Give Us the Grace To Discipline Ourselves

(Common Lectionary Teaching notes for Lent 2, Year C, 2013 by Rev. John Gishler)

 The Readings (Deut. 26.1-11; Ps. 91; Rom. 10.8b-13 and Luke 4.1-13) are chosen to help us in self-examination during Lent as we prepare our hearts, not us our minds, for Easter. What we are looking at is things we do or fail to do that tend to separate us from a deep love relationship with God.

1. Deuteronomy reminds us that we are in a Covenant relationship

The First Fruits offering is a test of love and loyalty to God. If we fail to keep our part of the Covenant the Covenant is broken. This means we are no longer under the spiritual and material protection of God. Our actions show what is really in our hearts
·         How we spend our leisure time is an indication of our priorities
·         How we spend our money is an indication of our values
·         How we treat other people shows what is going on in our hearts
·         The challenge is that our minds deceive us – we can always think up a way to justify our questionable actions
·         Even more scary is the fact that our minds have a built in self-defence mechanism that can lead to self-deception
·         Good News is that the Holy Spirit will guide us in self-examination and help us overcome our blindness!

2. Jesus models self-discipline when tempted by Satan

Fasting and prayer is the most effective way to move quickly into a deep personal relationship with Jesus. This works because it enables us to really focus on our need for a personal experience of the divine. Our heart is stretched and disciplined as we say no to all the normal distractions of life. One approach to self-examination is to ask not if, but in what small ways we are distracted by our emotional needs for material things, power and control and spiritual authority:

We Are Here To Be Signs of God’s Glory in the World

The Readings (Isaiah 62.1-5), John 2.1-11 and 1 Corinthians 12.1-11) all talk about signs. God blessing His people Israel, Jesus turning water into wine and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are all signs or evidence of the glory of God.  They are teaching us to be signs of that glory. Everyone needs some personal experience or sign of God’s love in their lives to help them believe in God and be a sign of His glory.

1    1.  Isaiah prophecies that God will bless Israel as a sign of His love

This prophecy was probably received either during or just after the Exile of the Hebrew people in Babylon (586-538 BC) when national pride was very low and people felt abandoned by God:

·         Isaiah prophesied  their Loyalty will be “vindicated” in history

·         Other nations  will see their blessing & glory

·         Shame and disgrace turned to national honour and respect

·         Chosen people – “married” to their “builder”

·         Israel will be a sign of God’s love and glory to the world

·         God would ‘delight’ in His people

Transforming the Anglican Church of Canada - A Proposal

The Anglican Primate’s consultation on Church transformation to deal with declining finances comes at a time when most people can finally agree that something is not working – and that continuing in the present direction and expecting a different outcome is by definition insane. Let me propose that the current problem of declining attendance and funding goes way back to decisions made in the 1970’s to move away from the traditional sin / redemption emphasis and judgementalism of evangelicals; and make the church more relevant and appealing to the culture – the famous ‘comfortable pew’ of Pierre Berton. This was a good idea but it was taken too far and resulted in us caving in to non-Biblical political values and 40 years of conflict over theological changes in liturgy, the ordination of women, the blessing of same-sex unions and downplaying the importance of forgiveness and personal reconciliation. To put it simply and bluntly, paralleling the Prophecy of Isaiah adopted by Jesus as His mission (Luke 4.18), the Anglican Church of Canada needs to change from being politically anointed to being anointed by the Holy Spirit; from changing the Good News to proclaiming the Good News; from blinding people with political agendas to opening their eyes to God’s spiritual agenda and from imprisoning people in false teachings to freeing them Biblical spiritual teachings.

1.     Change from being politically anointed to Holy Spirit Anointed

The process of de-emphasizing the importance of really being guided by the Holy Spirit probably goes back to the Day of Pentecost, when some people felt missed and left out. Being human they would naturally propose alternative, more predictable and tangible sources of authority. So it was that our forefathers, very unwisely and un-Biblically, allied themselves with political authorities and pushed our charismatic brother, Rev. John Wesley and many others, out of the Anglican fold and substituted Scripture, Tradition and Reason (i.e. politics) as our sources of doctrinal authority. In our time Anglican and other churches that make a serious effort to be led by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to the current political agenda, are growing. The most dramatic example of this potential change is the New Wine Anglican churches in England which are filled to capacity right next door in some case to almost empty traditional Anglican churches.

Why Was John the Baptist In the Wilderness? (Advent 3, Year C)

(Homily notes for Advent 3, Year C, 2012 by Rev. John Gishler)

John was the son of a priest and would normally have become a priest in the Temple himself.

•        We don’t know what happened – but we can speculate 
•          John did not fit in, probably saw the corruption and hypocrisy
•          John wanted something more – a real experience of God
•          Decided to get away from the un-holiness of the Temple
•          Cleansed himself through self-examination and repentance
•          Removed his spiritual garbage, Holy Spirit could live in him
•          Holy Spirit used him to prophecy the Messiah’s coming
•          Warn people to prepare through the baptism of repentance

 1    1.   John’s message is ‘turn or burn’

·         Coming Messiah will baptize with fire and Holy Spirit

·         God is holy and cannot be around un-holiness

·         God has been described as a consuming fire

·         Those who are not prepared will be burnt up like chaff

·         Gets our attention, motivates us to change our lives

·         We do not want to ‘scare people into the Kingdom’

·         Objective is to start a process of self-examination that leads to repentance, confession and forgiveness

Christianity and Mormonism

Mormonism has historically claimed to be an advanced form of Christianity based on new (“latter day”) revelations to modern prophets. The ‘latter day’ revelations of the Book of Mormon have been rejected as false teachings by Christian churches which regard Mormonism as a non-Christian cult. While there is a great variety of teaching between Christian Churches, the bottom line has always been the original Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible as interpreted ‘in all times and in all places by all people. Mormonism is based on a distinctly different revelation and spiritual authority with a different understanding of God, Jesus, forgiveness and eternal spiritual life.

1.     Religious and Spiritual Authority

Christianity recognizes the 66 books of the Bible as the primary source of authority for religious and spiritual teaching. These books were agreed to after vigorous debate in the First and Second Centuries as being reliable and divinely inspired. In the Bible, Jesus (Matthew 7.15; 24.11; 24.24 and Mark 13.22) warns believers of the danger of false prophets to come. Christians are clearly told to wait only for the personal return of Jesus in the End Time (Mt. 2.64; Mk. 14.62; 1 Thess. 5.23; 2 Thess. 2.8; 1 Peter 1.13 and Revelation 22.20.

Mormonism recognizes both the Bible and the Book of Mormon as authoritative teachings, with the later considered more reliable (History of the Church, vol. 4, p.461). The Mormon Articles of Faith also limit Biblical authority to what is “properly translated” – meaning they can (and have) developed incompatible theologies of God, Jesus, Forgiveness and Salvation. It is unlikely that those who claim this ‘mistranslation’ have either seen or would have been able to translate the earliest Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible in the Bodleian and Vatican Libraries in Oxford and Rome.

“Watch Out That No One Deceives You” (Mark 13.5)

In the Collect we ask God to “Free us from all that darkens and ensnares us.” The Readings remind us of the spiritual dangers of this life. Eli the priest is not paying attention when he accuses Hannah of being drunk when she is praying (1 Sam. 1.14). In the Hebrews Reading (10.11-25) “those who are being made holy” are encouraged to persevere. Let us focus on the Jesus warning and consider:

·         How are we deceived?

·         How can we protect ourselves from being deceived?

11.  How are we deceived?

a.    There is a deceiver – the Bible names him as Satan, the father of lies

                                          i.    Satan whispers temptations in our ears and hearts

                                        ii.    Satan gives us assurance it is ok – “You will not certainly die” (Gen. 3.4) - die spiritually

                                       iii.    Satan even quotes Scripture to Jesus

                                       iv.    When we give in to temptation we are accused

                                         v.    Think of Satan as head of quality control on Earth

                                       vi.    Many people dismiss as superstition - are vulnerable

                                      vii.    Others can get paranoid or blame Satan for own foolishness

                                     viii.    Need balance of awareness and vigilance

b.    Jesus warns us “many will come in my name – clergy

                                          i.    Clergy are Just as vulnerable to being deceived

                                        ii.    Enlightenment questioned the authority of Church as based on superstition

                                       iii.    Biblical Criticism deconstructed the Biblical as a reliable source of religious truth

                                       iv.    New Liberal theology was developed which questioned the supernatural worldview of the Biblle -Healing miracles, Virgin Birth, Resurrection of Jesus

                                         v.    Reason and intellectual debate replaced Biblical authority – literal vs allegorical meanings

                                       vi.    Church councils / synods replace Scripture, Tradition and Reason as the authority for determining truth

c.     Culture of inclusiveness that excludes true truth

                                          i.    Inclusiveness has become the new authority

                                        ii.    Inclusiveness is not a Biblical value

                                       iii.    Inclusiveness is a secular political value

                                       iv.    Inclusiveness excludes the possibility of truth

                                         v.    My experience is my ‘truth’

                                       vi.    Ended up with ‘my truth’ and ‘your truth’ as equally valid – no religious authority (only political)

d.    On the Psychological level we deceive ourselves

                                          i.    Our minds have a built-in protection mechanism

                                        ii.    Information which causes stress or emotional discomfort is filtered out in our subconscious

                                       iii.    We hear but we do not really hear – Biblical

                                       iv.    Example of Eve – believe the lie, does not ask for clarification on what Satan means by “die”

                                         v.    Eve assumes relationship will not die

                                       vi.    My experience with Red Deer Public Library Board

1.     Did not hear their concerns

2.     Assumed they were satisfied

3.     Contract was terminated

4.     Researched self-deception and discovered that this is a scientifically valid process

2   2.  How can we protect ourselves from being deceived?

a.    Read the Bible as the basic standard to test truth

                                          i.    Christianity flourished in England because each family had a Bible they could read at home

                                        ii.    Contrast with France and Italy where there was no effective Reformation and little Bible reading

                                       iii.    My experience of reading the Bible – and being angry that nobody had taught me the truth

                                       iv.    Daily Bible reading is our best protection

b.    Invite the Holy Spirit to teach discernment

                                          i.    Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth – guides us

                                        ii.    Knowledge and wisdom come from the Spirit

                                       iii.    Daily prayer and listening time protects us

c.     Do self-examination in preparation for Confession

                                                      i.    Need to “Renounce all things that draw you from the love of God”  (Prayer after Communion)

We Are Anointed To Proclaim Forgiveness & Healing

(Teaching notes for St. Luke’s Day 2012 by Rev. John Gishler)

This is a moment of high drama:

• Jesus announces who He is and what He has come to do
• Prophecy is fulfilled in their hearing – i.e.  I am the one who will release prisoners, open the eyes of the blind and release the oppressed
• To understand this we need to notice the context in Luke – follows Jesus temptation by Satan, precedes an exorcism
• Jesus is not talking about physical prisons or blindness
• Jesus is talking about freeing people from spiritual prisons and spiritual blindness
• We also believe in the physical healings of Jesus

 1.    “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4.21)

a.    Isaiah had written this at least 400 years earlier.

b.    Hebrews expecting another saviour like Moses

c.    Moses was anointed by God to lead them out of physical slavery in Egypt to prosperity in a new land

d.    Moses had given them Laws to ensure they remained in right relationship to God

e.    Moses had given them instruction for animal sacrifices to atone for sins when they failed to keep the Laws

f.      Jesus proclaims Himself as the Saviour they expected