

   That way I believe has much to do with working to build a world where respect and human dignity is taught and practiced.  We have to learn that it is wrong to demean another human being.  We have to learn that it is right to honour one another with good manners, respect, and the gift of empathetic attention.  It is right and part of the other other way that Fred longed for to go out of our way to listen to another human being and to seek to understand their story and how that has shaped their point of view.  The way begins with upholding human dignity.  Jesus said you know it’s wrong to murder, but I tell you, ‘you murder someone when you speak ill of them or find some way to put them down or demean them.’  You as good as murder someone when you consign them to scrap heap and don’t care, and then you are in danger of being cast on the scrap heap and fire of hell yourself.  These are strong words that should have us reflecting on our own propensity to writ  others off or put them in boxes.  The other way that Fred spoke of is not easy.  

    Most of us will easily say we are peace lovers, but Jesus invited us to be peacemakers and there is a huge difference between the two.   Peacemaking requires real effort, and sacrifice.  It takes hard work to reach out and look over the fences of fear that divide us.  It takes hard work to siddle up to those ‘other sort’ of people and begin to engage in some way that helps us see that they are human like me.  It takes hard work to look beyond the stereotypes and images often created by others to see human faces in those labelled different.

   Peace lovers often talk of tolerance and are happy if you do your thing and it doesn’t disturb me doing my thing.  Peacemakers know there will inevitably be conflict as we work to engage and find the goodness in one another.  There will be discomfort and clashes that will be painful as we are faced with differing lifestyles and values.   Jesus never promised us it would be easy as we seek to build bridges across the divides of race, age, sexuality, and so on, but in the end even in war the guns have to be put down and the hard work of peacemaking begun.

   We are a varied and diverse community and have become more so in recent years.  Even in my own whanau I find huge diversity. We see things differently.   Religion, politics, sport, race. I acknowledge that my way of seeing will be shaped by my journey.  Others have had very different journeys.  We see things differently.  We know this in this city where tragedy has opened our eyes to our Muslim brothers and sisters.  There are some real challenges in front of us now in how we can live with diversity and respect that is more than some lovey dovey sweep our differences under the carpet and proclaim our one-ness.   The way Fred dreamed of I think begins with our common human-ness and yet seeing sacredness in one another.  Seeing the presence of God in every person was something Jesus encouraged his followers to do.  Nurturing habits and practices like good manners and taking time to consider how it might be for another rather than just looking after yourself is where this other way begins.  

  Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.  I invite you to go from here this morning to work hard at this task.  Do not leave it to others.

Putting the hard yards and sacrifice in to genuinely listen and understand those who are different.

To the Freds of the world I want to say I have searched for and I hope upheld is a better way. .

Dugald Wilson April 25 2019 0 Grid

Easter 2019 John 20:1-18

   It was different back then.  You didn’t put the body in a casket and dig a 6 feet hole.  They actually practiced a recycling way.  When a death occurred it was important to attend to the burial immediately.  We saw this tradition in the desire for our Muslim brothers and sisters to bury their dead as soon as possible.  Ideally burial happened within 24 hours. As soon as death was certain the deceased eye’s were closed.  The corpse was washed and then wrapped and bound.  Perfumes and ointments, usually nard, myrrh and aloes, were used for the ritual washing and the body wrapped in a shroud with the hands and feet bound with strips of cloth.  A special cloth was placed over the face.  Again as we saw recently the corpse is carried on a funeral bier rather than a closed coffin to the burial site just outside the city walls.  Traditionally this was a cave or large tomb carved out of the soft limestone rock that is found all round Jerusalem.  The body would be taken inside and laid out on a limestone plinth or shelf.  The entrance would then be sealed by placing a large rolling stone that moved in a cut channel and left for a year.  At the end of that time relatives would return to gather the bones that were left and place them in an ossuary or bone box which might be engraved with the person’s name and stored elsewhere or within the tomb itself. 

In Jesus’ case his family owned no tomb but one of the disciple band Joseph of Arimathea did and he offered the unused tomb for the burial. It seems that this is where the preparation of the body took place but that this task was not completed on the Friday before the Sabbath began at 6pm.  The Saturday being the Sabbath meant the work had to be delayed until early Sunday morning but that’s when the drama began.  Where was the body. 

      Mary assumed someone had stolen the body, and was obviously distraught. The earliest versions of Mark’s gospel which represent the earliest Christian stories have no stories of resurrection appearances, just the empty tomb.  What did happen?

   There have been some interesting suggestions.  Most Muslims believe Jesus who they recognise as their second greatest prophet never really died on the cross.  The person who died was a substitute.  Others believe Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross and was taken down still breathing, and when he was put in the tomb and as he lay there in the cool or possibly with the aid of some special drugs administered by the disciples he came round again.   Whatever Jesus ascended to God and will come again.

  Other people talk of the resurrection as if it were a resuscitation of a dead body.  After 2 days in the tomb as a dead person somehow Jesus human body came to life again as if someone performed CPR on him and got his heart beating again….a resuscitation. 

   Yet others claim the disciples were suffering from cognitive dissonance, the phenomenon whereby people who believe something strongly go on believing it even more strongly even when faced with evidence to the contrary.  In other words they denied his death by actually reporting seeing him alive again.  Their minds tricked them into actually seeing him and meeting him, but actually it was all in their heads.  Grieving people I have found often have powerful meetings or encounters with those who have recently died and some of us will know this. 

   Interesting theories.  I think the disciples had no expectation that Jesus would rise from the dead, but it seems clear they encountered something –  a new  presence.  Jesus’ risen body had many of the properties of as an ordinary body – he could talk, eat and drink, be touched and so on, but it seems even closest disciples  didn’t recognize him until he somehow opens their minds.  Mary and the disciples on the road to Emmaus engage with him but don’t immediately see him as Jesus. It’s only when they break bread together that they recognise him.  He has other strange properties too.  He could appear and disappear in a manner not unlike Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. He can appear in the midst of a locked room, and it seems he can appear in one location and shortly after in another location hundreds of kilometers away.  He only seems to appear to those he knew.  There are no recorded public appearance after the crucifixion.  The appearances simply don’t fit any normal patterns.

This of course is very frustrating for scientific minds like ours. Science likes to study phenomena that can be repeated in laboratory conditions and this event, the resurrection of Jesus just isn’t one of those sorts of events. 

   I believe that there was a physical reality to this new way of being, but I don’t think I can tell you much more.  There is real mystery here.  If you want to get theological I think it’s important there was a physical reality to the resurrected Jesus because this physical earthy stuff is what Jesus was all about. However in the end these history questions of what actually happened come up against a bit of a brick wall.  A better question is what does it mean for us now?    

   For me the reality that God raised Jesus to life gives me hope.  It tells me that God’s love is stronger than the powers that killed him.  I rejoice because in Easter is the affirmation that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than indifference and apathy, light is stronger than darkness, truth is stronger than lies, and life is stronger than death.  All that separates and injures and destroys in the world does not have the final say.  The power that reconciles and heals and loves is stronger.  The powers of goodness and life in our world are stronger than the powers of death, destruction and darkness.  The stone was rolled away and Jesus wasn’t left defeated by the powers that consigned him to die on the cross.  In our reformed tradition the cross is always empty.   The cross was not the final word.  Death is not the final word.  This is a hope that sustains my faith and my life.  This is the great hope of Easter and it means I live with with a confidence that all will be well.

   But the resurrection is not just a hope or an idea.  I believe that the risen presence of Jesus is a living power.  All that Jesus stood for in healing, in reshaping, in opening our lives to life is not just an historical reality but is a living reality.  There is a power, a presence of Jesus alive in our time that we can invite into our lives and which can shape our living and live in us to be the continuing living presence of Jesus.  Compassion, kindness, truth, goodness.  Power to affirm and draw the best out of others.  Power to work to heal the wounds in others and in ourselves.  And on this day I invite you to be more aware of this active power and presence.. 

   You may find yourself moved deep inside by something that stirs you.    Seeing another human being abused in some way.  Seeing someone in need of healing.  Seeing God’s creation abused, seeing the sacredness of life trampled.  Here in Christchurch the terrible events of March 15^th still weigh heavy.  Human beings just like us gathered in worship gunned down.    Our deep passions, our tears I think are closely connected with this living presence of Jesus.  

   In our personal journeys  we experience pain or tragedy.  There may be dark and dull days which engulf us.  Sometimes I think of these days as sitting in the tomb of darkness.  It may take weeks or months or even years but the day comes when it seems there is a ray of light, and the stone has been moved away just a fraction.  Often people will say that time heals, but I don’t think it is time.  I think the living presence and power seen in Jesus is at work, patiently working in our lives leading us from the tomb to the dawn of a new day.

   The earth is warming rapidly and slowing human beings are waking up to the reality that we are responsible and our children’s children deserve a future.  The power of seen in Jesus is alive. 

   The truth of Easter is that Jesus is alive.  Whispering, nudging, inviting, calling us to work with him in shaping a new earth in the power of love.  He’s continuing to reveal the evil and the darkness of the world, and to show us another way.  He is continuing to meet us as he met Mary outside the tomb, to call us lovingly by name, and to invite us to participate with him in shaping a new world of goodness, respect, and peace.

   Jesus is alive, and he invites us to take his life into our life. One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle.  He said, My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.  One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, selfishness, resentment, inferiority, false pride, superiority and ego.  The other is Good.  It is joy, peace, hope, serentity, humility, kindness, generosity,, truth, compassion and faith.”  The grandson thought for a moment and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”  The old Cherokee answered simply, “the one you feed.” 

   That’s why we gather Sunday by Sunday – to feed on the presence of Jesus, to be nourished by this presence, to encounter his love and truth, to be shaped by his life.  We need to take the life of Jesus into our hearts, and we need to be warmed by his love and compassion for us and all people we meet….and so we come to this meal.

    Together we can and will shape a new world of goodness, respect, peace, and justice for all.

Dugald Wilson 20 April 2019

Our reading: Luke 10:25-37 – If Jesus were with us today he may make the hero of story the Good Muslim)

We are all reeling from the events that have shaken our city and our nation just two days ago.  49 innocent people, men women, and children shot and killed as they gathered in their sacred spaces to pray to God the merciful.  Numerous others wounded physically and mentally.  Scenes of horror played out before their eyes.  For all of us there are tears, confusion, angers, and a deep feeling of sickness.  How could this happen in our peaceful part of the world?  We are used to hearing of acts of terrorism but they are always out there somewhere, disconnected, happening to faceless others.  It’s easy and actually natural to let that be someone else’s problem.  But now it’s on our doorstep, and I might say with a new twist. 

   We are used to associating radical acts of terror with extremist Islamic groups.  The media have enhanced this.  Recent research in the United States has shown that actually in last 10 or so years the that only about 12% of what may termed terrorist attacks were perpetrated by Islamic extremists, but if Muslims are behind it the news stories increase by over 300%.   I bet most of us thought that if a terrorist attack were to occur in New Zealand it would be Muslim based. How wrong we were – it turns out the victims of the attack were all Muslims.  The very first Muslims in New Zealand were an Indian family living not far from here in Cashmere, and since then numbers living here have increased to I’m guessing about 5,000 people.  Every one of them is deeply affected and will know others who have died or who are injured.  There is a deep sense of being targeted and fear of more killings.  Our niece who is Muslim lives with us and she is now lives in fear to  appear in public wearing her hijab in case she is abused or targeted in some way. 

Our first step must be to reach out to Muslim neighbours friends and workmates and offer love, sympathy, and support.  This is a time to get rid of labels and see common humanity.  Listen to the grief and the hurt.  There are no simple rational explanations.  A deep evil has been unleashed in our midst.  We stand together against all kinds of hatred and we value people as people.  We abhor violence and especially violence perpetrated in the name of superiority and cleansing of our society of any racial or religious group.  There are people and ideologies in our midst that are deeply poisonous and toxic.  These killings are not the work of a mad man, but the result of deeply held beliefs that are evil.  We cannot stand idly by while people make racist remarks and while people drive up immediately after the killings and pronounce they are there to celebrate the deaths.  There is a sickness in our midst that none of us are immune from.  This is a time to celebrate common humanity, compassion, kindness.  This is a time when if you see a Muslim woman wearing hijab to say we stand with you, we feel for you.  This is a time to reach out across whatever boundaries of inherited prejudice and misunderstanding separate us.  We are brothers and sisters under God.

My experience is that every religion and every culture has something to offer us all as we seek to find true and good ways of living.  Islam has been demonised in the popular mind and there are reasons for this.  Radical Islam is not the true teaching of the Prophet. Simplistic demonising of any group is something Jesus stood against.  He engages with a Syro-Phonician woman by a well, a Roman centurion with a sick slave, and even makes a dreaded Samaritan the hero of a story.  If he told that story in our time he may well tell of the Good Muslim.   We could go back into the Old Testament and draw out all sorts of characters who are not part of the chosen religion.  Jethro, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah, and many more outsiders, non Jews, who prove themselves more just and godly than the so called true religious folk.  Jesus accepts people from other religious traditions and commands us  to treat others with the respect we would want from them.  When I explore with people what this might look like in practice and how should we then respond to others as followers of Jesus, typically they say things like “I would want them to respect my faith, show an interest in it and learn about it”.  “I’d like others to look for the positives and points of agreement, and not to try and convert me”.  My advice then as a follower of Jesus is to try and do likewise.

   This requires listening, compassion, and honesty in recognising that we have differences but that these differences do not need to be unscalable walls of division and fear.  We must and can keep looking for the good but also naming the things that divide.  Sometimes we will have to agree to live with the divisions because there is no obvious solution, but we can do that with respect.  One of these divisions when it comes to Islam is the different ways we look at scripture.  Our Bible is written and put together by people who experienced God working in their lives.  In this sense our Bible is a human product written in response to encountering the activity of God.  It is not inerrant. This is a different way of understanding our scriptures from the literal view which is often found in Muslim understanding in which the words of the Quran are literally dictated by God through the prophet Mohammed or the Mormon understanding of the Book of Mormon which was transcribed by Joseph Smith from gold plates he was led to dig up in a field. Clearly this makes dialogue difficult, but never impossible. 

I know Christian friends who will look at me sideways for saying such things.  Didn’t Jesus say he was ‘the way, the truth and the life, and the only way to the Father?’ (John 14:6)  The implication is clear.  If he is the only way, then while we might show respect to others, we inevitably must tell them they are deluded and wrong.  Our path is the best and only way and without Jesus they are doomed. 

John 14:6  of course had nothing to do with other faiths in it’s original setting.  Jesus wasn’t addressing the question of interfaith dialogue.  He was having a private discussion with his own disciples about issues of their own faith.  He’s preparing the disciples for his death and departure and begins the chapter by saying ‘in my Fathers house are many rooms.’  We often take that to be talking about heaven but elsewhere in John’s gospel ‘my Father’s house’ refers to the temple.   Jesus I think is saying that we will find God in many places in our journey of life and not just in one holy site.  John is saying if you want to see God look at Jesus.    If you want to know what matters to God look at Jesus.  If you want to know what a God filled life looks like look at Jesus.  I don’t think we are talking about some creedal statement about Jesus here but we are talking about a way of living.  He is asking us to join him in the way of living that involves loving God, loving others, respecting others, and challenging the powers of evil that seek to destroy the life of our earth. 

Marcus Borg, a theologian, tells of a visiting Buddhist teacher who was invited to preach at his church.  The teacher chose as his text this very verse of John 14:6.  He expounded on the importance of Jesus as the way for us to follow.  He ended however with a little twist.  This is the true way, but it is a way found in other religions and places as well.    

I mentioned earlier we have a Muslim niece who lives with us and whom we value deeply.  In fact I have three nieces and a nephew who are Muslim.  I treasure their presence in our family and the richness they have brought us.  We see many things differently as I would expect, and I believe they are treasured by God.  I have never seen my role as converting them to the faith I hold so dear, but I do hope that I can challenge them to be better Muslims, as they challenge me to be a better Christian. 

Police Commissioner Bush said of the actions and arrests on Friday: let’s not imagine the danger is over.

Rev Dr Keith Rowe active for many years in the promotion of Muslim-Christian relations reminds us the danger continues as long as we live in ignorance of the wisdom, dreams, and values of those who belong to other groups other than our own, and as long as we are content to have our lives shaped by bigotry and hatred.

I invite you to confront your ignorance and to take steps to build relationship with others who may be different.  I urge you to have zero tolerance for any form of bigotry, scapegoating, and hatred.  Silence in the face of evil is as good as feeding a fire with oxygen.  The evil ideologies behind these killings which has been creeping into our society and politics for some time now needs to be named as deeply evil.

I am the way, the life, and the truth.  Believe it – live it.

Dugald Wilson

17 March 2019