Posts Tagged ‘protection’

Where your treasure is

August 6, 2022

Pentecost 9 – 2022
Luke 12:32-34
Marian Free

In the name of God, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver. Amen.

I have read Herbert and Harry by Pamela Allan so often that I almost know it by heart. It is a tale of two brothers who lived together, farmed together, and fished together until one day when fishing they pulled up a chest full of treasure. “It’s mine,” said Herbert, “I pulled it up.” “It’s mine,” said Harry, “I cast the net here”. Then Herbert pushed Harry and Harry fell – into the sea. Harry who was a strong swimmer, made it safely to shore while Henry rowed as hard as he could and as far as he could until he reached a lonely piece of shore. Then he started to walk. Herbert wanted to get as far away from Harry as he could. Finally, he lay down to sleep but even though it was dark, and he was very tired, he could not sleep. “What if Harry came and stole the treasure while he slept?” So, he pushed the treasure under the roots of a tree, but he still could not sleep: “What if someone had seen him put it there?”

So, Herbert decided to go far away to the highest mountain in the land and hide the treasure under some rocks, but still, he could not sleep. “What if someone had followed him?” So, he dug a hole deep into the mountain, pushed the treasure in and rolled a huge stone across the entrance. But still, he could not sleep. “What if someone forced him to tell where the treasure was?” He needed guns, lots of guns, but guns were not enough, he began to build a fort. All this took many, many years.

Now, Herbert and Harry are very old men. Herbert still guards his treasure on the top of the highest mountain in the land, but still, he cannot sleep. While Harry, who had no treasure has always been able to sleep.

“Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”

We are all a bit like Herbert – anxious to hold on to what we have, worried that someone might take it from us, concerned that we will not get by without it. We try to separate ourselves from those who might have designs on our possessions. In places like Cape Town or Port Morseby those who have something to protect build high walls around their homes and top them with barbed wire. They employ armed guards to ensure that no one can get in and steal. Even in Australia where the threat is not so great, people are busy installing security lights, cameras, and alarms to deter anyone from coming in. Gated communities keep the right people in and the wrong people out.
As the story illustrates, alarms, guns and walls are only temporary solutions. Ultimately they exaggerate, rather than diminish our anxiety. Walls and security guards are constant reminders of our what we have to lose, they are a visible symptom of our fear and insecurity. At the same time, they are an indication of how dependent we are on our belongings for our sense of security and well-being – they reassure us that we will have enough for tomorrow, they give us a means by which we can measure ourselves against others and sometimes they are a sign of how far we have come.

And to what end? – possessions can end up possessing us and walls designed to keep us safe hem us in. What is more, our physical treasures are finite and they are vulnerable to loss and decay. As recent events have reminded us, it does not matter what measures we put in place to protect what we own, nothing will keep them safe from fire or flood or other natural disaster. However high our barriers, however extensive our security – those who really want to breach our defences can find ways to do so. However long our life, it will come to an end and no matter how much we have amassed we cannot take it with us.

Thankfully there are treasures that cannot be measured, treasures that are free for the asking and which do not need walls to contain them, because they cannot be contained. Intangible treasures like love, joy, faith, generosity, selfless and hope are imperishable and are designed to endure for eternity. These treasures do not need walls. Indeed, walls would be wasted, because these treasures have no boundaries. They are limitless and they flow outward from those who possess them without being diminished no matter how widely they are shared.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In her children’s book, Pamela Allan, highlights Herbert’s wasted life. In his desire to protect his treasure he locks himself away, forgoing relationships and experiences which might have enriched his life. Harry, on the other hand, grows old on his farm with wife, children, and grandchildren. In the end, it is Harry – the one without the treasure – who is the richer of the two.

It is possible to spend an entire lifetime amassing wealth and possessions and in building bigger and “safer” fortresses to protect them but in so doing we become so focussed on ourselves and what we have and so anxious about losing it, that we miss out on the enjoyment we might have had from spreading our good fortune with others.

Immediately prior to today’s gospel Jesus has told his disciples: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Walls that keep others out also keep out God. Relying on our possessions prevents us from learning that we can place our trust in God. Prioritising our earthly treasures prevents us benefiting from heavenly treasures which are already ours for the asking and which nothing and no one can take from us.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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Compassion before the law

October 2, 2021

Pentecost 19 – 2021
Mark 10:2-16
Marian Free

In the name of God who desires that we might have life and have it to the full. Amen.

Last weekend the Anglican Church of Southern Queensland met for its annual Synod. There will I hope, be a report from your Synod representatives but I did want to comment on a couple of motions that stood out for me. One was the motion regarding intimate partner violence. The motion called on the Synod to acknowledge the recent report of the General Synod Family Violence Working Group which revealed that there was a higher incidence of domestic violence among Anglicans than in the population as a whole. The motion requested the establishment of a Diocesan Family Violence Working Group to oversee the work of policy development, training and education on prevention, intervention, and response. Though some voiced concern that the statistics used in the report might not be accurate, there was overwhelming support for the motion. What stood out though was the amendment that suggested that if Synod was really serious about raising awareness about domestic violence and of finding ways to end it that we should fund a full-time position for someone to do the work. Motions that ask for money not already in the budget usually fail, but this one did not.

A second motion that caught my attention and that caused some controversy was one that encouraged our Synod to take responsibility for the document Faithfulness in Service – the code of conduct for all clergy, office bearers and volunteers in the Diocese. A significant number of Synod members argued against the change. They were worried that this represented a movement away from the national standards and that if we passed it would be in direct contradiction to the recommendations of the Royal Commission that urged the church to have a consistent set of guidelines across the country. Even though a considerable number of other dioceses have already claimed the right to make changes in the document and even though The Chancellor, Justice Mullens pointed out that different states imposed different regulations that had to be followed, many Synod Representatives were still uncomfortable with the motion. It was only when Bishop Cameron spoke that the mood of Synod completely changed. His point was this: that if a national document insisted (for example) that divorcees not be permitted to hold office in our church, that in all probability a significant number of Synod representatives would have to stand down. He guessed, apparently correctly, that among those present there were more than a few people who fell into that category and that that might be something our Synod would have an opinion on. He was right and after his speech the motion passed.

Today’s gospel deals with divorce. The Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus out on a legal issue, in this instance the justification for divorce. This was a question on which they themselves could not agree. Deuteronomy 24:1 reads: “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife. Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled.”. The passage doesn’t mention adultery, but Shammai and his disciples argued that the only grounds on which a man could divorce his wife was adultery. Hillel and his followers took Deuteronomy more literally and claimed that a wife could be divorced for anything that annoyed or embarrassed her husband.

It must be remembered that women in the first century had no legal status, no means of earning an income and were completely dependent on their husband. A woman who was divorced would (unless their father was alive) or a brother took her in have no means of support and would be forced to beg to survive.

Jesus will not be drawn into the argument of the Pharisees. Instead, he points to a completely different verse – Genesis 2:24 – in marriage a man and a woman become one flesh. The only reason for divorce, Jesus suggests is adultery. In responding to the question of the Pharisees, Jesus is less concerned with quibbling over the fine details of the law and more concerned with the protection of the vulnerable. Compassion, in Jesus’ worldview, always comes before the rigid enforcement of one law or another.

That the discussion on divorce has to do with concern for and the protection of the vulnerable becomes clear when we place it in its literary context. The reference to children with which today’s reading concludes takes us back to the mention of children in the gospel of two weeks ago. On that occasion Jesus challenged his bickering disciples by placing a child in their midst and insisting that they welcome the vulnerable, the least worthy and those who would diminish rather than enhance their status. Last week, we saw that Jesus continued this theme by insisting that the disciples note that the consequence of causing harm to any one of “these little ones” was catastrophic.

If Jesus primary mandate for discipleship is to protect and welcome the vulnerable, then it could be argued that we (collectively) have failed miserably over the centuries. As we have learned to our shame, we have utterly failed to keep vulnerable children safe, we have perpetuated misinterpretations of scripture that have led to domestic violence, or which have kept people in unhappy marriages. We have abandoned or mistreated single mothers and judged those who don’t meet our standards. Contrary to Jesus’ example we have argued over details of the law rather than consider the plight of the poor, the marginalised and the dispossessed.

All this could be different. If like Jesus we put compassion first, we would not be so concerned about the meaning of the law but would always see the needs of those around us and be compelled to release them from their suffering.

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Self preservation

October 7, 2017

Pentecost 18 – 2017

Matthew 21:33-46

Marian Free

 

In the name of God in whom and with whom we have our being. Amen.

The annual Synod of the Diocese was held two weekends ago. There were not many controversial things on the agenda and only one piece of legislation to pass. One thing that absorbed a great deal of time was a presentation that is now a regular part of the Synod proceedings – the Diocesan statistics. Each year I (and every other priest) in the Diocese are obliged to provide information regarding how many people came to church in that year, how many were buried, married or baptised and so on. As you may guess from looking around, those numbers can be quite sobering. Only a few parishes in the Diocese are growing, many are remaining stable and a good few are declining in numbers.

The publication of these figures leads to a great deal of navel gazing and worrying about how we can halt the decline and build the church. I am a firm believer in being accountable and I think that it is important that we know how we are travelling, but I do worry that our concern is as much about self- preservation as it is about the future of the gospel, that worrying about our numbers makes us inward rather than outward focussed. Worse, I wonder whether we are so busy worrying about what is happening to the church and asking ourselves what we can do to maintain it, that we risk being unaware of that God might be doing something new, exciting and different. Alternatively, we are so inwardly focussed that anything new and exciting and different is seen not as a gift from God, but as something against we must protect our traditions and our structures.

Self-preservation certainly seems to be a concern of the Chief Priests, the elders, the scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Jesus was seen as a threat and not a gift. He was unconventional and popular and nothing could convince them that he was God’s plan for the future of the church. Instead of welcoming Jesus as a gift from God, they closed ranks, trying to protect their position, their status and their authority – all of which required the church and its traditions to remain unchanged. Jesus represented a to the stability of the system that they were so carefully preserving.

Today’s gospel is set in the Temple. It is a small section of an ongoing dispute between Jesus and the chief priests and elders. They are worried that Jesus’ popularity and his refusal to maintain their traditions and are attempting to discredit and diminish him. Jesus turns the tables by telling the parable of the wicked tenants in order to expose their agenda. The parable likens the chief priests and elders to tenants who want to hold on to what they have at any cost. The leaders have forgotten that it was the landlord (God) who planted the vineyard, built the fence, installed the wine press and built a watchtower. The tenants, like the chief priests and elders have become so absorbed in themselves and their own roles, that they have lost sight of the fact that they are working in God’s vineyard. In the slaves and in the son, they see a threat to their comfortable existence, a threat that must be destroyed even though it has a legitimate claim on their attention.

In Jesus’ day the chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and elders have come to believe that responsibility for the vineyard (church) and for its future resides with them – that God has, in effect, abrogated all responsibility to them. They are so sure that they know what God wants that they cannot allow anyone (even Jesus) to unsettle the boat.

In 1182 in a small town in the north of Italy, Francis di Bernadone was born into the family of a wealthy merchant. Francis, like many rich young men of his day was something of a playboy and, influenced by the ideals of medieval chivalry, he longed to make a name for himself on the battlefield. His first foray into battle led to his imprisonment and his second was thwarted by an encounter with Christ that led him to spend time in prayer and to provide for the poor. Francis’ generosity and piety caused his Father such concern that he had him called before the Bishop’s court. Francis’ response was to strip naked. He was renouncing wealth, status and power and placing all his confidence in God.

Sometime later when Francis was praying in the ruins of a church, he heard the voice of Christ saying: “Build my church”. He understood that he was to spread the gospel to the world not to shore up the institution of the church. He began to preach anywhere and everywhere and, so compelling was his message, that within weeks he was joined by three other young men who within a short time became twelve. Francis did not need to accumulate goods, power or respect, he understood that he was doing God’s work and that his role was to tend the vines that God had planted, and to acknowledge that the growth belonged to God.

He and his companions wandered the countryside preaching the gospel to all who would listen. Because Francis had given up everything, he, unlike the leaders of the first century church had nothing to lose. Because he recognised the absolute sovereignty of God in his life, he was not threatened or intimidated by those who came to share his work in the vineyard, he did not need to take credit for his work, and he certainly had no need to refuse entry to others whom God sent. Francis’ complete and utter dependence on God freed him to serve God selflessly expecting no reward except the privilege of serving God. In direct contrast to the wicked tenants who represented the leaders of Jesus’ day, Francis recognised that everything came from God and that he owed everything to God.

As we watch in despair as our numbers decline, as we wonder what the future of the church will be, we do well to remember today’s parable – the church is not ours but God’s and that God can see a future for the gospel even if we cannot. In the 21st century, we may have to entertain the idea that once again we are being asked to give back to God what is God’s and that are being asked to recognise God in unexpected voices and unexpected people. The question we must ask ourselves is this: are we open to the possibility that God might be ready to do something different, or are we determined to hold on to what we have at any cost?

 

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God knows!

January 30, 2016

Presentation of Christ in the Temple – 2016

Luke 2:22-39

Marian Free

 In the name of God who gives Godself to us completely and utterly. Amen.

I happened to read a women’s magazine during the week. One of the stories was of a career woman who had had no intention of having a child, but at forty-five had given birth to her first child. Like so many other public figures she said that the experience had changed her life. “I have this fierce mother instinct – it’s quite fierce and protective.” For many of us, holding a newborn is one of the most amazing experiences. The child in your arms is so vulnerable and so dependent. Even if the child is not your own, you are often overcome with the urge to protect the child and there is a sense of foreboding in regard to all of all that could go wrong – in the present and in the future. What if someone drops the child? What if they don’t hold his/her head in just the right way? Will the child be settled or unsettled? Are the new methods of wrapping, feeding, bathing really better than they way that they used to be done? All of those thoughts can go through our minds in an instant – the wonder, the joy, the fear and the anxiety together.

After the initial excitement has passed, we might begin to consider what sort of future the child might have. If the child is our own, a grandchild, a niece or nephew, most of us would be secure in the knowledge that she/he would be well loved and parented well. If not, we might have fears for the safety and well-being of the child. And the distant future – well that is purely the subject of our imagination, fuelled by our own desires and concerns our fears and anxieties. Will the child be able to escape tragedy in his/her life? Will the education system/the health system be sufficiently well-funded to ensure that the needs of the child are met? Will the child have the resilience to resist peer pressure – avoid drugs and alcohol? Will the environment be able to sustain another generation on the planet? Will we, particularly in today’s violent and unstable climate be able to protect this child from acts of terror or from war?

So many unknowns lie ahead of every child and the best parenting in the best environment is not enough to prevent tragedy or disaster – whether of the child’s own making or from external causes.

Jesus is still an infant when his parents bring him into the Temple to present him to God as demanded in the Book of Exodus (13). The Temple is a bustling place, especially the outer courts which are open to men and women of every nation and where, as we learn later, the exchange of money occurs and the animals to be used in thank offerings are sold. Into this crowd come two very ordinary people bringing with them their infant son. Somehow Simeon (who has been drawn to the Temple precincts by the Spirit) identifies this couple and knows immediately that their child is the anointed one for whom he has waited his whole life.

Without so much as a: “by your leave”, Simeon scoops the child into his arms and before his surprised parents bursts into a song of praise in which he identifies this baby as the one who is to bring glory to Israel and to be a light to the Gentiles. Perhaps Mary and Joseph are not totally surprised by this. Luke’s introduction leads us to believe that they know full well who Jesus is and what he is to become. They might be surprised to hear that not only will he save his people, but that the Gentiles will also come to faith through him, but the angel has already told them that: “he will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” It may be that they have already begun to imagine their future and that of their son – the honour and respect that might ensue once he became known for who he really was!

Imagine their shock when Simeon concludes: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” “The rising and falling”, “A sign to be opposed” –suddenly a sense of foreboding is introduced into what had been a situation of joy and hope and expectation. Simeon’s words suggest that Jesus’ future will not be all smooth sailing, not everyone will share their confidence that Jesus is the Son of God.

Simeon’s prediction includes an element of threat and a warning – Jesus’ life will not conform to expectations. It is possible that he will not be a triumphant king. that his teaching and actions will not always be positively received. Instead of glory, there is a possibility that he will experience suffering and defeat. For Mary and Joseph, the confidence of the angel’s words must have come into question. They must have wondered what they could expect of this child? What would the future really hold? We can only speculate, but I imagine that Mary and Joseph will have left the Temple with a very different and much less certain view of how Jesus’ future would play out.

In order to save humankind, to bring us to our senses, God was prepared to enter our world fully and completely, vulnerable and unprotected. In Jesus, God completely abandoned divinity becoming fully human, completely vulnerable, completely dependent and susceptible to the same dangers and difficulties as the rest of humankind. It is for this reason that Hebrews can record: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses”.

Life may not go the way that we expected for ourselves – or for our children. Not even God is able to protect us from the things that living in this world entails, but through good times and bad, disaster and triumph there is one thing of which we can be sure – that God in Jesus chose not to be shielded from the accidents of fate, the cruelties of human beings and the indifference of the planet. God, in Jesus knows that there is no certainty in this life except the certainty of God and of God’s overwhelming love for us that allowed God to immerse Godself so completely in our existence that it would be impossible for us to say: “God does not know what I am going through.”

 

(If you have taken up the challenge to explore Luke’s gospel. Note: Luke’s concern with the Temple, his determination to demonstrate continuity with Judaism – the family undergo the Jewish rites – the presence of the Spirit and the gospel for the Gentiles.)

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