Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
July 15 (Westfield and Long Reach) and July 22 (Bayswater-Summerville)
Scripture Readings: Matthew 6:25-33 and Romans 6:3-9
Today is the annual
Flower Service in the middle of July, so what better time to talk about one of
my favourite Christmas movies! The one
that I’m thinking of is The Muppet Christmas Carol. If you haven’t seen it before, I highly
recommend it – you could wait until December, or you could watch it now in the
middle of the summer. But even if you
haven’t seen this particular adaptation of Charles Dickens’ book, there’s a
good chance that you are familiar with the story.
It’s the story of
Ebenezer Scrooge, and as the story unfolds we see how a lonely little boy ends
up growing up and living a life that is focused on only one thing – making more
money. He studies hard so that he can
get a good job; when he has a good job, he works harder to earn more money; but
as he earns more money it is never enough and he always craves more and
more. His single-mindedness ends up
pushing away any sort of love or companionship.
He pushes away the other students who try to be friendly with him at
school. He meets and falls in love with
a young woman named Belle, but his quest for money ends up pushing her away
too. His nephew Fred tries to draw him
in to the family circle, but again Ebenezer’s quest for money pushes his family
away. His employee, Bob Cratchit (played
by Kermit the Frog in this version) tries to act with love towards Ebenezer
despite his miserable working conditions, but he gets pushed away too.
And so here you have
Ebenezer, rich in money (which he could use to buy himself nice clothes or good
food though he chooses not to spend it); but he very poor in love and very
lonely. The story of Ebenezer’s life to
this point is a heart-breaking tragedy.
And that is where I
see the connection to this morning’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus asks, “Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothing?”
This passage is found
in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount – chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Matthew’s
gospel – and all through this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is presenting an
alternative world-view to his listeners.
In the passage that we read today, Jesus contrasts the Scrooge
world-view – the constant worry about acquiring more and more; more food, more
drink, more clothing – with God’s world-view of trust and love.
Jesus uses images that
fit well with this time of year in New Brunswick – birds of the air and flowers
of the field. These are parts of
creation that can’t live by the Scrooge world-view. They live in partnership with God, not
worrying about the future.
But this analogy
breaks down at a certain point. The
flowers out in the field, no matter how mild the winter, won’t survive past a
single season. These beautiful flowers
that were cut for our flower service, even if we take exquisite care of the
bouquet, won’t last beyond a week or so.
The flowers live a vibrant life, but it is short and then it is over.
But we aren’t flowers;
and this is where I turn to our reading from Romans. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul
reminds us that we have an eternal source of hope – a source of hope with no
limits; a source of hope with no ending; a source of hope that is greater than
we could ever imagine. Jesus Christ is
our eternal source of hope.
Baptism is one of
God’s gifts to us – a gift that is freely given. And, as Paul writes, in our baptism we are
united with Christ. We are welcomed in
to the family of the church which is the Body of Christ. We are invited to join with the life and work
of that body – to be Christ’s hands and feet and eyes and ears and heart in the
world. Paul goes on to write though,
that we are also united with Christ in his death. But the good news is that even when Jesus
died on the cross and it seemed as though the world had won, the story didn’t
end there. Jesus’ death includes
his resurrection; and so when we join with the Body of Christ in death, we also
are invited to join the Body of Christ in resurrection. And this is our eternal, endless source of
hope.
We can see hints of
God’s resurrection message throughout all of creation. The flower of the field may die, but they
leave behind seeds that will grow into flowers next summer. The birds of the air lay eggs that will hatch
and grow into the next generation. Even
in the middle of winter when the ground seems dead and frozen, there is life in
the leafless trees that will spring forth to new life in only a few months.
We even see hints of
God’s resurrection message in The Muppet Christmas Carol, when Ebenezer
realizes that he is living a much more limited life than he could be; and he is
resurrected from the graveyard of Christmas Yet to Come into a new life of love
and generosity.
At this flower
service, we gather each year to remember our loved ones who have died. We remember those whom we love who are buried
outside in this cemetery; but we also remember those whom we love who are
buried far away from here. We remember our family members; we remember our
friends; we remember those who are known to the world; we remember those whose
names we carry close to our hearts. We
remember parents and siblings and children and spouses; we remember aunts and
uncles and cousins; we remember babies who died at or before birth, and we
remember people who lived for more than 100 years; we remember members of our
church family and members of the wider community. It’s amazing to think of how many memories we
are carrying together in this room.
We remember our loved
ones with these flowers, whose beauty represents the vibrancy of the lives that
were lived, no matter how long or how short; but we also remember God’s promise
of resurrection so that even in death we can be confident in new life. Just as the flowers growing in a field hold
the seeds to new life; our lives hold the seeds to our new life through Jesus
Christ. As we live, the seeds that were
planted in us by a God who knew us before we were born, are tended and nurtured
by the Holy Spirit as we move ever forwards to this new life in Christ.
And so today, we
remember our loved ones who came before us; we celebrate the new life that they
and we receive in Christ; and we look forward to a day when the whole earth is
made new.
Thanks be to God!
(The Bouquet of Memories we built at Bayswater-Summerville United Church.
Somewhere in the middle of this bouquet is a poppy in memory of Mum.)
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